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The aim of any true spiritual path is to raise our awareness to the point of allowing us to directly perceive the spiritual dimension. To be spiritual means to recognize one's own spiritual identity and practically see the transcendental essence of everything around us. It also means to realize that we are all connected to God and to respect each other in that regard. That is one of the goals of Yoga. But how can we be certain that there even is a God?

This comes by a reawakening of our higher sense of awareness and the knowledge of our spiritual identity. It is through the practice of yoga and following the path of Sanatana-dharma that we can achieve this higher consciousness and perceive exactly who we are. The Yoga-sutras of Patanjali form the essence of yoga practice. However, yoga itself is a deep, serious discipline, and there are many forms of yoga that can be practiced. There are four primary types of yoga with varying yoga positions. There is:

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

Karma-yoga is the path of right action, detachment from the fruits of one's labor, and dedicating our activities for a higher and spiritual purpose. Raja-yoga, also known as Classical yoga, is the path of inward meditation and the achievement of higher states of consciousness through various different practices. Bhakti-yoga is the path of raising our consciousness, increasing our devotion and love for God and decreasing our attachment to aspects of the temporary material energy.

There are many other forms of yoga, but they are often considered branches of these four pathways.

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

When you practice yoga you can feel the undesirable burdens of the mind melt away, such as anxiety, anger, greed, envy, hate, discontent, etc. Then other qualities like blissfulness, tranquility, contentment, and peacefulness will be experienced. These are qualities sought by all and are among the many things that can be accomplished through yoga, at least on the elementary level. As you make further progress, you may enter into the deeper levels of awareness and transcending the mind and eventually 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 goal of all forms of yoga.

But in spite of all of these benefits, many people find it quite difficult to follow this path. This is due to the fact that they lack the motivation to exercise. Once you start practicing Yoga on a regular basis, it can itself keep you motivated. The benefit of motivation from Yoga practice is what makes Yoga unique among health maintenance systems. Yoga can become a lifestyle because there is no discomfort involved.

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

In Yoga, positive energy is all around the classroom. Positive energy generates motivation to exercise and generates strong visions of success. The next step is to believe the powerful visions of success, which are formed in your mind. Some people are afraid to be successful. Maybe they inherently feel a lack of self-worth, but Yoga also works on boosting one's self-esteem. It is normal for people to feel apprehensive about change, but change is often one of the keys to success.

We can say that consistency is the key as far as the benefits of yoga are concerned while we are in the process of learning yoga positions. We can't benefit from yoga if we are not consistent with our routine. If we fail to do so, then it is very hard to derive positive results and yoga can't be blamed for it. Another beneficial technique to use is hypnosis.

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

The unconscious mind is largely responsible for the way we think and react; if we train it to think along more positive lines, your corresponding behaviors will change too. You will feel motivated to understand the true potential that lies within all of us, and by using hypnosis you can tap into that potential. Through gentle affirmations such as "I can do it" along with positive visual imagery, hypnotherapy CDs can retrain your mind into believing that anything is possible, and nothing is impossible. This simply means that yoga combined with motivational hypnosis can help us to quickly move towards success.