History of yoga and Development- The tradition of Yoga is since then since there is civilization. Yoga started in India. Yoga started from the Vedic sages of India. In the forests, mountains, and caves of the Indian subcontinent, traces of yogis and ascetics can be seen even today. last have to search golden history of India.
Yoga is a spiritual process and ancient art, through which efforts are made to bring body, mind, and soul together. The word yoga itself means ‘to join’. By continuously practicing yoga in the right way, your inner powers can be greatly increased, as well as the biggest achievements in the world can be achieved.
Yoga in ancient times
The description of yoga is first found in the Vedas, which are considered to be the most ancient literature. In the Vedic period, yoga was practiced to increase concentration power and overcome worldly difficulties. Yagya and Yoga were very important in this period. And because of this, the whole environment along with the body and mind of the people remained pure at that time. Along with the education of celibacy and Vedas, yoga and weapons were also taught in the ashrams.
Along with Vedas, a lot is known about yoga in Ramayana, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata. The famous dialogue ‘Yoga Yajnavalkya’, described in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, between the sage Yajnavalkya and the great natural philosopher, Gargi, the famous expounder of the Vedas, mentions a variety of breathing exercises, asanas, and meditation for cleansing the body. Yogasana has been talked about by Gargi in Chhandogya Upanishad also.
Yoga in Bhagavad Gita is discussed about Gyan Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, and Raja Yoga. Lord Shri Krishna himself explains the importance of yoga to Arjuna and describes Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, and Gyan Yoga.
Yogasutra of Patanjali-
Patanjali, a sage of ancient India, a great physician, and the propounder of ‘Charaka Samhita’, presented the Yoga Vidya scattered in the Vedas in a holistic form for the first time. His greatest work Yogasutra is a collection of about 195 sutras written in Sanskrit. In this book, Patanjali has described yoga in the form of eight limbs (ashtanga). They are the Ashtangas—Yama (restraint), Niyama (observance), Asana (yoga postures), Pranayama (breath control), Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi (absorption).
Yoga in modern times
Yogasutra was almost forgotten in modern times, then in this period gurus like Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Paramahansa Yogananda, Swami Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi, etc. contributed to the event and popularization of Yoga everywhere around the globe. Hindu Vivekananda introduced yoga to the entire world by mentioning yoga in his historic speech at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago.
International Yoga Day-
On 11 December 2014, the Indian Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi proposed to celebrate International Yoga Day on 21 June in the United Nations General Assembly, which was supported by 175 countries without any voting. . June 21 is considered to be the biggest day of the year and yoga also increases life span, so this day was chosen to celebrate Yoga Day. Recognizing the importance of Yoga, the UN believes that, “Yoga is a holistic approach towards human health and well-being.”
Yoga in the world today
Yoga is an invaluable gift given by India to the world. Many tourists who visit the country every year focus on learning and practicing yoga. It conjointly showed the recognition of the traditional Indian application of yoga across the globe. Currently, their area unit is quite three hundred million practitioners of Yoga within the world. concerning fifty p.c of the doctor’s area unit of Indian origin. these days yoga is standard in several countries like the Kingdom of Spain, America, Portugal, Indonesia, Morocco, the UK, Costa Rica, Italy, etc.
Yoga in present-day India
Because of the benefits of yoga, today yoga is also famous in foreign countries. Today, attention is being paid to yoga in many states of India. The state of Uttarakhand is at the forefront of this, whose holy city Rishikesh is also known as ‘Yoga City’. However, there have been loads of distinctions between the yoga asanas of the earlier period and therefore the gift yoga asanas.
At present, people practice yoga to find contentment, and to recover physical and mental health in the midst of their busy lifestyles. Yoga gives strength to the mind and body. Today, for those who are troubled by obesity or increasing weight, the daily practice of yoga is very beneficial.