A brief history of yoga

It’s not all about stretching

8 min readJul 25, 2020

The majority of inventions brought to the West are adapted to meet our common norms and standards, whether food dishes, sports or other leisure activities. Over time, these inventions or ideas evolve and eventually become unrecognisable from their original forms. For example, chinese dishes commonly found in Europe often do not exist in China. Similarly, chicken tikka masala is highly likely to be a British invention, although this is still disputed with India.

The yoga in the modern world resembles a stretching session, similar to pilates, than the original yoga practiced thousands of years ago. I thought it would be interesting to learn about the original form of yoga practiced thousands of years ago in Ancient India, and how it has been marketed to the mass audience in Europe. Yoga has an extremely complicated narrative and you will certainly not learn about any of this in any yoga class. It can take a lifetime to fully understand the origins of yoga.

Codebreaking the strange words in yoga

Before, we can get to the origins of yoga it is first necessary to understand some of the terminology. Sanskrit is the classic indian language still used in yoga to define poses and postures.

It’s easy to get confused, so here is a quick guide.

Namaste is used as a hello or as a farewell in yoga practice. It shows respect to the person that you are speaking to. It is performed by clasping the hands together and bowing to the person or to the class.
Asana is just the name for any yoga pose. Some common asanas are chataranga (low plank), malasana (squat), shavasana (corpse pose), balasana (child’s pose), uttanasana (standing forward fold) and sukhansana (cross-legged pose). It takes some time to learn them all, but yogis love to use them in front of newbies to show off.
Pranayama is the name for special respiration exercises decided to cleanse and bring clarity to the mind. In simple terms, it is the yoga of breathing.
The seven chakras are the major energy sources in the body that produce energy. A lot of yoga exercises are based on unblocking these chakras.
Mudra refers to the use of hand signs during meditation to channel and direct energy, but can involve the body also.
Bandhas are special body positions used to retain and lock energy in a specific area of the body which the chakra produce to prevent it leaving.
Mantra are special sounds or chants used to aid meditation

The Om in Sanskrit represents the constant vibration of the universe

Om Shanti is a mantra chanted three times at the end of class to become om shanti shanti shanti. This mantra means “om, peace, peace, peace.” The word “om” has no meaning but is considered to be the eternal humming sound of the universe.

The original “paths” of yoga

The original yoga manuscript had almost nothing about physical activity. Yoga was originally meant to be a religious activity designed to bring people closer to god, and had very little to do with stretching. Yoga stems from the Vedas, ancient Indian texts, which formed the religions of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. By practicing yoga we may in fact be engaging with a different religion. Some Jews and Muslims even go to the extent to label yoga “kosher” or “haram”.

The modern practice of yoga in our society stems from Hatha yoga, which is the practice of yoga postures. All the types of yoga that we practice in our modern society are in fact just sub-types of Hatha Yoga. Many people confuse Hatha yoga to be a type of yoga, when it is just an umbrella term used to refer to the physical practice of yoga involving the body. When a yoga class is marketed as Hatha yoga it normally involves a brief introduction to yoga and its poses.

Up to the 5th century, yoga was a bit of an abstract concept, but generally referred to a spiritual practice. The original paths of yoga are extremely difficult to understand as terms often have multiple meanings and there is a lot of overlap. The general consensus is that there are four paths of yoga: Bhakti, Ynana, Karma and Raja. Yogis say that we be more drawn to one path then another, but all paths complement each-other and lead to enlightenment. The four paths are like “four strands of the same rope”.

The Four Paths of Yoga. Raja Yoga has an eight-stage path.

Bhakti: Emotions and being grateful, this includes prayer, chanting, singing, dancing, ceremony, and celebration.

Karma : Selfless action for the good of others, such as helping out in a homeless shelter. Think Mother Teresa.

Jnana: Wisdom and knowledge in a philosophical sense, such as reading sacred texts and asking questions on the nature of existence and the meaning of life.

Raja (also known as the royal path): Self-control whilst letting go of your ego, based on an balancing the three types of yoga above with an 8 step path, which includes Hatha Yoga.

Note: Yogis sometimes refer to Tantra Yoga, Mantra Yoga and Hatha yoga as additional yoga paths.

