- Yoga started in India around 3000 B.C.
- The Yoga Sutras of Maharishi Patanjali teaches how to practice yoga.
- Lord Shiva is considered to be the first teacher of yoga or Adiyogi.
- The oldest text about yoga, the Rig Veda, is dated 4,000 B.C.E.
- It is in the late 19th century that yoga was first introduced in the United States.
- Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) is known for introducing yoga to the West by addressing to the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893.
- Traditionally, yoga was practiced on grass known as kusha grass or on an animal skin rug.
- Angela Farmer, the mother of today’s yoga mats, practiced yoga on carpet padding.
- Traditionally, yoga was practiced by men.
- Women who practice yoga today have to thank teacher Krishnamacharya who reluctantly permitted Indra Devi to join practice.
- Modern dance and American yoga share their origins.
- Yoga blocks were introduced as props in the 1970’s by BKS Iyengar.
- The first high-quality study on yoga was published in The Lancet journal in 1975.
- George Harrison, from the Beatles, promoted yoga to the West.
- The actress Eva Gabor was a student of Indra Devi, herself a disciple of Krishnamacharya.
- In 1998, Madonna sings “Shanti/Ashtangi”. The lyrics of the song include the mantra Om shanti.
- International Yoga Day, celebrated annually on June 21, was first proposed by Prime Minister Narenda Modi.
- The yoga wheel was created in 2014 by Dov Vargas and Raquel Vamos.
- In 2015, College Humor featured a sarcastic sketch in which a fictitious Gandhi follows a yoga class.
- In 2016, UNESCO listed yoga as an intangible cultural heritage.
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References
Yogasix. https://yogasix.com/history-of-yoga/
Yoga Journal. https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/philosophy/yoga-sutras
Asana. International yoga journal. https://www.asanajournal.com/shiva-first-siddhar-yogi/
Yogapedia. https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/5342/rig-veda
Mark Singleton. Yoga Journal. 2011. Available at : https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/yoga-s-greater-truth
Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2019. Available at : https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vivekananda
Ashlee Davis. Yoga Journal. 2015. https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/40-years-yoga-gear
Matthew Remski. Yoga Journal. 2017. https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/10-things-didnt-know-yoga-history
Fernando Pagés Ruiz. Yoga Journal. 2007. https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/krishnamacharya-s-legacy
City Academy. https://www.city-academy.com/news/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-contemporary-dance/
Chandra Patel and W.R.S. North. Randomised controlled trial of yoga and bio-feedback in management of hypertension. The Lancet. 1975. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(75)90002-1/fulltext
Joshua M. Green. 2016. Yoga Journal. https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/beatle-george-harrison-hare-krishna
Kendra Sand. YogiApproved. No date. https://www.yogiapproved.com/yoga/classic-yoga-babes/
Shannon Sexton and Katherine Rae. 2012. Yoga Journal. https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/sounds-divine
The Economic Times. 2019. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/yoga-day-pm-leads-celebrations-in-ranchi-thousands-in-india-and-world-roll-out-their-mats/articleshow/69894034.cms?from=mdr
Dharma Yoga Wheel. http://www.dharmayogawheel.com/about-us.html
College Humor. http://www.collegehumor.com/video/7007564/if-ghandi-took-a-yoga-class
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). No date. https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/yoga-01163