Yoga means "union" or "connection".  Developed nearly 5,000 years ago by the yogis of India.  Pantanjali, the "father of yoga" is considered one of the greatest of yogis who devised the original 84 asanas or "postures" as a way to prepare the body to sit still in meditation to allow the integration of body, mind, and spirit in perfect union towards the path to Self-Realization and enlightenment.  Yoga is a system, not of beliefs, but of techniques and guidance for enriched living.  The ancient masters identified eight different forms of yoga:   Karma Yoga (your work and duty with helping and serving others), Hatha Yoga (the well-known system of physical postures and breathing techniques, designed to prepare the yogi for Raja Yoga), Raja Yoga (an introspective, meditative form of yoga of achieving self-control and self-discipline with our emotions and rational thought, often practiced simultaneously with Hatha Yoga), Vedanta Yoga (philosophical thinking and understanding our purpose and destination), Bhaki Yoga (devotional practice, formal worship and surrender to God, seeing the divine in all creation), Mantra Yoga (chanting meditation to set an intention and to focus our attention), Jnana Yoga (an advanced path often requiring years of study, the way of attained wisdom and knowledge), Laya Yoga (dissolution of self and merging with supreme consciousness).  When the body, mind, and spirit have been integrated through the various practices of yoga, the flow of our prana or "life energy" increases, and we are able to cultivate peace, happiness, and joy through Self-Realization and connection to our Christ Consciousness and our Creater, God.