Yoga doesn’t begin on the mat—it begins in the mind. Yoga is the inner intuition of the self, expressed through conscious action in the world. It is where dharma and kriyā converge. It is Yoga in its most essential form.

𝙑𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨—𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙪𝙧𝙨—𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝:

“The Hindus were deeper than the thinkers of Europe because their interpretation of the world was internal and intuitive, not external and intellectual. The intellectual divide everything, and intuition unites everything.”
—𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘏𝘜𝘙 𝘚𝘊𝘏𝘖𝘗𝘌𝘕𝘏𝘈𝘜𝘌𝘙

“The people in the Indian countryside don’t use their intellect like we do; they use their intuition instead. Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect.”
—𝘚𝘛𝘌𝘝𝘌 𝘑𝘖𝘉𝘚

In India, Steve Jobs observed how little people possessed, yet how deeply content and focused they were. This experience shaped his philosophy of “𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦” — inspiring him to strip products of excess and highlight only what truly matters.

𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘴, 𝘠𝘰𝘨𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭.

Unfortunately, Yoga today is increasingly externalized—reduced to debates, divisions, and displays. It’s become an exercise in proving rather than experiencing, a shallow reflection of its original depth.

One of Yoga’s most crucial aspects is: 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. Yet today, many practitioners are more commercially and competitively driven, turning Yoga into cult-like exhibitionism. The space for inner intuition and judicious action has diminished.

Yoga, in its true essence, is rooted in reflection, observation, and contemplation. It creates harmony among one’s knowledge, action, emotion, and experience.

𝘠𝘰𝘨𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴—𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴.

Take Arjuna as an example—a Kshatriya who had everything: wealth, family, status, and clarity of purpose. Yet even he faltered on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. His brief moment of inner collapse led him to seek guidance—not from consultants, but from Sri Krishna, to help him face life as it is.

The essence of Sri Krishna’s teachings in the Bhagavad Gītā—a scripture centered on Yoga—is this:

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥.
Life is to be lived in alignment with one’s innate nature. Struggle is real—and in the midst of it, we must acknowledge the presence of forces beyond our control. 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘴, 𝘠𝘰𝘨𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦.

𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘵𝘢, 𝘠𝘰𝘨𝘢 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥—𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. Yoga teaches us not to stretch our suffering or our ecstasy beyond what they truly deserve.

𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘨𝘢, 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵. 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴—not to manipulate outcomes, but to think rightly in the face of whatever arises. That, truly, is Yoga.

The Gītā also reveals a profound truth: a true Yogi gives their full energy to action—as if they are the doer—while holding the unshakable conviction that the results are never in their control. 𝘈 𝘠𝘰𝘨𝘪 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵y 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

𝘐𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘩𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘥 𝘎𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘨𝘪 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯—𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴.

Yoga is the grand harmony that unites the individual, society, civilization, the Rāṣṭra, and the Supreme Being—Bhagavān Śrī Krishna.

Yoga is the union of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Nothing is to be rejected, and nothing is to be obsessed over.

𝘽𝙚 𝙖 𝙔𝙤𝙜𝙞—𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩.

– Govind Das (ISKCON MEMBER)