What Are the Types of Yoga? Twelve Layers and Three Levels

In this satsang, he describes yoga as one complete science with twelve layers. It is given in three levels of practice: prathama vinyasa krama, dvithiya vinyasa krama and trithiya vinyasa krama.

The goal is the same at every level. Yoga means union. In his words, it is union with Paramashiva. Everything else, from postures to breathing, serves that union.

Bending the body is one layer. Breathing is another. The way you think is another. When all the layers line up, you get the real result of yoga.

He also names two classic forms. Paramashiva gave shastanga yoga, yoga in six parts. Patanjali expanded it into ashtanga yoga, yoga in eight parts. The sections below walk through each idea in plain words.

No. The SPH says yoga is not just some stretching exercises. Starting there is fine. He says it is good to start simple and do some yoga. But the ultimate benefit is union with Paramashiva.

He explains that yoga has twelve layers. The way you bend your body is one layer. The way you breathe is the second layer. The way you think is the third layer. Like this, twelve layers need to be aligned to get the real result of yoga.

Yoga, he says, brings the macrocosm into the microcosm. It aligns your body to the cosmos. Each layer of you, from your posture to your breath to your thoughts, is brought into line with Paramashiva.

He also describes the body in yoga as an instrument. Your body becomes just an instrument for your being, and your being can choose how to play with it. He calls this Divya Sarira, the divine body.

So if your yoga has only been stretching, you have touched one layer. There are more.

The SPH names the layers one by one. Each part of you is aligned to Paramashiva through a specific method.

• Body: through asanas, the physical postures.
• Breath: through pranayama, such as kumbhaka, rechaka and puraka.
• Internal organs: the heart, lungs, kidney, liver, intestine and brain, through bandhas like mula bandha and uddiyana bandha.
• Intra-organs: the chakras, from the third eye down to muladhara, through awakening of kundalini shakti by shaktipada and shaktinipada.
• Speech: through mantra japa.
• Ears: through proper sounds from outside, like music.
• Mind: through internal visualization, which aligns your mano-shakti.
• Emotional energy: aligned to Paramashiva's emotional energy.

He also names mudras and karanas among the tools. Karana is also used in Bharatanatyam.

He makes one point clear. Internal organs and intra-organs are different. Internal organs are the physical organs. Intra-organs are the chakras.

The satsang does not list all twelve in one place. These are the ones he names. Together they show that yoga covers your whole being, not only your muscles.

The SPH repeats this point on purpose. He says twelve layers need to be done together. Then he goes through the list again.

The reason is simple. If you only bend the body, only one layer is aligned. Your breath, your speech, your mind and your emotions are left out of the practice.

Think of it like this. Your posture lines up with Paramashiva's body. Your breath lines up with his breathing. Your speech lines up through mantra. Your mind lines up through visualization. Each layer joins the others. Then yoga is no longer just stretching. It becomes union.

The SPH gives the twelve layers in three paddhatis, or systems. Each one is a full practice.

1. Prathama vinyasa krama: 108 asanas with 12 layers.
2. Dvithiya vinyasa krama: 308 asanas with 12 layers.
3. Trithiya vinyasa krama: 508 asanas with 12 layers.

They use asana, pranayama, bandha, mudra, karanas and internal visualization. All twelve layers are included in each one.

You only need to do one of them. In the beginning, he says, learning may take two hours or two and a half hours. Once you start doing it, it takes at most one and a half hours.

He calls this one and a half hours the most productive time of your life. In his words, it is like giving one and a half hours to gain eternal time on your side.

He says these were revealed directly by Paramashiva. Each one comes with scriptural reference, the experiences of his Guru lineage, his own experience and the experiences of his disciples.

Shastanga yoga is yoga in six parts. Ashtanga yoga is yoga in eight parts. The SPH explains how one grew from the other.

Paramashiva is the sutrakara. He gave the original sutras, the verses, as shastanga yoga. Patanjali is the bhashyakara. He took those six parts and expanded them into ashtanga yoga, from six to eight.

The eight-part yoga grew out of the six-part yoga that Paramashiva gave. One is the source, and the other is the expansion.

He also says pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi are all included. Yoga is all inclusive.

He explains how to recognise a lineage too. When Paramashiva creates a lineage, it carries the title Yogishwara. Lineages from Vishnu carry the title Bhagavad Pada. Lineages from Brahma carry the title Yogendra. He says his own yoga comes through the Yogishwara lineage, whose first Guru is Arunagiri Yogishwara of Thiruvannamalai.

The SPH makes the first step easy. What you need is offered free.

1. Pick one level: prathama, dvithiya or trithiya vinyasa krama. You only need one.
2. Get the books. All three are available to download free of cost.
3. Join a class. The Nithyananda Yoga YouTube channel takes free classes every day, for different time zones around the world.
4. Ask questions. You can talk to acharyas and get your questions answered.
5. Give it the time. Expect two to two and a half hours while you learn. Later, about one and a half hours.

Start where you are. It is fine to begin simply. Just know there is more. The aim is not only a flexible body. It is union with Paramashiva, which The SPH calls the ultimate benefit of yoga.

The SPH quotes the Bhagavad Gita here: yoga nashta parantapa. In course of time, the essence of the truth of yoga got lost.

Because yoga is a powerful knowledge, it was kept secret. It was Raja Vidya, the royal knowledge, and it was kept as Raja Guhya, the royal secret.

The SPH says Paramashiva comes again and again, as promised in the Gita, and revives the original, authentic yoga. He says this time the full yoga has been revived and made freely available to all.