The origins of yoga is shrouded in mystery. Some believe yoga to be around 5000 years old, around the vedic time; whereas some believe it is started with the dawn of civilisation. In Hindu mythology, it is believed that Shiva, regarded as Adiyogi or the first yogi, gave the knowledge of Yoga to the seven Saptarishis or the Seven Sages, who travelled across the globe to disseminate this knowledge. This cannot be dismissed as a far-fetched claim, as there is a distinct similarity between the wisdom of all the ancient civilisations of the world. We will come back to this later, as it merits an elaborate discussion, not just a paragraph. For now, let us look at the timeline of yoga. The Pre-Vedic and Vedic Period (5000-500 BC) The earliest mention of Yoga, it can be found in Rigveda, one of the four canonical texts of ancient Indian literature, others being Yajurveda, Samveda, and Atharvaveda. Rigveda is a massive collection of 1028 hymns and 10,600 verses, organised into 10 book...
What is the ultimate purpose of Yoga? Why do we twist ourselves in different angles? Why do we feel a certain way when we do Pranayama? And what really is Ashtanga Yoga? If you have been pondering about all these questions, you have arrived at the right place, because we intend to deal with these questions right away. Yoga is the union of mind, body and soul in such a way that it is in perfect alignment to experience deeper spiritual awareness, of knowing the higher reality, of knowing one’s own self. But nowadays, yoga has come to mean only the physical practice of asanas. So much importance has been given to the physical postures that the subtle objective of experiencing a higher state has been sent back to the ancient texts. The asanas are excellent means of strengthening our body and while it does so, it also strengthens our mind. The Pranayamas through various techniques of breath control, not only increases our quality of breathing but also the calmness of our mind. But Asa...