Sivananda yoga teaches 4 paths of yoga: karma, bhakti, raja and jnana yoga, and requests the student to practise all four and eventually to pick one as their main focus. Sivananda Yoga teachers are all graduates of the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Course. The Sivananda training system aims to teach an authentically Vedic system of yoga and believes that retaining the vitality of the body is a byproduct of the discipline and not the goal. The system philosophies are summarized in 5 principles: A session of training typically starts with every practitioner resting in "Savasana", and begins with Pranayama (breathing exercises) Kapalabhati
Bhagavad Gita "bhakti" effort is assisted with "right knowledge" and dedication to one's "dharma". Theologian Catherine Cornille writes, "The text [of the "Gita"] offers a survey of the different possible disciplines for attaining liberation through knowledge ("Jnana"), action ("karma"), and loving devotion to God ("bhakti"), focusing on the latter as both the easiest and the highest path to salvation." According to M. R. Sampatkumaran, a "Bhagavad Gita" scholar, the "Gita" message is that mere knowledge of the scriptures cannot lead to final release, but "devotion, meditation, and worship" are essential." The "Gita" likely spawned a "powerful devotionalism" movement, states Fowler, because the