Where did yoga originate

Yoga is a kind of physical, mental, and spiritual activity in which you move your body into different situations to become more fit or adaptable, to improve your breathing, and to loosen up your brain But Where did yoga originate? Yoga was originated in India but presently around 30 million Americans practice yoga.

Yoga

What is yoga?

Yoga is a kind exercise to make your body fit and healthy. It is a spiritual, mental, and physical activity in which you move your body to increase physical activity.

Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years as a life philosophy to join the individual self with what practitioners call the Divine, Universal spirit or cosmic consciousness. Be that as it may, not many people in the United States starting in 2004 rehearsed yoga thusly; rather, yoga is proceeded as a component of an activity program to expand general health, reduce stress, improve flexibility and muscle strength, and alleviate certain physical symptoms, such as chronic pain.

Yoga is commonly used as part of physical therapy due to its gentle movements and low impact activity and rehabilitation of injuries.

In today’s high pace world where a normal person is stressed due to the work burden. Stress can come from any thought that makes you feel frustrated. It can also be caused due to the daily tough work routine. It can come from work, relationship, financial pressure, or any other situation. In today’s fast world stress is normal. Stress can come from your workplace due to the load of work. Maybe it (stress) is due to unemployment.

Today youth is getting an education but what if they end up being unemployed. It would be so discouraging as well as it demotivates a person. It will cause mental stress. To keep your body and relax you should do some physical activity like playing games or start doing gym and workouts.

The best workout one can do to unwind a whole day of stress and tiredness is to practice yoga. In this regard, yoga-like restorative yoga, power yoga, etc keeps you healthy and fits all day long because it is mental, physical, and spiritual activity to keep yourself active.

Summary: Yoga is an act of physical exercise, breath control, unwinding, diet control, and creating amicability in the body, brain, and climate.

History of yoga:

History of yoga

The history of yoga is vast. Because yoga developed almost 5,000 years ago in ancient India. While according to few researchers it has been developed for the past 10,000 years. Presently more than 30 million Americans are practicing yoga.
The historical backdrop of yoga is isolated into four general classes:

1) VERDICT:

The antiquated writings of Vedas are the most seasoned sacred texts on the planet. The Sanskrit word Veda signifies “information” and apparatus signifies “acclaim”. Accordingly, the Rig Vedas are an assortment of songs that are in recognition of a higher force. The other three Vedas are YajurVeda (information on penance), Sama Veda (Knowledge of serenades), and Atharvana Veda (information on Atharvana).

Vedic Yoga can likewise be called Archaic Yoga, as individuals put stock in a ceremonial lifestyle. Customs, penances, and functions existed because they were viewed as methods for association with the soul world. Individuals went to rishis or Vedic yogis for brightening. Vedic bosses were honored with a dream of the preeminent reality and their songs talk about their wonderful instincts.

2) PRE_CLASSICAL:

This was the start of yoga that was portrayed by the Indus-Sarasvati human advancement in Northern India, 5,000 years prior. The word yoga was first referenced in the most established consecrated writings called the Rigveda. Vedas spoke to an assortment of writings that contained tunes, ceremonies, and mantras utilized by the ministers.

Yoga was gradually refined and created by the cleric as they recorded their training and convictions in the Upanishads. This was a broad work that contained more than 200 sacred writings. The Upanishads took the possibility of custom penance from the Vedas and disguised it, showing the penance of the conscience through self-information, activity, and intelligence.

3) CLASSICAL:

The old-style period is characterized by Patanjali’s Yoga-Sutras, which is the primary orderly introduction of yoga. This stage attempts to sort the different thoughts, convictions, and procedures that tangled and repudiated each other during the pre-traditional period. The old-style period existed at some point in the subsequent century.

Patanjali depicted the act of yoga in an eight-limbed way that contained the means and stages towards accomplishing self-edification. Patanjali is frequently seen as the dad of yoga and his yoga-sutras emphatically impact most styles in the present current yoga.

Classical Yoga is an arrangement of profound Information originating from the sacred texts (the Vedas) and passed on by the ancestry of educators. It isn’t originating from the inventiveness of one person.

Classical Yoga is all-inclusive and not partisan and can be rehearsed by all. It is a finished framework in itself, with a wide range of features.

