Explore Bhakti Yoga, an ancient spiritual path of love and devotion. Unlike other yoga types, Bhakti Yoga skips physical poses, focusing instead on nurturing a loving heart through mantras and chanting. It’s an ancient practice that pre-dates the Westernization of yoga and offers a profound path to spiritual fulfillment.

What is Bhakti Yoga?

In Hinduism, Bhakti yoga is a spiritual practice centered on loving devotion. It is one of the three primary spiritual paths to Moksha (salvation or liberation), alongside Jnana (path of knowledge) and Karma (path of action).

Unlike other types of yoga like Hatha or Vinyasa, which center on moving your body (Asana), Bhakti yoga does not use physical poses. Instead, the practice focuses entirely on channeling emotional intensity into a spirit of unconditional love. All you need to practice Bhakti is an open, loving heart.

The Benefits of Bhakti Yoga

Bhakti has nothing to do with getting a “hot bod” or flexible limbs. Instead, it’s about cultivating a loving heart and a peaceful mind. Here are some of the perks its practice can bring.

  • Relief from Stress and Worry: By cultivating a sense of calmness, peace, and love, everyday problems can begin to melt away. When you connect to a timeless sense of divinity, it becomes harder to worry about daily trifles. Research supports the idea that yogic practices, including meditation, can help relieve anxiety.
  • A Sense of Love and Gratitude: To receive love, you must find it within yourself. Bhakti yoga is a practice of learning what it feels like to be deeply loved and to love in return. It breaks down barriers to self-love and connection with others.
  • Feeling of Bliss (Samadhi): Bhakti yoga’s practice of love and devotion can help you feel truly free. It is about breaking down the barriers to love, to other people, to the Divine, and to the interconnectedness of all things. This can help you experience the beauty and love of the present moment.

How to Practice Bhakti Yoga

All you need to practice Bhakti yoga is an open heart. No yoga mat is required. The practice involves focusing your mind, emotions, and senses on the Divine, with the aim of merging with the reality of divine love. While traditional Bhakti often involves concentrating on deities, many contemporary leaders encourage practitioners to focus on the Divine in whatever form they choose.

Core Practices of Bhakti:

  • Kirtan (Devotional Chanting): This is often a group practice, involving call-and-response singing of mantras and praises. It’s considered a joyful and powerful way to express devotion.
  • Japa (Mantra Repetition): This is the quiet, meditative repetition of mantras, often using a string of 108 beads (a *mala*) to keep count. It helps focus the mind and internalize the mantra’s meaning.
  • Devotion to the Divine: This is the core principle of directing unconditional love to all of creation. You may opt to direct your love to a god, a guru, the Divine in all things, or simply to yourself and others.

Since Bhakti emphasizes the interconnected nature of all things, as you direct love to places seemingly outside of yourself, you actually pour it into yourself, too.

Bhakti Mantras to Practice

Bhakti traditionally involves meditating on, chanting, or singing mantras. While often in Sanskrit or Hindi, there are no set rules. Here are some common examples:

  • Namaste: Roughly translates to “the light within me salutes the light within you.”
  • Om Namah Shivaya: “I bow to the Self” or “I bow to Shiva.” It signifies reverence for the divine consciousness within.
  • Lokah Samastah Sukino Bhavantu: “May all beings everywhere be happy and free.” This is a powerful mantra of loving-kindness for all.

The 9 Principles of Bhakti Yoga

The Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, a sacred Hindu text, outlines nine core principles (or practices) of Bhakti yoga that guide a devotee on the path of love.

  1. Svarana (Listening)

    Svarana involves listening to ancient scriptures, poems, or divine stories, especially those told by a wise teacher or saint (Bhakta). It’s about absorbing sacred knowledge and the praises of the Divine through hearing.

  2. Kirtana (Singing)

    Kirtana is the active expression of devotion through singing or chanting the Divine’s praises. This is where mantras are put to music, often in a joyful, communal setting to magnify the loving energy.

  3. Smarana (Remembering)

    Smarana means constantly remembering the Divine. It is the practice of keeping divinity at the forefront of your mind at all times, in all actions, integrating devotion into every moment of life.

  4. Padasevana (Service)

    This principle involves expressing love for the Divine through active service. This can be ritualistic (like serving in a temple) or expressed as selfless service to humanity, such as volunteering or helping someone in need.

  5. Archana (Ritual Worship)

    Archana is the practice of worshipping the Divine through external forms, such as statues, icons, or sacred images. This involves rituals like offering flowers, incense, or food to purify the heart and focus the mind on love.

  6. Vandana (Prayer)

    Vandana refers to prayer and prostration (lying outstretched on the ground). By praying and bowing, the practitioner shows humility, limits self-absorption, and fosters a direct, personal connection to the Divine.

  7. Dasya (Unquestioning Service)

    Dasya is the practice of serving the will of the Divine rather than the desires of one’s own ego. It is a state of being a willing servant, listening to and following the divine path without doubt or fear.

  8. Sakhya (Friendship)

    Sakhya involves cultivating an intimate, personal friendship with the Divine. It’s about seeing the Divine not as a distant, abstract power, but as one’s closest, most trusted friend and confidant.

  9. Atmanivedana (Self-Offering)

    This is the final principle, representing the total surrender of the self. Atmanivedana means offering one’s entire life, ego, and being to the Divine, resulting in a complete merger with divine love.

The Takeaway

In Hinduism, Bhakti yoga is a practice centered on loving devotion. No Downward-Facing Dogs are necessary. To practice Bhakti yoga, all you need is a loving heart, a willingness to be open, and a desire to connect with something greater than yourself.