Yoga is a centuries old tradition with origins in ancient India. it is a practice designed to blend physical, mental, and spiritual awareness to achieve harmony.

The History of Yoga

The tradition of Yoga goes back at least 5,000 years. It is believed that Yoga grew out of early Shamanism which was a practice of the art of healing. Later, as Yoga evolved from its early versions, Yogi’s used the practice for an inward experience toward enlightenment. The first archeological evidence of Yoga was stone seals depicting figures in Yoga poses found in the Indus valley and dating back to 3000 B.C. The oldest Yogic teachings are contained in ancient scripts known as the Vedas which were created by the Indus –Sarasvati civilization of that region.

Gnostic texts, known as the Upanishads, were created between 1800 and 1500 B.C. These scripts refer to the Atman (transcendental self) and the Brahman (ultimate reality). The 4 Verdic texts used today were written by Vyasa, an Upanishad teacher from around 1400 B.C. Eight hundred years later, during the sixth Century B.C., meditation and physical postures similar to those followed in Hinduism were important in the practice of Buddhism. One of the first Buddhists to study yoga and attain “enlightenment” was Siddhartha Gautama.

Classical yoga was defined in the second century C. E. by Patanjali who wrote:

The Yoga-Sutra. It describes the eight limbs of classical yoga as: 1. yama (restraint), 2. niyama (purity), 3. asana (physical exercise), 4. pranayama (breath control), 5. pratyahara (preparation for meditation), 6. dharana (concentration), 7. dhyana (meditation) and 8. Samadhi (absorption in the sublime). The important difference between classical yoga and the forms practiced previously is the belief that the separation of body and spirit are necessary to cleanse the spirit.

Post classical yoga saw the rise of different branches of yoga including Hatha Yoga, formed by the words “Ha” which means “sun” and “tha” which means “moon”. This branch of yoga brings the union of opposites referring to the positive (sun) and negative (moon) and includes the use of physical poses or asanas, pranayama, and meditation to bring the body into perfect health and allow the mind to emerge freely. Practitioners of post classical yoga espouse living in the moment.

The yoga tradition spread to the United States in the late 1800’s. One of its early promoters was Swami Vivekanada who attended the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. In the 1960’s and 1970’s a prominent Yoga guru, Himalayan Swami Sivananda, opened schools in Europe and the U.S. He wrote the Five Principles of Yoga: 1.Savasana (proper relaxation); 2.Asanas (proper exercise); 3.Pranayama (proper breathing); 4.Vegetarianism (proper diet); and 5.Dhyana (positive thinking and meditation). The yoga tradition continues to be practiced all over the world, across religious, political and cultural boundaries.

References: www.abcofyoga.com, The Book of Yoga by Christina Brown, Yoga A Basic Guide by Howard Kent