The Meaning of Yoga

Yoga comes from Indian tradition and is one of the systems of Indian thought, Darsana. The direct translation of Darsana is to see, so it explains a view, our point of view or perception.

There are actually a few definitions of yoga which we will explore here.

Unite

One interpretation of yoga is to “come together” or unite. Practising yoga can then be thought to help connect you with your true self, connect mind, body and breath. The feeling of tying the strands of the mind together to help with awareness and understanding of oneself.

Attainment

Yoga is a practice of attaining what was previously unattainable. That could be understanding or awareness of yourself. It is working towards something that you could previously not do perhaps, for example the journey of developing an asana practice shows us that practice and all is coming. This change and progression is yoga.

Actions

In yoga we have focus on actions and direct our attention to the activity we are performing. We focus on staying present. Tasks are performed better when we are attentive. Being aware of our actions also helps us challenge habits or activities that don’t serve us. We can be conscious of our actions and the impacts so that we can decide to change.

To be with the Divine

What the Divine means for different people will be different but it is acknowledgement of a higher power and feeling in harmony with that. Being able to accept what life brings but also having the power to make changes or take actions within our control. We recognise that everyone is on a different path. We are less concerned with others in respect to the impact they have on our lives because we are on our own path and they are on theirs.

Anyone can practice yoga. There is sometimes a feeling that we need to already be perfect or pure before we can start. Maybe thinking we need to be physically stronger or more flexible before we can start an asana practice. This is not the case. Yoga will meet us where we are now and we can change with yoga. Yoga supports us through change through uniting the component parts of us and helping understand ourselves better, helping us control our actions to move towards what we desire to attain, helping us on our own path.