Yoga as exercise is a physical activity consisting mainly of postures, often connected by flowing sequences, sometimes accompanied by breathing exercises, and frequently ending with relaxation lying down or

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...

in this form has become familiar across the world, especially in America and Europe. It is derived from medieval

Haṭha 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 ...

, which made use of similar postures, but it is generally simply called "yoga". Academics have given yoga as exercise a variety of names, including modern postural yoga and transnational anglophone yoga. Posture is described in the ''

Yoga Sutras 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 ...

'' II.29 as the third of the eight limbs, the ashtanga, of yoga. Sutra II.46 defines it as that which is ''steady and comfortable'', but no further elaboration or list of postures is given. Postures were not central in any of the older traditions of yoga; posture practice was revived in the 1920s by yoga gurus including

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 ...

and

Kuvalayananda Swami Kuvalayananda (born Jagannatha Ganesa Gune, 30 August 1883 – 18 April 1966) was a yoga guru, researcher, and educator primarily known for his pioneering research into the scientific foundations of yoga. He started research on yoga in 192 ...

, who emphasised its health benefits. The flowing sequences of

Surya Namaskar Sun Salutation, also called Surya Namaskar(a) or Salute to the Sun (), is a practice in yoga as exercise incorporating a flow sequence of some twelve gracefully linked asanas. The asana sequence was first recorded as yoga in the early 20th centu ...

(Salute to the Sun) were pioneered by the Rajah of Aundh, Bhawanrao Shrinivasrao Pant Pratinidhi, in the 1920s. It and many standing poses used in gymnastics were incorporated into yoga by the yoga teacher Krishnamacharya in Mysore from the 1930s to the 1950s. Several of his students went on to found influential schools of yoga: Pattabhi Jois created Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, which in turn led to

Power Yoga Power Yoga is one of several forms of energetic form of yoga evolved in India. These include forms derived from Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and body weight exercises. It was practiced in India in mysore city. Patabhi Jois brought power yoga to the west ...

; B. K. S. Iyengar created Iyengar Yoga, and defined a modern set of yoga postures in his 1966 book '' Light on Yoga''; and Indra Devi taught yoga as exercise to many celebrities in Hollywood. Other major schools founded in the 20th century include

Bikram Yoga Bikram Yoga is a system of hot yoga, a type of yoga as exercise, devised by Bikram Choudhury and based on the teachings of B. C. Ghosh, that became popular in the early 1970s. Classes consist of a fixed sequence of 26 postures, practised in a ro ...

and Sivananda Yoga. Yoga as exercise spread across America and Europe, and then the rest of the world. Haṭha yoga's non-postural practices such as its purifications are much reduced or absent in yoga as exercise. The term "hatha yoga" is also in use with a different meaning, a gentle unbranded yoga practice, independent of the major schools, often

mainly for women ''Mainly for Women'' is an Australian television series which aired 1961 to 1964 on ABC. Hosted by Corinne Kerby, it was a daytime series aimed at women of the period. It was produced in Melbourne and shown interstate, and included segments on sub ...

. Practices vary from wholly secular, for exercise and relaxation, through to undoubtedly spiritual, whether in traditions like Sivananda Yoga or in personal rituals. Yoga as exercise's relationship to

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

is complex and contested; some Christians have rejected it on the grounds that it is covertly Hindu, while the "Take Back Yoga" campaign insisted that it was necessarily connected to Hinduism. Scholars have identified multiple trends in the changing nature of yoga since the end of the 19th century. Yoga as exercise has developed into a worldwide multi-billion dollar business, involving classes, certification of teachers, clothing such as

yoga pants Yoga pants are high- denier hosiery reaching from ankle to waist, originally designed for yoga as exercise and first sold in 1998 by Lululemon, a company founded for that purpose. They were initially made of a mix of nylon and Lycra; more special ...

, books, videos,

equipment Equipment most commonly refers to a set of tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, onl ...

including

yoga mat Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

s, and holidays.

History

Yoga's origins

The

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 ...

noun योग ', cognate with English "

yoke A yoke is a wooden beam sometimes used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do; some yokes are fitted to individual animals. There are several types of yoke, u ...

", is derived from the root ' "to attach, join, harness, yoke". Its ancient spiritual and philosophical goal was to unite the human spirit with the divine. The branch of yoga that makes use of physical postures is

. The

word हठ ''haṭha'' means "force", alluding to its use of physical techniques.

Haṭha yoga

Haṭha yoga flourished among secretive ascetic groups such as

Nath Nath, also called Natha, are a Shaiva sub-tradition within Hinduism in India and Nepal. A medieval movement, it combined ideas from Buddhism, Shaivism and Yoga traditions in India. revised from American Academy of Religions conference, San Francisco, 19 November 2011. Instruction was directly from

guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential ...

to individual pupil, in a long-term relationship. It was associated with religions, especially

but also Jainism and Buddhism. Its objectives were to manipulate vital fluids to enable absorption and ultimately

liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

. It consisted of practices including purifications, postures (asanas),

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

, the directed gaze,

seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

, and rhythmic breathing. These were claimed to provide supernatural powers including healing, destruction of poisons, invisibility, and shape-shifting. Yogins wore little or no clothing; their bodies were sometimes smeared with

cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...

ash as a reminder of their forthcoming deaths. Equipment, too, was scanty; sometimes yogins used a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

or deer skin as a rug to meditate on. Hatha yoga made use of a small number of asanas, mainly seated; in particular, there were very few standing poses before 1900. They were practised slowly, often holding a position for long periods. The practice of asanas was a minor preparatory aspect of spiritual work. Yogins followed a strict vegetarian diet, excluding stimulants such as tea, coffee or alcohol. Their yoga was taught without payment; gurus were supported by gifts and the philosophy was anti-consumerist.

