Patanjali's yoga sutras

अथ योगानुशासनम् – atha yoganushasanam

atha = now
yoga = union, integration, oneness
anu = atom, tiniest particle
shasanam = philosophy and practice

There’s no time like the present to experience the Cosmic Consciousness uniting everything in the Universe down to the tiniest atomic particle.

The practice of yoga is an ever-increasing awareness of your Oneness with everything in this incomprehensibly vast universe.

Everything you are, everything you know, all of the energy and matter in the entire universe, was once condensed into a single point. The Big Bang began the process of separating the whole into its parts 13.8 billion years ago. First, there was a dark plasma of particles, a cosmic soup. Then, the first atoms formed. It took 1.1 billion years for gravity to organize these hydrogen atoms into galaxies of stars, bringing the Cosmic Dawn. The stars were stellar fusion foundries where hydrogen atoms were split and recombined into other types of atoms. As stars exploded, collapsed in on themselves or merged, they created new elements. They spewed out bits of matter that became planets and, eventually, life.

Our own sun was born 4.6 billion years ago, after generations of more ancient suns had come and gone. It happened when a giant, spinning cloud of gas and dust called a solar nebula collapsed under its own gravity. Most of the nebula’s material was pulled toward the center to form our Sun, 99.8% of the solar system’s mass. The remaining material, mere specks of dust in comparison, circled the sun in a spinning disk, with various objects, including our own planet, slowly gathering mass as they orbited the Sun like little dust-bunnies.

We’re All Made of Dust—But It’s Star Dust!

Dr. William E. Barton

All of the matter in the universe, including the atoms that compose your body, has passed through the caldrons of stars. Your body is an integral part of the manifestation of Cosmic Being. You are made of universal and divine ingredients. The earth is truly a heavenly body. No matter what is happening to you, you are living among the stars, made of the same stuff as the stars. You can study astronomy to investigate your own ancestry, the magnificence of your own creation.

Be humble for you are made of dung. Be noble for you are made of stars.

Ancient Serbian proverb
Guy Murchie, The Seven Mysteries of Life

Every atom in your body is as old as the Universe and is constantly being exchanged with atoms that have cycled through everything and everyone on Earth.

Astrophysicist Ethan Siegel explains:

“Every time you breathe in, you’re breathing atoms of air that were once inside another human being. Every time you take a drink of water, you’re drinking water that was once inside another human being. And every bite of food you take consists of atoms that were inside another person. We all share the same planet, the same biosphere, and — at a fundamental level — even the same atoms.

“At an atomic level, we’re all incredibly deeply connected. Inside your body, right now, are hundreds of billions of atoms that were once inside each other human being on Earth. Throughout the generations and the aeons, those same atoms continue to make up everything: the atoms of the dinosaurs, the plants, the trilobites, and even the single-celled organisms that once dominated our planet are now inside you.”

The traditional meaning of Yoga comes from its Hindu roots:

“The fundamental teaching of Hinduism, or Vedanta, is that a human being’s basic nature is not confined to the body or the mind. Beyond both of these is the spirit or the spark of God within the soul. This spirit is within us and also within everything we see. All beings and all things are really, in their deepest essence, this pure or divine spirit, full of peace, full of joy and wisdom, ever united with God. This is not just theory, but it can actually be experienced. Anyone who takes the trouble to undergo the necessary training to purify and refine the mind and senses can begin to feel the truth of this. This training can take various forms and is known as yoga (‘union,’ union of the individual self with this inner spirit).”

In a practical sense, Yoga is a journey of self-discovery. It is the integration of the tiniest particles of yourself into a unified whole. You integrate your experiences into your worldview and sense of self. You integrate your conscious mind and your free will with your subconscious mind and its instincts, emotional reactions, and ingrained beliefs. The reptilian and mammalian parts of your brain integrate with the neocortex, the uniquely human part of your brain. This integration is happening naturally all of the time, of course, but through Yoga you can become more self-aware, You can accept every aspect of yourself and integrate your experiences more consciously, with greater ease and less conflict and resistance.

“Our life’s mission on planet Earth is to integrate our divinity with our humanity. The good news is, we do not have to strive towards divinity. We are already divine. It is our birthright.” Namaste means, “I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides. I honor the place in you of light, love, truth, peace, and wisdom. I honor the place in you where, when you are in that place, and I am in that place, there’s only one of us.”

Nischala Joy Devi, The Namaste Effect