Yoga has now become extremely popular all over the western world even though it has been known to the eastern world for thousands of years. A lot of yoga asanas are named after and emulate the plant and animal world, such as the eagle pose, the tree pose, the cat pose, the frog pose, etc. The ancient Vedic seers must have been trying not only to imitate the postures and the character traits of these animals, but also to create compassion for them. By reading the old yogic texts, you can understand the connection compassion has with yoga and its aim of freedom from the earthly world.
You can understand the meaning of the Vedas only when you are deep in meditation, be it the Rig Veda (knowledge of praise), Yajur Veda (knowledge of sacrifice), Sama Veda (knowledge of chants), and Atharva Veda (knowledge of atharvan). When we can understand the teachings of the Vedas, we can experience an ecstasy which is beyond the material world.
When you have comprehended the Vedic sutras, then this humdrum everyday world recedes and you have a greater insight and more acute perception of things.
This feeling has been described by H. P. Blavatsky, who is an expert of Eastern sacred texts, in his The Voice of Silence. He says, ‘Compassion is no attribute. IT is the LAW of LAWS—eternal Harmony, Alaya’s SELF; a shoreless universal essence, the light of everlasting Right, and fitness of all things, the law of love eternal.’
Yoga always instructs one not to strain oneself to do an asana properly, since straining causes discomfort and pain, which is opposed to compassion. This is because yoga believes that we are all part of the cosmic whole. If an individual hurts himself, then he causes pain to the entire world at large. Thus, strain should be avoided when doing yogic asanas.
There are many yogic postures meant to bring peace. Patanjali in the Yoga-Sutra says relaxation is the spirit of yoga, which shows itself in the asanas we practice today. Yoga demands that we respect our bodies and have compassion for its physical limitations. Yoga wants us to see our bodies as heavenly objects and requires us to foster health in this mortal temple. Yoga experts know that their bodies have flaws, even though they look toned. While yoga encourages us to preserve the body’s health, it also reminds us that true freedom is achieved only when one is free from one’s body, when one has escaped the incessant cycle of death and rebirth.
Yoga is different from the western concept of exercising. The physical outcome is the only goal of exercise, but yoga aims for the betterment of the soul, with the physical results being an offshoot. Since the ancient texts stress that the mind and spirit are more important than the body, yoga stands apart from modern notions of exercise. It aims for unification with the divine, and the feelings of compassion can be merged into each pose.