The History Of Yoga

This article will cover a brief history of yoga. What is the history of yoga? The history of yoga dates back thousands of years to the second century A.D. when the ancient sage, Patanjali compiled his exhaustive treatise on the practice of Yoga called, Yoga Sutras. This is an important text in yoga history, and if you read it you will learn the history of yoga.

The history of Yoga and Buddhism are a bit intertwined around the time of the 6th century when Siddharta Gautama, who was the first Buddhist to study Yoga reached the stage of enlightenment at 35.

Patanjali's Yoga has Eight Limbs, or Ashtanga are essentially a series of steps each with the goal of uniting body, mind, and spirit and ultimately the attainment of enlightenment. Patanjali was a major force in the history and development of yoga.

Yamas These are restraints that should be followed in spirit, practice, word and deed.

• Ahimsa, or non-violence
  
• Satyam, or truthfulness
  
• Brahmacharya, or exercising moderation in all things
  
• Asteya, or non-stealing
  
• Aparigraha, or non-covetousness
  

Niyamas These are observances whose qualities include:

• Saucha, or purity--referring to both internal and external cleanliness.
  
• Santosha, or contentment
  
• Tapas, or austerity
  
• Swadhyaya, or study of the sacred texts
  
• Ishwara Pranidhana, which refers to living with a contant awareness of the divine presence in our lives (surrender to God's Will)
  

Asanas - Postures

Pranayama or the regulation and control of the breath.

Pratyahara or the withdrawal of the senses in order to still the mind.

Dharana or concentration.

Dhyana or meditation, which is that state of pure thought and absorption in the object of meditation.

Samadhi or the super-conscious state. In Samadhi non-duality or oneness is experienced. This is the deepest and highest state of consciousness where body and mind have been transcended and the Yogi is one with the Self or God. This is enlightenment--the ultimate attainment or non-attainment as it were--in the practice of Yoga.

The history of jnana yoga, is the "path of knowledge." The the history of raja yoga, or "royal yoga," which is also know as classical yoga, the hatha yoga history, which is comprised of asanas and pranayama, and it is what most Westerners think of as Yoga, the history of karma yoga, which is also known as Buddhi yoga or "the discipline of action" based on the cared Sanscrit scripture of Hinduism, the Bhagavad Gita, all of these yoga facts history or practices are all simply branches from the tree of Yoga. This has been just a brief history yoga.