Only one part of the whole Yoga system contains the exercises that people learn in yoga class (I will put the exercise part in lowercase and refer to the system of Yoga with a capital Y). The system is often called “Yoga philosophy,” but that phrase sells the whole vision short. As natural as it feels to divide life in this way, this kind of compartmentalization creates a problem that cuts to the very heart of existence. Royal Yoga holds that these compartments are false to the wholeness of life. There are hidden possibilities that you will never reach, an intensity of fulfillment you will never experience when your life is chopped into separate pieces like a loaf of bread cut into neat slices. Imagine yourself going through certain rituals and habits of your day—you get up, eat breakfast, go to work, call friends, do things with your family, and so on. Take a moment to visualize some specific ways that might make your day more satisfying. Perhaps a friend tells you a piece of good news, you complete a project at work, or you watch your child or spouse smile at you and you feel a rush of love. If you rewind these experiences and evaluate them through the prism of Yoga, each event might look the same on the surface. But if you practice Royal Yoga, what happens inside is transformed: You find that you are living in the light. The effect is all-embracing because if there is life, there should be light. Royal Yoga transcends these religious connotations while embracing their deeper meaning. “Light” is pure awareness; it is the cosmic consciousness that creates and maintains the universe and everything in it. In practical terms, living in the light is about living consciously, and the ultimate goal in life is to live only in the light, having cast off every form of ignorance, pain, and suffering. Royal Yoga is unique because it seeks to make everyday life ideal. There is infinite bliss as the starting point, located in your true self. Whenever you experience less bliss, no bliss, or actual pain and suffering, only one thing changes: how close you are to the light. This concept defines the entire Yoga system, no matter how complex its traditions are in India. There are literally thousands of Yoga commentaries, and their intricacy can be mind-bending. But we can cut through the complexity by focusing on just one thing: living in the light. It is vital to understand what the ideal life is, according to Royal Yoga. What makes its approach so natural is that nothing achieved through Royal Yoga is mystical or otherworldly. The self you experience today owes its most valued experiences to your true self, which is already whole and perfect. With over 15 million in his social media community (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and his affiliate websites), he shares his insights to help to create a more peaceful, just, sustainable, happy, and healthy world. The World Post and The Huffington Post’s global internet survey ranked him as the 17th most Influential Thinker in the World, and 1st in Medicine. In conjunction with his medical achievements, Chopra is a prolific author of more than 85 books translated into over 43 languages, with 25 New York Times Bestsellers including You Are the Universe. After collaborating on two major books featured as public broadcast television specials, Super Brain and Super Genes, he and Rudolph Tanzi took a quantum leap in their revolutionary approach to tackling the issue of lifelong health and heightened immunity in their book, The Healing Self.
