What is Yoga?

Yoga of the Heart (Viniyoga) Retreats

The Origins and Practices of Yoga

by Dr. Matthew Clark (© 2009)

Topics:

1. Introduction

2. Yoga in the Indus Valley civilization (2500–1500 BCE)

3. Yoga in the Vedas (1500–800 BCE)

4. Yoga in the Upanishads (800 BCE–200 CE), Buddhism and Jainism

5. Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita (c. 100 CE)

6. The eight-limbed yoga system of Patanjali (c. 250 CE)

7. Textual references to the practice of yoga postures (1450–1800 CE)

8. Physiology and practices in Nath yoga text

9. Cleansing technique

10. Breath control (pranayama)

11. Internal psycho-physical techniques

12. Yoga in the West in the twentieth century: various schools

The influence of Svami Vivekananda

The influence of Krishnamacharya

B. K. S. Iyengar and Hatha Yoga

Patabhi Jois and Ashtanga Yoga

Desikachar and Viniyoga

Indra Devi

Sivananda Yoga

Satyananda Yoga (Bihar School of Yoga)

Other schools of yoga

References
Bibliography

1. Introduction

The term 'yoga' derives from the Sanskrit root yuj, meaning 'join', 'bind together' or ‘harness’ (such as of horses to a chariot). In the Indo-European family of languages, to which Sanskrit belongs, many cognate words may be found, such as 'yoke' in English.
In the Indian context, yoga has several senses, and in this short article an attempt will be made to outline broadly what is known of its origins and practices. The focus is mainly on what has been termed ‘postural’ yoga, which involves work on the body. However, there are Hindu, Buddhist and Jain schools of yoga, and other derivative schools, for whom the main practice is meditation.

At its root, the practice of yoga is an attempt to transform the individual’s consciousness through a variety of mental and practical techniques that work on the nervous system and brain chemistry. The yogi is essentially an experimenter with consciousness who may engage with various mental and physical disciplines and with regimens of particular kinds of plants or foods, modifying practice and consumption in order more easily to regulate the fluctuations of the mind.
Yoga is a science, as the practitioner needs to observe and carefully analyse the effects of practice on his or her consciousness, health, well-being or psychic powers, and adopt or adjust to an attitude, lifestyle or behaviour which better contribute to the desired results.
Historically, yogis have tended to live on the margins of society, experimenting with practices that generally run counter to traditional social norms and values.

In the long course of the development of mental science in South Asia, the term ‘yoga’ acquired several technical senses, one of them being a disciplined or controlled method.
There is the element of discipline in all yogic practices, which is a vital component in the regulation of brain chemistry. Yoga might also be described as ‘immersion’: in psychic space or in an object of meditation. Deep states of immersion are perhaps best described as trance states, which may be experienced as a kind of ‘suspension’ of the normal world, or as a timeless union with something immeasurably larger than the individual practitioner. Such states are usually experienced, in one way or another, as an encounter with ‘truth’ or with ultimate or absolute ‘reality’, which are more vivid and profound than any experience in ordinary waking consciousness.

The ancient Sanskrit term tapas derives from the root tap, meaning ‘heat’. Tapas also means austerities or asceticism, and is a feature of most yoga traditions. Rigorous yoga practices or the ingestion of psychedelic plants may result in an enormous sense of heat in the body, which can arise in trance states. Such supra-normal states can cause a cleaning of the biophysical system and be powerful aids to health. Perhaps obviously, the more radical the experiment with consciousness, the more the experimenter needs to be aware of the possible dangers and social difficulties that may result.

The practice of yoga is particularly associated with the Indian subcontinent. Some of the earliest reports available to us from travellers, such as from Greeks in the fourth century BCE, contain references to the practice of sometimes extreme asceticism by ‘gymnosophists’ attempting to gain wisdom. However, several of the techniques of yoga, including breath-control, meditation, the raising of heat in the body, and entry into near-death trance states, and not unique to South Asia. Similar or identical techniques have been employed for millennia by seekers of wisdom, health, immortality or occult power, in some shamanic traditions, in Taoism in China, and probably also in ancient Greek and Egyptian cultures

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