Despite its current global popularity, yoga was not always so well known. In the 20th century it grew in popularity as part of the counterculture movement through the innovations of yoga gurus like Shri Yogendra and Swami Sivananda.
The history of yoga begins with ancient sacred texts called the Vedas. Then it moves into the Upanishads where yogic philosophy takes shape using anecdotes, dialogues and hymns to point to ineffable mystical states and realities.
Origins
The word yoga is first documented in the Rig Veda, which is part of a series of ancient sacred Hindu scriptures from Northern India about five to ten thousand years ago. Legend has it that Parvati found yoga so pleasurable that she could not keep it to herself, and so shared the practice with her husband Brahma and their sons, Narada and Sanat Kumaras (the seven sages). Later, these rishis recorded this once secret knowledge in the Upanishads, a series of Hindu philosophical-religious sacred texts.
These teachings would eventually be compiled and codified by Patanjali, who is considered the father of Yoga as we know it today. He wrote about eight limbs of yoga, which still serve as a guide for yogic practice today. Yoga was introduced to the West in the 19th century by Swami Vivekananda, who brought the practice to national attention after displaying it at the 1893 World’s Fair. Up to this point, yoga was primarily an austere spiritual practice for religious hermits and renunciates.
Early Practices
The practice of yoga began thousands of years ago. Today, yoga is a worldwide practice that incorporates many styles. But a deep understanding of yoga’s history and traditions is essential to a fuller appreciation of the practice.
The early practices of yoga were focused on detaching oneself from reality through mantra and meditation. During the Postclassical Period, however, the practice moved towards learning to accept life and living in the moment. This is the time when bhakti and tantra yoga were developed, and hatha yoga as we know it today emerged.
Spread to the West
Yoga was brought to the West through the efforts of Swami Vivekananda and other spiritual teachers who lectured around Europe and America in the 1890s. However, the Victorian values of the time left many Westerners unprepared for hatha yoga, which emphasizes physicality.
In the 1940s, Indian Yoga experts such as BKS Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois began teaching the yoga that is familiar to us today. This yoga has a strong emphasis on postures, with alignment as a primary focus. Health and bodybuilding magazines promoted the practice, and yoga became popular in the West as a way to improve physical fitness.
A sage named Patanjali, who lived between the 4th and 2nd century BC, consolidated much of the knowledge about yoga into three books: Mahabashya, a book on Sanskrit grammer; Patanjalatantra, a text on Ayurveda; and the Yoga Sutras, a collection of 196 aphorisms that outlines the philosophy and practices of yoga. He is considered the father of modern Yoga.
Modern Practices
Many people who practice yoga today may not realize that it has a long and rich history. It is a spiritual practice with a holistic approach to wellness that has been evolving over the centuries to meet the needs of those who practice it, in response to the changing world around them.
For instance, the yoga renaissance of the 1890s was partly fueled by European ideas about nationalist “man-making.” At that time, fitness and health magazines popularized Swedish gymnastics and bodybuilding exercises, and motifs of physical strength became associated with Indian identity.
During this period, yoga gained a new profile in the United States through Swami Vivekananda’s teachings and the work of his Self-Realization Fellowship. Other South Asian teachers began to follow his lead and make their way to America, including Bikram Choudhury, who developed the sequence of postures now known as ashtanga yoga. These yoga practices have been adapted and shaped to suit modern practitioners’ needs and interests, but they remain grounded in the ancient philosophy of Sankhya, which is one of the six Indian philosophies of yoga.