Yogis believed that there is a connected spiritual oneness in all existence. This oneness or unity is clearly emphasised in the name of the yogi's spiritual journey; derived from the Sanskrit root ‘Yuj’, Yoga means to yoke or unite. 

Over millennia many schools of thought and branches of yoga have developed and proposed different practices and tools on this path, and often with conflicting views, but the goal of each remains the same - Yoga is and always has been a path of Self-realization leading to the ultimate goal - liberation (Moksha). Through different practices and wisdom of the Higher Self, a yogi is trying to free oneself of the Ego-bound perceptions or illusions of the material world and realize the divine within. This divine, according to Katha Upanishad, "resides in the middle of the body" - the seat of our heart.

The roots of Yoga

The roots of yoga are still being tracked and researched by historians, archaeologists and other truth-seekers, and are very much a source of great debate, to say the least. Some are attributing the Indus Saraswati Civilisation to be the birthplace of yoga, basing the claim on a seal that might or might not have been portraying Shiva. No other evidence is found. The Vedic Samhitas are mentioning the word yoga as yoking the horses, not a spiritual practice.

The roots of yoga as a spiritual practice, from what we do know thus far, can be traced to the renunciate ascetics of the Sramana tradition which emerged around 500 BCE. The Sramanas were concerned with human suffering or rather finding ways of ending the cycle of suffering (samsara) and reach moksa (liberation). Sramanas developed meditation as one of the techniques to reach this goal. Buddha is perhaps the most famous Sramana, later expanding Sramanic teachings into his Eightfold Path. 

Early Upanishads were coloured by the teachings of the renunciates, and the first known definition of yoga is found in the Katha Upanishad:

“When the senses, along with the mind, remain still and the intellect is not active, that is known as the highest state.
They consider yoga to be firm restraint of the senses. Then one becomes undistracted, for yoga is the arising and passing away.”
(Katha Upanishad 3th century BCE translation by Mallinson/Singleton)

Five centuries later, in his Yoga Sutras, Patanjali states that "Yoga is the stilling of the changing states of the mind".  In his eight-limb path to Samadhi (the highest state of Self-realisation) for which he first lays the moral foundations of a yogi (Yamas and Niyamas) he proposes similar ideas of how to reach the state of Yoga to that found in Katha Upanishad - finding a comfortable seat (Asana) a yogi should practice Pranayama, Pratyahara (holding back of the senses), Dharana and Dhyana (concentration and meditation) to still the fluctuations of the mind and reach the state of Yoga and ultimately, Samadhi.

Nondualist and dualist schools of thought

The Advaita, or nondualist, school of thought sees the individual Consciousness or Soul (Atman), as unseparated from the Supreme Consciousness (Brahman). Everything around us is only a different form of Brahman, as Brahman is everywhere and inside each living being, the binding unity behind all that exists in the Universe. The realization of this Truth leads to liberation or freedom. Advaita Vedanta, a philosophy on which Jnana Yoga lies upon, as well as most branches of Tantra, from which Hatha Yoga emerged, are all essentially nondualist.

The Dvaita or dualist school of thought recognises two independent principles; Purusha (Soul as well as the Supreme Soul) and Prakriti (nature of matter) and teaches that they are two distinct aspects of reality. We see this clear distinction in Samkhya philosophy, as well as Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. However, the path of Yoga still teaches the yogi(ni) to free oneself from the attachment to the material world and see his/her divine nature. 

The differences in how these two philosophies saw the world are not important, what is important is that spiritual seeker continues to see there is a divinity within and without. 

“Never mind these differences. All admit the truth that the power is there, potential or manifest, it is there and the sooner you believe that, the better for you.” – Vivekananda

What about asana?

Yoga and different yogic practices have existed for thousands of years before asana as we know it today. A very small part of physical postures (asana) we practice today, have emerged in Hatha yoga, which emerged within the Tantric movement, a few millennia after some Sramana renunciates and forest dwellers practised forms of bodily mortification we can’t call asana as the intention behind it was very different than the intention today.

It was Tantrikas and Hatha-Yogis which recognised the physical body as an important part of the whole. Thus, Hatha yogis developed different techniques to keep the body healthy, and asana was practised to keep the body sheath (annamaya kosha) strong and healthy, as well as to learn to control the body. If you can’t control the gross - your body, food you consume etc. and can’t keep it sattvic (pure), how can you control the subtle (mind)? 

Asana is a great tool of yoga, but in comparison with others, only a small piece of the puzzle. If asana becomes a goal, and to reach that goal you cause harm to the physical and/or subtle (injuries, strains, self-doubt, competition, feeling of failure etc), something we see so much of today, it causes harm, feeds the Ego, and in some cases, narcissistic tendencies. If the ultimate goal of yoga is to see the divine within and without, the obsession with asana and the physical reality is, instead of closer, taking us further from the Truth.   

But, I practice non-spiritual yoga

Yoga has been a spiritual practice, a path to the awakened mind for centuries and cannot be separated from that. However, Yoga today has become so much about asana, alignment, how to and how not to, the anatomy and biomechanics of it all etc., you might have a feeling it was never anything more than the physical practice. However, this couldn't be further than the truth. 

Perhaps more clarity in naming what we do would help the distortion we see happening now. Asana practice rather than yoga practice would serve as a better explanation if one believes they teach or practice non-spiritual yoga. 

Yoga is a path that leads us back home to our true and divine nature; one that is open, kind and compassionate, one that knows no separation or suffering. And isn’t this a path worth following…

Nina Vukas

Spanda Institute Founder
E-RYT 500, RPYT, YACEP, Body-oriented Psychotherapist

Nina is a founder of Spanda Institute, Program Director and a Lead Teacher for Advanced Study Programs. She has been a Yoga practitioner since 1998, started teaching full time in 2005, and has been educating yogis on their journey towards becoming Yoga Teachers, as well as educating Yoga Teachers to advance their knowledge and teaching skills since 2009 Nina is also a Somatic Psychotherapist, Mindfulness and Meditation teacher, and forever a student. Currently, she is studying Psychology as well as Yoga Therapy.