The practical and profound answer to this question is this: yoga is your heart. Of course it is a series of postures and breathing practices and meditation, but above all the practice of yoga brings the restoration of the heart; and it is this we so desperately need to realize. We need to realize our Collective Heart.
"With Yoga, no
matter what crises may appear to be insurmountable in the changing
world around you, you will hold to the peaceful centre that always
is and always has been."
Rama Jyoti Vernon
Yoga is a Sanskrit* word for union,
that derives from the root word 'yoke' ('yug') meaning to join. In
the original context this union refers to the path and practice of
unifying one's soul (I use the word soul to refer to that spiritual
part of us that appears to be apart from God) with God, the All
That Is, the Divine. For the ancient yogis, yoga was a spiritual
path (not religious) directed towards being enlightened. Yoga
refers to both the practices and the goal. In many ways the
practice of yoga is the practice of cultivating inner peace (thus
the company name). Ultimately, yoga is a state of mind, not a pose
or series of poses. The poses are merely a tool to cultivate a
strong and healthy body which is necessary for the deeper
practices.
Patanjali, a yogic sage, wrote the Yoga Sutras, about 5000 years
ago. He called the essential practices Astanga (Ast=eight and
Anga=limbs) meaning Eight Limbs. Sutra means "thread" and refers to
a short, pithy (and often cryptic) aphorism that is the kernel of
truth as borne out by the practices of many yogis over a long
period of time.
We can broaden the term union to include the union of body and
mind, the union of breath, awareness and movement, as well as other
apparently separated practices and concepts, such as male and
female. We can see this as an integration that results in
healing.
Union also implies the removal of differences. We must begin to see
others as our selves, (as the Golden Rule suggests) and as Divine.
In the Kripalu tradition this is referred to as 'Unified
Awareness.' Swami Kripalu said, 'The whole world is one family.'
Swami Chidvilasananda agrees; she said 'See God in each
other.'
N.B.: I would like to differentiate between the terms spiritual and
religious. In my view, religions involve a doctrine, a hierarchy,
etc, and are often (unknowingly?) based in teachings of fear,
whereas spirituality is based in love, may or may not be organized,
and may or may not involve a doctrine. Some religions are spiritual
but not necessarily.
* (Sanskrit is an ancient scholarly
language of India in which the yogic texts / scriptures were
written)