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The Spiritual Seeker's Aspiration and Prayer · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  Particularly in the West, when people think about yoga, they
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  believe it is a series of physical postures or exercises
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  done with a certain sense of concentration.
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  They associate Hatha yoga with the entirety of yogic practice
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  and in many instances treat yoga as a form of physical
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  conditioning. The field of yoga is, however,
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  something much different, far vaster and more powerful than
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  just physical conditioning. Yoga means union, and the object
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  of yoga is the union of the soul with the divine.
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  Srioro Bindo has noted that Yoga is essentially a form of applied
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  psychology as it delves into the inner realms, the thoughts,
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  feelings, emotions, actions and reactions of the being, and aims
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  to shift the standpoint from that of the external ego
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  personality to one of union with the Divine, with the motive
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  force and power of action derived from that oneness with
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  the divine force as it manifests.
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  Once the seeker recognizes the deeper aims of yoga, the
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  perfection of the physical conditioning of the body can no
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  longer be accepted as the entire objective.
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  Srioro Bindo outlines the aspiration and prayer that the
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  seeker can utilize to succeed in the deeper yogic endeavour.
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  Srioro Bindo notes quote First aspire and pray to the Mother
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  for quiet in the mind, purity, calm and peace and awakened
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  consciousness, intensity of devotion, strength and spiritual
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  capacity to face all inner and outer difficulties and go
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  through to the end of the yoga. If the consciousness awakens and
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  there is devotion and intensity of aspiration, it will be
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  possible for the mind, provided it learns quietude and peace, to
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  grow in knowledge. End Quote reference Shrioro
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  Bindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 1. Calm, Peace and Equality, page
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  11.