The Yoga Institute (abbreviated as TYI) is a government recognized non-profit organisation, known as the oldest organized yoga center in the world. It was founded in 1918 by

Shri Yogendra , image = Shri Yogendra.jpg , caption = Yogendra in his early years, sitting in Siddhasana , religion = Hinduism , founder = The Yoga Institute (1918) , known_for = Pioneering modern yoga , alma_m ...

(1897-1989), who was one of the important figures in the modern revival of yoga. It is headquartered at Santacruz in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, India. The Yoga Institute is certified by the

Ministry of AYUSH The Ministry of Ayush, a ministry of the Government of India, is responsible for developing education, research and propagation of traditional medicine systems in India. Ayush is a name devised from the names of the alternative healthcare syste ...

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

as the first authorized Yoga School to conduct government certified courses. It won the Prime Minister's Award 2018 by the Ministry of AYUSH for outstanding contribution in the field of Yoga in June 2018. The institute is run by Dr.

Hansa Yogendra Hansa Yogendra (born 1947) is an Indian yoga guru, author, researcher and TV personality. She is director of The Yoga Institute in Mumbai, founded by her father-in-law Shri Yogendra. It is a government recognized non-profit organization and th ...

, who also serves as President of The International Board of Yoga. Hansa was appointed as Special Executive Officer by the

Government of Maharashtra The Government of Maharashtra is the state governing authority for the state of Maharashtra, India. It is a democratically elected government with 288 MLAs elected to the Vidhan Sabha for a five-year term. Maharashtra has a Maharashtra Legisla ...

on 20 June 2011.

History

The Yoga Institute was founded in 1918 by Shri Yogendra at ''The Sands'', the residence of

Dadabhai Naoroji Dadabhai Naoroji (4 September 1825 – 30 June 1917) also known as the "Grand Old Man of India" and "Unofficial Ambassador of India", was an Indian political leader, merchant, scholar and writer who served as 2nd, 9th, and 22nd President of t ...

, at Versova beach near

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. It was the first yoga center to offer courses for free to men, women and children of any caste or creed. The Yoga Institute, Harriman, U

In 1919,

set off for

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to found The Yoga Institute of America on

Bear Mountain, New York Bear Mountain is one of the best-known peaks of New York's Hudson Highlands. Located partially in Orange County in the town of Highlands and partially in Rockland County in the town of Stony Point, it lends its name to the nearby Bear Mountain ...

. Until his marriage in 1927,

Yogendra , image = Shri Yogendra.jpg , caption = Yogendra in his early years, sitting in Siddhasana , religion = Hinduism , founder = The Yoga Institute (1918) , known_for = Pioneering modern yoga , alma ...

toured the world, teaching yoga, treating patients and gathering manuscripts on

Hatha Yoga Haṭha yoga is a branch of yoga which uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel the vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठ ''haṭha'' literally means "force", alluding to a system of physical techniques. Some haṭha ...

. The first journal of The Yoga Institute, ''YOGA'' was published in 1933. The journal has been renamed ''Yoga & Total Health''. In 1940, publications of the Institute were microfilmed and preserved in the

Crypt of Civilization The Crypt of Civilization is an impenetrable airtight chamber, built between 1937 and 1940, at the Oglethorpe University in Brookhaven, Georgia. The repository is meant not to be opened before 8113 CE and contains numerous artifacts and sound ...

to be read 6000 years later at

Oglethorpe University Oglethorpe University is a private college in Brookhaven, Georgia. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of the Colony of Georgia. History Oglethorpe University was chartered in 1834 in Mid ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. The Yoga Institute found a permanent base in Santacruz in 1948. In 1951 the Government of India prepared its first cultural documentary film on yoga under its supervision. In 1957, the

Central Government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...

requested the institute to conduct a survey of yoga in India. Yoga Institute launched the Medical Research Unit for research on psychosomatic and psychiatric diseases in 1970 with aid from the Central Council for Research in Indian Medicine and Homeopathy (now part of the

). Yoga Institute Centers were established in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, and the UK. The Yoga Institute hosted the ''World Householder's Yoga Conference'' in 1997 which was presided over by the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

. In December, 2008, the institute launched a first-of-its kind yoga museum in

, based on

classical yoga The ''Yoga Sutras of Patañjali'' is a collection of Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga – 195 sutras (according to Vyāsa and Krishnamacharya) and 196 sutras (according to others, including BKS Iyengar). The ' ...

, displaying its rich 5000 year old heritage through paintings, literature, copies of ancient letters and old equipment's. The Yoga Institute completed its 99th year on 25 December 2017. The inaugural ceremony of the centenary celebrations of institute was attended by

Venkaiah Naidu Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu (born 1 July 1949) is an Indian politician who served as the 13th vice president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first Indian vice president born in independent India. He has also served as the minister of Housi ...

, the

Vice President of India The vice president of India (IAST: ) is the deputy to the head of state of the Republic of India, i.e. the president of India. The office of vice president is the second-highest constitutional office after the president and ranks second in the ...

and

C. Vidyasagar Rao Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao (born 12 February 1941) is an Indian politician from Telangana, associated with Bharatiya Janata Party. He served as Governor of Maharashtra from 2014 to 2019. As a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, he had served ...

