In recent years I feel there has been an explosion in the popularity of Yoga in the West, and a resurgence of interest in India as well. On the one hand this could be a good trend if people are drawn to sincerely explore the system in its authentic form. However, this popularity has also led to widespread misunderstanding of what Yoga really means. Eager students flock to whatever source of information and training they can get, and often teachers are produced with very little training. I strongly encourage everyone to read Swami JnAneshwara BhArati's excellent articles on Yoga, and its distortion in modern times. These articles do such an excellent job and are so comprehensive that I do not have to repeat all that is said there. I will just summarize the key points to clarify things for the reader.
One of the key points to understand here is that almost all Yoga classes in the United States teach only Asana yoga. This is only one rung or limb of Yoga, and it is definitely not the whole picture. It is misleading, and it is a misrepresentation of Yoga, for teachers to teach only Asana yoga and call it Yoga. Using Yoga for Asana alone is like driving the space shuttle to get to the corner store. Sure it will get you there, but there is a lot farther that the space shuttle could take you, were you aware of its capabilities. There are a few classes that take cognizance of the different rungs of Yoga, and I hope you are fortunate to benefit from those. The benefits and limitations of learning yoga from classes, especially group classes, and the attributes of teachers and guides are explained in another article.
The second point is that while I have met many self-styled Yoga teachers, I have not met anyone whom I would call qualified to teach the complete system of Yoga to attain its ultimate goal. This is not surprising given the fact that many teacher training institutes require barely a few hundred hours of training. In a separate article I discuss what the qualifications of a teacher are, and what constitutes being qualified to teach Yoga. Of course, this does not mean that qualified teachers do not exist, or that one cannot benefit from a Yoga teacher who is only competent to teach Asanas. Each aspirant will benefit to varying degrees from teachers of various levels. The purpose of this article is to enhance the aspirant's understanding so they develop and cultivate the power of discrimination, which is the single most important skill that is needed at every step on the path. There is always that special aspirant who so strongly desires spiritual experience that none of the run-of-the-mill classes satisfy their need for growth. This article is intended to especially help that sincere sAdhaka.
The other key point is that there is no one person who can put their name on to Yoga and call it "Mr. X's" Yoga. It amuses me no end when friends or acquaintances ask me "So what kind or style of Yoga do you do?". This is quite hilarious! There is only one Yoga you can do, so what does the brand or style have to do with it? All the yogAsanas have been described in texts that were written many centuries ago. The practice of Yoga predates even these ancient texts. Those who think they are inventing new Asanas are merely feeding their own ego and deluding the students. So how anyone can call Yoga their own is quite beyond my comprehension. Again, the more discriminating the aspirant, the more useful it is along the path.
In a way it is also a blessing that most schools are only teaching Asana yoga, because to teach the internal practices improperly without the requisite training and experience is even worse. Now some people have combined a few Asanas, bandhas and prANAyAma exercises and are calling them their own secret kriyas. Similarly, others have trademarked meditation practices that claim to give you secret mantras. I heard recently that this has even led to legal proceedings by dissatisfied clients! Karma does have its fruit, and that has to be enjoyed sooner or later. In this state of affairs, even sincere seekers can be misled by these falsifications for want of prior knowledge, and sometimes discrimination. All that can be done is to present the authentic picture and let the aspirant exercise his or her discrimination.
So what is Yoga? The word Yoga comes from the root verb 'yuj', which literally means 'to yoke'. So Yoga can mean a wide variety of things, and it is used in this wide sense in the Bhagavad Gita. There Sri Krishna describes Karma Yoga, JnAna Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and RAja Yoga, but even he did not call it Krishna Yoga! So much for the arrogance of man, and the gullibility of fellow man. To return to the meaning of Yoga, now 'what' is being yoked with 'what' is the question. In the sense that the Gita uses it, it is the union of the Atman with the Supreme Spirit. Sometimes it can also mean yoking of the lower mind (manas) by the discriminating mind (buddhi). It depends on the context, and this can be confusing for the beginner student and that is why the guidance of a teacher is recommended.
Yoga is one of the shad-darshanAs (six Revelations) that accepts the authority of the Vedas. The word darshana comes from the root verb dRsh (pashya), which means 'to see', and its appropriate translation is 'Revelation'. Darshana is often translated as philosophy, but these Indian philosophical systems were not philosophies in the Western sense. In the West, philosophical matters are meant to be debated in cafes sipping coffee or wine. The Indian philosophical systems were Revelations that needed to be directly experienced. One cannot debate a Revelation; one has to experience it.
In Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, Yoga is defined as bringing the fluctuations of thought to a standstill (yogaschittavritti nirodhah). The Yoga Sutra gives the complete picture of all eight limbs or rungs of Yoga, but Patanjali's starting point is the mind, or manomayakosha. He assumes when he says "Atha" (and now) in the first verse of the Sutras, that the aspirant has already taken care of successfully penetrating the annamayakosha (physical sheath of food) and the prANamayakosha (the energy sheath). Of the 196 Yoga Sutras, only two sUtras discuss Asana, and three discuss prANayAma. This clearly informs the aspirant what the focus of the Yoga SUtra is. It is a text for advancement after prior preparation.
The goal of Patanjali Yoga is to attain kaivalyam (or liberation). This is gained when the Self (Purusha, or the indwelling Consciousness in the human) is effectively distinguished from PrakRti (unmanifest primordial matter), and eventually identified and thus united with Ishvara (the pure Cosmic Consciousness that is uncontaminated by PrakRti) through samAdhi. Patanjali Yoga is based on sAmkhya concepts of Purusha and PrakRti.
The HaTha Yoga PradIpika attributed to SvAtmArAma gives much more detail on Asana, prANAyAma and kundalini awakening through bandhAs and mudras. It is a useful text for the Asana, prANAyAma and diet preparation aspects of Yoga. Contrary to popular belief, HaTha Yoga is not 'forceful' Yoga. HaTha is often translated as 'forceful' probably because this meaning of the Sanskrit word has survived in modern Hindi. The more one's Asana practice deepens, the clearer it becomes that 'force' is useless, but rather a passive volition (see SvAmi Ajaya, SvAmi RAma and Rudolph Ballantine's book 'Yoga and Psychotherapy' for the full meaning of this term) is more effective in attaining Asana jaya (victory over Asana). Forceful practice of Yoga in any form, especially Asana, is not productive in my opinion. Often it leads to torn ligaments and frustration. Another translation that seems more plausible is that HaTha yoga is the yoga of the moon and the sun, with 'ha' meaning moon, and 'Tha' presumably standing for sun (while 'ha' can mean the moon, I could not find the use of sun for 'Tha' in Monier-Williams' dictionary but it does give disk). There is a verse in the HYP that leads me to believe that this is indeed the true meaning of HaTha because the union of the sun (solar channel or piNgala) and the moon (lunar channel IDa) is experienced in advanced practice of prANAyAma.
The goal of HaTha Yoga is samAdhi, but there is less emphasis on the aspects of the mind. At any rate, it should be clear to the reader by now that there are vast depths to Yoga that go far beyond mere postures. For spiritual attainment it is important to make effective use of the deeper aspects of Yoga. Some Yoga practices for the sincere aspirant can be found under the Practices section.