Tantra yoga is a very powerful path of yoga that is a powerful combination of the four paths. Tantra yoga weaves together many different techniques to study the inner universe within our body.

Mantra yoga (singing etc.) is highly present in the Bhahti path but is often considered to be its own unique yoga path.

The Hatha yoga practiced in our western society was not originally a yoga path, but merely a sub-division of the Raja yoga path. It is now considered to be its own unique yoga path.

The eight limbs of Raja yoga

The eight limbs are the steps which must be achieved in Raja yoga to achieve ultimate enlightenment. These steps must be achieve in ascending order. Hatha yoga is a small part of Raja yoga. The eight limbs of yoga were first described in “The Yoga Sutras” by Patanjali, an indian sage, sometime before 400 AD, who compiled knowledge of yoga together.

Yamas- ethics (non-violence, truthfulness, abstention from greed etc.)
Niyamas- self-discipline
Asanas- practice of physical postures
Pranayama- breathing techniques used to control the life force of the body

3) and 4) are known as Hatha Yoga. Hatha yoga is used to prepare the individual for the next steps of Raja yoga. In the 8th century, the asana and pranayama aspects of Raja yoga became known as Hatha yoga.

5. Pratyahara- Sensory detachment and withdrawal of the senses through relaxation exercises

6. Dharana- concentration and focus

7. Dhyana- meditation

8. Samadhi- freedom, liberation, enlightenment

The Rise of Hatha Yoga

Before the medieval era, there was only one sole piece of information about asanas, which was again provided by Patanjali in the “The Yoga Sutras”.

“Sthira sukham asanam” or “asana is a steady and comfortable pose.”

This suggests that the whole world of yoga is open to interpretation. Any pose in which you can comfortably breathe is yoga. No instructions or descriptions of any asanas were provided in the texts.

The 15 asanas approximately described in Hatha Yoga Pradipika

Patanjali stated that asanas could only be practiced once the first two steps of purification in Raja yoga had been achieved, which can be a long process.

Hence, in the 15th century, Swami Swatmarama, a 15th-century sage created Hatha Yoga Pradipika which allowed everyone to avoid the the first two steps of the Yamas and niyamas. Hatha Yoga is also known as Shatanga Yoga (six limb yoga), and included 15 different asanas in his text.

In the 19th century, Swami Sivananda decided to simplify Hatha yoga further for common people in terms of five elements: diet, exercise, relaxation, meditation and breathing, without explaining the philosophical aspects. He described 12 different asanas in his works. The world of commercial yoga as we know it was then set in motion, and his work led to the emergence of a host of different types of yoga.

The 12 asanas described by Swami Sivananda, who created the yoga we know in the western world

The types of yoga in the modern world

Currently there are a lot of different types of yoga to choose from. Here is a brief guide to the main types of yoga.

Yin yoga is the slowest type of yoga and particularly useful before going to bed as it involves poses for up to 5 minutes in length.
Ashtanga yoga is a specific sequence of flowing postures linked by breath.
Vinyasa yoga is similar to ashtanga but allows for variety in the sequence of poses.
Power yoga is fast paced yoga that has relaxed structure similar to vinyasa with an emphasis on a workout and strength development.
Rocket yoga is a fast-paced derivative of ashtanga with a set structure but allows for a lot of student improvisation in the asanas.
Iyengar is a a style of yoga highly focusing on posture and alignment, with an extensive use of props for aide.
Bikram/Hot Yoga: Both these styles are practiced in a special room heated to around 40 degrees celsius. Bikram yoga consists of set postures, whilst hot yoga has more of a flexible structure. Make sure to wear long sleave clothes to prevent sweat dripping on the yoga mat.
Juvmukti yoga has a high emphasis on spiritual practice and ethics. It was created by two american musicians, and involves a far amount of singing, chanting and scripture.
Sivananda yoga is the traditional yoga based on the teachings of Swami Sivananda
Kundalini yoga is the most dangerous type of yoga according to yogis as it awakens kundalini energy which lies dormant in the spine.

There is also a multitude of more unconventional types, including Laughter Yoga, SUP Yoga, Face yoga, yoga with animals and even Rage Yoga.

What is your favorite type of yoga?

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