The physical exercises started out as conditioning to be able to sit longer in meditation, which is how you get there.

In the ashram where I stayed we weren't even allowed to talk about the practice.

It’s just a vain feel good activity. Yoga practitioners talk all about their “practice” and improving themselves through their “practice”. You’ll hear yoga studios say stuff like “don’t go to church, just do yoga!”. There’s a bunch of pride wrapped up in getting the poses right, but this doesn’t benefit your body, it just lets you one-up on other people because your pose is “more correct”.

NFL and MLB players do tons of stuff like cupping or wearing magnets that are questionable. Doing yoga because it makes you feel accomplished seems about as harmless as channeling your ego into any sport or physical pursuit.