What is Yoga?

The word yoga has a variety of meanings but perhaps the clearest definition for Western minds is the concept of 'Union' - of mind and body. Through a variety of exercises involving conscious breathing, held postures or poses (called asanas) and movement sequences we train the body and the mind to work together for optimum performance, be it in terms of fitness & stamina, concentration & endurance, or strength and flexibility. In Hatha Yoga the breath is all-important and remarkable things can be achieved in a relatively short amount of time. There is plenty of detailed information available on the theory and history of Yoga so it pointless to waste time and space explaining it here - however, it is important to re-iterate what most books say on the subject: nothing can take the place of a real teacher explaining and checking on what you are doing. Even making a slight error in a posture or exercise on a regular basis can lead to much bigger problems later.