What is yoga; its purpose and benefits?
Yoga’s roots can be traced back to the East, although no one person ‘invented’ yoga.
It is a living tradition, a set of practices that dates back for centuries. 
Patanjali, in the Yoga Sutras (written around the second century B.C.) attempted to systematically codify the philosophy behind the concept of yoga.
He was not the only scholar who contributed to what became the practise of yoga and it may be likely that Sutras were written by many scholars, but essentially these works taught what the ancient yogi’s believed;
that in order for man to be in harmony with himself and his environment, he had to integrate the mind, body and spirit. This was achieved through meditation, breathing and exercise.
Yoga can be defined as a science; a practical, methodical, and systematic discipline or set of techniques that have the goal of bringing awareness to an individual about their deepest nature. It is a transformational process and an adventure in consciousness. The main purpose of yoga is to strive for the union of the individual’s consciousness with the Infinite Consciousness.