Yoga is thoroughly Hindu. It is a complex system of Hindu philosophy. “Yoga” is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj, which means “to yoke.” In the December 1981 issue of The Vedanta Kesari, the Ramakrishna Mission magazine from India, Dr. B. S. Surti writes: “The chief aim of the Yoga philosophy is to teach the means by which the human soul may be completely united with the Supreme Spirit.” Explaining and defining Yoga further, Hindu Swami Harshananda says: “Yoga or union of the individual self with the Supreme Self will result through Yoga or Samadhi [Yoga trance], when these [mental conflicts] are controlled, suppressed and eliminated, by the right kind of discipline and training. This discipline and training is also Yoga.” In short, for the Hindus Yoga is the union of self with God.

The ancient Indian sage Patanjali reportedly systematized Yoga philosophy by listing eight steps to achieve yoking with the “Infinite.” And this union is said to result in good health. According to Hindu belief, Patanjali listed 14 obstacles to obtaining Yoga’s goal, 2 of these involving physical ill health and “restless limbs.” Hence, health and bodily postures are a preoccupation of Yoga philosophy. Asana, or posture, is the third of those eight steps and is the one that receives so much attention in the Western world. Breath control, concentration and meditation are other steps that spill over into Western yoga.

Nonetheless, sound health is not the chief aim of Yoga. Hindu writer Swahananda says: “Spiritual seekers will always consider the health benefits as fringe benefits, subordinate to their primary Goal, which is Self or God realization.”

‘But I am not a spiritual seeker; I just want good health,’ you may be thinking. Then consider what Yoga advocate Siddhinathananda wrote about health and Yoga. In the Indian Yoga magazine The Vedanta Kesari he stated: “Its potential to provide physical well-being also contributes to its popular appeal. But to use it for any goal other than spiritual is a misuse.”