Bihar School of Yoga

The Bihar School of Yoga is an internationally acclaimed school of Yoga founded by Swami Satyananda Saraswati in 1964 to fulfill the instruction given by his Guru, Sri Swami Sivananda of propagating the ancient wisdom of yoga from door to door and from shore to shore. Situated on the banks of the Ganges, the campus of Bihar School of Yoga is known as Ganga Darshan, located at the top of hillock in the town of Munger in the Indian state of Bihar. Bihar School of Yoga imparts traditional yoga teachings to householders and sannyasins alike from across the globe.

The yoga taught at Bihar School of Yoga is known as Satyananda Yoga or Bihar Yoga and is an integral system which addresses the qualities of head, heart and hands – intellect, emotion and action – and attempts to integrate the physical, psychological and spiritual dimensions of yoga into each practice. Satyananda Yoga is suitable for everyone, regardless of age, gender, nationality, religion, mental condition or level of fitness. It is a holistic system which addresses all aspects of human life in the spheres of physical health, mental well-being, emotional behaviour and work environment. Awareness is emphasized and practitioners are encouraged to learn about all aspects of their personality through yoga. Adjustment in stages is emphasized, not a total change in one’s lifestyle and environment.

The techniques developed at Bihar School of Yoga are a synthesis of many approaches to personal development, based on traditional vedantic, tantric and yogic teachings in conjunction with contemporary physical and mental health sciences. The main components include karma yoga, hatha yoga, raja yoga, jnana yoga, kriya yoga as well as other yogas. Today, these techniques are taught by Bihar Yoga Bharati and also by Satyananda Yoga Academies in Australia and Colombia.

In addition to providing spiritual instruction to aspirants, the school also guides yoga projects and medical research in association with various corporations, state government and public works aiming to provide methods of alleviating the psychosomatic imbalances affecting physical, mental, emotional, moral and spiritual health. Programs developed by Bihar School of Yoga are used in educational institutions, colleges, prisons, hospitals, Indian Railways, Defense Services and private and public sector industries such as Indian Oil Corporation, Coal India Limited, National Thermal Power Corporation, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Steel Authority of India, Hindustan Copper Corporation and many others.