Yoga is one of the 6 Darshanas – schools of Indian philosophy or schools of thought. It is said to be founded & explained by Sage Patanjali, though there are schools that pre-date Yoga before Patanjali as well.Ancient gurus who were highly conversant with the various Vedas and Darshanas, examined the relationship between the body, senses and Atma (identified as soul commonly and is the true innermost Self unaffected by ego). They discovered that there existed certain means such as meditation for reducing illness and unhappiness.

However, the relationship between Atma and the body (sarira) remained unexplained and they wondered why the Atma suffered. Based on the research they discovered that Ashtanga yoga is the best method that would lead to total health, longevity and peace of mind (mana shanti).

Ashtanga refers to eight limbs – the eight-fold path of Yoga that encompasses the journey of the practitioner inward towards self-realization. Sage Patanjali establishes that this path helps reduce unhappiness and creates a healthy body & mind that is fit for higher stages of spiritual growth. One who has body under control also has senses under control, thus there will be peace of mind.

1. Yoga is the fundamental antidote for unhappiness

Millions across the world suffer from various stages of unhappiness, be it anxiety, depression, clinging to past experiences of suffering etc. While these are quite traumatic to the individual, the best way to reduce unhappiness and progress towards a path of acceptance, health and reducing unhappiness – can happen through Yoga. The cycle of evolution, the aspects of cause & effect, karmic influences etc can all help explain behaviours, actions and events. Practitioners can eventually achieve a state of equanimity through Yoga and thus help achieve a state of balance, health and eventually, happiness.

2. Yoga helps strengthen the body which in turn strengthens the mind

One of the eight limbs of Ashtanga is Asana or postures. Asana is a powerful practice that helps the body achieve the best possible health. All our different actions done to sustain life become easy for a person who has a strong and disease free body. Whether one is rich, king or learned, when he becomes sick, he will never attain peace of mind

3. Yoga helps elongate the lifespan of the practitioner

Pranayama, the fourth limb of Ashtanga refers to breathing. It is the practice to regulate our inhalation and exhalation. Prana refers to the life force. Most people have a fast and shallow breath due to a sedentary lifestyle thus reducing the need for deep breathing. They hence get excited too quickly, are quick to be angry, or suffer from anxiety and thus, lose the control of the breath. Breath is the vehicle of Prana. It is generally unable to enter the body due to impurities, both physiological and psychological. Through Pranayama we aim to reduce the impurities and retain as much Prana as possible – thus elongating our lifespan.

4. Yoga helps the practitioner achieve their duties effectively

Be it a student, householder, employee, parent, or elder, Yoga provides effective and impactful actions that can help practitioners perform their duties across various realms – home, occupation, wealth, care – in the best way possible. The social (Yamas) and personal (Niyamas) value systems highlighted in the Ashtanga are powerful tools that can help the practitioner create a path of dutiful existence. Yamas and niyamas thus, manifest these disciplines in our lives, and integration of these into our daily lives for a joyful existence.

5. Yoga helps the practitioner realize their inner Self & elevate their consciousness

As the practioner continues on the path of Yoga, they gradually move from external practices to internal practices of cleansing the mind, and identifying with their true self. These lead the practitioner from atma darsanam (viewing the Self) to atma avaloka sadhanam (realizing the Self). This is the only way to remove suffering permanently. While we don’t have to aspire to reach these higher stages, the Yoga journey in itself helps transcend the practitioner into higher stages of realization, thus, elevating their consciousness completely.