Health & Fitness
How Yoga Began
A brief history and background of the famous spiritual workout and body strengthening regime: Yoga...
A Brief History of Yoga
Yoga reconnects us with our bodies and teaches us to become more flexible and agile. It also has a plethora of benefits for mental and physical wellness, including immunity boosting, stress reduction, and improving overall circulation. This ancient practice has been passed down for centuries by gurus who have devoted their lives to the discipline as well as many students who have made it part of their own lives. The history of yoga is full of stories detailing how successful practitioners have used different types of yoga to find happiness, gain inner peace, treat medical conditions effectively ,and improve their overall quality of life.
Formed as a series of physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines, yoga involves breathing in different movements, meditation, and adopting different breathing techniques. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many new enthusiasts found solace in yoga without knowing much about its history or philosophy.
What can we infer from the history of yoga?
The story begins with the Brahmans, who were a dominant priesthood in ancient India. This was the start of the Vedic period, when four Vedas - Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda - were created as part of the holy writings of Brahmanism.
The word "yuj" first appeared in Rigveda, which is the root of the word "yoga". "Yuj" translates to mean "unite" or "together"; hence, by practicing yoga, one can unify the body with mind and vice-versa. The concept of yoga was first mentioned in Rigveda, which is a collection of mantras, hymns, and texts that form the teachings of Vedas-also known as Vedic Yoga. These teachings promote broadening one's mind to access beyond known mental and psychological limitations and explore the flexibility of thoughts through body movements.
At the time, humans relied heavily on 'Rashis', a set of holy guides in Hinduism teaching people how to follow the Vedas correctly. According to its yogic scripture-based philosophy, yoga lets an individual reconcile consciousness at all levels: global and internal consciousness. With regular practice, yoga makes humans more aware of their surroundings and able to connect with their mind, body, other people, nature's higher power (or being), and nature itself.
For centuries, yogis have moved away from society and closer to nature as they believe it is the most beneficial environment for practicing yoga. This seclusion has been encouraged by the Rashis, which is why you see many yoga retreats taking place in forested or other natural locations.
The Brahman priests in the Vedic period were respected for their vices of self-discipline, self-motivation, and being able to regulating their internal thoughts with what was happening externally. They would commonly perform sacrifices known as yajna and choose instead to focus on physical poses. Nowadays, researchers who study yoga's history believe that these physical poses are where yoga stemmed from.
Google Arts and Culture has assembled some pictures of the history of yoga, from its start in India to how it is practiced today around the world. The philosophy behind yoga remains the same, but over time it has taken on many different forms as it was adopted by new cultures. Today, yoga is considered a successful and beneficial meditative practice that credits itself with changing peoples' lives for the better.
