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Yoga (Sanskrit, Pāli: योग yóga) refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines that originated in India. The word is associated with meditative practices in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Within Hinduism, it refers to one of the six orthodox (āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy, and to the goal towards which that school directs its practices. In Jainism, yoga is the sum total of all activities — mental, verbal and physical.

Major branches of yoga in Hindu philosophy include Rāja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Hatha Yoga. According to the authoritative Indian philosopher Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, yoga, based on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, comprises one of the six main Hindu schools of philosophy (darshanas), together with Kapila's Samkhya, Gautama's Nyaya, Kanada's Vaisheshika, Jaimini's Purva Mimamsa, and Badarayana's Uttara Mimamsa or Vedanta.Many other Hindu texts discuss aspects of yoga, including the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Shiva Samhita and various Tantras.

The Sanskrit word yoga has many meanings,and is derived from the Sanskrit root "yuj," meaning "to control," "to yoke" or "to unite." Translations include "joining," "uniting," "union," "conjunction," and "means." It is also possible that the word yoga derives from "yujir samadhau," which means "contemplation" or "absorption." This translation fits better with the dualist Raja Yoga because it is through contemplation that discrimination between prakrti (nature) and purusha (pure consciousness) occurs.Someone who practices yoga or follows the yoga philosophy to a high level of attainment is called a yogi or yogini .

   1. Yama (The five "abstentions"): non-violence, non-lying, non-covetousness, non-sensuality, and non-possessiveness.
   2. Niyama (The five "observances"): purity, contentment, austerity, study, and surrender to god.
   3. Asana: Literally means "seat", and in Patanjali's Sutras refers to the seated position used for meditation.
   4. Pranayama ("Suspending Breath"): Prāna, breath, "āyāma", to restrain or stop. Also interpreted as control of the life force.
   5. Pratyahara ("Abstraction"): Withdrawal of the sense organs from external objects.
   6. Dharana ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object.
   7. Dhyana ("Meditation"): Intense contemplation of the nature of the object of meditation.
   8. Samādhi ("Liberation"): merging consciousness with the object of meditation.


    * Karma yoga: The yoga of action,
    * Bhakti yoga: The yoga of devotion,
    * Jnana yoga: The yoga of knowledge.


 Yoga as exercise or alternative medicine .

Yoni (योनि yoni) is the Sanskrit word for female genitalia , the source of all life.
The Lingam (also, Linga, Shiva linga, Sanskrit लिङ्गं liṅgaṃ, meaning "mark" or "sign") is a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples. The Lingam is a symbol of male creative energy or of the phallus The lingam is often represented with the Yoni, a symbol of the goddess or of Shakti, female creative energy. The union of lingam and yoni represents the "indivisible two-in-oneness of male and female, the passive space and active time from which all life originates". A complimentary theory suggests that the Lingam represents the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva.