History of Yoga

Yoga is a physical and spiritual activity which has been around for quite a long time. We will describe a brief history of yoga and review its four major periods.

But first it should be noted that Yoga has been practiced as far back as 3,000 BC. A number of stone seals from this time period show different Yoga poses.

But many scholars believe that the practice has been around much longer than this. They can trace its beginnings to Stone Age Shamanism. The goal was to heal community members and the practitioners at that time acted as religious leaders.

And we generally know Yoga as being more self centered. However in the early years, it was also focused strongly on community well being and discipline.

The history of Yoga can probably best be broken down into four periods. They include the Vedic Period; Pre Classical Period; Classical Period and Post Classical Period.

The Vedic period

The Vedic period is marked by the existence of the Vedas. It is a sacred scripture and forms the basis for Hinduism. Some of the teachings found in the Vedas include Vedic Yoga.

The Pre classical Yoga period

The Pre classical Yoga period is marked by the creation of the Upanishads. It consists of 200 scriptures which describes the inner vision of reality which results from devotion to Brahman.

The Classical period

The Classical period is characterized by another important document and creation. That is the Yoga Sutra. It was written by Patanjali around the second century. It seeks to standardize and define classical Yoga.

Post classical yoga

Post classical yoga is the modern yoga. It encompasses techniques which were introduced to western civilizations around the 19th century. This period is ongoing and helps to further demonstrate the importance and benefit of yoga in modern society.

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