History Of Yoga

Yoga has a history dating back, over five thousand plus years, to the beginning of the civilization of man, possibly in the Indus valley civilization.   Little is really known about the evolution of Yoga.  A place called Mehrgarh, a neolithic settlement, (now in Afghanistan) is believed to be the origin.  Most of the researchers believe it has been evolved over the Shamanism age. Yoga was believed to be a community resource in the early period of human civilization for their efforts to measure the cosmic order to apply to their day to day life. As years past, yoga evolved as a path to salvation and enlightenment for yogis.

In the Rigveda, we have reference about yoga and also in the Upanishads. Although, it is most likely developed into a systematic study around the 5th or 6th centuries BCE, in ancient Indian ascetic and Śramaṇa movements. The earliest date references describing yoga-practices is unclear beyond the Upanishads. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras dated around the 2nd century BCE have gained prominence in the west in the 20th century AD, after Swami Vivekananda first introduced them. Later, Hatha yoga texts began to popularise in between the 9th and 11th century.

Yoga is more than physical exercise in Indian traditions, with a meditative and spiritual core to it. Yoga, one of the major orthodox schools of Hinduism, has its own ontology, epistemology, and metaphysics. Yoga has a very close relationship to Samkhya philosophy as well. Outside India, it has developed into a physical fitness focusing more on postures, for stress-relief and emphasizes relaxation techniques. 

Excavations from the Indus-Sarasvati civilization, a period in time that was considered modern and efficient, points fingers towards the Vedas, the oldest scriptures in the world. The Vedas are a collection of hymns containing the oldest recorded history of Yoga practices.  The Vedas depicts a practitioner to overcome human limitations for a higher spiritual attainment. When ages pass, it paved the way for many higher realms of life sciences such as Ayurveda – the natural medicine for physical health and Yoga for spiritual and physical wellness as well.  In short, yoga evolved as a way of life through the practice for good health and harmony of the spirit with the universe.