All yoga as practised today is based on the Yoga Sutras, a collection of aphorisms offered more than 2000 years ago by the Indian sage Patanjali, and still regarded as authoritative. The Sutras were the earliest - and are still the most profound and enlightening - study of the human psyche. In them, Patanjali describes the enigma of human existence. He shows us how, through yoga practise, we can transform ourselves, gain mastery over the mind and emotions, and overcome obstacles to our spiritual evolution.

The invocation to sage Patanjali can also be a request for support or a salutation to the yogis of the past and the present. For us to realize we enter a longtime tradition wherein we walk the path of yoga in the footsteps of others.