Early influences

According to one theory, the system of physical education practised in the 19th-century

Young Men's Christian Association YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

, adapted by ex-military gymnasts for the schooling system in colonial

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, became the default form of mass-drill, and this influenced the "modernized hatha yoga". According to the yoga scholar

Suzanne Newcombe Suzanne Newcombe researches the modern history of yoga and new and minority religions. She states that she is particularly interested in "the interfaces between religion, health and healing." She is known in particular for her work on yoga for women ...

, modern yoga in India is a blend of Western gymnastics with postures from Haṭha yoga in India in the 20th century. From the 1850s onwards, there developed in India a culture of physical exercise to counter the colonial stereotype of supposed "degeneracy" of Indians compared to the British, a belief reinforced by then-current ideas of

Lamarckism Lamarckism, also known as Lamarckian inheritance or neo-Lamarckism, is the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime. It is also calle ...

and

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 o ...

. This culture was taken up from the 1880s to the early 20th century by

Indian nationalists Indian nationalism is an instance of territorial nationalism, which is inclusive of all of the people of India, despite their diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian nationalism can trace roots to pre-colonial India, ...

such as

Tiruka Raghavendra Swami of Malladihalli (Kannada: ಮಲ್ಲಾಡಿಹಳ್ಳಿ ಶ್ರೀ ರಾಘವೇಂದ್ರ ಸ್ವಾಮಿ) (1890–1996), popularly known as ತಿರುಕ Tiruka ("beggar"), was the founder of Anatha Sevas ...

, who taught exercises and unarmed combat techniques under the guise of yoga. The German

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses ...

Eugen Sandow Eugen Sandow (born Friedrich Wilhelm Müller, ; 2 April 1867 – 14 October 1925) was a German bodybuilder and showman from Prussia. Born in Königsberg, Sandow became interested in bodybuilding at the age of ten during a visit to Italy. After a ...

was acclaimed on his 1905 visit to India, at which time he was already a "cultural hero" in the country. The anthropologist

Joseph Alter Joseph S. Alter is an American medical anthropologist known for his research into the modern practice of yoga as exercise, his 2004 book ''Yoga in Modern India'', and the physical and medical culture of South Asia. Biography Joseph S. Alter wa ...

suggests that Sandow was the person who had the most influence on modern yoga. The first handbook of asanas in English, and the first to be illustrated with photographs, was Seetharaman Sundaram's 1928 ''Yogic Physical Culture''.

Introduction to the West

Yoga was introduced to the Western world by the spiritual leader

Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intr ...

's 1893 visit to the

World Parliament of Religions There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World's Religions, the first being the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another c ...

in Chicago, and his 1896 book '' Raja Yoga''. However, he rejected Haṭha yoga and its "entirely" physical practices such as asanas as difficult and ineffective for spiritual growth, out of a widely shared distaste for India's wandering yogins. Yoga asanas were brought to America by the yoga teacher

. He founded a branch of

The Yoga Institute 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 (1897-1989), who was one of the important figures in the ...

in New York state in 1919, starting to make Haṭha yoga acceptable, seeking scientific evidence for its health benefits, and writing books such as his 1928 ''Yoga Asanas Simplified'' and his 1931 ''Yoga Personal Hygiene''. The flowing sequences of salute to the sun,

, now accepted as yoga and containing popular asanas such as

Uttanasana Uttanasana ( sa, उत्तानासन; ) or Standing Forward Bend, with variants such as Padahastasana where the toes are grasped, is a standing forward bending asana in modern yoga as exercise. Etymology and origins The name comes from ...

and upward and

downward dog pose Downward Dog Pose or Downward-facing Dog Pose, also called Adho Mukha Shvanasana ( sa, अधोमुखश्वानासन; IAST: ''Adho Mukha Śvānāsana''), is an inversion asana, often practised as part of a flowing sequence of po ...

s, were popularized by the Rajah of Aundh, Bhawanrao Shrinivasrao Pant Pratinidhi, in the 1920s. In 1924, the yoga teacher

founded the

Kaivalyadhama Health and Yoga Research Center The Kaivalyadhama Health and Yoga Research Center (abbreviated Kaivalyadhama), founded by Swami Kuvalayananda in 1924, is a spiritual, therapeutic, and research center with a specific aim to coordinate ancient yogic arts and tradition with moder ...

in Maharashtra, combining asanas with gymnastics, and like Yogendra seeking a scientific and medical basis for yogic practices. In 1925, Kuvalayananda's rival

Paramahansa Yogananda Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh; January 5, 1893March 7, 1952) was an Indian Hindu monk, yogi and guru who introduced millions to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization Self-Realization Fellowsh ...

, having moved from India to America, set up the

Self-Realization Fellowship Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) is a worldwide spiritual organization founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920 and legally incorporated as a non-profit religious organization in 1935, to serve as Yogananda's instrument for the preservation ...

in Los Angeles, and taught yoga, including asanas, breathing, chanting and meditation, to "tens of thousands of Americans". In 1923, Yogananda's younger brother,

Bishnu Charan Ghosh Bishnu Charan Ghosh (24 June 1903 – 9 July 1970) was an Indian bodybuilder and Hathayogi. He was the younger brother of yogi Paramahansa Yogananda, who wrote the 1946 book ''Autobiography of a Yogi''. In 1923, he founded the College of Physica ...

, founded the Ghosh College of Yoga and Physical Culture in Calcutta.

Tirumalai Krishnamacharya Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (18 November 1888 – 28 February 1989) was an Indian yoga teacher, ayurvedic healer and scholar. He is seen as one of the most important gurus of modern yoga, and is often called "the father of modern yoga" for ...

