Yoga for most people brings to mind a form of exercise taught by Yoga teachers on a mat. But Yoga is more than that.
“Yoga is not about touching your toes. It is what you learn on the way down” - Jigar Gor.
The meaning of the word "Yoga" is "union". It is derived from the Sanskrit root "yuj," (pron. "yug") meaning "to join", "to unite" but also "to subjugate", with the meaning also "to control" and "to disciplinate".
This union can be understood on different levels: philosophically, as that of the relative, limited self with the absolute Self; religiously, as that of the individual soul with the Infinite Spirit; psychologically, as the integration of the personality – a state wherein a person no longer lives at cross-purposes with himself; emotionally, as the stilling of the waves of likes and dislikes, permitting one to remain in all circumstances complete in himself.
Most people in the Western world think of yoga as hatha yoga, but yoga is primarily a spiritual discipline and there are many types. Some of the most well-known are karma yoga, bhakti yoga, gyana yoga, and raja yoga.
According to the ancient sage Patanjali, yoga is the neutralization of ego-directed feelings, because once these become stilled, the yogi realizes that he is, and that he has always been, one with the Infinite – that his awareness of this reality was limited only by his infatuation with limitation.
“Yoga does not transform the way we see things. It transforms the person who sees.” - B.K.S. Iyengar
Yoga is the ability to direct the mind exclusively in one direction, and to sustain that focus for a certain period of time without direction.
-T K V Desikachar
Yoga is the discipline in one’s lifestyle including diet, work, exercise and study patterns, with a view to refining and strengthening the body and mind. It is the honest unbiased introspection and evaluation of one’s thoughts and actions . This is the practice to act with humility, accept one’s limitations, without anticipating gain or loss .
Yoga enables one to understand that every one of us is a part of an interconnected whole and that it is only in the harmony of the whole that each of its parts can also be in harmony and stability . Yoga is to facilitate a deep awareness of the inherent connection between body, breath and mind. When the mind is slowly trained to meditate, it can reflect the nature of the soul within.
Yoga makes us the very best that we can be in everything that we take up, so that we become a suitable device to receive and hold divine grace.
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