What is Yoga?
One of the most accurate descriptions of yoga is:
"The Union of body, mind and soul to God."
"Yoga is the ancient art of breaking down the perception of separation and removing suffering."
What Does Yoga Mean?
The word "yoga" is related to that of the English word "yoke." It can mean blending together or to join or together.
What is Hatha Yoga?
"Ha" meaning sun and "tha" means moon. The word Hatha refers to a balance between Sun and moon energy lines
within the body. A sage of 15th century India called Swatmarama introduced wrote a book of instructions on yoga designed to purify the body and prepare it for meditation. The book was called the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. More on Hatha Yoga
In this day and age yoga is seen as a sequence of exercises and stretches with a little meditation and breathing techniques.
The methods of yoga were passed on by word of mouth thousands of years ago. Then they were put into writing in many verses by the Indian yogic sage Patañjali as the Yoga Sutras, which remains the basic roots of yoga instruction.