Yoga

Yoga (Sanskrit: योग, "union" or "yoke") is one of the six darshanas (schools) of Vedic philosophy. The history of yoga goes back at least five thousand years, but yogic philosophy was codified some time between the 2nd century BC and the 3rd century by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutra, which prescribes adherence to "eight limbs" (the sum of which constitute "Ashtanga Yoga") to quiet one's mind and merge with the infinite:

• Yama (moral codes)
• Niyama (self-purification and study)
• Asana (posture)
• Pranayama (breath control)
• Pratyahara (sense control)
• Dharana (concentration)
• Dhyana (meditation)
• Samadhi (absorption)

States the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (2.8-15), "Holding his body stead with the three [parts] erect, and causing the senses with the mind to enter the heart, a wise man with the Brahma-boat will cross, all the fear-bringing streams...One who practices Yoga beholds here the nature of Brahma."

There are many separate paths of yoga which "yogis" (practitioners) follow in the pursuit of spiritual fulfillment (union of the individual with the infinite). Some are quite recent inventions (one, Bikram yoga, is even trademarked!), but here are a few of the more ancient branches:

• bhakti yoga (devotional love)
• karma yoga (to be mindful of one's own actions)
• hatha yoga (physical body/energy)
• jnana yoga (contemplation)
• raja yoga (psychic ritual)

Outside of Hindu culture, "yoga" is usually understood to refer to hatha yoga. Hatha is a Sanskrit word meaning 'sun' (ha) and 'moon' (tha), representing opposing energies: hot and cold, male and female, positive and negative, yin and yang. Hatha yoga attempts to balance mind and body via physical exercises, or "asanas", controlled breathing, and the calming of the mind through relaxation and meditation. Asanas teach teach poise, balance & strength were originally practiced to improve the body's physical health and clear the mind in preparation for meditation in the pursuit of enlightenment.

In The West, hatha yoga has become wildly popular as a purely physical exercise regimen divorced of its original purpose. Currently, it is estimated that about 30 million Americans practice hatha yoga.

Many modern schools of Hatha Yoga derive from the school of Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who taught in Mysore, India from 1931 until his death in 1993. Among his students prominent in popularising Yoga in the West were Pattabhi Jois, B.K.S. Iyengar, Indra Devi and Krishnamacharya's son T.K.V. Desikachar. Desikachar founded the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Madras (now Chennai), with the aim of making available the heritage of yoga as taught by Krishnamacharya.