Origins of Yoga

The word yoga comes from the root yog and translates as "yoke"which literally means "joining"; or union. Yoga's goal is the union of the body, mind and soul. The origins of yoga date back as far as 3000 BC. Yoga is also first mentioned in the vast collection of scriptures called the Vedas, portions of which date from as far back as 2500 BC. This science has been studied in the monasteries of India and Tibet for thousands of years. According to Yogi Bhajan, the ancient science of Kundalini Yoga is even much older(70,000 years old) and has been honed and refined by generations and generations of learned yogis until it is now offered intact with all its esoteric practices adapted for the western mind.

"Kundalini" literally means coiling, or "the coil of the beloved".
In the classical literature of hatha yoga kundalini is described as a coiled serpent at the base of the spine. The image of coiling, like a spring, conveys the sense of untapped potential energy.

The goal of kundalini yoga is to raise one's consciousness. Experiences of physical sensations of heat or electrical flashes are not considered to be rising kundalini. Kundalini rising can simply be felt as an increase in one's awareness of his/her physical sensations, emotional states, and thought patterns and projections.

"What is Kundalini? The creative potential of the human."
- Yogi Bhajan.