What is YOGA ?

What comes into your mind when you hear the word Yoga?

Well, if you think of women in seemingly impossible poses, then you may have an inkling
of what Yoga is. But that's just it - an inkling. You've got a long way to go before fully understanding Yoga.

Yoga is an ancient Indian body of knowledge that dates back more than 5000 years ago. The word "Yoga" came from the Sanskrit word "yuj" which means "to unite or integrate." Yoga then is about the union of a person's own consciousness and the universal consciousness.

Ancient Yogis had a belief that in order for man to be in harmony with himself and his environment, he has to integrate the body, the mind, and the spirit. For these three to be integrated, emotion, action, and intelligence must be in balance. The Yogis formulated a way to achieve and maintain this balance and it is done through exercise, breathing, and Meditation - the three main Yoga structures.

In Yoga, the body is treated with care and respect for it is the primary instrument in man's work and growth. Yoga Exercises improve circulation, stimulate the abdominal organs, and put pressure on the glandular system of the body, which can generally result to better health.


Breathing techniques were developed based on the concept that breath is the source of life. In Yoga, students gain breathing control as they slowly increase their breathing. By focusing on their breathing, they prepare their minds for the next step - Meditation.

There is a general misconception that in Meditation, your mind has to go blank. It doesn't have to be so. In Meditation, students bring the activities of the mind into focus resulting in a
'quiet' mind. By designing physical poses and Breathing Techniques that develop awareness of our body, Yoga helps us focus and relieves us from our everyday stress.

Six Branches of Yoga

Hatha Yoga or Yoga of Postures
Hatha Yoga is perhaps the path of Yoga you are most familiar with since this is the most popular branch of Yoga in the West. This branch of Yoga uses physical poses or Asana, Breathing Techniques or Pranayama, and Meditation to achieve better health, as well as spirituality.
There are many styles within this path - Iyengar, Integral, Astanga, Kripalu, and Jiva Mukti to name a few.

If what you want is a peaceful mind and a healthy body to go along with it, Hatha Yoga may just be the path for you.

Bhakti Yoga or Yoga of Devotion
Bhakti Yoga is the path most followed in India. This is the path of the heart and devotion. Yogis who practice this branch sees the "One" or the Divine in everyone and everything. Bhakti Yoga
teaches a person to have devotion to the "One" or to Brahma by developing a person's love and acceptance for all things.

Raja Yoga or Yoga of Self-Control
Raja means "royal". This path is considered to be the King of Yoga and this may be due to the fact that most of its practitioners are members of religious and spiritual orders. Raja Yoga is
based on the teachings of the Eight Limbs of Yoga found in the Yoga sutras.

A Raja Yogi sees the self as central, and as such, respect to oneself and for all creation are vital to this path. They achieve self-respect by first learning to be masters of themselves.

If you wish to learn discipline, then Raja Yoga would perfectly suit that need.

Jnana Yoga or Yoga of the Mind
Jnana Yoga is the path of Yoga that basically deals with the mind, and as such, it focuses on man's intelligence. Jnana Yogis consider wisdom and intellect as important and they aim to unify the two to surpass limitations. Since they wish to gain knowledge, they are open to other philosophies and religion for they believe that an open and rational mind is crucial in knowing the spirit.

Karma Yoga or Yoga of Service
Karma Yoga is the path of service for in this path, it is believed that your present situation is based on your past actions. So by doing selfless service now, you are choosing a future that is
free from negativity and selfishness. Karma Yogis change their attitude towards the good and in the process, change their souls, which leads to a change in their destiny.

Tantra Yoga or Yoga of Rituals
Perhaps the most misunderstood of all the paths, Tantra Yoga is about using rituals to experience what is sacred. Although sex is a part of it, sex is not the whole of it since this path aims to find what is sacred in everything we do. Tantra Yogis must possess certain qualities
like purity, humility, devotion, dedication to his Guru, cosmic love, and truthfulness among other things.

