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Yoga means union. Although many people think this term refers to union between body and mind or body, mind and spirit, the traditional acceptance is union between the Jivatman and Paramatman, that is, between one’s individual consciousness and the Universal Consciousness. Therefore Yoga refers to a certain state of consciousness as well as methods that help one reach that goal—or state of union with the divine.31

Shri Aurobindo said, “Yoga is [the tool for] condensed [human] evolution.”32 And so we, as yoga therapists, are assisting in our clients’ evolution—a huge responsibility!

And yet, although yoga does not require the adoption of religious beliefs or dogmas, its practices aim at the experience of contemplative states of consciousness and offer a promise of spiritual transformation. We believe yoga can rightly be categorized as a practically applied philosophy within the philosophical discipline of mysticism, whose primary goal is the experience of a transcendent, unitive state of consciousness.33 “The evolution of one’s awareness is an integral aspect of yoga as a transformational process,” writes Mark Stephens, “…this process is one of awakening and integrating on the path to more holistic, congruent and healthy experience in being alive.”34