(1888–1989), "the father of modern yoga", claimed to have spent seven years with one of the few masters of Haṭha yoga then living,

Ramamohana Brahmachari Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (18 November 1888 – 28 February 1989) was an Indian yoga teacher, ayurvedic healer and scholar. He is seen as one of the most important gurus of modern yoga, and is often called "the father of modern yoga" for h ...

, at

Lake Manasarovar Lake Manasarovar (Sanskrit: मानसरोवर), also called Mapam Yutso (;) locally, is a high altitude freshwater lake fed by the Kailash Glaciers near Mount Kailash in Burang County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The ...

in Tibet, from 1912 to 1918. He studied under Kuvalayananda in the 1930s, and then in his yogashala in the Jaganmohan Palace in

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

created "a marriage of Haṭha yoga,

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

exercises, and modern Western

gymnastic Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

movement, and unlike anything seen before in the yoga tradition." The Maharajah of Mysore

Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV (Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar; 4 June 1884 – 3 August 1940) was the twenty-fourth maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore, from 1902 until his death in 1940. He is popularly called ''Rajarshi'' ( sa, rājarṣi, lit ...

was a leading advocate of

physical culture Physical culture, also known as Body culture, is a health and strength training movement that originated during the 19th century in Germany, the UK and the US. Origins The physical culture movement in the United States during the 19th century ...

in India, and a neighbouring hall of his palace was used to teach

classes, then considered to be gymnastic exercises. Krishnamacharya adapted these sequences of exercises into his flowing vinyasa style of yoga. The yoga scholar Mark Singleton noted that gymnastic systems like

Niels Bukh Niels Ebbesen Mortensen Bukh (15 June 1880 – 7 July 1950) was a Danish gymnast and educator who founded the first athletic folk high school in Ollerup in Funen, Denmark. He achieved international fame as a gymnastics trainer for the Danish te ...

's were popular in

in India at that time, and that they contained many postures similar to Krishnamacharya's new asanas. Spread of postural yoga across the world

Among Krishnamacharya's pupils were people who became influential yoga teachers themselves: the Russian Eugenie V. Peterson, known as Indra Devi (from 1937), who moved to Hollywood, taught yoga to celebrities, and wrote the bestselling book ''Forever Young, Forever Healthy''; Pattabhi Jois (from 1927), who founded the flowing style Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga whose

Mysore style The Mysore style of asana practice is the way of teaching yoga as exercise within the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga tradition as taught by K. Pattabhi Jois in the southern Indian city of Mysore; its fame has made that city a yoga hub with a substantial yoga ...

makes use of repetitions of Surya Namaskar, in 1948, which in turn led to

; and

B.K.S. Iyengar Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar (14 December 1918 – 20 August 2014) was an Indian teacher of yoga and author. He is founder of the style of yoga as exercise, known as " Iyengar Yoga", and was considered one of the foremost yoga guru ...

(from 1933), his brother-in-law, who founded Iyengar Yoga, with its first centre in Britain. Together they made yoga popular as exercise and brought it to the Western world. Iyengar's 1966 book '' Light on Yoga'' popularised yoga asanas worldwide with what the scholar-practitioner

Norman Sjoman Norman E. Sjoman (born July 6, 1944, Mission City) is known as author of the 1996 book ''The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace'', which contains an English translation of the yoga section of ''Sritattvanidhi'', a 19th-century treatise by the ...

calls its "clear no-nonsense descriptions and the obvious refinement of the illustrations", though the degree of precision it calls for is missing from earlier yoga texts. Other Indian schools of yoga took up the new style of asanas, but continued to emphasize Haṭha yoga's spiritual goals and practices to varying extents. The

Divine Life Society The Divine Life Society (DLS) is a Hindu spiritual organisation and an ashram, founded by Swami Sivananda Saraswati in 1936, at Muni Ki Reti, Rishikesh, India. Today it has branches around the world, the headquarters being situated in Rishikesh. ...

was founded by

Sivananda Saraswati Sivananda Saraswati (or Swami Sivananda; 8 September 1887 – 14 July 1963) was a yoga guru, a Hindu spiritual teacher, and a proponent of Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He stu ...

of Rishikesh in 1936. His many disciples include Swami Vishnudevananda, who founded the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres, starting in 1959;

Swami Satyananda Satyananda Saraswati (25 December 1923 – 5 December 2009), was a Sanyasi, yoga teacher and guru in both his native India and the West. He was a student of Sivananda Saraswati, the founder of the Divine Life Society, and founded the Bihar Sc ...

of the Bihar School of Yoga, a major centre of Haṭha yoga teacher training, founded in 1963; and

Swami Satchidananda Satchidananda Saraswati (; 22 December 1914 – 19 August 2002), born C. K. Ramaswamy Gounder and usually known as Swami Satchidananda, was an Indian yoga guru Modern yoga gurus are people widely acknowledged to be gurus of modern yoga in a ...

Integral Yoga Integral yoga, sometimes also called supramental yoga, is the yoga-based philosophy and practice of Sri Aurobindo and ''The Mother'' (Mirra Alfassa). Central to ''Integral yoga'' is the idea that Spirit manifests itself in a process of invol ...

, founded in 1966. Vishnudevananda published his '' Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga'' in 1960, with a list of asanas that substantially overlaps with Iyengar's, sometimes with different names for the same poses; Jois's asana names almost exactly match Iyengar's.

