Traditional Definitions of Yoga

"Yoga is the control of the whirls of the mind (citta)."—Yoga-Sûtra (1.2)

"Yoga is skill in [the performance of] actions."—Bhagavad-Gîtâ (2.50)

"Yoga is ecstasy (samâdhi)."—Yoga-Bhâshya (1.1)

"Yoga is said to be the oneness of breath, mind, and senses, and the abandonment of all states of existence."—Maitrî-Upanishad (6.25)

"Yoga is the union of the individual psyche (jîva-âtman) with the transcendental Self (parama-âtman). "—Yoga-Yâjnavalkya (1.44)

"Yoga is said to be the unification of the web of dualities (dvandva-jâla)."—Yoga-Bîja (84)

"Yoga is known as the disconnection (viyoga) of the connection (samyoga) with suffering."—Bhagavad-Gîtâ (6.23)

"Yoga is said to be control."—Brahmânda-Purâna (2.3.10.115)

"Yoga is the separation (viyoga) of the Self from the World-Ground (prakriti)."—Râja-Mârtanda (1.1)

"Yoga is said to be the unity of exhalation and inhalation and of blood and semen, as well as the union of sun and moon and of the individual psyche with the transcendental Self."— Yoga-Shikhâ-Upanishad (1.68-69)

"This they consider Yoga: the steady holding of the senses."—Katha-Upanishad(6.11)

"Yoga is called balance (samatva)."—Bhagavad-Gîtâ (2.48)