Summary of Yoga

A great summary on Yoga I found on Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. The school is considering the first Masters of Arts in Yoga Studies program in North America. I hope they do! It would combine my interest in yoga and living in Los Angeles!

About Yoga

Yoga is a practice for optimizing the health of the body and quieting the mind. It includes a variety of activities, including postures (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama), meditation (dhyana), and lifestyle practices. According to a year 2000 survey, it is estimated that over 15 million Americans currently practice this ancient art.

Yoga comes from the Sanskrit word yuj, which means to yoke, join, or apply. Yoga is usually translated as union, for its methods and practices lead to a profound integration of body, mind, and spirit. The yogic ideal is to achieve complete freedom and authenticity by transcending the limiting structures of the ego-personality (the person we behave as on a normal day) and discovering the true spiritual Self within.

Although the most authoritative root texts on Yoga were written in classical India around the beginning of the Christian era, archaeological evidence from the Indus River valley of present-day Pakistan indicates that some form of yogic meditation was being practiced on the subcontinent at least two thousand years earlier.


Classical Yoga of Patanjali

Patanjali is believed to have lived sometime between 200 BCE and 450 CE. He is sometimes called the "founder" of Yoga, but in reality Patanjali's chief contribution was to compose an organized and succinct presentation of a system of thought and practice which had already been around for many centuries before his time. He summarized the essentials of yoga practice in a highly condensed document composed of 195 aphorisms, which has become known as the Yoga Sutra. Today this elegant text continues to be revered by scholars and practitioners alike as the most coherent and authoritative outline of the fundamental principles of Classical Yoga.

The Yoga Sutra begins by defining yoga as the liberation of the "Seer" by bringing about the control of the incessant modifications of the mind. In service of this goal, Patanjali presents a basic psychology of mind and describes how mental activity can be mastered and therefore quieted or stilled through the application of contemplative practice. In the first chapter alone, over twenty techniques are mentioned which can help bring about quietude and clarity of mind. He continues by describing the deepening stages of meditation which ultimately lead to self-realization and spiritual freedom. In the remaining three chapters, Patanjali describes the eight limbs of spiritual practice or ashtanga-yoga, the supranormal capacities or siddhis that naturally arise through contemplative practice, and finally the supreme goal of spiritual self-sufficiency or kaivalya. Understanding the Yoga Sutra is vital for any serious practitioner of Yoga.


Yoga and Ethics

The foundation for successful Yoga practice begins with application of basic ethical principles called yamas or "restraints." These include non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, sexual restraint, and non-possessiveness. Adoption of this ethical code of conduct is complemented by the niyamas or "observances," which include contentment, purity, austerity, self-study, and spiritual devotion. The yamas constitute core qualities which promote healthy social relationships, while the niyamas are personal habits which are conducive towards an individual's spiritual development. These basic lifestyle principles form the essential foundation of Pata?jali's Ashtanga Yoga system. These practices are undertaken to promote the kind of positive social and personal developments which are needed for the practices of asana, pranayama, and meditation to become fully fruitful and effective.


Types of Yoga

The yoga of Patanjali's Yoga Sutra is sometime referred to as raja-yoga or the "royal" yoga. But this highest yoga includes within it several more specific types of yoga, each with its own emphasis. The yoga which Americans are most familiar, which consists of various postures and stretches designed to perfect the physical body, is known as hatha-yoga. A specialized extension of this kind of yoga, which involves the manipulation of the inner energy pathways of the body-mind complex is known as kundalini-yoga. Bhakti-yoga is the yoga of ecstatic religion devotion, while the path which focuses on the acquisition of higher spiritual knowledge is called jnana-yoga. The path of selfless action in the world which Krishna teaches to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita is known as karma-yoga. Each of the different approaches to yoga practice has developed in order to suit the spiritual needs of individuals of different dispositions and capacities.


Yoga and Religion

Yoga is a set of spiritual practices but in itself is not an institutionalized religion, per se. Hinduism is related to yoga through a common recognition of the Vedas as an authoritative source, and both Buddhism and Jainism share many of the core values of the Yoga tradition. But Classical Yoga is best understood as a system of spiritual practice, rather than a particular religion. Being non-sectarian in its essence, yoga represents a body of practices that may be fruitfully taken up by anyone who is serious about their spiritual development, regardless of their individual religious affiliation.

Although some people practice yoga out of devotion to a guru, there are others who follow their own guidance. Although yoga does not necessarily require belief in a Creator as we understand God in the traditional Western religious sense, the Yoga Sutra advocates devotion to Ishvara or the "Lord" who is described as an ultimate being forever unafflicted by worldly concerns. Whether this Lord is understood as God Almighty or as the yogic ideal of the liberated "Seer," the decision about how to conceptualize Ishvara is very personal one. By remaining deliberately ambiguous and non-dogmatic about such ultimate theological issues, the Yoga tradition establishes itself as a positive proponent for individual spiritual development for persons of all religious backgrounds and creeds.