Yoga Origins
The Origins of Yoga presented within the best of our ability & research. If there are errors please let us know with links to supporting information.
Yoga’s history has a level of obscurity and relative to its oral transmission of sacred texts and the previously secretive nature of its teachings. The early writings on yoga were transcribed on fragile palm leaves that were easily damaged, destroyed or lost to the environment. The history of yoga can be tracked back to 5,000 + years ago, but some researchers think it could be be up to 10,000 years old old. Yoga’s long history can be divided into four periods of design, practice and development.
Pre-Classical Yoga
The start of Yoga is believed to have been developed by the Indus-Sarasvati civilization in Northern India over 5,000 years ago. The word Yoga seems to first appear in the oldest sacred texts, the Rig Veda. The Vedas are a collection of texts containing songs, mantras and rituals to be used by Brahmans, the Vedic priests. Yoga was slowly refined and developed by the Brahmans and Rishis (mystic seers) who recorded & documented their practices and beliefs in the upanishads, a large set of works containing over 200 scribed scriptures. The most renowned of the Yogic scriptures is the Bhagavad-Gîtâ, believed to have been composed around 500 B.C.E. The Upanishads took the idea of ritual sacrifice from the Vedas and adopted it, teaching the sacrifice of the ego through self-knowledge, action (karma yoga) and wisdom (jnana yoga).
Classical Yoga
In the pre-classical stage, yoga was a mix and non coordinated version of various ideas, beliefs and techniques that often conflicted and contradicted each other. The Classical period is defined by Patanjali’s Yoga-Sûtras, the first organised presentation of yoga. Written in what is believed to be the second century, this text describes the pathway of RAJA YOGA, often called "classical yoga". Patanjali assembled the practice of yoga into an "eight limbed path" containing the steps towards obtaining Samadhi or enlightenment. Patanjali has often been considered the father of yoga and his Yoga-Sûtras strongly influences most modern styles of Yoga.
Post-Classical Yoga
Some centuries after Patanjali, Several Yoga masters created a system of practices designed to rejuvenate the body and prolong life. They rejected the previous teachings of the ancient Vedas and considered the physical body as the means to achieve enlightenment. They developed Tantra Yoga, with new & innovative techniques to cleanse the body and mind to break down the ties that bind us to our physical existence. The exploration of these physical-spiritual connections and body centered practices led to the creation of what we primarily think of Yoga in the West as Hatha Yoga.
Modern Period
Around the late 1800s and the early 1900s period, Yoga masters began to migrate towards the West, attracting much attention and many followers. This began at the 1893 Parliament of Religions in Chicago, when Swami Vivekananda wowed the attendees with his lectures on Yoga and the universality of the world’s religions. In the 1920s and 30s, Hatha Yoga was strongly promoted in India with the work of T. Krishnamacharya, Swami Sivananda and other yogis practicing Hatha Yoga. Krishnamacharya opened the first Hatha Yoga school in Mysore in 1924 and in 1936 Sivananda founded the Divine Life Society on the banks of the holy Ganges River. Krishnamacharya produced three students that would continue his legacy and increase the popularity of Hatha Yoga: B.K.S. Iyengar, T.K.V. Desikachar and Pattabhi Jois. Sivananda was a prolific author, writing over 200 books on yoga, and established nine ashrams and numerous Yoga centres internationally.
The introduction of Yoga to the West still continued at a slow pace until Indra Devi opened her Yoga studio in Hollywood in 1947. That opened the door and attracted many more western and Indian teachers to pioneer, expand and make popular Hatha Yoga and attracting millions of followers. Hatha Yoga now has many different schools or styles, all emphasising many different aspects of the practice.
Vancouver is a Yoga City. It's Said we are a City of Starbucks Cafe's & Yoga Places.