Ekam~

Oneness~

What is fascinating about Hinduism (as I understand it), is its immense potential to embrace everything. It is interesting, that it has thousands of philosophical systems, of which at least eight are well defined.
These include monotheism, polytheism, which come under Vedanta, and are now a days synonymous with Hinduism;
Yoga;
Samkhya, which believes in existence of only conscious and matter;
Nyaya which is basically science;
and then there is one which dwells more on karma (duty, conduct and ethics) and I have a very close friend, who I will take liberty of saying, practices it ( "For some people can do just what is right, without worrying too much of pleasure or gain");
and even atheism - which reminds me of loners, lovers, and a breed between Nyaya and atheism schools of thought!
The bottom line is whatever you believe, you can not escape being a Hindu.
Even an atheist like me is a Hindu!!
It is even more interesting for me on a personal level that mythological Gargi, who I was named after, was a Samkhya follower/proponent.

It tickles my funny bone to see how Yoga is often confused with yogasan, which are set of varied exercises.
I speak on behalf of Yoga house of philosophy. There are so many people in saffron out there, who try convincing people, to give up their desires or at times just follow few exercises as an elixir to their ailments.
Much of what follows, is what I have understood from Rig Veda, Aitareya upanishad and Kena upanishad, which I found lying in a corner of IIT Roorkee's library. Lucky for me, they were translated into English, by few most trustable European translators.

'Yoga' means 'Yog' - union.
It is more than mere set of exercises or efforts to control breath, ( much of which I fail to appreciate.)
But, yoga does stand for union between the many quarreling halves that we have in our conscience, in our ethics, in our motivations and fears.
There are people around us and within us - who have different voices, opinions . Most of us have trained our minds to silence/defeat those inner voices, which are contrary to our set of rules, or convenience.
Sometimes, when people differ, they resort to quarreling, which is an outward manifestation of the quarrels that our inner voices/thoughts - transient or not, have among themselves.
Yoga stands for peace - for accepting oneself- with ones' own million different faces/phases.
To befriend and encompass all that we have in dark shelves of mind/soul.
To establish a prudent democracy within our quarreling million selves.
To extend the extent of our self-love to all - living, non-living beings.
To see unity in all that exists (present), will exist and had existed. That supreme union is 'Yoga'.
With such amazing clarity, tranquility, no wonder, 'Yogis' accomplish incredible 'Siddhis'.

Did I hear someone talk about Csikszentmihalyi's (pronounced like 'Chick-sent-me-high'! :D ) theory of flow? Did someone mention focus? Or, rather the lack of it?
Yoga - is an answer. Unite yourself. Come to peace with yourself. Love yourself , for exactly who you are.