Yoga, described as a haven for the Spiritual Health – is a result of the thousands of years of study. Discovered by the sages in India, it is a answer to the search of balance between the mind, body and soul. The philosophies of Yoga are universal that can be integrated in any belief system.
The history of Yoga can be traced back to the 5,000 years ago with the beginning of the Indus Sarasvati civilization in the northern part of India. The word Yoga also finds mention in the oldest sacred text, the Rig Veda. In the early age, ancient sadus used to meditate and practice Yoga which was later on refined and developed by the Vedic priests in India. The most famous among the Yogic scripts is the Bhagavad Gita, which was composed in 500 BC. The Upanishads internalized the idea of ritual sacrifice from the Vedas, teaching the sacrifice of ego through self realization, wisdom and karmas.
The first developed stage of Yoga was Patanjali Yoga, oftenly described as the 'classical Yoga'. Patanjali organized the system of Yoga into an 'eight limbed path' which focuses on Samadhi or enlightenment. In the later stages of its development, the masters of Yoga created the systems of practices designed to rejuvenate the body and protect it from outer influences which are mainly caused due to the environmental factors and are reasons for the various ailments in the body.
Yoga is a vast collection of all spiritual and physical techniques all aimed at integrating the mind, body and spirit. In today's age we practice Yoga as the 'Hatha Yoga' one of the many paths of Yoga. The different paths of Yoga are simply different techniques that all lead to the same goal of enlightenment and truth.
With the end of the 18th century, Yoga masters and gurus began to travel to the west, attracting the attention of the foreigners towards the Yoga and techniques. In the 1920's Hatha Yoga was stronly promoted in western and European countries. In the year 1947, Indira Devi opened her Yoga Studio in the Hollywood. Since then number of Indian and western teachers have become pioneer in the field of Hatha Yoga, gaining the huge amount of followers all over the world. Among the different forms of Yoga, the most popular are Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Tantric Yoga and Kundalini Yoga.
Yoga is considered as the father of all health systems in India. It is today one of the main form of tourism in India. Every year, thousands of foreign tourists from all around the world come to India to learn Yoga and Meditation.
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