Yoga in its broadest sense is an approach to life which includes exercise, meditation, breathing techniques, ethics, and philosophy.
Yoga class takes into account the whole person – body mind, emotions and spirit. It stretches and strengthens the body, utilizes the breath for energy and concentration, settles the mind and raises the spirit.
The word yoga first appears in written records around 2,800 years ago in India (the Katha-Upanishad, c. 800-600 B.C.). Yogic teachings date back even further, appearing in the Rig Veda which “a growing number of scholars are now dating back to the third or fourth millennium B.C.” as an oral tradition, later codified and written down. (Georg Feuerstein, The Deeper Dimension of Yoga [ Boston: Shambala Publications, Inc., 2003], pp. 33 and 65
Today there are many styles and traditions of yoga, all drawing from the same historical roots and body of knowledge, each with its own flavour and emphasis.
For more information, you might like to check out:
- www.kripalu.org
- www.yogaroomberkeley.com
- www.bksiyengar.com
- www.kpjayi.org
- www.anusara.com
- www.traditionalyogastudies.com
- Kripalu Yoga: A Guide to Practice On and Off the Mat by Richard Faulds
- Yoga and the Quest for the True Self by Stephen Cope
- The Wisdom of Yoga by Stephen Cope
- The Deeper Dimensions of Yoga by Georg Feuerstein
- The Yoga Tradition by Georg Feuerstein
