When I was in sixth grade, my friend and I found a book about yoga. We sorted through pictures of women in leotards doing poses that I found exhausting to look at. I never thought that I would fall in love with this thing called yoga. The reason I am in love with yoga is because it’s a complete way of life. To me, yoga is a philosophy, lifestyle, exercise, etc. It’s more complete and humbling than most religions, and yet most people seem to think it’s a trend. This is why I was afraid of this paper for so long, because it’s so spiritual and humbling, and I didn’t want to misrepresent such a beautiful way of life.YOGA is a philosophy about life which can vibrantly refresh your mind and body. To understand it, think of a tree. A tree is comprised of a lot of smaller things that without them, the tree would not survive. A tree is comprised of roots, bark, leaves, flowers, fruit, branches, etc. Likewise, Yoga is comprised of a lot of smaller things that without them, Yoga wouldn’t survive. To understand these smaller things, let’s start out by saying that in Yoga there is a threefold quest. The threefold quest consists of the external quest, the inner quest, and the spiritual quest.EXTERNAL QUESTThe external quest consists of behaviors, actions, and things you do to your physical body. That is to say that the external quest comprises of things in the material world. These are: yama, niyama, asana, and pranayama. YAMA is what we would call "ethical principles." These would be beliefs and practices that one uses in daily life such as ahmisa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya, and aparigraha. Ahmisa means non-violence. Non-violence is very much a way of life and a way of thinking. It is the foundation for the others, because non-violence is a way of thinking, acting, treating yourself and others. Satya is truth, speaking and believing the truth in one’s life. Asteya is non-stealing, which means that ...
