thumb|Bronze figure of a yogi in [[Dhyana in Hinduism|Dhyana (meditation) by Malvina Hoffman]]
A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions. The feminine form, sometimes used in English, is yogini.
Yogi has since the 12th century CE also denoted members of the Nath siddha tradition of Hinduism, and in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, a practitioner of tantra. In Hindu mythology, the god Shiva and the goddess Parvati are depicted as an emblematic yogi–yogini pair.
Etymology
In Classical Sanskrit, the word yogi (Sanskrit: masc ', योगी; fem ') is derived from yogin, which refers to a practitioner of yoga. Yogi is technically male, and yoginī is the term used for female practitioners.
A yogi should not be confused with someone practicing asceticism and excessive self-mortification. is found in the Keśin hymn 10.136 of the Rigveda, though with the terminology of Rudra who evolved into Shiva worshipped as the lord of Yoga in later Hinduism.
The term sometimes refers to a person who belongs to the Natha tradition. They usually belong to Shaiva tradition, but some Natha belong to the Vaishnava tradition.
thumb|upright|A 10th-century Yogini statue from Tamil Nadu, India. She is seated in an [[asana, and her eyes are closed in meditative state.]]
The Yoga-Bhashya (400 CE), the oldest extant commentary on the Yoga-Sutra offers the following fourfold classification of yogis:
- Prathama-kalpika (neophyte/beginner, devotional)
- Madhu-bhumika (one who has begun to enjoy the spiritual pursuits without effort)
- Prajna-jyoti (the advanced practitioner who knows spiritual concepts)
- Atikranta- bhavaniya (those who have attained what can be taught, achieved siddhas, and are on their personal path to ultimate insights)
Sexuality
A yogi or yogini aspires to Brahmacharya (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मचर्य), which means celibacy if single, or non-cheating on one's partner.
There have been two parallel views, in Hindu texts, on sexuality for a yogi and yogini. One view asserts restraint in sexual activity, towards monk- and nun-like asexuality, as transmutation away from worldly desires and onto a spiritual path. The second view, found particularly in Tantra traditions according to David Gordon White, asserts that sexuality is an additional means for a yogi or yogini to journey towards and experience the bliss of "one realized god-consciousness for oneself". In the second view, sexuality is a yogic practice, and one broadly revered through the lingam–yoni iconography of Shiva–Parvati, the divine yogi–yogini in Hindu mythology.