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The purpose of a spiritual path is to raise our awareness to allow us to directly perceive the spiritual dimension. To be spiritual means to recognize one's own spiritual identity and recognize the transcendental essence of everything around us. It also means to see that we are all parts and parcels of God and to respect each other in that regard. That is one of the goals of Yoga. But how can we be sure that there even is a God?

This comes by a reawakening of our higher consciousness and the knowledge of our spiritual identity. It is through the practice of yoga and the path of Sanatana-dharma that we may reach this higher awareness and comprehend exactly who we are. The Yoga-sutras of Patanjali comprise the essence of yoga practice. However, yoga itself is a deep and serious practice, and there are many forms of yoga that can be practiced. There are four primary types of yoga depending on the yoga positions. There is:

Jnana-yoga is the path of intellectual growth and understanding what is real and what is not.

Karma-yoga is the path of right action, detachment from the fruits of one's deeds, and committing our activities for a higher, spiritual purpose. Astanga or Raja-yoga is the path of internal meditation and the achievement of higher states of consciousness through various practices. Bhakti-yoga is the path of raising our consciousness, increasing our devotion and love for God and decreasing our attachment to the various aspects of the temporary material world.

There are additional forms of yoga, but they are often considered branches of these four paths.

However, in the early stages, yoga is, simply, a tool for controlling the flickering nature of the mind, and for developing one's finer traits and expanding one's awareness from material to spiritual awareness. It is explained that Yoga is the process of completely calming the activities of the mind, which include memory, misconception, sleep, perceived knowledge, and imagination. When these are stabilized, then it can be called yoga, which provides the opportunity for the seer to become fully aware of his own fundamental and essential nature. Yoga is the attempt to realign our individual Selves with the Supreme Self, God.

When you progress in yoga you can feel the unwanted burdens of the mind fall away, such as envy, hate, anger, greed, discontent, anxiety, etc. Then other qualities like contentment, tranquility, peacefulness, and blissfulness will be experienced. These are qualities sought by all and are some of the many things that can be achieved through yoga, at least on the basic level. As you make further progress, you may enter into the deeper levels of understanding and transcending the mind and gradually progress so far as to realize your own spiritual identity and what your relationship is with the Absolute. Becoming free from material life and reclaiming one's spiritual identity is the aim of all yoga.

But in spite of all of these benefits, many people find it difficult to follow this path. This is due to the lack of motivation to exercise. Once you start performing Yoga on a regular basis, it will itself keep you motivated. The benefit of feeling motivated by Yoga practice is what makes Yoga unique among health maintenance programs. Yoga can become a part of your everyday life because there is no pain or discomfort involved.

Why do most diets fail? Why do most exercisers quit? Lack of motivation is the reason for exercise and diet failure. People already know they ought to drink more water, walk more, exercise, and eat better, but they need to stay motivated without "burning out."

When practicing Yoga, positive energy is all around the room. Positive energy creates motivation to exercise and creates powerful visions of success. The next step is to believe in the powerful visions of success, which you see. Some people have a fear of success. Maybe they inherently feel a lack of self-worth, but Yoga also works on improving one's self-esteem. It is normal for people to feel apprehensive about change, but change is often one of the gateways to success.

We can say that consistency is the key as far as the benefits of yoga are concerned while we have to take care of the yoga positions. We can't benefit from yoga if we are not consistent with our routine. If we fail to be consistent, then it is hard to get the positive results and yoga can't be blamed for this. To stay motivated, a beneficial technique to use is hypnosis.

Hypnosis therapy has proven to be extremely effective in keeping us motivated. Self-hypnosis is based on the formula of auto suggestion and visual imagery, and it works on deeper unconscious levels than one can imagine. Motivational hypnosis therapy engages your unconscious mind, and compels it to alter self-image and self-perception.

Unknown to us, our unconscious is largely responsible for how we think and react; if we train it to think along more positive lines, your subsequent behavior will change as well. You will want to understand the incredible potential that lies within each of us, and by using hypnotherapy you can tap into that potential. Through gentle affirmations such as "I can do it" along with positive visual imagery, self hypnosis programs can recondition your mind into believing that anything is possible, and nothing is impossible. This means that yoga in conjunction with motivational hypnosis can help us to quickly move towards success.

Alan B. Densky, CH started his hypnotherapy practice in 1978. He offers a wide range of hypnosis programs for all aspects of self development, including hypnosis for exercise motivation.