Everything You Want to Know About Yoga

What is Yoga?

Yoga is an ancient physical and spiritual discipline and branch of philosophy that originated in India reportedly more than 5,000 years ago. The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit word yuj, which means to yoke, join, or unite.

The Iyengar school of yoga defines yuj as the "joining or integrating of all aspects of the individual-body with mind and mind with soul-to achieve a happy, balanced and useful life."

Purpose of Yoga

The ultimate aim of yoga, they claim, is to reach kaivalya (emancipation or ultimate freedom).

The History of Yoga

There is no written record of who invented yoga because it was practiced by yogis (yoga practitioners) long before humans knew how to write. The earliest written record of yoga, and one of the oldest texts in existence, is generally believed to be written by Patanjali, an Indian yogic sage who lived somewhere between 2,000 and 2,500 years ago.

How Does Yoga Work?

Yoga uses asanas (postures), focused concentration on specific body parts, and pranayama (breathing techniques) to integrate the body with mind and mind with soul.

The Mind

Yoga focuses on the mind by teaching you to concentrate on specific parts of the body. The focus is internal, between your head and your body. The idea is to not fight any thoughts you have, but to let them come and go while the instructor leads you through visual imagery to help you focus on how your muscles feel. The result is to drift into a peaceful, calm, and relaxing state.

The Spirit

Yoga uses controlled breathing as a way to merge the mind, body, and spirit. The breathing techniques are called pranayamas; prana means energy or life force, and yama means social ethics. It is believed that the controlled breathing of pranayamas will control the energy flow in your body and lead to a deep, inner calm and sense of relaxation.

The Body

Yoga asanas (postures or poses) help condition your body. There are thousands of yoga poses to help condition the body.

In Sanskrit, these poses are called kriyas (actions), mudras (seals), and bandhas (locks).