Matthew Tift
- Yoga Teacher, The Marsh (Minnetonka)
- Former Board Chair, onelove.yoga
- RYT-500 Kripalu Yoga Teacher
- PhD, Musicology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Outline
- Background
- Early yoga
- Modern yoga
What you’ll learn
- Narratives about yoga poses
- Definition and purpose of yoga poses have changed
- How to apply this knowledge to your life
- Indian spiritual discipline
Two distinct views:
Essentialist: yoga is a 5,000+ year old, timeless, eternal tradition, divinely revealed by sages. Exists in the Vedas.
Constructionist: Postural yoga was invented during the colonial period (1858-1947), and exported transnationally
“Dude, people have been doing this practice for 5000 years. It must be legit.”
—Me (c. 2012)
Relevance?
saṃsāra
the endless wheel of
birth and death
Indus Valley
The source of yoga?
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2800 BCE: Pashupati (“Lord of Beasts”) seal
Shiva, according to John Marshall (1931)
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“The famous ‘proto-Śiva’ seals from the Indus Valley civilization (which developed from around 2800 BCE in modern-day Punjab and Sindh), in spite of their popular currency, offer no conclusive evidence of an ancient yogic culture.” (viii)
Rig Veda
1500–1000 BCE
Word “yoga” (yuj) first mentioned
Vedic period
Four texts (Vedas) that contain mystical hymns, prayers, and mantras
Vedic period
Seers believed fire was the mouth of God and offered sacrifices into the fire
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“It is entirely speculative to claim, as several popular writers on yoga have done, that the Vedic corpus provides any evidence of systematic yoga practice.”
Vedanta
“The end of the Vedas”
The Upanishads
Kaṭha Upaniṣad
3rd c. BCE?
First occurrence of the word “yoga”
in the context of self-development and meditation
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Bhagavad Gita
2nd c. BCE?
Bhagavad Gita
2nd c. BCE?
- 6.11-14 describes how to sit in meditation
- 6.12: sthiram āsanam = “establish a firm seat”
3 yogas of the Bhagavad Gita
- Karma yoga (action)
- Bhakti yoga (devotion)
- Janana yoga (knowledge)
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Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras
4th c. CE?
No poses mentioned by name
- Some believe Patanjali also authored the Bhāṣya
- Mentions 12 postures in its commentary for 2.46
8 Limbs of Yoga
- Yamas: behavioral constraints
- Niyamas: personal observances
- Asana: yoga postures
- Pranayama: yoga breathing techniques
- Pratyahara: withdrawal of the senses
- Dharana: concentration
- Dhyana: meditation
- Samadhi: the ultimate goal of yoga
The Body:
an obstacle to be transcended
The Path:
renouncing the world
(soteriological)
The Goal:
“aloneness” (kaivalya)
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Visvamitra’s penance. Courtesy British Library. Rāmāyana (1712) MS 15295 f. 173
Yoga was for
“mortifying the body”
Physical yoga innovations
c. 1000 CE
- Complex balancing poses
- Complex breathwork
- Manipulating energy
- Cleansing techniques
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Mayūrāsana (peacock pose), first non-seated pose
Described in Vimanarcanakalpa (10th c. CE)
Hatha Yoga Pradipika
“Light on Hatha Yoga”
15th c. CE
15 poses, none standing
New Goals
Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.78
“Leanness of the body, bright complexion, manifestation of the internal sounds, very clear eyes, good health, mastery of bindu, kindling of digestive fire, purification of the channels: these are the signs of success in haṭha.”
Hatha Yoga Project
- 2015–2020
- SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), University of London
- Charts the history of physical yoga practices
Key concepts
- 5000 years old?
- Bhagavad Gita
- Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras
- Hatha Yoga Pradipika
Vivekananda
1863–1902
- 1893: World Parliament of Religions, Chicago
- 1896: published Raja Yoga
Raja yoga
raja = “king” or “the best”
Blended classical yoga and Tantra
Rejected hatha yoga
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Vivekananda: Science!
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1946
Minnesota
Yogananada spent a few months in Minnesota, beginning on September 18, 1927. He lectured at the Lyceum Theatre in Minneapolis, Macalester College of St. Paul, and other Twin Cities venues.
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Krishnamacharya
(1888–1989)
Students of Krishnamacharya
K. Pattabhi Jois (1915–2009) - Ashtanga
B. K. S. Iyengar (1918-2014) - Iyengar Yoga
T. K. V. Desikachar (1938-2016) - Viniyoga
Evidence?
There is no evidence that Sun Salutations (sūryanamaskār) were described in the Rig Veda or part of a physical yoga practice before the mid 1930s
—Singleton, Yoga Body (2010)
Indra Devi
- 1953, Forever Young, Forever Healthy
- Just postures and breathwork
Iyengar, Light on Yoga
- 1966
- Documented over 200 yoga poses
- The first work of its kind
- Allowed more people to learn asana
Did NOT teach or practice Hatha Yoga
- Thoreau (1817-62, age 44)
- Emerson (1803-82, age 78)
- Helena Blavatsky (1831-91, age 59)
- Vivekananda (1863–1902, age 39)
- Sara Bull (1850–1911, age 60)
- Margaret Woodrow Wilson (1886–1944, age 57)
- Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952, age 59)
Practiced Hatha Yoga
- Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888–1989, 100)
- Indra Devi (1899–2002, age 102)
- Pattabhi Jois (1915–2009, 93)
- B.K.S. Iyengar (1918–2014, age 95)
My non-scientific study
Blanche DeVries (1891-1984)
Health and beauty, not soteriology
First woman-owned yoga studio
Female empowerment
Clarkstown Country Club (Vanderbilts)
Yoga diversification
Bhakti, Karma, Jana, Raja, Ashtanga, Hatha, Iyengar, Kripalu, Kriya, Kundalini, Viniyoga, Vinyasa, Acroyoga, Aerial, Broga, Goat, Heavy metal, Hot, Nude, Paddleboard, Power, Yin
Raja yoga (Vivekananda)
Kriya yoga (Yogananada)
Bhakti yoga (most gurus, Krishna Das)
Karma yoga (sevā, or selfless service)
Jnana yoga (“wisdom” teachings)
Kundalini yoga (Yogi Bhajan)
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PubMed: “yoga” 20x increase
2003: 40 papers
2022: 833 papers
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Khalsa Logic Model
Research methods:
Yoga lowers stress by multiple measures:
Self-reported
Cortisol measurements
Heart rate variability
Yoga lowers stress in different populations:
Healthy people, ages 16-85
People with cancer
People with stressful jobs (evidence is more mixed)
PTSD (firefighters, veterans)
Some facts
- No one really knows when yoga originated
- Yoga probably came from India
- Wikipedia, “List of Asanas”
