Introduction to Yoga

"Yoga is not an ancient myth buried in oblivion. It is the most

valuable inheritance of the present. It is the essential need of today
and the culture of tomorrow."
Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Yoga is the science of right living and, as such, is intended to

be incorporated in daily life. It works on all aspects of the
person: the physical, vital, mental, emotional, psychic and
spiritual.
The word yoga means 'unity' or 'oneness' and is derived
from the Sanskrit word yuj which means 'to join'. This unity or
joining is described in spiritual terms as the union of the
individual consciousness with the universal consciousness. On
a more practical level, yoga is a means of balancing and har-
monising the body, mind and emotions. This is done through
the practice of asana, pranayama, mudra, bandha, shatkarma
and meditation, and must be achieved before union can take
place with the higher reality.
The science of yoga begins to work on the outermost aspect
of the personality, the physical body, which for most people is
a practical and familiar starting point. When imbalance is
experienced at this level, the organs, muscles and nerves no
longer function in harmony, rather they act in opposition to
each other. For instance, the endocrine system might become
irregular and the efficiency of the nervous system decrease to
such an extent that a disease will manifest. Yoga aims at bring-
ing the different bodily functions into perfect coordination so
that they work for the good of the whole body.

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 From the physical body, yoga moves on to the mental and
emotional levels. Many people suffer from phobias and
neuroses as a result of the stresses and interactions of everyday
living. Yoga cannot provide a cure for life but it does present
a proven method for coping with it.
Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh explained yoga as an
"...integration and harmony between thought, word and deed,
or integration between head, heart and hand". Through the
practices of yoga, awareness develops of the interrelation
between the emotional, mental and physical levels, and how a
disturbance in any one of these affects the others. Gradually,
this awareness leads to an understanding of the more subtle
areas of existence.
There are many branches of yoga: raja, hatha, jnana, karma,
bhakti, mantra, kundalini and laya, to name but a few, and
many texts explain them in detail. Each individual needs to
find those yogas most suited to his/her particular personality
and need. In the last half of this century, hatha yoga has
become the most well known and widely practised of the
systems. However, the concept of what constitutes yoga is
broadening as more people take it up, and this knowledge is
spreading. In the ancient texts, hatha yoga consists of the
shatkarmas, cleansing practices, only. Today, however, hatha
yoga commonly embraces the practices of asana, pranayama,
mudra and bandha as well.

History of yoga
The yoga we know today was developed as a part of the tantric
civilisation which existed in India and all parts of the world
more than ten thousand years ago. In archaeological excava-
tions made in the Indus Valley at Harappa and Mohenjodaro,
now in modern Pakistan, many statues have been found de-
picting deities resembling Lord Shiva and Parvati performing
various asanas and practising meditation. These ruins were
once the dwelling place of people who lived in the pre-vedic
age before the Aryan civilisation started to flourish in the
Indus subcontinent. According to mythical tradition, Shiva is
said to be the founder of yoga and Parvati, his first disciple.

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 Lord Shiva is widely considered to be the symbol or em-
bodiment of supreme consciousness. Parvati represents
supreme knowledge, will and action, and is responsible for all
creation. This force or energy is also known as kundalini shakti,
the cosmic force which lies dormant in all beings. Parvati is
regarded as the mother of the whole universe. The individual
soul is embodied and bound to the world of name and form,
and also liberated from the bondage of the world and united
with supreme consciousness through her grace. Out of love
and compassion for her children, she imparted her secret
knowledge of liberation in the form of tantra. The techniques
of yoga have their source in tantra and the two cannot be
separated, just as consciousness, Shiva, cannot be separated
from energy, Shakti.
Tantra is a combination of two words, tanoti and trayati,
which mean 'expansion' and 'liberation' respectively. There-
fore, it is the science of expanding the consciousness and
liberating the energy. Tantra is the way to attain freedom
from the bondage of the world while still living in it. The first
step in tantra is to know the limitations and capacities of the
body and mind. Next it prescribes techniques for the expan-
sion of consciousness and the liberation of energy whereby
individual limitations are transcended and a higher reality
experienced.
Yoga arose at the beginning of human civilisation when
man first realised his spiritual potential and began to evolve
techniques to develop it. The yogic science was slowly evolved
and developed by ancient sages all over the world. The essence
of yoga has often been shrouded in or explained by different
symbols, analogies and languages. Some traditions believe
that yoga was a divine gift revealed to the ancient sages so that
mankind could have the opportunity to realise its divine nature.
In ancient times, yoga techniques were kept secret and
were never written down or exposed to public view. They
were passed on from teacher or guru to disciple by word of
mouth. In this way there was a clear understanding of their
meaning and aim. Through personal experience, realised
yogis and sages were able to guide sincere aspirants along the