Worldwide commodity

Three changes around the 1960s allowed yoga as exercise to become a worldwide commodity. People were for the first time able to travel freely around the world: consumers could go to the east; Indians could migrate to Europe and America; and business people and religious leaders could go where they liked to sell their wares. Secondly, people across the Western world became disillusioned with organised

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

, and started to look for alternatives. And thirdly, yoga became an uncontroversial form of exercise suitable for mass consumption, unlike the more religious or meditational forms of

modern yoga Modern yoga is a wide range of yoga practices with differing purposes, encompassing in its various forms yoga philosophy derived from the Vedas, physical postures derived from Hatha yoga, devotional and tantra-based practices, and Hindu nation- ...

such as

Siddha Yoga Siddha Yoga is a spiritual path founded by Swami Muktananda (1908–1982). The organization states in its literature that the Siddha Yoga tradition is "based mainly on eastern philosophies". It also states that it "draws many of its teachings f ...

Transcendental Meditation Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes ...

. This involved the dropping of many traditional requirements on the practice of yoga, such as giving alms, being

celibate Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, th ...

, studying the

Hindu scriptures Hindu texts are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. A few of these texts are shared across these traditions and they are broadly considered Hindu scriptures. These ...

, and retreating from society. From the 1970s, yoga as exercise spread across many countries of the world, changing as it did so, and becoming "an integral part of (primarily) urban cultures worldwide", to the extent that the word ''yoga'' in the Western world now means the practice of asanas, typically in a class. For example, Iyengar Yoga reached South Africa in 1979 with the opening of its institute at Pietermaritzburg; its Association of South East & East Asia was founded in 2009. Yoga's spread in America was assisted by the television show ''

Lilias, Yoga and You ''Lilias, Yoga and You'' (later shortened to ''Lilias!'') is a PBS television show hosted by Lilias Folan, a Cincinnati, Ohio based practitioner of yoga as exercise. The show first aired on October 5, 1970 on Cincinnati PBS member station WCET and ...

'', hosted by Lilias Folan; it ran from 1970 to 1999. In Australia, by 2005 some 12% of the population practised yoga in a class or at home. As a valuable business, yoga has in turn been used in advertising, sometimes for yoga-related products, sometimes for other goods and services. The market for yoga grew, argues the scholar of religion

Andrea Jain Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that r ...

, with the creation of an "endless" variety of second-generation yoga

brands A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

, saleable products, "constructed and marketed for immediate consumption", based on earlier developments. For example, in 1997 John Friend, once a

financial analyst A financial analyst is a professional, undertaking financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core feature of the job. The role may specifically be titled securities analyst, research analyst, equity analyst, investment analyst, ...

, who had intensively studied both the postural Iyengar Yoga and the non-postural Siddha Yoga, founded Anusara Yoga. Friend likened the choice of his yoga over other brands to choosing "a fine restaurant" over "a fast-food joint"; ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

'' headed its piece on him "The Yoga Mogul", while the historian of yoga

Stefanie Syman ''The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America'' is a 2010 book on the history of yoga as exercise by the American journalist Stefanie Syman. It spans the period from the first precursors of American yoga, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thoreau, th ...

argued that Friend had "very self-consciously" created his own yoga community. For example, Friend published his own teacher training manual, held workshops, conferences, and festivals, marketed his own brand of yoga mats and water bottles, and prescribed ethical guidelines. When Friend did not live up to the brand's high standards, he apologised publicly and took steps to protect the brand, in 2012 stepping back from running it and appointing a CEO. Jain states that yoga is becoming "part of pop culture around the world". Alter writes that it illustrates "transnational transmutation and the blurring of consumerism, holistic health, and embodied mysticism—as well as good old-fashioned Orientalism." Singleton argues that the commodity is the yoga body itself, its "spiritual possibility" signified by the "lucent skin of the yoga model", a beautiful image endlessly sold back to the yoga-practising public "as an irresistible commodity of the holistic, perfectible self". In 2008, the

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

labelled September as National Yoga Month. From 2015, at the suggestion of India's Prime Minister,

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...

, an annual

International Day of Yoga The International Day of Yoga has been celebrated across the world annually on June 21 since 2015, following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014. Yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual practice which originated i ...

has been held on 21 June.

Transformation

The anthropologist Sarah Strauss contrasts the goal of classical yoga, the isolation of the self or ''

kaivalya Kaivalya ( sa, कैवल्य), is the ultimate goal of aṣṭāṅga yoga and means "solitude", "detachment" or "isolation", a '' vrddhi''-derivation from ''kevala'' "alone, isolated". It is the isolation of purusha from prakṛti, and libe ...

'', with the modern goals of good health, reduced stress, and physical flexibility. Sjoman notes that many of the asanas in Iyengar's ''Light on Yoga'' can be traced to his teacher, Krishnamacharya, "but not beyond him". Singleton states that yoga used as exercise is not "the outcome of a direct and unbroken lineage of haṭha yoga", but it would be "going too far to say that modern postural yoga has no relationship to asana practice within the Indian tradition." The contemporary yoga practice is the result of "radical innovation and experimentation" of its Indian heritage. Jain writes that equating yoga as exercise with hatha yoga "does not account for the historical sources": asanas "only became prominent in modern yoga in the early twentieth century as a result of the dialogical exchanges between Indian reformers and nationalists and Americans and Europeans interested in health and fitness". In short, Jain writes, "modern yoga systems ... bear little resemblance to the yoga systems that preceded them. This is because oth... are specific to their own social contexts." The historian

Jared Farmer Jared Farmer (born 1974) is the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. He specializes in environmental history, landscape studies, and the North American West. Biography Jared Farmer gained his BA from Utah ...

writes that twelve trends have characterised yoga's progression from the 1890s onwards: from peripheral to central in society; from India to global; from male to "predominantly" female; from spiritual to "mostly" secular; from sectarian to universal; from mendicant to

consumerist ''Consumerist'' (also known as ''The Consumerist'') was a non-profit consumer affairs website owned by Consumer Media LLC, a subsidiary of '' Consumer Reports'', with content created by a team of full-time reporters and editors. The site's foc ...

