Everyone is familiar with the word ‘Yoga’ but before knowing yoga, one should know the beginning and roots of yoga from where it has emerged from.
The history of yoga helps in the incorporation of yoga in every person’s life and also pleased its rich beliefs. Yoga is as old as civilization but there is no proof to sustain this declaration.
One can found the existence of yoga in the stone seals which represent the figures of poses of yoga. These stone seals were found in the 3000 B.C.
Yoga was developed to improve the condition of humans and to restore the health of community members. The history of yoga is divided into 4 periods such as:-
Vedic Period
This period marked the existence of Vedas. The Vedas is considered as the holy scripture of Brahmanism. It is a group of a song of praise which is sung to thank a god. The Vedas include the yogic teachings which are very old and popular and these teachings found during this period are called Vedic Yoga.
The people during this period depend on rishis and devoted Vedic Yogis which taught the people about how one should live in great harmony. During this period, yogis live in forests and yoga was also taught in the forests.
Pre-Classical Yoga
Pre-Classical Yoga was marked by the Upanishads. The Upanishads explain about three things such as transcendental self, ultimate reality and the relationship between the two. They also taught about the teachings of the Vedas.
The characteristics of Yoga can be found with Hinduism and Buddhism. Buddha taught the importance of meditation and some of the physical postures to people during the 16 th century.
The first Buddhist, Siddharta Gautama, taught yoga at the age of 35 which was explained clearly and became very successful. Around 500 B.C, yoga was taught by Bhagavad-Gita to make the people active and to avoid their difficulties. It also combined Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Karma Yoga which soon became successful.
Classical Period
The Classical period was marked by Yoga Sutra which was written around the second century by Patanjali who defines the Classical Yoga. It is made up of 195 sutras which explain about Raja Yoga and its principals.
He taught that each individual is made up of matter and spirit. He mainly focused on meditation and completely ignored the Asanas. Later on during this period, various yoga techniques and asanas were used to teach the people which changed the body and make it everlasting.
Post-Classical Yoga
During this period, the people were taught about the practice of yoga and creation of literature. The main focus of post-classical yoga was on the present and taught the people about the acceptance of reality and lived freely. During the early 19 th century, yoga was commenced in the West.
During 1930’s, it was taught as a group of vegetarianism and health and as a part of Eastern Philosophy. During 1960, various Indian teachers like Maharishi Mahesh and Yoga Guru Swami Sivananda who taught about transcendental meditation to people and Sivananda opened various schools in Europe and America in which yoga was taught on a large scale.
Other teachers like Swami Satchitananda who considered yoga to Woodstock and Swami Sivananada Radha who discovered the connection between Yogi Bhajan, Yoga and psychology and further taught Kundalini Yoga during 1970.
Till now, yoga is continuously flourished among people and spreading its boundaries of language and culture.
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