Published November 5, 2026 04:29AM
In Yoga Journal’s Archives series, we share a curated collection of articles originally published in past issues beginning in 1975. This article about yoga as a science and an art first appeared in the January-February 1977 issue of Yoga Journal. Find more of our Archives here.
Yoga is a science, an art, and a technique which spans the multilevel functioning of the individual. It is a science because of its empirical approach, presented most completely by the classic Yoga Sutras of Patanjali at least 1,000 years ago. Science is defined as a methodology which requires empirical proof of its theories; it requires that which proves a theory be easily repeatable by another experimenter if he/she follows the rules of the experiment.
Yoga, by this definition, is indeed a science. Its rules are given in sutra form and the presentation of Patanjali is a “how-to” book of the highest order. The practitioner need only follow the lead of Patanjali in order to have his own personal empirical results. (It is true that the directions are in parts esoteric and apparently illusive; this points out the necessity of having a teacher upon whom the practioner can rely for advice during certain intervals.) In addition to the work by Patanjali, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Gheranda and Shiva Samhita are references which can explain the science of yoga.
But yoga is an art, too. Individuals have dedicated their lives to the perfection of this art. This does not necessarily imply the production of tangible output such as texts, although these have been produced in the history of traditional Indian thought. Rather, the use of the word “art” in this context implies the movement toward perfection within, the embodiment of beauty as it can be expressed through the human being. If one dedicates his/her life to the art of yoga, this implies a dedication which does not involve merely daily practice numbering a few hours. Instead, it implies a minute by minute practice which spans years, and some believe, lifetimes of existence.
The art of yoga is the practice of yoga on all levels of existence; this means every thought, action, dream, relationship, food intake, sexual activity, occupation, etc., are brought into the wider perspective of observation in light of the individual’s desire to understand the Self. This understanding does not imply intellectual understanding alone. It implies the “living” or the “being” in the Self rather than just mentally knowing about the Self. One can compare this to the experience of being in a hurricane with merely reading about the experience of a hurricane; the effect would be quite different.
One who lives in the Self has come into a wholeness of being, possibly for us all by virtue of our human existence, but available presently to only a handful due a complex interplay of events which, for whatever reasons, has brought them to a newer threshold of consciousness. Thus the art of yoga lies in bringing perfection into action through becoming one with oneself.
Part of the ability to do this lies with the powerful psychological technique of “acting as if.” If one wishes to meditate, one often begins by acting as if one were meditating. As the form of meditation is assumed, the content of meditation begins to be experienced. If one acts as if one loves another, and acts with sincerity and with honesty, often feelings of love toward that person do begin to flow. So with yoga. If one watches and practices as if yoga were an art and the Self were the artist, then this lends validity to the possibility of this being true.
This brings one to the question of technique. Yoga is also a concrete way of bringing about profound physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual changes within the individual. The student is instructed in yama and niyama (basic ethical precepts), in asanas (meditative postures), in pranayama (conscious voluntary control of the energy associated with breath), in pratyhara and dharana (watching and observing the mind), and finally, in dhyana, or meditation. The final experiencing of samadhi (union) cannot be taught; it is both the result of the foregoing disciplines and independent of them. The understanding of this apparent paradox is part of the process of learning about yoga.
Thus yoga can be seen from the angles of science, art or technique. It can be approached as a small practice of one’s life, or as the way that life is lived, a quality which is brought to live which liberates one from the strong bonds of ego.
