The word YOGA means UNION, the union of the physical self with the spiritual self, a tricky concept to grasp. Yoga is one of the six fundamental systems of Indian thought collectively known as Darsana, it has it's origins in pre Vedic times. Darsana is the oldest record of Indian culture and, in the view of some reputable sources, is believed to have arisen at the beginning of human civilisation itself.
 
It was not until 200 B.C. (There is uncertainty surrounding this date) that it was organised into a system in the classic treatise The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Though only a brief text of ten pages, it embodies the essence of practical wisdom, bearing witness to Patanjali's transcendence.
 
Yoga shares a commonality with most classical traditions in providing us with a prescription for the way we should walk upon this earth. Firmly seated in Buddhism, Jainism, Sufism the Muslim faith, Judaism, Christianity, and all the other ism's is the same unflinching truth concerning the morality and divinity of humankind and their relationship to one another and to the one God.