Artifacts in Nuclear Medicine with Identifying and resolving artifacts.
The History of Yoga
1. The History of Yoga
A brief glimpse into an ancient form of exercise
By: Brenna Haley
2. A Complex History
● The practice of yoga is at least 35oo years old.
● The yoga that we are familiar with today is based on ideals
that were formed in only the last 150 years
● 3 time periods were influential in the history of yoga:
○ The Vedic period
○ The Medieval period
○ The Modern era
3. The Vedic Period
● Began in 1500 B.C.
● The term yoga is found in the
earliest writings of Ancient India,
known as The Vedas.
● The Vedas are the earliest writings
of Hinduism and Sanskrit
literature.
● Vedic priests were extremely self
disciplined
● They conducted sacrifices, also
known as Yajna.
● These sacrifices included the
offering of objects while posing
○ These early poses laid the foundation
to the yoga poses we assume today.
5. Origin of the word
● The term Yoga in
Vedic times was used
to refer to a chariot in
battle.
● Yoga was the act of
the chariot carrying a
dying warrior to
Heaven in order to
reach a higher power
of existence.
6. Yogachara in 300 BC
● Yoga continued to gain popularity and became common in
Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religions and writings.
● Yogachara was developed:
○ Using Yoga as a spiritual or meditative practice.
○ Included 8 steps of meditation that would bring calmness and insight
7. The Core Values
● Yoga established itself as a prominent spiritual practice in
500 AD.
● The 4 Core Values were created
○ Analyze one’s own state of being and understand the root of suffering
○ Broaden consciousness
○ Find the pathway to transcendence through Yoga
○ Enter other bodies and act supernaturally
8. The Medieval
Period
● From 500 - 1500 AD,
different types of yoga
began to emerge:
○ Bhakti
○ Tantra
○ Hatha
9. The 3 Schools of Yoga in the Medieval Period
● Bhakti
○ Associated with Hinduism
○ Focused on living through love and devotion towards God
● Tantra
○ Associated with Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism
○ The core idea was that one should not only try to find the root of their suffering, but also find God
within themself
● Hatha
○ Associated with Buddhism
○ A form of yoga that emerged from Tantra
○ Used a combination of postures, breathing and meditation
○ Closely matches the modern form of yoga
10. The Modern Era
● In the 1890’s, westerners
became very intrigued by
Indian culture and practices.
● Swami Vivekananda
○ A Hindu monk that
traveled across Europe
and the U.S.
○ Introduced yoga to
different countries with
the goal of spreading
knowledge about Hindu
practices.
○ Made people aware of the
Yoga Sutras
11. The Yoga Sutras
● The Yoga Sutras were
written somewhere around
200 BC by a Sage named
Patanjali.
● They were guidelines for
living a purposeful life by
removing excess thoughts.
● The Sutras are an integral
part of modern yoga, more
than any other ancient
writings
12. 20th Century
● Yoga continued to gain
popularity in the 1930’s and
1940’s.
● Became extremely popular
in the 1960’s among young
adults who were embracing
Hinduism.
● In the 1980’s, the health
benefits of yoga were first
reported.
13. Today’s Yoga
● In 2012, it was believed that over 20 million adults in the
United States actively practiced Yoga.
● It increased by 16 million people in only 10 years.
● The health benefits of yoga include lowering blood pressure,
depression, chronic pain and anxiety, while improving
cardiac function, muscle strength and circulation.
14. Personal Thoughts
For thousands of years, the goal of yoga has remained steadfast:
To harmonize oneself with the universe while reaping the physical and mental
benefits that naturally occur.
I think it’s encouraging that a form of exercise as ancient as Yoga has proven to be so
effective that it continues to gain popularity. The positive results have never wavered
and even with today’s scientific evidence, we can say that yoga offers tremendous
physical and mental benefits. I love that there are so many different types of yoga and
the history behind it is so rich and ancient.
