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When I was little, my dad ran Sunday classes for children to learn about spirituality. There were giggles and laughter during fun story-telling sessions and games. There were opportunities to learn yoga positions and meditation. As a child, this was the highlight of my week. As I grew up, I realised that what I’d learnt during these classes was immensely valuable. Simple yoga and meditation techniques, which we took so lightly back then, would keep me steady through the storms and challenges that life would bring, in the form of family bereavement. It made me realise there’s far more to yoga than physical exercises. International Yoga day tomorrow, is an opportunity to reflect on this term, Yoga, and understand its deeper significance. This Hindu word has become part of our everyday vocabulary. And for the vast majority of people, Yoga is a fitness regime to make us physically healthier, and help us to live longer. We’re all hard-wired to have a keen interest in anything which can help us to prolong our lives. So no wonder Yoga is so popular all over the world. But there is a far deeper side to Yoga, which gets hidden away behind all the hype. Yes, of course it’s good to have a fit and healthy body. But is that really all we want? For Hindus, Yoga tells us our physical health is important because our body is the best instrument we have for making spiritual progress. Our entire body is full of wires: the arteries, veins, capillaries, nerve fibres. Our entire experience of the world is dependent on these wires, helping us to see, touch, taste and smell. Yoga is an attempt, through both physical and mental disciplines, to awaken the spiritual energy within us. But this spiritual energy, unlike nerve currents, is not dependent on wires. It’s far more powerful. To use an analogy, the energy in a lightning bolt, unfettered by wires, is far more powerful than the energy in cables. So for me, Yoga is an exercise - in empowerment. It’s an exercise to break free from the wiring, to break free from our limitations, and to become enlightened.