Yoga roots from Sanskrit which means “union” or “constraint”, ie jugit the yoke which is fixed on the neck of oxen for all’aratro attack, or jukta ie the straps and bridles which combine two or more horses to pull a wagon. Yoga shows the set of techniques that allow the junction of the body, mind and spirit with God (or Paramatma), the union between Jivatman (power equipment) and Paramatman (universal energy). One who follows the path and practice of yoga is chiamatoyogi or yogini (females are called yogini).

The first great work that the Indian system and describes the techniques of Yoga is the Yoga Sutra (Aphorisms on Yoga), written by Patanjali, which collects 185 aphorisms. Studies traditional Indian Patanjali identified with the same name grammarian who lived in the third century BC, but most modern philological studies have post to the drafting of a presumably early.

The spread of a practice dating back to that tradition in the West, which occurred between the nineteenth and twenty-first century, such as meditation (dhyana), exercises of breath control (pranayama) or asanas (the famous “positions” that Yoga is commonly identified tout-court), did not almost always the other levels, especially the first two initials and that is fundamental. This is due to the fact that in Western society the relationship with Yoga has never been closely related to religion (especially of the then union with Isvara, the Lord), but has always been understood as a discipline that seeks to re-balancing of mind and the realization of a state of “well-being”.