Yoga has a rich and varied history, reaching back 5,000 years. Its roots begin with ancient Hindu scriptures like the Rig Veda, Upanishads, and Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
Over time, spiritual practices were distilled into a system that emphasizes moral discipline, breath control, and meditation, leading to the goal of spiritual liberation. This process was facilitated by influential yogis, including Swami Vivekananda and Tirumalai Krishnamacharya.
Origins
Yoga is one of the oldest traditions on the planet emphasizing Divine unity. It was first practiced by ancient Yogi ascetics who renounced the world and dedicated themselves to intense meditation and psychic powers in order to reach the ultimate state of samadhi or trance.
It is thought that yoga developed within the Vedic culture which flourished in north-western India between 1500 and 500 BCE. It is during this period that the first descriptions of yogic practices and central philosophies start to appear in the Rig Veda and later in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
These early developments helped to create the foundation of a whole yogic tradition that is still in practice today. The Bhagavad Gita also emerged at this time as a core scripture for understanding human existence and the spiritual liberation that yoga can offer.
Practices
While yoga is primarily practiced today as a physical form of exercise, it can also be an integrated system of lifelong spiritual and philosophical growth. The ancient texts of the Hindu Vedas present a comprehensive approach to physical, mental and emotional health that incorporates ethics, philosophy, selfless service, meditation and other spiritual practices.
The physical poses, or asanas, of yoga help to strengthen and balance the body. The meditative aspects of yoga – a combination of dharana (concentration), dhyana (intensified meditation) and samadhi, the union of the individual self with the divine – are characterized by focus, concentration, quietness and peace.
A yoga style popularized in the 1990s, Power Yoga, involves a sequence of intense postures held for only five breaths each. It was developed, De Belgeonne says, “for young boys to allow them to release sexual energy.” (7)
Teachings
The rishis who developed yoga around 3000BCE shared wisdom about the purpose of life, protocols for achieving spiritual liberation and how to balance the mind, body and soul. This information was distilled into the five principles of yoga: yamas and niyamas, as well as pranayama (breathing exercises) and kriyas or techniques for purifying the physical and mental.
Sage Patanjali is credited with compiling these traditions into a form that would become a practice available to everyone. At the same time, he incorporated teachings from other Indian philosophies such as Samkhya and the Upanishads into his system. The yogic path was based on the principle that every thought, word and deed affects one’s state of being and eventually results in enlightenment or moksha. These philosophies were further systematized into the encyclopedic Yogacarabhumi-Sastra in the Gupta period between 500 BCE and 200 CE. Two important beliefs that evolved during this period were Samsara, the eternal cycle of birth, death and rebirth, and Karma, the principle that every action has a corresponding effect.
History of Yoga in the West
Yoga’s history is rich and varied. Its influence has spread far and wide, embracing a variety of cultures along the way. In the west, yoga has become a multi-billion dollar industry with tens of thousands of instructors and classes available in most major cities.
The word “yoga” derives from two Sanskrit roots meaning “yoking” or “joining.” The practice of yoga is a means to unite body, mind, and soul. It is a science of Self-realization and the path to spiritual liberation, as documented in ancient sacred texts called the Vedas.
Swami Vivekananda was a key figure in bringing yoga to the west. He authored several books that promoted yoga and meditation. In the ’50s, Richard Hittleman returned from India and started to teach yoga in New York. His teachings focused on the physical aspects of yoga and he is widely considered the grandfather of modern postural yoga in America. Hittleman’s popularity grew and he sold millions of copies of his books. He also pioneered yoga on television in 1961.