Yoga body · breath · presence
A person sitting in meditation in front of the mountains at dawn
One tradition, many paths

Yoga

Much more than a physical practice.

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Āsanas can be a doorway. Beyond that doorway lies a much greater universe.

When we speak of Yoga today, we often think of āsanas, the postures practised on the mat. Yet they represent only one part of a much broader tradition that developed in India over centuries through different schools, texts and practices.

The word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit root yuj, associated with the idea of joining, connecting and integrating. Body, breath and mind are not considered separate elements, but parts of the same experience.

01 — An ancient tradition

From the Upaniṣads
to the Yoga Sūtras

The roots of Yoga predate the postural Yoga we know today by many centuries. Yogic ideas and practices appear in ancient Indian traditions and are progressively developed in the Upaniṣads, the Bhagavad Gītā and numerous later texts.

One of the fundamental works is the Yoga Sūtras attributed to Patañjali, probably composed during the first centuries of the Common Era. The text describes a path known as Aṣṭāṅga Yoga, the “eight-limbed Yoga”.

Illustration inspired by an ancient Indian manuscript and the tradition of Patañjali

Patañjali and the Yoga Sūtras · discipline, knowledge and inner transformation.

Aṣṭāṅga Yoga

The eight
limbs

Seen from this perspective, physical practice is not the ultimate goal of Yoga, but part of a broader path: from personal ethics to posture, from breath to meditation and profound absorption.

Yama Principles governing our relationship with others and the world.
Niyama Personal disciplines and attitudes.
Āsana Posture, steady and mindful.
Prāṇāyāma Conscious work with the breath.
Pratyāhāra The withdrawal of the senses.
Dhāraṇā Concentration.
Dhyāna Meditation.
Samādhi Absorption and integration.
02 — The body as an instrument

The āsanas

Through postures, movement, stillness and attention to the breath, we can develop mobility, balance, strength, coordination and body awareness. Practice can encourage relaxation and a greater ability to observe tensions and reactions.

It is not necessarily about achieving a perfect posture. The same āsana can be experienced differently by two people: what matters is how we enter the posture, breathe, listen and recognise our limits.

Āsana is not a performance, but one of the tools of the practice.

A person observing their breath while sitting in a peaceful setting

The breath as a bridge between body and mind.

03 — Prāṇāyāma and meditation

Breath,
mind,
presence

Prāṇāyāma practices work with the breath through different techniques of observation and regulation. Alongside them are concentration and meditation, which progressively shift attention from outer experience to inner experience.

Yoga thus also becomes a practice of presence: learning to observe what is happening without being continually carried away by thoughts, automatic reactions and distractions.

Yoga and
Ayurveda

Yoga and Ayurveda belong to India's vast cultural and philosophical heritage and, over time, have developed numerous points of connection.

Ayurveda encompasses much more than cuisine: nutrition, lifestyle, daily and seasonal rhythms, knowledge of plants, treatments and different concepts of individual balance. It can complement a yogic path, but Yoga and Ayurveda are not the same discipline.

Explore the Ayurvedic Cuisine page →

“Yoga does not simply ask how flexible we are. It invites us to observe how we live.”

Yoga beyond the mat