Experience Yoga

Yoga is a method of self-healing, developed in India over centuries. Yoga is a Sanskrit word, "Yuj", meaning to yoke, join or unite. Thus, yoga is a method for cultivating peace and well-being and a union between the physical, mental and spiritual. These qualities will naturally expand throughout one's life, radiating out to others and thereby spreading into the world at large.

Yoga has been defined as the control of the activities of the mind, although this is often developed through physical postures. In it's entirety, Yoga encompasses our entire being, both physical and spiritual. It combines ethics, physical postures, breathing, and meditation in a process of spiritual development.

According to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the ultimate aim of Yoga is to reach "Kaivalya" (emancipation or ultimate freedom). This is the experience of one's innermost being or "soul" (the Purusa). Then one becomes free of chains of cause and effect (Karma) which tie us to continual reincarnation. In Kaivalya one is said to exist in peace and tranquility, having attained absolute knowledge of the difference between the spiritual which is timeless, unchanging and free of sorrows, and the material which is not.

This is considered desirable as life is analysed as ultimately full of sorrows and pain- even pleasure and joy leave pain and loss when they have gone as nothing in the material world is permanent. Yoga is therefore a spiritual quest. However, along the path of yoga, the aspirant also gains health, happiness, tranquility and knowledge which are indicators of progress and an encouragement to continue their practice. Buddhism and other Eastern spiritual traditions use many techniques derived from Yoga.

In yoga practice one learns to tether the mind and the body. Without this union of mind and body, the body can easily become slow, dull and stiff; the mind uncontrolled and scattered. With the yogic union of body and mind the body becomes pliant, strong and light, and the mind becomes calm and peaceful.

Today, yoga has become common throughout the western world and there are many styles of yoga including Iyengar, Ashtanga, Hatha, Bikram, Kundalini and more. Yoga can have a profound effect on your health, energy levels and concentration, leading to a happier, more fulfilling life.

It is never too late or too early in life to for anyone to begin the practice of yoga.