Robert: “Why do you do yoga?”
Jennifer: “Because yoga is good for me!”
Robert: “How do you know? What do you mean by “good”?”
Jennifer: “Well, yoga is healthy for my body, it makes my mind peaceful, and it enlightens my soul.”
 
In fact, the Sanskrit word “atma” means all of these: body, mind, intellect and the Self. And certainly yoga is good for all these “atmas”. It strengthens the body, it cleanses the mind, it sharpens the intelligence, and it connects you with YOURSELF.
The last point sounds a little strange, doesn’t it? It’s beyond logic that you can be possibly disconnected from yourself! But when we look around, we can see so many people living lives that are not satisfying to them, doing things, that are not good for them. People with identity crisis, people who have to take medicine to tranquilize their minds or control their emotions, people who need help from psychologists, psychiatrists or psychotherapists. People who have visibly lost themselves. And what about us? Are we really living a satisfying, meaningful life? Are we sure about what that means for us? Are we really connected to ourselves? Do we know who we really are, or better do we feel it, experience it, beyond all external designations or what others think about us? A mistake made in the beginning of a mathematical calculation leads to a result far away from the truth. Similarly, if we are not experiencing ourselves in our true identity, how can we possibly come to live a fulfilling life?
According to yoga, the self is not an isolated identity as our intelligence tends to conclude, our mind tends to think, and our body tends to feel. We cannot understand ourselves without understanding that we are not an isolated identity but we are part of something greater. And we should know that something and our relation with it. That is the true meaning of the word yoga, to connect ourselves with our origin, with God.
The ultimate goal of yoga is to awaken our awareness of a greater reality and of ourselves being part of that reality. Hatha-yoga, Karma-yoga, Bhakti-yoga, Raja-yoga, Kundalini-yoga, Jnana-yoga, Dhyana-yoga, Astanga-yoga have the potential to create this awareness, to connect us with our origin, and by doing so they make us see ourselves and understand our relationships with others and with our environment. We are meant to live a meaningful life. Yoga brings us nearer to be the person we really are, a beautiful, blissful pure soul, full of love and care for our brothers and sisters and for our environment.
Janmadyasya yathah, says the Vedanta-Sutra (1.2), the Absolut Truth is that from which everything eminates. Everything, including ourselves. That Supreme Truth is like the sun, which dissipates all darkness. In the presence of the sun everything becomes revealed, we can see the sun itself, we can see ourselves and we can see everything else.
But how to select the right path? All the yogas are good, but which is best? There is no general answer to that. You will have to find it out. You will have to look around and look inside.  All the different yogas are beneficial for you, for your body, your mind, your intellect and above all they help you look inside. But don’t be satisfied until you really feel that “this is my path, here I feel at home, here is where I belong”.
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