Can it be said that yoga is a combination of meditation and exercise?!

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Yes, you could say that.

Yoga could be a form of meditation. It depends on what you are doing. There are different styles of yoga and different posses. Tai chi and qigong can also be forms of meditation. If the yoga you are doing relaxes and energizes you it could probably be considered moving meditation. When I do qigong or tai chi I get the same benefits as doing meditation. It mostly depends on your breathing and your thoughts. Are your thoughts focused, is your breathing deep and slow, do you feel relaxed, do you gain more energy?

http://www.mikes-space.com/qigong.htm

The kind of yoga taught in many studios in North America is called Hatha Yoga and has to do with conditioning and working with the body. This may or may not be done in conjunction with (or preparation for) Raja or Dhyana yoga which is meditation as usually understood - the calming and concentration of the mind. Please read the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (there are many translations) to learn more about this form of yoga.

The Bhagavad Gita also speaks of Bhakti yoga (the yoga of devotion to God), Karma yoga (fulfilling one's duties in life without attachment for results), and Jnana yoga (cultivating spiritual knowledge). Raja or Dhyana yoga is also spoken of in the Bhagavad Gita.

There may be some overlap between the Hindu forms of yoga (as found in the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali) and what the Buddha taught in the Pali canon - probably both were drawing upon common traditions that predate both and may even go back to the ancient Indus Valley Civilization. A later form of Mahayana Buddhism is even called the Yogacara (which means practitioners of yoga), though of course its focus is seated meditation and the transformations of mind that create our dualistic subject-object experience of reality and how to overcome that and realize the true non-dual nature of reality.

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei

The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse (Mahasatipatthana-sutta), and the Treatise on Consciousness Only by Hsuan-tsang (various translations of these three).

No. The word yoga literally translated means 'union'. The 'exercises' are asanas meant to address specific problems within the subtle energy system of the body. The aim is to purify this system and allow the raising of the Kundalini, a dormant energy which sits in the base of the spine. This is said to open the energy centre at the top of the head, uniting the individual with the all pervading consciousness of the divine. This is the 'union' which the word Yoga refers to.

http://www.freemeditation.com/

In my opinion, no Yoga is not a combination of the two.

Yes, Yoga is a calming relaxed form of exercise, but you do not find inner peace within yourself. In meditation you find the inner peace and reach enlightenment and enter a deep thought.

But this is just my opinion, I would never consider yoga a form of meditation.

Yoga is indeed a combination of the two. In fact, intense yoga sessions can burn hundreds of calories.

Yes, as can be said about other Asian pursuits, such as tai chi chuan, qigong, and butoh.

Not by default but it can be if it is practiced like that.

Yes.