Yoga is a total body-mind-spirit practice developed as many as six thousand years ago by the sages of the Indian subcontinent. It is very likely rooted in even older thought and practice traditions. Yoga has been continuously practiced over the millennia, in which time an enormous variety of disciplines and approaches have developed. Beginning in the 19th century, a few types of yoga practice have made it to the West, most of them centering on the more physical, or "body-mind" aspects of the broader discipline. Increasingly, however, there is developing interest in meditation and the total "body-mind-spirit" connection. At Clear Spring Studio, we teach Iyengar Yoga.

According to the great yogi and philosopher Patanjali (who wrote comparatively recently, only 1,600 years ago), the core definition of Yoga is "...the stilling of the movements of mind." These movements are essentially the thought processes we engage in daily, the ordinary activities of mind. The various types of yogic practice are meant to create the conditions where this stilling of the movements of mind can occur. When this stilling is achieved, the practitioner is then able to see, and express, his or her own true and deepest nature, instead of being diverted into identification with the thought processes themselves.

Patanjali outlines a system of Yoga, called in Sanskrit, Ashtanga Yoga, or Eight-Limbed Yoga. It encompasses all aspects of human life and body-mind-spirit development. The student may begin by concentrating on one or another of the practices, according to need and inclination. The rest follows, depending on the interest, depth and duration of practice. These eight aspects of Yoga may be practiced separately for years, or even for a lifetime, but do not in fact exist separately from one another. They are like facets of a jewel, which reflect light individually as we turn the stone, but which are in fact parts of a whole, inseparable. The complete practice of even one of these limbs compels the practice of the others.

• YAMAS, OR ETHICAL PRACTICES: the various practices of nonviolence, truth, control of appetites, non-greed, and non-stealing.

• NIYAMAS, OR MORAL PRACTICES: the practices of (internal and external) cleanliness, contentment, devotion to one's chosen practice, self-study, and dedication of the results of one's efforts to the highest good.

• ASANA OR PHYSICAL POSTURE: the practice of physical postures of Yoga. Asana is the ground where we make clean and healthy the vehicle of the physical body, and where we begin to learn to observe and control of the movements of the mind.

• PRANAYAMA, OR CONTROL OF LIFE FORCE: Yogis say that the mind rules the body, and the breath rules the mind. This is the practice of the control of breath, and the doorway to the purely internal or mind-spirit practices.

• PRATYAHARA, OR INTROVERSION OF THE SENSES: The practice where the yogi releases the senses from their attraction to external objects, continuing the process of inward observation.

• DHARANA, OR CONCENTRATION: The practice of complete concentration, or focus, on a single thought object, such as an idea or a mantra, or a physical object. The point is to train an absolute, unwavering attention.

• DHYANA, OR MEDITATION: The mind state which arises when concentration is practiced without distraction by the self or the senses, where the observer is absorbed in the object of contemplation.

• SAMADHI, OR UNION: The state of complete absorption, the loss of the sense of self, the merging or union of the self with the Universal Self.

The practice of Yoga is predicated on the principle that none of us, and none of our activities in life, exists separately from any being or any thing. Thus, the literal meaning of the term YOGA is UNION. It refers to the joining not only of all the layers of the individual's self with each other in an integrated whole, but also to the realization that the universe, the whole of existence, is an absolutely interdependent reality. The teachings of Yoga are of how to realize or achieve this non-separateness, and of how to practice it in our daily lives, within our selves and with each other.

Last updated: 12/31/04