Yoga is probably the oldest form of practice which is done by many people even now to keep up their health. There are different forms of yoga which has evolved through the years most of them having a common root with each branch having its own unique function relating to a particular lifestyle.

Patanjali collected the yoga knowledge available in 2 A.D. and wrote a treatise called ‘Yoga Sutra'. It contains the eight limbs of yoga. In the late 19th century, T. Krishnamacharya a yoga teacher in Mysore Palace in south India, was the source of most modern Hatha Yoga. His disciples B.K.S. Iyengar, K.Pattabhi Jois and Indira Devi, and his son T.K.V. Desikachar, were instrumental in setting up their schools and spreading Yoga throughout the world. Each one has its own name, but it is only a matter of stress rather than substance. They are Ashtanga Yoga of Pattabhi Jois, Iyengar Yoga of B.K.S. Iyengar, Vishnu Yoga of T.K.V. Desikachar, Bikram Yoga of Bikram Choudhry, Sivananda Yoga of Vishnu Sivandandam, Integral Yoga of Swami Sachidananda and Ananda Yoga of Swami Kiriananda. Some of these branches are dealt with in this section.