What is Yoga? A Path Towards Wholeness
The word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit root yuj, meaning "to yoke" or "to unite." The natural question, then, is: what is being united?
In classical terms, Yoga describes the union of the individual self (ātman) with the greater reality (brahman). In lived, experiential terms, this same union can be understood as the integration of body, mind, and spirit into wholeness. Both interpretations aim to convey the same fundamental truth: Yoga is not just an exercise practice.
Yoga is a complete system, a way of living one's life, and when embodied as a way of being, it unfolds a path of knowledge, liberation, and transformation. It offers the possibility of revealing the essence and truth waiting to emerge through each individual. It invites the development of awareness, and in turn, freedom from the conditioning and inherited stories that shape who we believe ourselves to be. It opens us to a personal and direct experience of the nature of existence—some may call this God, others may call this Consciousness, Source, or the Universe. Yoga is a personal, practical, and spiritual guide to being.
As a spiritual practice, Yoga and Consciousness (God, Source, Universe, etc.) are intimately linked. Yoga provides the practices, disciplines, and ethical ground that allow us to perceive and embody Consciousness more fully. In turn, Consciousness (God, Source, Universe, etc.) transforms our way of being through the clarity and insight that arise from Yoga practice. The system and the awareness Yoga cultivates are inseparable.
Because people have different temperaments, gifts, and dispositions, Yoga honours this diversity by offering multiple paths; each path providing a unique way to walk this journey toward integration and awakening.
What follows is an exploration of these paths—Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Kriya Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Raja Yoga—and how they invite us into a deeper relationship with ourselves, each other, and with life itself.