There are still a lot of misconceptions about Yoga, for instance, Yoga being a religion. Yoga is not a religion. It is more of a set of techniques for us to find spirituality. In fact, Yoga is being
practiced by a lot of people from different religions like Christians, Jewish, Buddhists, and Muslims.

Another misconception is that Yoga is an exercise, a way for us to keep fit. It is partly true, but if you think that Yoga is just that then you are greatly mistaken. Yoga develops the body since a
weak one is a hindrance to spiritual growth. It does not simply focus on the physical but on the mental and spiritual aspects as well.

Yoga in Your Life

You may ask, "Is Yoga for me?"

Definitely,
yes! Yoga is for anyone who is willing to learn its ways and ideas. It does not actually require any special equipment or clothing. What it requires is your will to have a healthier, stress-free self.

You may first approach Yoga as a way to achieve a great body or to keep fit and that is perfectly alright. Yoga really does help in improving your health for stretching can tone your muscles and exercise your spine and your entire skeletal system.


Do not just take advantage of what Yoga can offer. Yoga encourages you to reflect on yourself and to find your inner peace. It exercises not just your body but your mind as well. With a healthy body and mind, you're on your way to a more fulfilling life.

YOGA and India

Yoga's history has many places of obscurity and uncertainty due to its oral transmission of sacred texts and the secretive nature of its teachings. The early writings on yoga were transcribed on fragile palm leaves that were easily damaged, destroyed or lost. The development of yoga can be traced back to over 5,000 years ago. Yoga's long rich history can be divided into four main periods of innovation and development.

Pre-Classical Period:
The beginnings of Yoga were developed by the Indus-Sarasvati civilization in Northern India over 5,000 years ago.
The word yoga was first mentioned in the oldest sacred texts, the Rig Veda. The Vedas were a collection of texts contained songs and rituals used by Brahmans, the Vedic priests. Yoga was slowly refined and developed by Vedic priests, who documented their practices and beliefs in the Upanishads, a huge work containing over 200 scriptures. The most renowned of these Yogic scriptures is the Bhagavad-Gîtâ, composed around 500 B.C.E. The Upanishads took the idea of ritual sacrifice from the Vedas and internalized it, teaching the sacrifice of the ego through self-knowledge, action (karma yoga) and wisdom (jnana yoga).

Classical Period:
The first systematic presentation of yoga was Patanjali's Yoga-Sûtras. Written some time in the second century,
this text describes the path of Raja Yoga, often called "classical yoga". Patanjali organized the practice of yoga into an "eight limbed path" containing the steps and stages towards obtaining Samadhi or enlightenment. Patanjali is often considered the father of yoga and his Yoga-Sûtras still strongly influence all styles of modern yoga.

Post-Classical Period:
A few centuries after Patanjali, yoga masters created a system of practices designed to rejuvenate the body and prolong life. They rejected the teachings of the ancient Vedas and embraced the physical body as the means to achieve enlightenment. They developed Tantra Yoga, with radical techniques to cleanse the body and mind to break the knots that bind us to our physical existence. This exploration of these physical-spiritual connections and body
centered practices led to the creation of Hatha Yoga.

Modern Period:
In the late 1800's and early 1900's, yoga masters began to travel to the west, attracting attention and followers. In the 1920's, Hatha Yoga was strongly promoted in India with the life long work of T. Krishnamacharya . Krishnamacharya traveled through India giving demonstrations of yoga poses and opened the first Hatha Yoga school. Krishnamacharya produced three students that would continue his legacy and increase the popularity of Hatha Yoga: B.K.S. Iyengar , T.K.V. Desikachar and Pattabhi Jois .

The importation of yoga to the west still continued at a trickle until Indra Devi opened her yoga studio in Hollywood in
1947. Since then, many more western and Indian teachers have become pioneers, popularizing hatha yoga and gaining millions of followers. Hatha Yoga now has many different schools or styles, all emphasizing the many different aspects of the practice.