Yoga is about breathing, connecting and reconnecting with the body, and exploring flexibility and movement in the body. It is a meditative practice that boosts immunity, physical wellness, and mental wellness. It is an ancient practice that has been passed down and vouched for centuries by gurus who have devoted their lives to the practice and with students who have grown to adopt the same as their own. The history of yoga is filled with countless stories of happiness, well-being, finding inner peace and joy, and also successfully treating medical conditions with different types of yoga.
Yoga as a practice is formed together as a series of physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines and involves breathing in different movements, meditation, and adopting different breathing techniques, such as inhaling from the nose and exhaling from the mouth as we shift postures.
The pandemic also witnessed many new enthusiasts who found solace in yoga in the middle of the COVID-19 chaos with little to no knowledge of how the practice began and what’s the philosophy behind it.
The story begins with Brahmans who have been a dominant priesthood in the history of Ancient India. This is 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 Sanskrit word “Yuj” first appeared in Rigveda and the same word is the root of “yoga”. “Yuj” translates into “unite” or “together”; hence, the Brahman practice of yoga unites the body with mind and vice-versa. The first was first mentioned in Rigveda which is a collection of mantras, hymns, and texts which form the teachings of Vedas or known as the Vedic Yoga. These teachings promote broadening of the mind to access beyond the known and unknown mental and psychological limitations and to explore the flexibility of the thoughts with body movements.
At the time, humans significantly relied on ‘Rashis’, which is a collection of holy guides in Hinduism facilitating people on how to follow the teachings of Vedas accurately. According to its teachings in philosophy, also known as yogic scriptures, yoga leads an individual to harmonize consciousness at all levels: universal and internal consciousness. Its regular practice can make humans more aware of touch and sync with their mind, body, other people, the higher being, and nature.
For the same reason, yogis over centuries have adopted to seclude themselves from the man-made world as we know the world today and gone to live close to nature which is also considered the most conducive environment for the practice. If you wonder why most yoga retreats in today’s day and age happen in forests and other natural locations, it is because that’s what the Rashis have encouraged humans to do.
In the Vedic times, the Brahman priests were respected for being self-disciplined, self-motivated, and able to regulate their internal co-existence with the external. They also chose to stay away from indulgences that appeal to humans as natural and were known to perform sacrifices, known as yajna, and would rather indulge in physical poses that now researchers who study the history of yoga believe are the origins of yoga as we practice it today.
Google Arts and Culture have also put together some historical pictures of yoga in this article that show the development of the practice from India to abroad.
Since its initiation in India, the practice has evolved to include different rituals, disciplines, types, styles, and also bodily theories but all originate and encourage the same philosophy. It’s been adapted from country to country in various forms and today it stands as a successful and honored meditative practice that is credited to have changed lives for many and the better.
