Yoga, Brief History of an Idea

Keywords: History of Yoga, Culture, Tradition, Ancientm Sanskrit, Workout

Over the period, yoga has become a commodity and part of multibillion dollar healthcare industry Indian yoga gurus have combined their training with teachings on healing, spiritualty, meditation. This paper explores the relationship between India’s ancient yoga traditions with the modern postural yoga. The study finds out Indian foundation of yoga theory and practice. It further analyses the contributions of Yoga in Tantras, Hatha Yoga, the Yoga Upanishads and finally the emergence of Modern Yoga whose Indian founder was Swami Vivekanada. Finally, the paper shows the transformational journey of this traditional knowledge from Hatha Yoga in the tenth to eleventh centuries to the modern age.

David Gordon White                                                                                      The Author is an American Indologist.