4) POST_CLASSICAL:

A couple of hundreds of years after the presence of Patanjali, yoga experts made an arrangement of training that was intended to revive the body and draw out life. These bosses dismissed the lessons of antiquated Vedas and grasped the physical body, as the real methods for accomplishing the illumination.

Tantra yoga was created with progressive procedures to purify the body and psyche and break the bunches that predicament the physical presence. The investigation of the physical-profound associations and body-focused practices prompted the making of what is alluded to as Hatha Yoga.

5) MODERN YOGA:

Yoga practice started to pick up prominence in the west toward the start of the nineteenth century. It was profoundly impacted by the otherworldly and strict thoughts that spoke to an extreme break from the grass-root yoga ancestry from the Indians.

In the last part of the 1800s and 1900s, the yoga experts started to venture out toward the west. This pulled in a great deal of consideration and adherents. It began in 1893 Parliament of Religions in Chicago when Master Vivekananda wowed the participants with his talks about yoga and the comprehensiveness of the world’s religions.

During the 1920s, Hatha yoga was altogether advanced in India with the prominent works of T Krishnamacharya, Master, and others rehearsing the Hatha. Krishnamacharya opened the primary Hatha Yoga School in Mysore while, in 1936, Sivananda established the Perfect Life Society on the banks of heavenly Gange’s Waterway. Sivananda was a productive writer who composed more than 200 books on yoga and set up nine ashrams with various yoga revolves situated the world over.
The significance of yoga increased when Indra Devi opened her yoga studio.

Major styles of yoga:

styles of yoga
There are many different types of yoga depending upon their styles. Before you join a yoga class you need to learn about its styles. It depends on you whether you want tough physical yoga or traditional relaxing and meditative yoga.

Each style is different from others so it important for you to research before you join yoga class so that you can tell your instructor about your requirements.
Here are the styles of yoga:

I. Vinyasa yoga:

Vinyasa yoga is one of the types of yoga. It is smooth progress between asanas in styles of present-day yoga as exercise, for example, Vinyasa Krama Yoga, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, and Bikram Yoga, particularly when development is matched with the breath.
Vinyasa was adjusted from ashtanga yoga during the 1980s. Numerous sorts of yoga can likewise be considered vinyasa streams, for example, ashtanga, power yoga, and prana.

The most effective method to rehearse:

In vinyasa classes, the development is composed with your breath and development to spill out of one posture to another. Vinyasa styles can fluctuate contingent upon the educator, and there can be numerous kinds of postures in various successions. I for one show an arrangement-based style of vinyasa and arrange new streams without fail, however, I likewise prefer to hold a portion of the represents somewhat longer after heating up.

II. Hatha yoga:

The exact meaning of hatha yoga is the same for years. But thoughts and perception of the human brain keep changing about it. The Sanskrit expression “Hatha” is an umbrella term for all physical stances of yoga.

In the West, hatha yoga just alludes to the wide range of various styles of yoga (ashtanga, Iyengar, and so forth) that are grounded in a physical practice. Nonetheless, there are different parts of yoga, for example, kriya, raja, and karma yoga that are discrete from the physical-based yoga practice. Physical-based yoga is the most well known and has various styles.
Hatha yoga

The word Hatha can also be described in two words “ha” means sun and the word “tha” means moon. But the literal meaning of Hatha is “Force”.

The most effective method to rehearse:

Hatha yoga classes are best for amateurs since they are typically paced more slowly than other yoga styles. Presently breathing activities are being practiced d in hatha yoga. If you are spic and span to yoga, hatha yoga is an extraordinary passage to highlight the training.

III.Iyengar yoga:

Iyengar yoga is also a kind of yoga that was initially created by B.K.S. Iyengar. Therefore, this yoga was named after the name of the creator. In this yoga, the instructor focuses on precise as well as detailed movements.

Step by step instructions to rehearse:

By and large, postures are held for quite a while changing the particulars of the posture. Iyengar depends intensely on props to assist understudies with consummating their shape and go further into presents in a protected way. Even though you won’t shop around, you will get an exercise and feel unfathomably open and loose after an Iyengar class. This style is truly extraordinary for individuals with wounds who need to work gradually and systematically.

