Yoga

Traditional yoga is a spiritual practice, with a goal of union with the absolute or the divine, while contemporary yoga focuses more on fitness. The various exercises we associate with hatha yoga were performed to prepare the body for long periods of meditation. As it’s typically practiced in the West, the focus of yoga is more on the physical fitness aspects. Of course, it can be a spiritual experience, if you choose to use it as such. There are many contemporary styles of yoga, all yoga styles seek balance of body, mind and spirit, but they may differ in how the asanas (movements) are done and in other ways, such as the focus on postures, alignment, flow of movement or breathing. Some may be designed to suit particular groups, such as pregnant women or older people, while others may use props or vary temperature.

The main purpose of yoga is to isolate the mind of all thoughts, worries and fears, and to increase the strength and flexibility of the body. The regular practice of yoga can help keep stress and tension at bay and facilitate the mind to a state.

The meaning to yoke, or unite and also can be translated as ‘harmony’. This implies harmonizing all aspects of the individual – body with mind and mind with soul – to achieve a happy, balanced and fulfilling life, and at the advanced stages of Yoga, a yogi can realize the universal consciousness, uniting the ‘self’ with the ‘supreme’.

Many people in the West know yoga as a form physical exercise, but in India, the country of its origin, yoga is a scientific system covering the vast arrays of philosophy, psychology, mysticism, religion, music, literature, dance and other forms of art.