; from meditational to postural; from being understood intellectually to experientially; from embodying esoteric knowledge to being accessible to all; from being taught orally to hands-on instruction; from presenting poses in text to using photographs; and from being "contorted social pariahs" to "lithe social winners". The trend away from authority is continued in

post-lineage yoga Post-lineage yoga, also called non-lineage yoga, is a contemporary form of yoga practised outside any major school or guru's lineage. The term was introduced by the ethnographer and scholar-practitioner Theodora Wildcroft. She stated that with th ...

, which is practised outside any major school or

's lineage.

Practices

Asanas

Yoga as exercise consists largely but not exclusively of the practice of asanas. The numbers of asanas described (not just named) in some major Haṭha yoga and modern texts are shown in the table; all the Haṭha yoga text dates are approximate. Asanas can be classified in different ways, which may overlap: for example, by the position of the head and feet (

standing Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an ''erect'' ("orthostatic") position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the s ...

, sitting, reclining, inverted), by whether balancing is required, or by the effect on the spine (forward bend, backbend, twist), giving a set of asana types agreed by most authors. The yoga guru Dharma Mittra uses his own categories such as "Floor & Supine Poses". Yogapedia and ''

Yoga Journal ''Yoga Journal'' is a website and digital journal, formerly a print magazine, on yoga as exercise founded in California in 1975 with the goal of combining the essence of traditional yoga with scientific understanding. It has produced live events ...

'' add "Hip-opening"; the yoga teacher Darren Rhodes, Yogapedia and ''Yoga Journal'' also add "Core strength".

Styles

The number of schools and styles of yoga in the Western world has continued to grow rapidly. By 2012, there were at least 19 widespread styles from Ashtanga Yoga to

Viniyoga Tirumalai Krishnamacharya Venkata Desikachar (21 June 1938 – 8 August 2016), better known as T. K. V. Desikachar, was a yoga teacher, son of the pioneer of modern yoga as exercise, Tirumalai Krishnamacharya. The style that he taught was initi ...

. These emphasise different aspects including

aerobic exercise Aerobic exercise (also known as endurance activities, cardio or cardio-respiratory exercise) is physical exercise of low to high intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. "Aerobic" is defined as "relating to, inv ...

, precision in the asanas, and spirituality in the Haṭha yoga tradition. Hatha yoga in Japanese @ Semperviva (4440274580)

These aspects can be illustrated by schools with distinctive styles. For example,

has an aerobic exercise style with rooms heated to and a fixed pattern of 2 breathing exercises and 24 asanas. Iyengar Yoga emphasises correct alignment in the postures, working slowly, if necessary with props, and ending with relaxation. Sivananda Yoga focuses more on spiritual practice, with 12 basic poses, chanting in

, pranayama breathing exercises,

, and relaxation in each class, and importance is placed on

vegetarian diet Vegetarian diet may refer to: *Vegetarianism *Vegetarian cuisine *Plant-based diet (i.e., not necessarily stemming from vegetarian beliefs) *Veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet ...

Jivamukti Yoga The Jivamukti Yoga method is a proprietary style of yoga created by David Life and Sharon Gannon in 1984. Jivamukti is a physical, ethical, and spiritual practice, combining a vigorous yoga as exercise, vinyasa-based physical style with adherence ...

uses a flowing vinyasa style of asanas accompanied by music, chanting, and the reading of scriptures. Kundalini yoga emphasises the awakening of

kundalini In Hinduism, Kundalini ( sa, कुण्डलिनी, translit=kuṇḍalinī, translit-std=IAST, lit=coiled snake, ) is a form of divine feminine energy (or ''Shakti'') believed to be located at the base of the spine, in the ''muladhara'' ...

energy through meditation, pranayama, chanting, and suitable asanas. Alongside the yoga brands, many teachers, for example in England, offer an unbranded "hatha yoga", often mainly to women, creating their own combinations of poses. These may be in flowing sequences ( vinyasas), and new variants of poses are often created. The gender imbalance has sometimes been marked; in Britain in the 1970s, women formed between 70 and 90 percent of most yoga classes, as well as most of the yoga teachers. The tradition begun by Krishnamacharya survives at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

; his son T. K. V. Desikachar and his grandson Kausthub Desikachar continued to teach in small groups, coordinating asana movements with the breath, and personalising the teaching according to the needs of individual students.

Sessions

Yoga sessions vary widely depending on the school and style, and according to how advanced the class is. As with any exercise class, sessions usually start slowly with gentle

warm-up 'Warming up' is a part of stretching and preparation for physical exertion or a performance by exercising or practicing gently beforehand, usually undertaken before a performance or practice. Athletes, singers, actors and others warm up before s ...

exercises, move on to more vigorous exercises, and slow down again towards the end. A beginners' class can begin with simple poses like Sukhasana, some rounds of Surya Namaskar, and then a combination of standing poses such as Trikonasana, sitting poses like Dandasana, and balancing poses like Navasana; it may end with some reclining and inverted poses like

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana Setu Bandha Sarvāṅgāsana (Sanskrit: सेतु बन्ध सर्वाङ्गासन), Shoulder supported bridge or simply Bridge, also called Setu Bandhāsana, is an inverted back-bending asana in hatha yoga and modern yoga as ex ...

and

Viparita Karani Viparita Karani ( sa, विपरीतकरणी; ) or legs up the wall pose is both an asana and a mudra in hatha yoga. In modern yoga as exercise, it is commonly a fully supported pose using a wall and sometimes a pile of blankets, wher ...