V. Kundalini yoga:

Yogi Bhajan introduced Kundalini yoga in the late ’70s. I’m this the person practices breathing, sound, and movement. The act of kundalini is loaded up with truly testing breath practices combined with asanas and reflection says a yoga educator Caley Alyssa in our 28 Days To Yoga Bliss class. These are frequently drilled in reiteration for a pretty extensive timeframe and move a ton of energy around in your body.

Step by step instructions to rehearse:

These classes help the practicing center and breathe with quick-moving, animating stances and breath works out. These classes are pretty extreme and can include reciting, mantra, and contemplation.
Kundalini yoga

VI. Ashtanga yoga:

In Sanskrit, ashtanga is interpreted as “Eight Limb way.” In Mysore, India, individuals accumulate to rehearse this type of yoga together at their movement—on the off chance that you see Mysore-drove ashtanga, it’s relied upon of you to know the arrangement.

Instructions to rehearse:

Ashtanga yoga includes a truly requesting grouping of stances, so this style of yoga is unquestionably not for the tenderfoot. It takes an accomplished yogi to truly adore it. Ashtanga begins with five suns welcome An’s and five suns greeting B’s and afterward moves into a progression of standing and floor stances.

Ashtanga yoga

VII. Parental yoga:

Pre-birth yoga is a yoga that a lady works on during her pregnancy. As the word itself depicts. On the off chance that you are pregnant, you should be so focused on, tired, and need some snapshot of rest. You need to loosen up then you ought to do pre-birth yoga which extraordinarily intended for you.

Pre-birth yoga or Pre-birth yoga additionally can:
• improve rest
• Diminish weight and anxiety
• Increment the quality, versatility, and timelessness of muscles needed for work
• Causes Reduction in lower back torture, nausea, cerebral torments, and shortness of breath
A typical pre-birth yoga class may include:

 Breathing:
In this Pre-birth yoga the Instructor will ask you to work on taking in and breath out. Breathing techniques may help you with decreasing or regulate shortness of breath during pregnancy and work through tightening influences during work
 Delicate expanding.
You’ll be asked to carefully move different domains of your body, for instance, your neck and arms, through their full extent of development.

 Stances:

While standing, sitting, or lying on the ground, you’ll carefully move your body into different positions highlighted developing your quality, versatility, and leveling. Things like covers, cushions, and belts can be utilized to offer assistance and comfort.
 Chill off and loosening up
Around the completion of each pre-birth yoga class, you’ll release up your muscles and restore your resting heartbeat and breathing beat. You might be asked to check out your breathing, give close thought to sensations, considerations, and sentiments, or repeat a mantra or word to accomplish a state of care and inner calm.

Clinical and physiological benefits of yoga:

There are many clinical and philosophical benefits of yoga. A few of them are described below:

1. Improves your adaptability

One of the most basic benefits of yoga is that it helps in improving adaptability. During your top of the line, you likely won’t have the option to contact your toes, never mind do a backbend. Yet, on the off chance that you stay with it, you’ll notice a steady releasing, and in the long run, apparently unimaginable postures will get conceivable. You’ll likewise presumably notice that a throbbing painfulness begins to vanish. That is no fortuitous event.

Tight hamstrings can prompt a smoothing of the lumbar spine, which can cause back agony. What’s more, rigidity in muscles and connective tissue, for example, belt and tendons, can cause a helpless stance.

2. Assembles muscle quality.

Solid muscles accomplish more than looking great. Yoga helps us from conditions like joint inflammation and back torment. Even though yoga doesn’t require weight lifting tools like gym workouts but it helps in strengthening muscles.
On the off chance that you just went to the rec center and lifted loads, you may assemble quality to the detriment of adaptability.

3. Improves mental health:

Yoga plays a vital role in improving mental health problems. It helps reducing anxiety depression, stress. During yoga relaxing poses like breathing, meditation and other practices like this helps to reduce stress level. It helps to cure decease like schizophrenia etc.
yoga meditation

Summary: Yoga is a spiritual and physical practice. It has many clinical and psychological benefits like it helps to boost stamina, improves blood circulation, muscle quality, mental health, and adaptability, etc

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

There are many frequently asked questions about yoga some of them are discussed below:

a. Is yoga a religion?

Yoga is not a religion. Yoga was created by Hindus but it doesn’t mean that practicing yoga makes you Hindu or Christian. It a spiritual and physical practice to make you fit and healthy.

b. What was the original purpose of yoga?