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correct path, removing any confusion, misunderstanding
and excessive intellectual contemplation.
The first books to refer to yoga were the ancient Tantras
and later the Vedas which were written about the time the
Indus Valley culture was flourishing. Although they do not
give specific practices, they allude to yoga symbolically. In
fact, the verses of the Vedas were heard by the rishis, seers, in
states of deep, yogic meditation or samadhi, and are regarded
as revealed scriptures. It is, however, in the Upanishads that
yoga begins to take a more definable shape. These scriptures
collectively form Vedanta, the culmination of the Vedas, and
are said to contain the essence of the Vedas.
Sage Patanjali's treatise on raja yoga, the Yoga Sutras, codi-
fied the first definitive, unified and comprehensive system of
yoga. Often called the eight-fold path, it is comprised of yama,
self-restraints, niyama, self-observances, asana, pranayama,
pratyahara, disassociation of consciousness from the outside
environment, dharana, concentration, dhyana, meditation and
samadhi, identification with pure consciousness.
In the 6th century BC, Lord Buddha's influence brought
the ideals of meditation, ethics and morality to the fore and
the preparatory practices of yoga were ignored. However,
Indian thinkers soon realised the limitations of this view. The
yogi Matsyendranath taught that before taking to the prac-
tices of meditation, the body and its elements need purifying.
He founded the Nath cult and the yogic pose matsyendrasana
was named after him. His chief disciple, Gorakhnath, wrote
books on hatha yoga in the local dialect and in Hindi.
Indian tradition previously required that original texts be
written in Sanskrit. In some cases they clothed their writings in
symbolism so that only those prepared and ready for a teach-
ing would be able to understand it. One of the most
outstanding authorities on hatha yoga, Swami Swatmarama,
wrote the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, or 'Light on Yoga', in San-
skrit, collating all extant material on the subject. In doing so,
he reduced the emphasis on yama and niyama from hatha
yoga, thereby eliminating a great obstacle experienced by many
beginners. In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Swatmarama starts

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with the body and only later, when the mind has become
more stable and balanced, are self-control and self-discipline
introduced.

The relevance of yoga today

Today, as we prepare to enter the 21st century, a spiritual
heritage is being reclaimed of which yoga is very much a part.
While yoga's central theme remains the highest goal of the
spiritual path, yogic practices give direct and tangible benefits
to everyone regardless of their spiritual aims.
Physical and mental therapy is one of yoga's most important
achievements. What makes it so powerful and effective is the
fact that it works on the wholistic principles of harmony and
unification. Yoga has succeeded as an alternative form of
therapy in diseases such as asthma, diabetes, blood pressure,
arthritis, digestive disorders and other ailments of a chronic
and constitutional nature where modern science has not.
Research into the effects of yogic practices on HIV is currently
underway with promising results. According to medical
scientists, yoga therapy is successful because of the balance
created in the nervous and endocrine systems which directly
influences all the other systems and organs of the body.
For most people, however, yoga is simply a means of main-
taining health and well-being in an increasingly stressful
society. Asanas remove the physical discomfort accumulated
during a day at the office sitting in a chair, hunched over a
desk. Relaxation techniques help maximise the effectiveness
of ever-diminishing time off. In an age of mobile phones,
beepers and twenty-four hour shopping, yogic practices make
great personal and even business sense.
Beyond the needs of individuals, the underlying principles
of yoga provide a real tool to combat social malaise. At a time
when the world seems to be at a loss, rejecting past values
without being able to establish new ones, yoga provides a means
for people to find their own way of connecting with their true
selves. Through this connection with their real selves it is pos-
sible for people to manifest harmony in the current age, and
for compassion to emerge where hitherto there has been none.

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 In this respect, yoga is far from simply being physical
exercises, rather, it is an aid to establishing a new way of life
which embraces both inner and outer realities. However, this
way of life is an experience which cannot be understood
intellectually and will only become living knowledge through
practice and experience.