The History Of Modern Yoga

Yoga has been a part of Indian’s rich spiritual tradition for many thousands of years, but it was the great sage, Patanjali, who first systematized the practice around two thousand years ago. In his Yoga Sutras, Patanjali describes the yogic path as having eight limbs that eventually lead practitioners toward liberation.

The Eight Limbs of Yoga

YAMA – Moral codes
The first limb sets five standards for how we should treat others.

Ahimsa: Promote non-violent, non-harming actions and thoughts.

Satya: Strive for truthfulness in speech and action.

Asteya: Obstain from cheating, stealing, hoarding, or envious thoughts. Brahmacharya: Act responsibly with sexual relations.

Aparigraha: Avoid attachments and possessive behavior.

NIYAMA – Codes for self-purification and study

Niyama sets five standards for self-discipline and spiritual observance along the yogic path.

Saucha: Cleanliness.

Santosa: Contentment.

Tapas: Cleansing fire of practice.

Svadhyaya: Self-inquiry and study of the sacred scriptures.

Isvara pranidhana: Surrender to the Divine.

ASANA – “Seat” or physical postures

Asana most-literally means “seat,” and hatha yoga postures help students open and cleanse their bodies in a way that is conducive to seated meditation.

PRANAYAMA – Breath extension

Pranayama means “breath extension” and consists of various breathing exercises that help students focus and calm their minds.

PRATYAHARA – Sense control

Pratyahara means “sense control,” and is a practice where advanced students turn their focus inside rather than being overwhelmed by external stimuli.

DHARANA – Concentration

A precursor to meditation, Dharana means “concentration” and is practiced when students focus their minds on one specific thing such as respiration or sensations on the body.

DHYANA – Meditation

Dhyana means “meditation,” and it is an advanced stage in practice where students achieve an uninterrupted period of concentration without any internal thought.

SAMADHI – Enlightenment

To reach Samadhi is to become one with the Divine. Also referred to as Nirvana or Enlightenment, Samadhi is the ultimate stage along the yogic path.

Beginning yoga students are usually more concerned with the pain and discomfort in their bodies than they are with Samadhi, so these days, most yoga classes focus primarily on the physical aspects of yoga which are often referred to collectively as hatha yoga.

The word hatha means “sun” and “moon,” and hatha yogis see the imbalance of opposing forces in nature as the cause of suffering. A regular hatha yoga practice is believed to unify the sun and moon, the body and mind, the masculine and feminine.

Hatha yoga, in some form, has probably always existed, but the styles and systems we are most-familiar with today can be clearly traced to a handful of gurus (teachers) in the past hundred years.

Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888-1989)

Indian-born T. Krishnamacharya is considered the grandfather of modern yoga. A perpetual student, Krishnamacharya began his yogic journey at age five, studying Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras with his father.

At age 16, Krishnamacharya had a profound spiritual vision where Nathamuni, a revered 9th century yogi, appeared and sang verses from the Yogarahasya, a thousand-year-old text that had long-since vanished.

Krishnamacharya went on to complete degrees in philosophy, logic, divinity, and music before devoting himself fully to the practice of yoga. Studying under his guru, Sri Ramamohan Brahmachari, one of the few hatha yoga masters at that time, Krishnamacharya learned 3,000 asanas, practiced the art pranayama, memorized the Yoga Sutras, and learned the therapeutic uses for yoga.

After seven years of intense study, Brahmachari instructed Krishnamacharya to start a family and teach yoga to India’s householders (common people). Following his guru’s instructions, Krishnamacharya married and lived the poor life of a yoga teacher until receiving a commission from the Maharaja of Mysore to teach at the city’s Sanskrit College in 1931.

It was in Mysore that Krishnamacharya blossomed as a teacher, becoming the guru to such esteemed students as Pattabhi Jois, B.K.S. Iyengar, and Indra Devi.

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (1915- present)

As a boy, Pattabhi Jois saw Krishnamacharya at a public demonstration in his village and asked to be taken in as student. When Jois later moved to Mysore to attend Sanskrit College, he was able to reunite with his teacher, and he went on to become one of Krishnamacharya’s most-loyal and influential students.

Today, ninety year-old Jois still teaches yoga in Mysore in the same way he learned it from his guru. He calls the system he teaches, Ashtanga Yoga, and it’s distinguished by its posture sequencing and its use of vinyasa, a technique that connects sequential poses through flowing movements synchronized with the breath.

Ashtanga Yoga is taught in its traditional form all over the world, and this classical system has also served as the basis for simpler, modern-day practices like “Power Yoga,” “Flow Yoga,” or “Vinyasa.”

B.K.S. Iyengar (1918- present)

B.K.S. Iyengar grew up as Krishnamacharya’s brother-in-law, but as a boy, he was so sick and frail that he never seemed suited to asana practice. When one of Krishnamacharya’s main students disappeared right before an important demonstration, Krichnamacharya had no choice but to train Iyengar who surprised everyone as an extremely quick study.

Iyengar began assisting classes and giving demonstrations with Krishnamacharya, and after about two years of study, his guru sent him to the north to teach. Iyengar’s yogic path was just beginning, but he remained apart from Krishnamacharya from that time forward.

Largely on his own, Iyengar developed a highly-advanced practice, and like a scientist, he experimented with hundreds of asanas using his own body as the subject. Through self-study, Iyengar developed a unique style of practice and teaching that focuses on postural alignment, proper form, and the use of props such as blocks and straps to aid beginning students who are learning poses.

Today, Iyengar’s books and teachings influence almost every major school of yoga that exists, and Iyengar Institutes are some of the most well-respected studios in the world. With age, Iyengar discontinued his regular teaching schedule, but his legacy is carried on through his daughter, Greeta, and his son, Prasant, at the Iyengar’s shala in Pune.

T.V.K. Desikachar(1938- present, Chennai, India)

Krishnamacharya’s son, Desikachar, showed little interest in yoga until later in life, after completing his degree in engineering.

Initially, Desikachar denounced any interest in the Divine which made Krishnamacharya more annoyed than pleased with his son’s request to learn the practice of yoga. But over the next twenty-eight years, Desikachar’s became one of his father’s best students.

At the time when Desikachar began practicing, Krishnamacharya had adapted his teaching style to meet the needs of his students who were older and less athletic than in his initial years in Mysore. While his earlier asana instruction was physically demanding and highly dynamic, his later style became more therapeutic and restorative.

Desikachar went on to teach many students, and his writings on yoga are highly respected internationally. His unique style, sometimes called Viniyoga, reflects his father’s later teachings and is characterized by its individual, restorative approach. In 1976, Desikachar founded the Krishnamacharya Yoga Madiram in Chennai where he continues to teach today.

Indra Devi (1899-2002)

Russian-born Indra Devi, also known as “The First Lady of Yoga,” was the first woman and the first Westerner ever to study with Krishnamacharya. After a year of practice, Devi followed her guru’s instructions and left India to teach and share yoga throughout the world.

In 1947, Devi opened the first studio in Los Angeles, a city that would later become synonymous with yoga. Truly an international teacher, Devi also taught in China, Mexico, Russia, and Argentina.

She authored two books, Forever Young and Forever Healthy, some of the first texts introducing Westerners to the practice. Indra Devi is remembered as one of hatha yoga’s Western pioneers.

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