The first set of yoga was otherworldly improvement practices to prepare the body and brain to self watch and become mindful of their inclination. The reasons for yoga were to develop insight, mindfulness, self-guideline, and higher awareness in the person.

c. Why is yoga healthy?

Practicing yoga involves relaxing, breathing, and meditation. These exercises make you physically active and healthy. It also improves mental health problems like releasing stress, reducing anxiety depression. In this way yoga is healthy.

d. Why is yoga not good?

It is understood that where there are advantages are disadvantages also. Recent studies revealed that yoga causes musculoskeletal pain.

Conclusion:

In a nutshell, yoga was originated in ancient India almost 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. Yoga is a spiritual, physical, and mental practice. It helps to cure mental health problems such as stress, anxiety depression, and diseases like schizophrenia, etc.
It is not a one day practice, it improves as you keep practicing. Yoga is a healthy exercise. You can say that yoga gives us almost the same benefits as the workouts we do in the gym.

Read more

What is restorative yoga?
What is power yoga
Is yoga a religion

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Very well written superb
More power to you keep growing :smiling_face_with_three_hearts::smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Where did yoga originate? To fully understand the origin of yoga we have to look to the cultural impact, societal, religious, and the acceptance and rejection of yoga throughout history. Yoga has woven itself into the fabrics of our lives. The main idea of yoga is to bring peace between mind and body.

Back in the 19th century, Yoga was considered more as a religious practice than a physical exercise. It had a great impact on the one practicing both spiritually and culturally.

HISTORY OF YOGA:

Earlier people who implemented yoga in their lives were given a sense of identity in society. Either they were considered highly religious (Higher moral or ethical standard) or filthy, dirty, and fighters. They were un-welcomed in society at a specific time but in contemporary times, it is a practice almost all around the world.

1) Pre Vedic Age (6500-4500):

There is not much known about Indus Valley Civilization but the writings they found from this time showed that yoga meant enlightenment and erudition for them. Some researchers believe that Ayurveda Medicine also emerged in this era. Ayurveda medicine is an alternative to the typical medicine system which mainly focuses on healthy lifestyle practices (yoga, exercise, massage, and meditation).

2) Vedic Era (1200-1000 BC):

There are writings about yoga from this era to a great extent. Vedas, the most sacred books of Hinduism emerged in this period. Yoga in the Vedas focused on philosophical and religious exploration. Ayurveda medicine, the sister science to yoga, was developed too. Yoga is considered as the main treatment option. Baba Hari Dass was a monk who brought Ayurveda to the U.S.

3) Pre-Classic Era (500-200 BC):

This period highlights the systematic presentation of Patanjali’s Yoga-Sutras. It was the period when Yoga paved its way to other religions and worshippers. Patanjali didn’t develop anything new he gathered philosophical and religious beliefs and compiled them into Yoga Sutras which consist of 196 aphorisms. Patanjali’s Sutra included “Ashtanga” (8 limbed) is currently the base of contemporary yoga that focuses on enlightenment and guidance.

4) Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita (500-200B BC):

The Mahabharata is said to be written by Sage Vyasa which includes 20,000 individual verses. The most relevant text for yoga is called Bhagavad Gita in which different concepts of yoga are explained. Today Mahabharata is the largest literary work in existence. Bhagavad Gita is part of Mahabharata which has laws and roles of yoga. Bhagavad Gita is the story of dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna who represents humans and it is about how we navigate or control the mind.

Bhagavad Gita introduces three types of yoga; Karma Yoga (the yoga of action), Bhakti yoga (the yoga of devotion), and Jnana Yoga (the yoga of knowledge).

5) Middle Ages (500-1500 CE):

Hatha Yoga Emerged in this period. It covers three types of texts i.e Hatha Yoga Pradipika (focuses on physical purification which focuses on breathing techniques to reach the higher level of consciousness), Shiva Samhita (dialogue addressed by Shiva to Parvati, focuses on the idea that there is one eternal truth and path to self-realization), Fighting Yogis (Hatha yoga was used for military purposes at that time. British government banned the wandering of fighting yogis and was forced to resort to urban areas and had a bad reputation at this time).

