The Origins of Yoga

Yoga is one of the oldest holistic approaches practiced by mankind.

History of yoga begins some four to eight thousand years ago up to today.  There were images found that features yogi in the middle of meditation from the Indus Valley Civilization which dates some 6 to 7 thousand years ago.

There were signs that yoga has been practiced since pre-Vedic times.  Vedic refers to the oldest sacred Hindu scripture.  The first written story of yoga was found in the Rig Veda which was written around 1500 and 1200 BC.  Rig Veda is a compilation of Vedic Sanskrit hymns which forms a part of the Vedas. Due to the fact that original accounts of Rig Veda were passed on through word of mouth for at least a millenium, it is hard to use this as the main basis.

The first yoga text is around 2nd century BC by the Patanjali and recommends the "eight limbs" which comprise the "Ashtanga Yoga" and its purpose is to gain serenity of mind and to become one with god. Yoga then was infused in Buddhist and Jain philosophies and found its way into our present times.  Yoga is a practice that endures through centuries.

Yoga was evident in the Vedic shastras or religious Hindu texts, consequently, pegging its age to be around four thousand years.

The idea behind yoga which is to unite mind, body and soul with god was explicitly discussed in the most important religious texts of Hinduism, the Upanishads or Vedanta, which are found in the Vedas.  These texts are found in the Maitrayaniya Upanishad (ca. 200-300 BCE) where yoga is described as follows:

"Shadanga-Yoga - The uniting discipline of the six limbs (shad-anga), as expounded in the Maitrayaniya-Upanishad: (1) breath control (pranayama), (2) sensory inhibition (pratyahara), (3) meditation (dhyana), (4) concentration (dharana), (5) examination (tarka), and (6) ecstasy (samadhi)."

The basic thinking behind Upanishads is that instead of using sacrifices and ceremonies to please external gods,  man can gain more favor with the gods by attaining unity with the Supreme Being through inner sacrifices and developing spiritual qualities such as moral culture, discipline of the mind and self-control.