You'll often come across informal descriptions of yoga depicting it as a practice with anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 years of history. Scholars now trying to pin down the origin of specific poses indicate that the timeline for standing, balancing and inverted poses may be considerably shorter -- in fact, 200 years or less. The latest academic studies indicate that the postures or asanas you practice in class may be of recent vintage and also a mix of Hindu and other influences.
Ancient Texts
Athletically rigorous yoga such as the influential ashtanga style entails breathing and movement between asanas, which are designed to strengthen the body and make it more flexible. Leading yogi Shri Pattabhi Jois developed the poses of ashtanga yoga prior to his death at age 93 in 2009. On his institute website, Jois describes ashtanga practice as "an ancient system of yoga" taught by Vamana Rishi, of whom little is known. Rishi's poses were said to be contained in a manuscript called Yoga Kurunta, which means "Yoga Group" in Sanskrit. Jois's mentor, influential yogi Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, was given the task in 1924 to find the manuscript in the University Library of Calcutta, which he did, but its palm-leaf pages were thereafter said to have been eaten by ants.
Scholarship
The "lost" Yoga Kurunta eaten by ants may be just a convenience to justify Krishnamacharya's own catalog of poses. University of New Mexico scholar Mark Singleton, in his groundbreaking 2010 book, "Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice," finds no support for an ancient lineage of modern athletic postures such as are found in ashtanga or in modern yoga classes generally. He writes that while Tibetan systems of physical yoga taught in the West retain an emphasis on poses, physiology and spirituality, Indian yoga "has become decontextualized" from the system it claims to represent. In other words, Hindu spiritual texts such as the Upanishads that discuss yoga do not contain evidence for a posture-based practice as followed by millions today in modern Western yoga classes. The main exception are seated postures, which do appear in ancient texts and religious art.
Influences
Western gymnastics, particularly as practiced in Denmark circa 1900, and stretching exercises for women found in popular magazines of the 1930s appear to have cross-fertilized with Indian traditions in creating 20th century yoga, Singleton indicates. European contortionists and Indian fakirs and wrestlers also seem to have provided inspiration for the leading teachers and writers of yoga active in India's modern yoga capital, Mysore, a city in the southwestern state of Karnataka. India's yogis and Europe's gymnastic troops moved on parallel tracks to develop physical activities characterized by deep breathing, stretching and strengthening, and flowing from one pose to another without pauses. Thus when India's rajas pushed for yoga to become more popular, Krishnamacharya grafted gymnastic poses publicized in books and magazines of the day onto the earlier yoga traditions of breathing and meditation.
Evolution
Yoga poses, even in the 2000s, continue to evolve and recombine with non-Hindu cultural elements. "Boston Globe" staff writer Linda Matchan writes that there is a yoga style for every taste, from hip-hop yoga to Bikram or hot yoga to weight-loss yoga and even "Yoga Booty Ballet," which blends cardio and dance with yoga poses.
References
- Shri K. Pattabi Jois: Ashtanga Yoga
- "Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice"; Mark Singleton; 2010
- Gaiam Life; Are Yoga Poses Ancient History?; Nov. 15, 2010; Jill Miller
- The Magazine of Yoga; Mark Singleton, Part Two; Susan Maier-Moul; Oct. 13, 2010;
- Boston.com; What Happened to Yoga?; Linda Matchan; Oct. 14, 2010
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