Yoga poses can look like acrobatics or gymnastics—and, to beginners, positions that seem impossible to mold your body into—but yoga is actually considered to be the art and science of creating a union between the body, mind, and spirit. There are eight aspects to yoga, known collectively as the path to union with the divine, which include the physical practice that is so prevalent today.

The eight aspects to yoga are:

1. Yama: Morality

Ahimsa: Compassion for all living things

Satya: Commitment to truthfulness

Asteya: Nonstealing

Bramacharya: Sense control

Aparigraha: Nonattachment

2. Niyama: Personal attitudes of how to live one's life

Suaca: Purity

Santosa: Contentment

Tapas: Disciplined use of our energies

Svadhyaya: Self-study

Ishvarapranidhana: Contemplation of the divine

3. Asanas: Body postures
4. Pranayama: Breath control
5. Pratyahara: Nonattachment to sensory stimulation
6. Dharana: Meditation
7. Dhyana: Devotion
8. Samadhi: Union with the divine...