SPREAD OF YOGA:

The spread of yoga began in the middle ages which continued till the contemporary era. It got recognized in the following areas such as:

  • Zen Buddhism: Meditation and breathing were the concepts practice by both Zen and Buddhists.
  • Sikhism: Yogi Groups became prominent at this time. Guru Nanak refused to accept religious or solemn ceremonies associated with Hatha Yoga and focused on meditational yoga.
  • Jainism: Focused on meditational practices as well.

CULTURAL AND POLITICAL INFLUENCES ON YOGA:

In the early 18th and 19th century, the colonial rule gave rise to an inferiority complex among the Indian Nation and so the British government resorted to the policies on conciliation to overcome these stereotypes. The changes in Hatha Yoga paved its way for the construction of “New man Indian Man” to combat stereotypes.

The physical culture was very popular in the West and also in America. Due to these phenomena, British influence on physical culture then also became very popular in the west. Physical culture was based on bodybuilding practices and gymnastics. Hatha Yoga was then combined with modern practices to blend the native Indian culture with Western ideals. Through this, a more aerobic of yoga was born that didn’t involve any military association. This new form of Yoga then traveled to the West and was sought after there.

Some of the yoga sequences and poses, we believe we’re only invented in the 1930s but this is not the case. For example, Sun Salutation seemed analogous to gymnastics than with yoga. The use of Sanskrit to define the poses of Yoga was only done to state that these yoga poses are cultural influences although it is wrong to say that the contemporary yoga practice is a part of a thousand-year-old tradition.

CONCLUSION:

As from the information mentioned above we have seen how yoga emerged from India and had a religious and cultural influence though from time to time few amendments were made in the sequence of yoga so it does not solely belong to the indigenous people of India. There are many benefits of Yoga which include strengthening the connection between mind and body, feeling a sense of freedom, improves posture, muscle strength, respiration, and increases self-esteem. Many people consider Yoga as a religious practice though if you perform yoga keeping in mind that this is just for your health, there is no wrong in doing it. Someone said that yoga is not just an exercise but a process through which human beings find their strength and highest potential.

Where did yoga originate?

Yoga is originated in India 5000 or more years ago. The word yoga is derived from Sanskrit language’s word “yuj” which means unite or join.
Yoga is a science which focuses on achieving harmony between mind and body, man and nature.

The spread of Yoga

It became common in other religions like Jain, Hindu, and Buddhist writings. The practice of yoga in Buddhism religion for both spiritual and meditative use was known as Yogachara which consisted of eight significant steps of meditation called “insight”.
The 1st versions of yoga meant spiritual practices and it revolved around several core values.
After that it became widely valued because of the Indian nationalist movement as a way of building up pride and cultural identity. It was widely promoted by powerful families, institutions, and activities until India attained its independence in 1947.

Oldest form of Yoga

The oldest form of Yoga is Vedic yoga. Seven seers Vasishta, Vamadeva, Bharadwaja, Vishwamitra, Gritsamada, Atriand Kanwa set a path for the entire humanity to follow through their Vedic teachings. Vedas give way to spiritual realisation by unfolding all the universal laws.

5 elements of Yoga

Teachings of Ayurveda is that, universe is made up of five great elements: air, water, fire, earth, and space. They are part of our daily lives. It is a practice that travels out of a thought, feeling or intention to a movement in the body and returning back to enlightenment.

1. Air

It is a symbol of lightness, movement, and expansion. It gives rhythm, grace, mobility, and an open mind. It creates a focus on breathing, breath control, or open and touch senses, leading a path of ideas, inspiration, and energy towards us.

2. Water

It invites softness and transfers fluidity through practice. It is a symbol of fluidity, adaptability and connection.

3. Fire

This element is a symbol of intensity and abundance along with discipline and inspiration.
Light of fire yoga will engage the bandhas with the core muscles and fires us up with a burning passion.

4. Earth

It helps in maintaining awareness of how these positions and physical landmarks affect experience in practice. It is a symbol of being centered and is the expression of everything we practice.

5. Space

This symbol in in yoga consists of being present as well as bringing awareness to what we are sticking with, it is an emotion or thought or tension that we need to leave.

In yoga we want to explore a balance of the elements to bring harmony to our life.

Yoga styles

Most of the type of yoga can be performed on a yoga mat, while others require props and accessories. Some makes durable cork yoga mats meant for active and sweaty poses such as those in Bikram Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga styles, in addition to props, slings, belts and blocks for the Iyengar and Restorative styles.

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