There have been for ages past in India and other Oriental countries men who devoted their time and
attention to the development of Man, physically, mentally and spiritually. The experience of generations of
earnest seekers has been handed down for centuries from teacher to pupil, and gradually a definite Yogi
science was built up. To these investigations and teachings was finally applied the term “Yogi,†from the
Sanscrit word “Yug,†meaning “to join.†From the same source comes the English word “yoke,†with a
similar meaning. Its use in connection with these teachings is difficult to trace, different authorities giving
different explanations, but probably the most ingenious is that which holds that it is intended as the Hindu
equivalent for the idea conveyed by the English phrase, “getting into harness,†or “yoking up,†as the Yogi
undoubtedly “gets into harness†in his work of controlling the body and mind by the Will.
Yoga is divided into several branches, ranging from that which teaches the control of the body, to that
which teaches the attainment of the highest spiritual development. In the work we will not go into the
higher phases of the subject, except when the “Science of Breath†touches upon the same. The “Science of
Breath†touches Yoga at many points, and although chiefly concerned with the development and control of
the physical, has also its psychic side, and even enters the field of spiritual development.Learn More!