, a reclining twist, and finally

Savasana Shavasana ( sa, शवासन; IAST: ''śavāsana''), Corpse Pose, or Mritasana, is an asana in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise, often used for relaxation at the end of a session. It is the usual pose for the practice of yoga nidra med ...

for relaxation and in some styles also for a guided meditation. A typical session in most styles lasts from an hour to an hour and a half, whereas in

yoga, the class is scheduled in a three-hour time window during which the students practice on their own at their own speed, following individualised instruction by the teacher.

Hybrids

The evolution of yoga as exercise is not confined to the creation of new asanas and linking vinyasa sequences. A wide variety of hybrid activities combining yoga with martial arts,

aerial yoga Aerial yoga is a hybrid type of yoga developed by Michelle Dortignac in 2006 combining traditional yoga poses, pilates, and dance with the use of a hammock. History Aerial yoga was developed by Michelle Dortignac in 2006, using a combinatio ...

combined with acrobatics, yoga with

barre Barre or Barré may refer to: * Barre (name) or Barré, a surname and given name Places United States * Barre, Massachusetts, a New England town ** Barre (CDP), Massachusetts, the central village in the town * Barre, New York, a town * Barre (ci ...

work (as in

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

preparation), on

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

back, with dogs, with goats, with ring-tailed lemurs, with weights, and on paddleboards are all being explored.

Purposes

Exercise

The energy cost of exercise is measured in units of metabolic equivalent of task (MET). Less than 3 METs counts as light exercise; 3 to 6 METs is moderate; 6 or over is vigorous.

American College of Sports Medicine The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a sports medicine and exercise science membership organization. Founded in 1954, ACSM holds conferences, publishes books and journals, and offers certifi ...

and American Heart Association guidelines count periods of at least 10 minutes of moderate MET level activity towards their recommended daily amounts of exercise. The review examined 17 studies, of which 10 measured the energy cost of yoga sessions. For healthy adults aged 18 to 65, the guidelines recommend moderate exercise for 30 minutes five days a week, or vigorous

for 20 minutes three days a week. Treated as a form of exercise, a complete yoga session with asanas and pranayama provides 3.3 ± 1.6 METs, on average a moderate workout. Surya Namaskar ranged from a light 2.9 to a vigorous 7.4 METs; the average for a session of yoga practice without Surya Namaskar was a light 2.9 ± 0.8 METs.

Physical or Hindu

Since the mid-20th century, yoga has been used, especially in the Western world, as physical exercise for fitness and suppleness, rather than for what the historian of American yoga,

, calls any "overtly Hindu" purpose. In 2010, this ambiguity triggered what the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called "a surprisingly fierce debate in the gentle world of yoga". Some saffronising Indian-Americans campaigned to "Take Back Yoga" by informing Americans and other Westerners about the connection between yoga and Hinduism. The campaign was criticised by the

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

author Deepak Chopra, but supported by the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,

R. Albert Mohler Jr. Richard Albert Mohler Jr. (born October 19, 1959) is an American evangelical theologian, the ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and host of the podcast ''The Briefing'', where he daily analyze ...

Jain notes that yoga is not necessarily Hindu, as it can also be

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

; nor is it homogeneous or static, so she is critical of both what she calls the "Christian yogaphobic position" and the "Hindu origins position". Farmer writes that Syman identifies a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

streak in yoga as exercise, "with its emphasis on working the body. This effortful yoga is, she says, paradoxical, both 'an indulgence and a penance'." Yoga in Malaysia (cropped)

Authorities differ on whether yoga is purely exercise. For example, in 2012, New York state decided that yoga was exempt from

state sales tax Sales taxes in the United States are taxes placed on the sale or lease of goods and services in the United States. Sales tax is governed at the state level and no national general sales tax exists. 45 states, the District of Columbia, the te ...

as it did not constitute "true exercise", whereas in 2014 the District of Columbia was clear that yoga premises were subject to the local sales tax on premises "the purpose of which is physical exercise". Similar debates have taken place in a Muslim context; for example, restrictions on yoga have been lifted in Saudi Arabia. In Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur permits yoga classes provided they do not include chanting or meditation. The yoga teacher and author

Mira Mehta ''Yoga the Iyengar Way'' is a 1990 guide to Iyengar Yoga, a style of modern yoga as exercise, by the yoga teachers Silva Mehta and her children Mira Mehta and Shyam Mehta. They were among the first teachers to be trained by B. K. S. Iyengar outs ...

, asked by ''Yoga Magazine'' in 2010 whether she preferred her pupils to commit to a spiritual path before they start yoga, replied "Certainly not. A person's spiritual life is his or her own affair. People come to yoga for all sorts of reasons. High on the list is health and the desire to become de-stressed." Kimberley J. Pingatore, studying attitudes among American yoga practitioners, found that they did not view the categories of religious, spiritual, and secular as alternatives. However, Haṭha yoga's "ecstatic ... transcendent ... possibly subversive" elements remain in yoga used as exercise.The yoga teacher and author

Jessamyn Stanley Jessamyn Stanley is a yoga teacher and body positivity advocate and writer. She gained recognition through her Instagram posts showing her doing yoga as a "plus-size woman of color," who self-identifies as a "fat femme" and "queer femme." She is ...

writes that modern Western society "does not respect the

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...

or spiritual at all", making people skeptical about any alignment of yoga as practised in the West with " chakras or spirituality". Stanley states that it is possible to start a practice without considering such matters, and that styles such as Bikram do not mention them, but that a deepening yoga practice will bring "an overall evolution of the self". Syman suggests that part of the attraction of Bikram and Ashtanga Yoga was that under the sweat, the commitment, the schedule, the physical demands and even the verbal abuse was a hard-won ecstasy, "a deep feeling of vitality, a feeling of pure energy, an unbowed posture, and mental acuity". That context has led to a division of opinion among

