Yoga

The next important theme is yoga. Several articles explain the full spectrum of yoga, including its international dimensions. Indeed, yoga is one of India’s the most important contributions to the world.

What is yoga? Classically described as the melding of body and mind, yoga is a routine of harnessing the internal energies of our body and mind to reach perfect harmony that will elevate our quality of life to incredible heights. It was taught as a discipline that involved both physical routines and meditation to build the body, and to evolve the mind—empowering us to live purposefully, and to reach a plane of simple living, and high thinking. The word yoga harmoniously blends with a way of life that our ancients taught us. The Gita preaches Karma yoga, discipline of duty; Jnana Yoga, progression of our knowledge; and Bhakti yoga, surrendering ourselves to the Almighty. These constitute the trinity of means to live a life with purpose and meaning, and to attain self-realization. Yoga, and yogic teachings in many colors and forms, have spread beyond the borders of India to other parts of the world. Buddhism played a significant role in this diffusion of yoga into the world. Terms and practices such as mindfulness, transcendental meditation, and many forms of yoga described with various epithets, are practiced in different countries, and communities. The world’s top medical facilities and hospitals have yoga practice centers in use for the alleviation of their patients’ ailments.

This section is compiled in-house by the editorial board, Dr. Gururaj Mutalik, and Prof. B. V. K. Sastry; with contributions from Sri Raghuram, chief of the international movement, yoga bharati; and Dr. H. R. Nagendra, Chancellor of SVYASA University. The presentation of this theme is based on many authentic, traditional, and modern resources, including the Patanjali Yoga sutras, scriptural texts such as the Bhagavad Gita, and writings of many yoga pioneers, such as B. K. S. Iyengar, David Frawley, and Deepak Chopra.