A History of Yoga in 2000-ish Words
‘Adaptation and mutation have always been features of yoga’s history.’
Mallinson and Singleton (2017: 33)
Talking about the history of yoga can be a complex task. It’s not something that started at a specific point in time and developed linearly into the form we see today.
The truth is far more intricate. In this blog, I’ll do my best to trace a brief history of yoga, highlighting key moments that shaped its evolution.
The origins of yoga are deeply intertwined with ancient India’s Śramaṇa movement, which emerged a few centuries before the Common Era. This movement included groups of people seeking liberation from suffering and the cycle of birth and death. They ventured into forests, developing techniques to control the mind and break free from worldly pain. One of the most well-known figures associated with this movement is Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha.
Yoga gradually became both a goal—liberation itself—and the set of techniques designed to achieve that goal. According to scholars Mallinson and Singleton (2017), the first known definition of yoga appears in the Katha Upanishad, an ancient Vedic text. Here, yoga is described as the ability to control the mind, entering a state of complete stillness and absorption. A few centuries later, Patanjali systematised yoga with his Yoga Sutras, drawing from Buddhism, Jainism, and the Vedas. He proposed paths toward liberation, including the well-known Ashtanga Yoga, or eight-limb path, which guides practitioners through ethical behaviour (Yama and Niyama), physical postures (Asana), breath control (Pranayama), sensory withdrawal (Pratyahara), concentration (Dharana), meditation (Dhyana), and absorption (Samadhi). This structured system laid the foundation for many forms of yoga that followed.
During the Middle Ages, Tantra had a significant influence on yoga’s development, especially with the rise of Hatha Yoga.
Starting around the 6th century CE, yoga became more complex, with the focus shifting to the subtle or yogic body. Concepts like nadis (energy channels), chakras (energy centers), kundalini (coiled energy), and vayus (winds) became central to practice. While some of these ideas had roots in earlier texts like the Upanishads, they became prominent during this period. Through yogic techniques, practitioners aimed to raise kundalini energy through the central channel (sushumna nadi), passing through each chakra until reaching the sahasrara, the crown chakra, where liberation (Samadhi) would be achieved. However, descriptions of this process varied, with differences in the substances moving through the sushumna nadi, the number of chakras, and interpretations of kundalini energy.
It was also during this tantric period that asana (postures) began to proliferate.
In Patanjali’s time, asana likely referred to seated meditation postures or ascetic postures used for self-discipline. But Tantra expanded the concept, introducing numerous postures designed to cure disease, cleanse, and strengthen the body. Along with postures came other techniques such as bandhas (energy locks), mudras (gestures), and cleansing practices (shatkarmas) like neti, dhauti, basti, and kapalbhati. These physical practices continued to evolve through the centuries, but they remained largely focused on spiritual goals.
For centuries, Hatha Yoga was primarily passed down through oral traditions, with yogis learning directly from their masters.
The goal remained spiritual liberation, and practitioners often removed themselves from society to dedicate their lives to this pursuit. However, by the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this started to change. Yoga began to be taught more widely to householders, with a growing emphasis on physical postures and health. The goal expanded from spiritual liberation to include physical and mental well-being, disease prevention, and stress management.
Yoga’s popularity surged in the early 20th century, as Eastern spiritual traditions gained more interest in America and Europe. One influential figure was Swami Vivekananda, who visited the U.S. in 1893 and left a lasting impression. His visit paved the way for yoga to gain a foothold in the West. Other teachers followed, sharing yoga’s philosophical ideas, breathing techniques, meditation, and postures.
The focus on physical postures, which dominates much of modern yoga, owes much to figures like Tirumalai Krishnamacharya.
He was the teacher of some of the most influential yoga instructors of the 20th century: B.K.S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, T.K.V. Desikachar, and Indra Devi. By the time Krishnamacharya was teaching, yoga, as a way to both promote health and recover ancient Indian traditions, had already become a craze in India. Figures like the Raja of Aundh, Bhawanrao Pant Pratinidhi, popularised surya namaskara (sun salutations), incorporating them into Indian gymnasiums. These sun salutations later became part of yoga practices. Western students curious about yoga began traveling to India, learning from gurus, and returning home to teach what they had learned.
By the 1960s, yoga was gaining traction in America and Europe, boosted by the rise of New Age ideas and a fascination with Eastern spirituality.
Celebrities, musicians, and actors began practicing yoga, making it even more appealing to the public. Teachers like B.K.S. Iyengar travelled to the West, spreading his system of alignment-focused yoga, which contributed to the growing popularity of yoga in the fitness and wellness industries. Around this time, yoga teacher trainings began emerging in both America and Europe, solidifying yoga’s place in Western culture.
From the mid-20th century onward, yoga in the West often took on a more relaxed, body-focused approach, appealing particularly to women. This type of yoga emphasized stretching, relaxation, and gentle toning, in contrast to the more physically demanding postures seen in India, such as those taught by Krishnamacharya and Bishnu Ghosh. In the 1960s, Kundalini Yoga, led by Yogi Bhajan, emerged as another popular style. Bhajan’s approach combined tantric ideas with new movements, breathing techniques, and meditation practices.
The 1980s and 90s saw the rise of even more dynamic yoga styles, thanks to teachers like Pattabhi Jois and Bikram Choudhury.
Jois popularized Ashtanga Yoga, known for its physically demanding sequences linked to breath, while Bikram introduced Hot Yoga, practiced in heated rooms. These styles influenced the creation of other modern yoga forms such as Vinyasa Flow, Power Yoga, and Jivamukti Yoga, blending traditional yoga with other disciplines like martial arts and dance.
Today, yoga has become a global phenomenon, constantly evolving and adapting to the needs of its practitioners. From its ancient spiritual roots to its modern focus on health, therapy, and self-discovery, yoga continues to offer a diverse range of practices to those seeking balance in body, mind, and spirit, and perhaps still a sort of liberation from worldly pain.
*Adriana Maldonado is a PhD Candidate at the Open University in the UK under the supervision of Dr. Suzanne Newcombe. She did her MA in Traditions of Yoga and Meditation at SOAS University and had a distinction Dissertation under the supervision of Dr. Jim Mallinson. She is also a BWY +500, level 4 Yoga Teacher and teaches History and Philosophy of Yoga at Yoga Teacher Trainings.
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