Yoga is an ancient practice that emphasizes breathing, flexibility, and strength to enhance mental and physical health. It is a collection of physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines or activities. Breathing and poses are the key components of yoga (a series of movements designed to increase strength and flexibility.)

The tradition is believed to have begun in India thousands of years ago and has been adopted in several ways by different nations. This article examines the origins of yoga, the distinguishing characteristics of the practice, and its global acceptance.

Where does yoga come from?

Yoga’s beginnings may be traced back more than 5,000 years to northern India. The term yoga originally appeared in the ancient holy scriptures known as the Rig Veda. The Vedas are a collection of four Sanskrit-written ancient religious writings. The first of the Vedas, the Rig Veda is a compilation of over a thousand hymns and mantras in 10 chapters known as mandalas that were utilized by priests throughout the Vedic period. Yoga was polished and developed by sages (Rishis) who recorded their practices and beliefs in the Upanishads, a massive collection of over 200 texts.
 
Yoga is one of the six philosophical schools of Hinduism, as well as a major component of Buddhist meditation techniques. Here you may learn more about the history of yoga at the Shri Yogendra Museum of Classical Yoga, the first museum in the world dedicated to yoga.

Why is there a specialized language?

If you’ve ever attended a yoga class (and if you haven’t, you should! ), you may have heard unfamiliar terminology. Sanskrit, the source of many Indian languages and one of the oldest languages in the world, is the true language of yoga.

Asana

Modern usage of the term asana, which means “seat,” refers to the physical yoga postures or poses. For example, Caturaṅga Daṇḍāsana. Caturanga asana is a yoga position generally known as “low plank.” Arm, shoulder, and core strength are required. It is frequently practiced before the “upward-facing dog” position.

Pranayama

Prana in Sanskrit refers to the vital power present in all living things. In contemporary yoga programs, Yama refers to breathing techniques that release the breath by removing physical and mental impediments from the body. For instance, Ujjayi.

Ujjayi breath is achieved by restraining the airflow at the back of the throat while breathing in and out via the nose. This produces a tone that is sometimes compared to the sound of the ocean upon exhale.

What about positions?

As you begin practicing yoga, some postures will serve as the foundation of your practice. Anchoring your practice with these postures enables you to gain the advantages of yoga, including flexibility, enhanced muscular strength, spinal protection, increased blood flow, and even increased happiness.

There are claimed to be 19 distinct varieties of yoga and 66 fundamental yoga postures. Here, you’ll discover historical images of yoga pupil Swami Vishnudevananda and his master Swami Sivananda Saraswati practicing some of the most basic poses, which might provide insight into some of them. Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres & Ashrams provides a more in-depth description of various poses.

Swami Vishnudevananda, to bring yoga to diverse and global audiences, adapted the ancient wisdom of yoga into five fundamental principles: Proper Exercise (Sana), Proper Breathing (Pryma), Proper Relaxation (asana), Proper Diet (Vegetarian), and Positive Thinking & Meditation. Here you may get additional information about them.

What function do mantras have in the yoga practice?

Mantras are repeating sounds intended to “penetrate the unconscious mind” and “alter the frequency of every facet of your existence.” Mantras may be shouted at, investigated, or listened to. Mantras are frequently sung in Sanskrit in yoga. Mantra is derived from the root word “man,” which means “to think,” and tra which means “to guard or to liberate from servitude” or “to liberate from the mind.”

In India, the oldest mantras were produced in Vedic Sanskrit at least 3,000 years ago. Mantras now exist in diverse Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism schools. They appear in a variety of forms; usually, they are melodic and feature meters that are mathematically arranged. “Aum” and “Om” are among the most fundamental mantras.

Mantras are musical phrases having spiritual meanings on more advanced levels. These can include human desires for truth, reality, light, immortality, tranquility, or love, among others. Some mantras have no literal meaning yet have spiritual significance.

When did yoga enter the Western world?

In the late 1890s, when Indian monks began transmitting their knowledge to the West for the first time, yoga, as it is known in the West, took off. Travelers to India also have the opportunity to rub elbows with yogis and watch their practice firsthand.

Swami Vivekananda is frequently credited with introducing yoga to the West (1863–1902). He initially arrived in the United States of America in 1883 and quickly began organizing international conferences on the topic, characterizing yoga as a “science of the mind” and translating Sanskrit Yogic scriptures into English. During his 1893 tour to the United States, he aroused national interest in Yoga by exhibiting it at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Consequently, several additional Indian Yogis and Swamis were welcomed with open arms in the West.

Shri Yogendra, an Indian Yoga master, novelist, poet, and researcher, was one of the most influential personalities in the resurgence of Hatha Yoga in India and the United States. 1919 was Yogendra’s first visit to the United States. He built The Yoga Institute in 1918, the world’s earliest structured yoga institute. The distinctive aspect of Yogendra’s teaching was how he began to “domesticate” hatha yoga by collaborating with physicians and seeking empirical proof of yoga’s health benefits. Consequently, he is sometimes referred to as the “Father of the Modern Yoga Renaissance”; learn more about his teachings here.

The success of The Yoga Institute was partly attributable to the efforts of Shri Yogendra’s life partner, Shrimati Sita Devi Yogendra, commonly known as “Mother.” As the Institute’s Secretary-Treasurer, she encouraged women in the community to practice yoga and published several articles and journals about her work. Learn more about the effect of Sita Devi Yogendra here.

Despite the accomplishments of Shri Yogendra and other instructors, the United States Bureau of Immigration set quotas on Indian immigrants in 1924. This prevented Indian yogis and instructors from traveling to the United States to continue their practice. The constraints finally compelled many to travel to the East, such as Theos Bernard, who returned from India in 1947 and authored Hatha Yoga: The Report of a Personal Experience, an essential text for yoga in the 1950s.
 
In 1950, despite immigration restrictions, various yoga-focused groups and federations were already in existence around the globe. A change in US law in 1965 eliminated the 1924 restriction on Indian immigration, so allowing a new wave of Indian instructors to bring their ideas to the West. In the 1970s, yoga and spiritual teachings were ubiquitous.
 
BKS Iyengar is another prominent person in the global dissemination of Indian spiritual thought. Iyengar popularised Yoga to Western nations by demonstrating his extraordinary physical flexibility on British and American television. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most important people in 2004. In 1963, he appeared on BBC alongside David Attenborough and musician Yehudi Menuhin.

Traditional and modern yoga practices are no longer identical, and yoga has been adapted for individuals of different ages and physical capacities. Social media has enabled yogis and instructors to disseminate their knowledge to a broader audience than ever before, solidifying yoga’s position as an integral part of many individuals’ daily lives.