Yoga, from the Sanskrit “yuj”, means yoke or bind; it is normally interpreted as “union”; the union of the Individual Soul with the Universal Spirit or the Self and the Divine, the union of the soul with the eternal truth. But it also means the union betwen the body and the mind, betwen the movement and the breath.

“The study of Yoga discipline sharpens the power of discernment and leads towards understanding the true nature of the soul, which cannot be fully comprehended by the senses or the intellect alone”.

Yoga is an art, a science and a philosophy. “Yoga enhances the quality of one’s life.” “Yoga is a science which deals with the body and the mind, whereby the rhythm of the mind is conquered by controlling the body”. “It is a philosophy that equips one to attain poise and to face all the vicissitudes of life as well as its joys with equanimity”.

The Indian sage Patañjali is believed to have collated the practice of yoga into the Yoga Sutra an estimated 2,000 years ago.

Patañjali’s definition of yoga is “yogaścittavrttinirodhah” which means the control of the fluctuations of the mind, the intellect and the ego.

The meaning of Namaste.“The gesture Namaste represents the belief that there is a Divine spark within each of us that is located in the heart chakra. The gesture is an acknowledgment of the soul in one by the soul in another. "Nama" means bow, "as" means I, and "te" means you. Therefore, Namaste literally means "bow me you" or "I bow to you”.(Aadil Palkhivala's, Yoga Journal)

OM is a mantra, or vibration, that it is said to be the sound of the universe. “Somehow the ancient yogis knew what scientists today are telling us, that the entire universe is moving. Nothing is ever solid or still. Everything that exists pulsates, creating a rhythmic vibration that the ancient yogis acknowledged with the sound of Om. We may not always be aware of this sound in our daily lives, but we can hear it in the rustling of the autumn leaves, the waves on the shore, the inside of a seashell. Chanting Om allows us to recognize our experience as a reflection of how the whole universe moves–the setting sun, the rising moon, the ebb and flow of the tides, the beating of our hearts. As we chant Om, it takes us for a ride on this universal movement, through our breath, our awareness, and our physical energy and we begin to sense a bigger connection that is both uplifting and soothing. “ (Cyndi Lee, Yoga Journal)