The origins of yoga date back to around the sixth century BCE in ancient India. The Sanskrit word ‘yoga’ is derived from the root yuj, which translates ‘to attach’, ‘to join’, ‘to harness’, ‘to joke’. In its abstract and philosophical sense, it means the union of all dualities. On December 1, 2016, yoga was listed by UNESCO as part of our intangible cultural heritage.

 

Yoga is a gentle, therapeutic practice, a way for us to integrate breath, mind and body. This enables a person who practises it to think more clearly, breathe more effortlessly, and move more efficiently. Yoga can also help us journey deep inside our physical body in order to experience the reality of our true self. 

 

It matters not how old or how flexible we are, because everybody can enjoy yoga and benefit from the tools that can be acquired by practising it. The main task of the yoga discipline is to remove obstacles that impede the natural functioning of our system. 

 

The practice of asanas (body postures) becomes a systematic exploration of our body's intrinsic equilibrium.