From India to the world

Yoga is believed to have originated in northern India about 5,000 years ago! It has been passed down through many books and texts, gurus, teachers, students, lineages and places.

One important text, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, are believed to have been compiled in the early centuries CE (though the content of the text likely existed verbally long before). It is best known for its outline of the 8 Limbs of Yoga, which I wrote about in another blog post.

Swami Vivekananda is widely considered a key figure in bringing yoga to the west from India. He introduced yoga to the United States in 1893 at the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago, with a focus on the mental components of yoga.

Since then many other figures have popularized the physical components of yoga to spread it further, including Tirumala Krishnamacharya, Pattabhi Jois, BKS Iyengar to name a few.

Today yoga in the west is foremost thought of as a physical class at a studio or gym, but there are countless styles and lineages with rich histories being practiced around the world. From the classical styles and poses to more recently developed styles, the evolution of yoga is alive and well.