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

, some like Alexandra Davis of the

Evangelical Alliance The Evangelical Alliance (EA) is a national evangelical alliance, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. Founded in 1846, the activities of the Evangelical Alliance aim to promote evangelical Christian beliefs in government, media and socie ...

asserting that it is acceptable as long as they are aware of modern yoga's origins, others like Paul Gosbee stating that yoga's purpose is to "open up chakras" and release

or "serpent power" which in Gosbee's view is "from Satan", making "Christian yoga ... a contradiction". Church halls are sometimes used for yoga, and in 2015 a yoga group was banned from a church hall in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

by the local parochial church council, stating that yoga represented "alternative spiritualities". In a secular context, the journalists Nell Frizzell and

Reni Eddo-Lodge Reni Eddo-Lodge (born 25 September 1989) is a British journalist and author, whose writing primarily focuses on feminism and exposing structural racism. She has written for a range of publications, including ''The New York Times'', ''The Guar ...

have debated (in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'') whether Western yoga classes represent " cultural appropriation". In Frizzell's view, yoga has become a new entity, a long way from the ''Yoga Sutras'' of Patanjali, and while some practitioners are culturally insensitive, others treat it with more respect. Eddo-Lodge agrees that Western yoga is far from Patanjali, but argues that the changes cannot be undone, whether people use it "as a holier-than-thou tool, as a tactic to balance out excessive drug use, or practised similarly to its origins with the spirituality that comes with it". Jain argues however that charges of appropriation "from 'the East' to 'the West'" fail to take account of the fact that yoga is evolving in a shared multinational process; it is not something that is being stolen from one place by another.

Health

Yoga as exercise has been popularized in the Western world by claims about its health benefits. The history of such claims was reviewed by William J. Broad in his 2012 book ''The Science of Yoga''; he states that the claims that yoga was scientific began as Hindu nationalist posturing. Among the early exponents was

, who attempted to demonstrate scientifically in his purpose-built 1924 laboratory at Kaivalyadhama that Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) specifically rehabilitated the

endocrine gland Endocrine glands are ductless glands of the endocrine system that secrete their products, hormones, directly into the blood. The major glands of the endocrine system include the pineal gland, pituitary gland, pancreas, ovaries, testes, ...

s (the organs that secrete

hormone A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are require ...

s). He found no evidence to support such a claim, for this or any other asana. The impact of yoga as exercise on physical and mental health has been a topic of systematic studies (evaluating primary research), although a 2014 report found that, despite its common practice and possible health benefits, it remained "extremely understudied". A systematic review of six studies found that Iyengar yoga is effective at least in the short term for both neck pain and low back pain. A review of six studies found benefits for depression, but noted that the studies' methods imposed limitations, while a clinical practice guideline from the American Cancer Society stated that yoga may reduce anxiety and stress in people with cancer. A 2015 systematic review called for more rigour in clinical trials of the effect of yoga on mood and measures of stress. The practice of asanas has been claimed to improve flexibility, strength, and balance; to alleviate stress and anxiety, and to reduce the symptoms of

lower back pain Low back pain (LBP) or lumbago is a common disorder involving the muscles, nerves, and bones of the back, in between the lower edge of the ribs and the lower fold of the buttocks. Pain can vary from a dull constant ache to a sudden sharp feel ...

. A review of five studies noted that three psychological (

positive affect Positive affectivity (PA) is a human characteristic that describes how much people experience positive affects (sensations, emotions, sentiments); and as a consequence how they interact with others and with their surroundings. People with high po ...

, mindfulness,

self-compassion Self-compassion is extending compassion to one's self in instances of perceived inadequacy, failure, or general suffering. Kristin Neff has defined self-compassion as being composed of three main elements – self-kindness, common humanity, and min ...

) and four biological mechanisms (posterior

hypothalamus The hypothalamus () is a part of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland. The hypothalamu ...

interleukin-6 Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is an interleukin that acts as both a pro-inflammatory cytokine and an anti-inflammatory myokine. In humans, it is encoded by the ''IL6'' gene. In addition, osteoblasts secrete IL-6 to stimulate osteoclast formation. Smoo ...

C-reactive protein C-reactive protein (CRP) is an annular (ring-shaped) pentameric protein found in blood plasma, whose circulating concentrations rise in response to inflammation. It is an acute-phase protein of hepatic origin that increases following interleukin- ...

and cortisol) that might act on stress had been examined empirically, whereas many other potential mechanisms remained to be studied; four of the mechanisms (positive affect, self-compassion, inhibition of the posterior hypothalamus and salivary cortisol) were found to mediate the potential stress-lowering effects of yoga. A 2017 review found moderate-quality evidence that yoga reduces back pain. For people with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, yoga may help relieve fatigue, improve psychological outcomes, and support sleep quality and life attitudes, although results vary from reviews published in 2017. A 2015 systematic review noted that yoga may be effective in alleviating symptoms of prenatal depression. There is evidence that practice of asanas improves birth outcomes and physical health and quality of life measures in the elderly, and reduces hypertension.

