A 2008 Yoga Journal survey found that approximately 15.8 million adults in the United States practice some form of yoga. Given Western society's focus on fitness, it's likely that a significant number of practitioners are drawn to yoga simply for the physical poses, or asanas. However, yoga scholars such as Georg Feuerstein point out that the physical aspect of yoga is merely the "skin" of the entire body of yoga, and that yoga as a whole is an all-encompassing path to self-transformation.
Historical Overview
It is believed that the discipline of yoga began as an offshoot of Stone Age Shamanism on the Indian Peninsula. While the assumption cannot be definitively substantiated due to the oral tradition of passing down knowledge, archeologists have discovered stone artifacts that depict yoga poses dating back to at least 3,000 B.C.
Vedic and Pre-Classical Yoga
Yoga historians divide the origin and evolution of yoga into four eras: the Vedic, Pre-Classical, Classical and Post-Classical periods.
The Vedic period produced the Vedas, the first documents that discussed yoga as a method for reaching states of being beyond the limits of the mind. These ideals were guided by a group of seers, or rishis, who were believed to dwell outside the realm of consciousness and able to aid others on the path toward the divine.
During the Pre-Classical period, the teachings of the Vedas were expanded into the texts of the Upanishads, which are the core beliefs of Hinduism. In this era Siddhartha Gautama renounced his upbringing as a Brahmin and "awakened" as the Buddha. The Buddha's teachings illustrate the importance of meditation and the practice of physical postures to aid in reaching states of enlightenment. The Pre-Classical era was also a time when many began to believe that the body was a divine "temple,"and so more attention was paid to the physical.
The Classical Era
Sometime between 200 B.C. and A.D. 200, the sage Patanjali composed the Yoga Sutras to define and codify the practices of yoga. The Sutras are a list of 195 aphorisms that explain the importance of yoga as a path toward divine ecstasy, or Samadhi. Patanjali called this path Raja, or Royal Yoga. Raja Yoga is also described as the Eightfold Path of Yoga, and Patanjali illustrated eight "limbs" to guide one toward spiritual freedom.
The third limb of yoga is asana, and when it is practiced in tandem with the fourth limb, pranayama, it constitutes Hatha Yoga, the most frequently practiced variety of yoga today.
Post-Classical Era
In the 15th century, Swami Swatamarama composed the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, which is the oldest known document cataloging the primary asanas, pranayamas and other hatha yoga topics. This document illustrates ways to utilize the body in order to keep it healthy, which in turn prepare the body and mind for quiet meditation. At this time, yoga practitioners strove to accept reality as it is and "live in the present."
Modern Yoga
Yoga came to the West in the 19th century, first as a curiosity from the East, then as a method for expanding health and vitality. From the 1960s on, yoga has become increasingly popular as a means of increasing the body's flexibility and strength, as well as continuing to follow its original goal of bringing us closer to enlightenment.
References
- Yoga Journal
- The Deeper Dimension of Yoga: Theory and Practice. Feuerstein, Georg. 2003. Boston: Shambhala
- Yoga and Indian Philosophy. Werner, Karel. 1998. Motilal Banarsidass Publications
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