Yoga’s history is rich and diverse. Its practices, philosophy and beliefs have been evolving for over 5000 years.
It is generally accepted that the late 1800s and early 1900s saw yoga’s arrival in the West. This is usually credited to Swami Vivekananda, with his famous series of lectures.
This is when Westerners developed a love affair with Eastern spirituality.
Origins
Yoga was developed as a spiritual path in ancient India thousands of years ago. Its origins are rooted in Hindu philosophy and the practice is designed to bring mind, body, and spirit into balance. The earliest mention of yoga can be found in the Rig Veda, one of the four sacred texts of Hinduism.
The sages of the Indus-Saraswati valley civilization, known as the Rishis, began sharing their wisdom of self-realization around 3000BCE through what came to be called the Vedas. The rishis also shared their protocols for reaching spiritual freedom which included meditation and other somatic practices, such as the breath control of Hatha yoga and the contemplative Jnana yoga.
Two Indian gurus, Swami Vivekananda and Paramahansa Yogananda, brought yoga to the United States in the early 20th century. Both of these yogis promoted the idea of Yoga as a holistic process that would help individuals transform themselves.
Early teachers
Yoga has a rich and diverse history, and it’s important for yoga practitioners to know its past in order to understand the present. Yoga’s early teachers were influential in its development, and influenced how it is practiced today.
These early wisdom holders started out as Brahmin priests, but they moved away from the caste system and developed yoga practices outside of religion and governmental institutions. This independence from governing bodies allowed yoga to develop into different traditions, including Bhakti Yoga and Hatha Yoga.
Swami Vivekananda played a significant role in yoga’s first steps into the West, lecturing about it all over Europe and America. His 1946 book Autobiography of a Yogi remains a spiritual classic. Later, Tirumalai Krishnamacharya would blend hatha yoga with Western gymnastics and inspire such famous yoga teachers as B.K.S. Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois to teach modern postural yoga in the US.
Krishnamacharya
It’s said that every three centuries someone comes along to re-energize an ancient tradition. Krishnamacharya was one of these – the man responsible for bringing Hatha Yoga to the modern world.
He was a gourmet cook, horticulturist and shrewd card player with an encyclopedic knowledge of yoga. His approach was to share his storehouse of wisdom with anyone with the requisite interest and discipline.
Among his students were BKS Iyengar and Pathabi Jois, who later established their own schools of yoga in India. He was hard on his students, starting lessons at 3:30 AM to encourage dedication. But he was also flexible and open to different approaches. He allowed his students to develop their own styles, but he insisted that they respect the heritage of yoga.
British colonial era
During this era, yoga became a global tradition and transformed into its modern form. Some argue that this transformation was a form of cultural appropriation, but I believe that it was an attempt to make yoga more accessible. The colonial era of India had a great impact on the practice of yoga and led to the loss of traditional knowledge, as well as the disruption of yogic lineages.
In the 19th century, Swami Vivekananda began to promote hatha yoga as part of his mission to liberate India from colonial rule. His new image of a strong, masculine Indian body was used as a counter to the colonial narratives of Indian effeminacy and degeneracy. He combined physical culture (which included body building, gymnastics, and military calisthenics) with traditional hatha yoga practices.
Modern era
During this time, the spiritual practice of Yoga began to spread. It was mostly confined to the priestly Brahmin class but was later adopted by hermits and ascetics. It was also during this time that Hatha Yoga developed into its present form.
Sage Patanjali was a key figure in this era. He consolidated and systematized Yoga into a text called the ‘Yoga Sutras’. He was born sometime between the fourth and second century BC.
His work changed the perception of yogis from the British image of circus freaks to that of people who are physically healthy and strong. He also played a big role in the Indian Nationalist mission for an Independent India. He was the father of a number of famous Yoga teachers, such as TKV Desikachar, Pattabhi Jois and Indra Devi.