What It Really Means To Be a Yogi

In the past and still in remote areas of the world, farmers used animals to pull tools through the ground. The tools would shuffle and prepare the soil for the next crop. A yoke is the wooden bar used to join those animals, usually cows or bulls, at the back of their heads so that they can pull together.

The process of putting yokes on the animals is often referred to as "yoking up". Every season, farmers "yoke up" their animals so that they can do their work. The word "yogi" has its origins in the Sanskrit language. Its meaning is "to join", "to get into work", "to make an effort". And from the same source comes the word "yoke".

Just as farmers "yoke up" their cows to do their work, a yogi gets to work.