Karma Yoga Poses

Yoga is an ancient form of exercise, meditation and spiritual practice originating in India. Like martial arts and religion, it is not a single uniform practice. Rather, yoga is divided into different schools of thought and practice similar to the differences between shotokan karate and shorin-ryu karate. The concepts remain similar, but the emphasis changes from group to group. Karma yoga is one of these sects.

Yoga Basics

All yoga practice involves assuming body positions called asanas, which achieve some sort of goal. This goal can be physical, such as building strength, flexibility and balance. It can be mental, as with the breathing exercises that calm mind and body. It can also be spiritual, a form of internal meditation that focuses your mind on personal development or on making a difference in the world.

Karma Yoga

Karma yoga is mentioned specifically in the Bhagavad Gita during a dialogue between prince Arjuna and his chariot driver Lord Krishna. Unlike hatha yoga, which focuses primarily on the physical rigors of yoga, karma yoga is a more spiritual path. It focuses on the idea of "achieving perfection in action," including concepts of moral rightness, nonattachment to possessions or outcomes, and kindness to others.

Karma Yoga Poses

Karma yoga doesn't practice any poses unique to its own school. Instead, students of karma yoga practice whatever asanas best serve their development needs. The difference with karma yoga poses is in the attention. Instead of focusing on the physical aspects of a pose, karma yoga students use the demands of the pose as a way of transcending ordinary thought and growing spiritually. For this reason, karma yoga poses tend to be simpler than those in more physically rigorous approaches -- the most demanding poses require a level of concentration to be performed accurately and safely.

Karma Yoga in Other Styles

Just as karma yoga uses postures from other styles, other styles will apply the concepts of karma yoga to their own practice. Depending on the school and teacher, this influence may appear as simply a few sentences in a student guidebook. Other schools might touch on the concepts without naming the style, while others will call out the history and contribution of karma yoga to their own style.