Bihar School of Yoga - Founded by Swami Satyananda

Bihar School of Yoga, Munger Bihar Swami Satyananda founded the Bihar School of Yoga in Munger district in Bihar in the year of 1963. It was established under the patronage of Rishikesh’s Swami Sivananda. It functions in the style of an ashram where yogic living is practiced along with imparting education on the different tenets of yoga. It also has a yoga college by the name of Bihar Yoga Bharati that was founded in the year 1994 and is concerned with teaching the sciences and philosophies of yoga at undergraduate as well as postgraduate levels. You can also find Bihar School of Yoga in Rikhia in Jharkhand, India. Bihar Yoga Bharati and Bihar School of Yoga together encapsulate the philosophy of Swami Satyananda as far as yoga is concerned. According to him, yoga is one way of living which involves both science and sense and it is also the means through which you can realize the ultimate values of life. He goes on to say that yoga brings about a harmony in man, matter and mind and assists us in getting rid of our atavistic emotions. All these approaches find place in these two schools so that Swami Satyananda manages to spread his teachings to all and sundry. All the four facets of being are the primary focus of Bihar School of Yoga. They are body, mind, soul and psyche. In other words, they can also be referred to as the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional state of being. The main intention of Satyananda Yoga is to establish a harmony between these four different features of an individual. Satyananda liberally borrows from a number of traditional sources such as Bhagwad Gita, Upanishads and different Shastras on Tantra and Yoga. Both schools, one in Munger and the other in Rikhia teach the different yoga streams with sufficient backing and support from Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Some of these yogic streams are Hatha yoga which is about calmness of mind and body, Raj yoga or yogic psychology, Gyana yoga which attempts to show the path of knowledge, Swara yoga which is concerned with the science of breathing of the brain, Nada yoga which makes use of sound, Mantra yoga which deals with the science of removing the burdens of the mind and making it absolutely free thereby expanding it, Karma yoga which directs you to the path of service, Bhakti yoga concerning emotion and heart and Kriya or Kundalini yoga which uses energy and binds the mind. Along with the above mentioned types, there are other divisions of yoga as well which are taught in these two schools. Bihar School of Yoga also gives out ways of dealing with several physical and mental problems. For instance, specific asanas go a long way in curing certain physical ailments. Again, Kirtan helps to cure any emotional and mental problems such as anxiety, depression and so on. Also, Ajapa Japa and yoga nidra prove to be useful in healing physiological disorders and imbalances.

A number of Satyananda yoga centers have opened up in all corners of the globe through which the philosophy of yoga is being popularized for the benefit of mankind.