The Origins of Yoga

Yoga began in ancient India as a practice of unity between body, mind and spirit. Rooted in philosophy and meditation, it has evolved through centuries into a global tradition, a shared language of presence and balance across cultures. .

Yoga is more than movement; it is a tradition that began thousands of years ago in India, rooted in the search for harmony between body, mind and spirit. The word itself comes from the Sanskrit yuj, meaning "to yoke" or "to unite", a reminder that yoga was always about connection.

Its earliest mentions appear in the Rig Veda, composed over 3,000 years ago, where yoga was not a sequence of postures but a spiritual discipline. Over time, its philosophy was expanded in the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, which described yoga as paths of action, devotion and knowledge. Around the second century BCE, the sage Patanjali distilled these teachings into the Yoga Sutras, outlining the eight limbs of yoga: ethical living, meditation, breath and postures as a map towards liberation.

For centuries, yoga was practised primarily by ascetics and seekers, with meditation at its heart. Later, Hatha Yoga traditions emphasised the body as a vessel for transformation, bringing postures and breathwork into greater focus. In the modern era, teachers such as Krishnamacharya, BKS Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois helped shape the dynamic asana practices familiar around the world today.

As yoga travelled westward in the 19th and 20th centuries, it adapted to new contexts. While rooted in India, its essence of union and balance resonated universally. Across cultures, echoes of yoga's aims can be found in Chinese qigong and tai chi, in Japanese Zen, and in countless practices that honour stillness, breath and presence.

Today, yoga is global. It is practised in temples and studios, parks and living rooms, woven into diverse lifestyles yet carrying the same thread: a reminder that we are both rooted and flowing, individual and interconnected.

What began in India has become a shared language, across cultures, timeless and continually evolving.