The word "yoga," from the Sanskrit word yuj, means  "to yoke or bind," and is often interpreted as "union" or a method of discipline. A male who practices yoga is called a "yogi," a female practitioner, a "yogini."

The Indian sage Patañjali is believed to have collated the practice of yoga into the Yoga Sutra an estimated 2,000 years ago. The Sutra  is a collection of 195 statements that serves as a philosophical guidebook for most of the yoga that is practiced today. It also outlines eight limbs of yoga: the yamas (restraints), niyamas (observances), asana (postures), pranayama (breathing), pratyahara (withdrawal of senses), dharana (concentration), dhyani (meditation), and samadhi (absorption). As we explore these eight limbs, we begin by refining our behavior in the outer world, and then we focus inwardly until we reach samadhi (liberation, enlightenment).

Today, most people practicing yoga are engaged in the third limb, asana, which is a program of physical postures designed to purify the body and provide the physical strength and stamina required for long periods of meditation.

Republished with the permission of YogaJournal.com.