Yoga was born out of the Thought process of thousands of years. Indians believe in cycle of birth and death and in principle of re-birth. They were motivated to practice Yoga in order to attain Moksha. The History of yoga in as follows:
1. Pre-vedie Period : Many status in yoga mudra was found in the excavation of Harappa. It reveals that yoga was practiced during Indus Valley Civilisation which is 3000 years old.
2. Vedic-period : In Rigveda, the use of word ‘yunjate’ suggests an idea of yoga for control over senses.
3. Upanishad Period : The mention of yoga in found in puranas and upanishads also.
4. Epic-period : Ramayana and Mahabarata are important source of information about the yogic practices of that era. Bhagwat Gita emphasized on Bharti yoga and karma yoga Lord Sri Krishna narrated yoga to Arjuna in Mahabharata, “Skill in actions or efficiency alone is Yoga.”
5. Sutra Period : Patanjali wrote four yoga sutra around 147 B.C. in which he mentioned about 8 parts of yoga.
6. Smriti Period : The Literature of Smriti period shows significant presence of pranayama along with changes in beliefs, worship, ideas, rituals and customs.
7. Medieval Period: In this period two cults were very famous-Natha Cult and Bhakti Cult. Hatha Yoga was also developed during this period.
8. Modern Period : Swami Yogananda, Shri Aurobindo, Raman Maharshi etc. spread yoga outside India. Swami Vivekananda and Baba Ramdev have contributed by spreading yoga all over the world.
