For practicing yoga, it is, of course, not necessary to have a full understanding of yoga history. A brief understanding of the history behind yoga, however, may increase your spiritual views and inspire you to find out more about the tradition behind the discipline.

The history of yoga is based in the Indus Valley civilization. The techniques are practiced by the Indus (later known as Hindus) to initiate spiritual growth of humans.The first writings about yoga were written in Sanskrit in early religious manuscripts in India called the Vedas, the oldest scriptures in the world. The word ‘yoga’ has many meanings. The root of the word is ‘yug’ which means to bind, to connect, to join, attach. But yoga also means ‘to actively put to use’ or ‘yoke’ or ‘join’. Today, it is agreed upon that yoga is a method of joining or a discipline. Men who practice yoga are called yogi or yogin and women who practice yoga are called yogini.

The yogis encourage union with the finite jiva (transitory self) and with the infinite Brahman (eternal self). Brahman is a term used by the Hindus to mean “God.” This raises a question what are we supposed to unite with? Yogis usually think of God as an impersonal, spiritual substance, coexisting with all of reality. This doctrine is called pantheism which is the view that everything is God. Since it is taught by the yogis that everything is God, it then stands to reason, man is God.Yogis taught how to live in divine harmony and how to obtain inner vision. Yoga views man’s problem primarily in terms of ignorance. Man simply does not understand he is God so the solution is enlightenment, or an experience of union with God.Yoga asanas along with pranayama and meditation can unite jiva with Brahman.

When you perform the physical practice of yoga, you are only engaging in not even half of the discipline as it has been practiced for thousands of years. Yoga is an incredible form of exercise for the body, but it can also be used as a spiritual practice and a way to calm the mind as well.