, the

Governor of Maharashtra The governor of Maharashtra is the ceremonial head of the state of Maharashtra. The Constitution of India confers the executive powers of the state to the governor, however the de facto executive powers lie with the Council of Ministers. Bhagat ...

Research

The Yoga Institute is one of the Indian government recognized research institute. In 1924, first research on ''

Prana In yoga, Indian medicine and Indian martial arts, prana ( sa2, प्राण, ; the Sanskrit word for breath, " life force", or "vital principle") permeates reality on all levels including inanimate objects. In Hindu literature, prāṇa is ...

'' was conducted by founder

with

Surendranath Dasgupta Surendranath Dasgupta (18 October 1887 – 18 December 1952) was an Indian scholar of Sanskrit and Indian philosophy. Family and education Surendranath Dasgupta was born to a Vaidya family in Kushtia, Bengal (now in Bangladesh), on Sunday, O ...

, an orientalist and a scholar of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

. In 1951,

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

scientists and

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

experts, Dr. Theresa Browne and Dr. JB Millovanovich came to The Yoga Institute to conduct research on the effects of ''

Yoni mudra ''Yoni'' (; sometimes also ), sometimes called ''pindika'', is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu goddess Shakti. It is usually shown with ''linga'' – its masculine counterpart. Together, they symbolize the merging of microc ...

''. The institute also conduced research work like

X ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 ...

research on ''

Khecarī mudrā ' (Sanskrit, खेचरी मुद्रा) is a hatha yoga practice carried out by curling the tip of the tongue back into the mouth until it reaches above the soft palate and into the nasal cavity. In the full practice, the tongue is ma ...

'' and X Ray studies on ''

Sutra neti Neti (Sanskrit: नेती ''netī'') is an important part of Shatkarma (sometimes known as Shatkriya), the yogic system of body cleansing techniques. It can have universal application, irrespective of their religion. It is intended mainly to ...

kriyas''. It received Rs. 35 Lakh from the Union

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is an Indian government ministry charged with health policy in India. It is also responsible for all government programs relating to family planning in India. The Minister of Health and Family Welfare ...

to conduct research on how Yoga can help parents and students cope with exam stress. In 2004, a research project of ''Caring Heart on Reversal of Heart Disease'' was launched by the institute to prove the medical world that the heart disease could be treated through yogic lifestyle leading to reversal in coronary artery disease. The Yoga Institute conducted a study published in The Journal of the Association of Physicians of India (JAPI), which establishes the reversibility of heart disease through Yoga based lifestyle.

The Yogendra family

The Yoga Institute's founder,

is one of the figures responsible for simplifying yoga asanas and bringing yogic technologies to the common householder. He was known to be a lover of poetry and a proponent of

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

, the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. He propagated yoga as a means to encourage conscious evolution. The founder's wife, Sita Devi was a proponent of Yoga and worked toward promoting yoga among women. His eldest son, Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra, (M.A., PhD.) took up the Directorship of The Yoga Institute, Santacruz in 1985 and served as the president of institute until his death in February 2018. His wife, Hansa, is the present Director of the institute.

Activities

This institute conducts a number of workshops and organizes therapeutic health camps. It offers courses for learners. The Yoga Institute is also engaged in various philanthropic activities and has adopted 10 BMC schools. It organizes camps for

juvenile home In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile det ...

s, women's shelters and even for the

Mumbai Police The Mumbai Police (Marathi: मुंबई पोलीस, IAST: ''Mumbaī Pulīs'', formerly ''Bombay Police'') is the police department of the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of Maharashtra Police and has the primary responsibiliti ...

. It also conducts free yoga sessions for students as well as the teachers in BMC schools. The institute organizes training programmes for educational institutions, members of the Police force, employees of the

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

and Television Centre and for the NCC organization, as reported in

Maharashtra State Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdivi ...

Gazetteers in 1986. In 2009, The Institute trained teachers from states of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

, Jammu and Kashmir and

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

for one month Yoga Teacher's Training Program under the National School Teachers Project, sponsored by MDNIY,

Ministry of Health (India) The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is an Government of India, Indian government Ministry (government department), ministry charged with health policy in India. It is also responsible for all government programs relating to family planning ...

. In December 2018, The Yoga Institute organized a two days Yoga festival attended by

Ramnath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind (; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician who served as the 14th President of India from 2017 to 2022. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the second person after K. R. Narayanan, from the Dalit community ...

, the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

, to celebrate its 100th anniversary. The Institute assisted the

University of Mumbai The University of Mumbai is a collegiate university, collegiate, State university (India), state-owned, Public university, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the un ...

and

National Council of Educational Research and Training The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India which was established in 1961 as a literary, scientific and charitable Society under the Societies Registration Act. Its head ...

in drafting the syllabus for the yoga course. It is credited for over 500 published works and numerous scientific studies. The institute has partnered with

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...

to provide its 400 archival images and artifacts online.

Recognition

In 1958, The

Central Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

recognized The Yoga Institute as a special training institute of Yoga and research. In 2016, the institute was certified as the first authorized Yoga School to conduct government certified courses by

. In 2018, The Yoga Institute received the Prime Minister's Award for outstanding contribution for promotion and development of Yoga by the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoga Institute, The Yoga organizations Organisations based in Mumbai Non-profit organisations based in India Community-building organizations Yoga schools 1918 establishments in British India Organizations established in 1918