What is yoga?
Yoga is...union....non-judgment...freedom/ liberation from the vrittis (fluctuations)... Yoga is many things. Yoga is the yoking of the soul and nature through the practice of non-judgment. What most people in The West think of yoga is the third limb (asana or posture) of an ancient Indian philosophy system (Depending on which historian you read, there are six to eight orthodox ancient philosophies or darshanas separate from about four contemporary unorthodox philosophies). Yoga is the second most ancient darshana after Samkhya, on which the philosophy Yoga is based. The word yoga means a yoking or union to God/ the universe/ Mother Nature. It is a calming of the mind and liberation of the soul from the material world through an eightfold path. Many people see it not only as a philosophy but also as a science because there is both a Seer or Observer and the material world. The goal of the yogi/ Seer is to observe and be aware rather than to judge, compare or be attached to ideals and outcomes.