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The common definition of yoga is the union of the individual soul with the universal spirit. Yoga is both the practice and the experience of the ultimate freedom of the heart. It is both a path to spiritual fulfillment and the experience of fulfillment itself.
Through the yoking of our bodies, minds, and hearts to a higher power of existence, we can awaken the shakti, or spiritual energy hidden within, and our highest capabilities are revealed.
Yoga means “union” or “to yoke” in Sanskrit. It drives from the verbal root, yuj which means “join”. It is the bases of the English word yoke, meaning to bind together or join.
The more often we experience the state of union through our yoga practice, the more we become established in an elevated vibratory state of consciousness. So when we are confronted with stressful and challenging events in our life, which would normally knock us out of alignment, we are able to sustain our yogic state. We are then better able to respond to difficult situations.
Yama: self-control, social ethical precepts
Niyama: observance of duty, personal ethical disciplines
Asana: physical postures
Pranayama: breath control, breathing exercises
Pratyahara: inhibition or withdrawal of the senses
Dharana: mental concentration
Dhyana: meditation or unbroken mental focus
Samadhi: absorption in the spirit or with the Absolute, enlightenment
In the philosophy of Yoga, all matter in the universe arises from Prakriti, the primal creative or natural force. It is the natural-original state; the term is derived from Sanskrit pra, meaning “beginning,” and kriti, meaning “creation.”
From this ethereal Prakriti emerge three primary qualities called Gunas, which are the essential aspects of nature.
Guna means “strand, thread or rope,” and thus the Gunas are the intertwining forces that weave together the material world, which encompasses all energy, matter and human consciousness. .
The three Gunas are:
Tamas – darkness, inertia, inactivity and materiality
Rajas – energy, action, change and movement
Sattva – harmony, balance, joy and intelligence
All three gunas are present in all beings and objects in varying amounts. Too much Rajas or Tamas is not beneficial for our mental health and overall wellbeing. Ideally, every yoga practice brings us toward a state of balanced attention and intention–Sattva.
As conscious beings, we have the ability to work with the Gunas in us by:
“The Sanskrit symbol for OM (AUM), the primordial syllable exemplifying the vibrational power of sound.
Om! This syllable is the whole world, the past, the present, the future—everything is just the word Om” – Mandukya Upanishad
“OM does not necessarily mean anything. It is merely the sound of the Sanskrit vowels vocalized. It is the primordial sound in Sanskrit. It brings the mind to a calm, primed place, from which a single pointed focus through meditation and asana practices is brought about. Reciting OM alone is also chanting, but when added to other Sanskrit words or sacred names, which resound in vibrations throughout the body, the possibilities become limitless. Chanting Sanskrit is yet another tool to reach enlightenment.” – Living yoga