History of yoga:
The development of yoga can be traced back to over 5, 000 years ago. Some researchers think it is much longer.
Archaic period:
The word yoga first appeared in the Vedas, a collection of texts containing songs, rituals and mantras. The Vedas were used by the vedic priests. Yoga was then refined and documented in the Upanishads, the text containing over 200 scriptures. The most renowned of which is the Bhagavad Gita.
The Upanishads expanded on the ritual of sacrifice from Vedas, teaching the sacrifice of the ego, through self-knowledge, action, and wisdom.
Classical Yoga:
Classical period is defined by the Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, first systemized presentation of yoga. Patanjali is considerded the father of yoga and the Sutras remain major influence on modern yoga.
Post classical Yoga:
The Tantra yoga was developed with the radical techniques to cleanse the body
and mind. The exploration of the physical and spiritual connection, and the body centered practices, led to the creation of Hatha Yoga.
Modern Yoga:
In 1893 Swami Vivekananda presented his lectures on Yoga and the universality of the world’s religions at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago. He was well received.
In the 1920’s and 30’s, Hatha yoga was strongly promoted in India by the work of
T. Krishnamacharya, Swami Sivananda and other yogis practicing Hatha Yoga.
Krishnamacharya had three students who continued his teachings and increased the popularity of Hatha Yoga. They were B.K.S Iyengar, T.K.V Desikachar and
Pattabhi Jois.
Hatha Yoga now has many different schools and styles, each with emphasis on different aspects of the practice. Anusara Yoga, Kripalu Yoga, Kali Ray Tri Yoga, to name a few.
