For us, in the West, it is challenging to define Yoga since what we know are the physical exercises, and we are unaware of its foundations and its religious philosophy that dates back thousands of years. It can be said that Yoga was both a metaphysical and practical philosophy; it includes philosophy, psychology, religion, and also sciences.

This amalgamation contrasts with the overspecialization of knowledge and professions that has occurred in recent centuries in the West, to the point where we wonder, "What does Psychology have to do with Philosophy?" Forgetting that psychology already existed in ancient Greece within Philosophy (see an example of this in Theophrastus' treatise on psychological types, 4th century BCE). On the other hand, the influence of the West on the East over the last two centuries contributed to the loss of many of these cultural and religious traditions with the onset of the "modern" way of life.

Psychology holds a prominent place in the cultural history of India. Even in the Upanishad period, around 1500 BCE, it was taught that the psyche and the cosmos are inseparably related. Separated from the psyche, the Universe is an enigma. Separated from the universe, the psyche is a rootless abstraction. Going from the Universal to the particular is characteristic of Indian Philosophy, i.e., the human being in the Universe and its relationship with it. They called Atman the Consciousness or the real Self in contrast to the ego-self with a lowercase "s," which is only a reflection or satellite of the true Self or Real Self.

In the West, it is thought that Yoga is fundamentally about physical postures or asanas. Little is known about the philosophy of what bears the same name. The word Yoga means union, union with the higher within oneself. To achieve this union in India, there have been six schools of philosophy for millennia, each with its worldview and practices aimed at helping the student achieve a higher state of consciousness.

All philosophical schools and religious cults in India stem from a common trunk, which is the Vedas. The Vedas are four sacred books of which the version compiled by Vyasa, a sage and mythical figure in Hinduism, has reached us. Due to the complexity of the Vedas, explanatory teachings were given in the Brahmanas, then in the Puranas, and finally synthesized in the Upanishads.

The Upanishads, 108 in total, represent the logical culmination and the most philosophical portion of the Vedas. The Vedas and the Upanishads are considered among India's ancient scriptures, the most sacred and loaded with knowledge. From the 5th century BCE to the 17th century, as a result of intense systematization of thought and codification of Yoga Philosophy principles, several well-defined yoga disciplines were established. Some of them are: The Yoga of breath and body control: Hatha Yoga. The devotional or love Yoga: Bhakti; The Yoga of mind control: Raja Yoga. The Knowledge Yoga: Jñana. The Action Yoga: Karma.

The ultimate goal of all these is union with the Real Self or Atman. They differ only in the starting point and method; each emphasizes one of the various ingredients of personality, but all work in unison. Hinduism says that the reflection produced by meditation leads to deeper self-knowledge, and the mind (citta) clarifies with the profound truth: the authentic self within oneself (atman, purusha) is the master key to achieving inner change, reaching the essential structure of the universe, and the mystery of being. Thus, the ancient sages of India were convinced that the search for supreme truth or the mystery of the universe must involve the search for one's true self. The process of psychological self-inquiry, a fearless adventure, was the foundation of Yoga philosophy.

In summary, the Yoga path consists of various ethical-religious, psycho-vital, and psycho-spiritual self-disciplines that must be followed to achieve the ultimate goal of self-realization.

The distinction between mind (citta) and the self (purusha, atman) is of fundamental importance in Yoga psychology. Integration of the psyche's components is essential for self-realization.

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