About Yoga & Its Types

Although yoga originated as a Hindu religious practice, over the centuries, it has evolved into a diverse range of schools, including Tibetan Buddhist meditation, a branch of Tantra. After yoga migrated to the West, it became mainly a secular pursuit for improving physical health and fitness as well as mental well-being. However, critics charge that in recent years, rampant commercial exploitation has betrayed yoga's ancient lineage and misrepresented its true nature.

Origins of Yoga

The earliest images of yoga-like meditation come from the mysterious Indus Valley civilization and date back six to seven thousand years. Since the writing system hasn't been deciphered, though, the cultural or religious significance of the practice is unknown. The first known written account, dating back to about 1500 B.C., is in the Rig Veda, a Hindu religious text in Sanskrit. Later religious writings, including the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, provide more detail, and the first text devoted exclusively to yoga, the Yoga Sutras, was written around 150 B.C. by the sage Patanjali.

Hindu Yoga

Hindu yoga practices are primarily spiritual rather than physical, intended to unite the individual soul, or Self, with the universal soul, or Brahman. The four main classifications represent different approaches to the same goal. Jnana yoga emphasizes learning and knowledge as the route to enlightenment; Bhakti yoga works through love and devotion to a particular deity; Karma yoga aims to eliminate the cycle of rebirth by detaching the ego from the negative actions that make subsequent incarnations necessary; and Raja, or royal, yoga involves an eight-fold meditative path to overcoming the barriers that separate the Self and Brahman. Hatha yoga originated as a means to train and purify the body and mind for the practice of Raja yoga but has become a system of physical exercises.

Tibetan Buddhist Yoga

Tibetan Buddhism, the religion's most esoteric branch, holds that the physical world is an illusion that can be transcended and transformed through meditation. Tantra, or Tantric yoga, originated in India but some purists argue that because it has different roots, texts and objectives than classical yoga, it isn't yoga at all. The dominant symbol is the kundalini, spiritual energy represented by a snake coiled at the base of the spine. When "awakened" by meditation, it ascends through seven chakras, or energy focal points, and when it reaches the last, the crown of the head, the result is a state of perfect bliss and union with the cosmic consciousness. In the West, tantric yoga is often promoted as a sexual technique.

Yoga in the U.S.

Authentic yoga has always required rigorous mental and physical discipline, writes Michael R. Smith, director and chief instructor of the Morningside School of Yoga and Physical Culture in Syracuse. In his 2003 essay "Yoga in America: What Went Wrong?" he blames "unrestrained commercial exploitation," unqualified teachers and the myth that yoga requires no effort for betraying both its traditions and the trust of its followers. Accreditations are handed out after weekend seminars, "money rules," and gimmicky new techniques of dubious value abound, Smith charges. The American yoga industry "desperately needs" professional regulation to regain its credibility and public accountability, not more "style, personality and empty promises," he maintains.