YOGA, put simply, is the way in which we experience the world.
It is our Inner State in any given context.
In other words, yoga is the inner lense through which we view our self and consequently how we perceive everything outside of us.
So the way we see ourselves is the way we see everything — because we are not separate from A N Y T H I N G.
When we are living our yoga, the relative world state in which we are experiencing our self and our connection to our supreme inner contentedness are one in the same.
Yoga literally means YOKE, to join together the personal identity with the Universal Interconnectedness.
What does this mean exactly?
According to my meditation teacher, Thom Knoles, it means YOU ARE THE UNIVERSE (!!!)
If you are the Universe then you are also not your suffering - because the Universe is not suffering. The Universe is Bliss. YOU ARE BLISS. WE ARE ALL BLISS. Come home to your birthright.
You are the contented and unbounded silent state of being that you experience from practicing on your mat, or when you are breathing deeply, or simply sitting quietly letting go of your identity.
*NOTE :: ASANA, meaning posture, is the physical act of poses practiced on a mat. ASANA is designed to produce YOGA.