Yoga: Origins, Practices, Styles, Health Effects and Cultural Context

Already the older Upanishads (ca. 700 B.C.) describe breathing exercises and the withdrawal of the senses (Pratyahara) into the Atman as an aid to meditation (Dhyana). The middle Upanishads, which originated around 400 B.C., mention the term yoga several times and also the essential elements of the later yoga system. Yoga was closely connected with the theories developed by the philosophical system of Samkhya and formed its practical continuation.

In the Indian epic Mahabharata around 300 BC, yoga already occupies an important place and is mentioned as a practical counterpart to the theoretical Sânkhya. While in the Mahabharata and in the older Puranas the sage (rishi) Kapila and others are mentioned as the founders of Yoga, Patanjali appears at this place in more recent Puranas. However, it may be assumed that Patanjali summarized the traditional yoga teachings from the period between the 2nd century BC and the 4th century AD. His work consists of 194 short mnemonic sayings (sutras) spread over four books.

The classical Indian scriptures describe four yoga paths:

• Raja Yoga is the name given to the meditation-oriented stages of the eight-limbed yoga according to Patanjali (also called Ashtanga Yoga: "Ashta" = eight, "Anga" = parts).
• Jnana Yoga (Yoga of knowledge, intellectual direction)
• Karma yoga (yoga of action, selfless action)
• Bhakti yoga (yoga of love/worship/ devotion to God or an Ishtadevata)

The fifth major yoga path, established between the 13th and 14th centuries, is hatha yoga (yoga of power or momentum).

In addition, the following systems can be added:

• Mantra Yoga
• Laya Yoga
• Kundalini Yoga

Originally, yoga was a purely spiritual path that primarily aimed at the search for enlightenment through meditation. The many asanas only developed over time. Their primary goal is to strengthen and mobilize the body in such a way that it can remain in the meditation seat - e.g. lotus seat - for a longer period of time without discomfort. Over time, the positive effect of the physical exercises on the overall well-being of the person was increasingly recognized. The Asanas were further developed, and physical exercise in yoga is becoming more and more important in our time. This development was first reflected in the emergence of Hatha Yoga. The "Hathapradipika", a 15th century text, sets out the techniques that incorporate the body as an effective means of achieving the existential and spiritual goals of yoga.

After Vasco da Gama had discovered the sea route to India in 1498, the Portuguese conducted trade business, but largely refrained from Christian missionary attempts. The missionaries who came to India from 1539, initially in the form of Jesuit monks from Portugal, rejected yoga as a manifestation of Hinduism and thus as pagan. Starting from Goa, the "capital of Christianity in Asia", all Indians living under Portuguese rule had to turn to the Christian religion by 1774. English colonial rulers (1756-1947) were also not very open to yoga. Yoga was seen as a part of Indian culture to be replaced with English values. British missionaries spread Anglican or other Protestant denominations. The day of yoga is celebrated on June 21.

Roots

Since yoga originated in India, the roots of yoga philosophy lie in Hinduism and parts of Buddhism. The individual is seen here as a traveller in the chariot of the material body. The chariot is the body, the coachman the mind, the five horses the five sense organs, the passenger the soul, and the harness is called "yoga" in Indian. The oldest records are found in the Upanishads. The most important source text of Yoga is the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali.

To illustrate, the first four Sūtras of Patanjali, which give the core of yoga and are a kind of mantra, are as follows.

1. atha yoga-anusäsanam; translated, this means: Now (follows) the discipline of Yoga. What is meant is a kind of absolute now, for things of the past, their essence, be they habits, are to be cast off. This likewise means traditions. "But it is a fact that Yoga is opposed to the conventional meaning of words. It even rejects past experiences and their verbalization (I 15)." The rationale for this is found in the 4th Sūtre.
2. yogas citta-vrtti-nirodhah; meaning: Yoga is that inner state in which the mental-spiritual processes come to rest. Nirodah refers to the slowing down and pausing of the vortical movements (vṛtti) in our bodily existence (citta, in the sense of embodied mind).
3. tadä drastuh svarüpe'vasthänam; meaning: then the seeing person rests in his essential identity, or also: then the seeing principle (draṣṭuḥ) - which is inherent in each of us - takes its place in his essential nature (svarūpe, empty self-form).
4. vrtti-särüpyam itaratra; meaning: All other inner states are determined by the identification with the mental-spiritual processes: "If one is still attached to the past, from which one projects hope for the future, one will never be able to establish a meaningful relationship with yoga". The term vritti refers to "an activity that takes place in the fixed channels of habit and convention and is therefore attached to the past".

Bhagavad-Gita

The chapter titles in the Bhagavad-Gita each indicate a particular form of yoga, for example Karma-Yoga or Jnana-Yoga. They provide the practitioner with important philosophical-spiritual background for the understanding of yoga. Among other things, they contain ethical teachings that clarify the Yamas and Niyamas. The text deals with karma - the Hindu and Buddhist principle of cause and effect - reincarnation, meditation, dharma, self-knowledge and faith-based love. The text often uses figurative representations. Thus, the hostile relatives who are to fight Arjuna can be interpreted as a symbol of the kleshas from which the yogi (the one who practices yoga) is to purify himself.

Moreover, the Bhagavad-gita contains direct instructions for the follower of yoga, i.e. for the yogi. Thus, in the 5th chapter it says: "Detaching from the outer world, looking fixedly at the root of the nose (nasikagra) - Regulating like the breath and exhalation (inhalation/exhalation) that pass through the nose within." (Verse 27)

Verse 28 turns to spiritual goals: "Restraining the senses, heart and mind, wholly turned to salvation - Freed from desire, fear and anger, so forever he is redeemed."

Chapter 6 is about immersion (dhyana) and the right way of life:

In verse 10, it says, 'The yogi should constantly toil in solitude - alone, taming mind and self, hoping for nothing, without possessions'.

Verses 11-13 of chapter 6 contain instructions for sitting posture and even for the seat. ¹² "Keeping the mind fixed on one point, restraining thought, senses and action - Sitting down on the seat, let him practice devotion for the purification of himself. ^{13 Keeping} body, neck, head steady, he remains firm - Looking at the root of his nose, he does not look out here and there".

Verses 33-34 deal with religious concepts. Arjuna suggests that the mind is as difficult to control as the wind, and Krishna replies that the mind can be disciplined by effort and renunciation. Then Arjuna asks what about the people who cannot restrain themselves, whether they are lost forever. Krishna consoles him by pointing to reincarnation as another chance to achieve samadhi.