Secular religion

A yoga namaste Hindu culture religion rites rituals sights

From its origins in the 1920s, yoga used as exercise has had a "spiritual" aspect which is not necessarily neo-Hindu; its assimilation with

Harmonial Gymnastics Genevieve Stebbins (March 7, 1857 – September 21, 1934) was an American author, teacher of her system of Harmonic Gymnastics and performer of the Delsarte system of expression. She published four books and was the founder of the New York Schoo ...

is an example. Jain calls yoga as exercise "a sacred fitness regimen set apart from day-to-day life." The yoga therapist Ann Swanson writes that "scientific principles and evidence have demystified oga, but... surprisingly, this made my transformative experiences feel even more magical." Yoga practice sessions have, notes yoga scholar

Elizabeth De Michelis Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

, a highly specific three-part structure that matches

Arnold van Gennep Arnold van Gennep, in full Charles-Arnold Kurr van Gennep (23 April 1873 – 7 May 1957) was a Dutch–German-French ethnographer and folklorist. Biography He was born in Ludwigsburg, in the Kingdom of Württemberg (since 1871, part of the G ...

's 1908 definition of the basic structure of a

ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...

: 1. a separation phase (detaching from the world outside); 2. a transition or liminal state; and 3. an incorporation or postliminal state. Savasana artistic

For the separation phase, the yoga session begins by going into a neutral and if possible a secluded practice hall; worries, responsibilities, ego and shoes are all left outside; and the yoga teacher is treated with deference. The actual yoga practice forms the transition state, combining practical instructions with theory, made more or less explicit. The practitioner learns "to feel and to perceive in novel ways, most of all inwardly"; to "become silent and receptive" to help to get away from the "ego-dominated rationality of modern Western life". The final relaxation forms the incorporation phase; the practitioner relaxes in

, just as dictated by the ''Hatha Yoga Pradipika'' 1.32. The posture offers "an exercise in sense withdrawal and mental quietening, and thus ... a first step towards meditative practice", a cleansing and healing process, and even a symbolic death and moment of self-renewal. Iyengar writes that savasana puts the practitioner in "that precise state

here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Technologies, Here Television * Here TV (form ...

the body, the breath, the mind and the brain move toward the real self (''Atma'')" so as to merge into the Infinite, thus explaining the modern yoga healing ritual in terms of the Hindu

Vishishtadvaita Vishishtadvaita ( IAST '; sa, विशिष्टाद्वैत) is one of the most popular schools of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy. Vedanta literally means the in depth meaning ''of the Vedas.'' ''Vishisht Advaita'' (literal ...

: an explanation that, De Michelis notes, practitioners are free to follow if they wish. The yoga scholar Elliott Goldberg notes that some practitioners of yoga as exercise "inhabit their body as a means of accessing the spiritual... they use their ''asana'' practice as a vehicle for transcendence." He cites yoga teacher

Vanda Scaravelli Vanda Scaravelli (1908 - 1999) is known for her contribution to the practice of yoga in the West. She learnt yoga as an early student of two of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya's pupils, B. K. S. Iyengar who taught her the asanas, and T. K. V. Desikac ...

's 1991 ''Awakening the Spine'' as an instance of such transcendence: "We learn to elongate and extend, rather than to pull and push... nd soan unexpected opening follows, an opening from within us, giving life to the spine, as though the body had to reverse and awaken into another dimension." In mindful yoga, the practice of asanas is combined with pranayama and meditation, using the breath and sometimes Buddhist

Vipassana ''Samatha'' (Pāli; sa, शमथ ''śamatha''; ), "calm," "serenity," "tranquillity of awareness," and ''vipassanā'' (Pāli; Sanskrit ''vipaśyanā''), literally "special, super (''vi-''), seeing (''-passanā'')", are two qualities of the ...

meditation techniques to bring the attention to the body and the emotions, thus quietening the mind.

Competition

The idea of competitive yoga has been called an oxymoron by some people in the yoga community, such as the yoga teacher Maja Sidebaeck, but the fiercely contested Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup, founded by Bikram Choudhury in 2003, is now held annually in Los Angeles.

Business

By the 21st century, yoga as exercise had become a flourishing business, professionally marketed; a 2016

Ipsos Ipsos Group S.A. () (an acronym of ) is a multinational market research and consulting firm with headquarters in Paris, France. The company was founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot, Chairman of the company, and has been publicly traded on the P ...

study reported that 36.7 million Americans practise yoga, making the business of classes, clothing and equipment worth $16 billion in America, compared to $10 billion in 2012, and $80 billion worldwide. 72 percent of practitioners were women. By 2010, ''

'', founded in 1975, had some 350,000 subscribers and over 1,300,000 readers.

Clothing and equipment

Fashion has entered the world of yoga, with brands such as

Lorna Jane Lorna Jane is an athletic apparel retailer with headquarters in Brisbane, Australia and regional offices in the US, Singapore, China, and New Zealand. It was founded in 1990 by Lorna Jane Clarkson and her husband Bill Clarkson. The women’s a ...

and

Lululemon lululemon athletica inc. (; styled in all lowercase) is a Canadian multinational athletic apparel retailer headquartered in British Columbia and incorporated in Delaware, United States. It was founded in 1998 as a retailer of yoga pants and ot ...

offering their own ranges of women's yoga clothing. Sales of goods such as yoga mats are increasing rapidly; sales are projected to rise to $14 billion by 2020 in North America, where the key vendors in 2016 were Barefoot Yoga,

Gaiam Gaia, Inc., formerly Gaiam, is an American alternative media video streaming service and online community focusing on fringe-science and yoga. Founded by Jirka Rysavy in 1988, its brands include Gaiam TV; the latter's name was changed to Gaia ...

, Jade Yoga, and Manduka, according to Technavio. Sales of

athleisure Athleisure is a hybrid style of athletic clothing typically worn as everyday wear. Athleisure outfits can include yoga pants, tights, sneakers, leggings and shorts that look like athletic wear, characterized as "fashionable, dressed-up sweats a ...

clothing such as

were worth $35 billion in 2014, forming 17% of American clothing sales. A wide variety of instructional videos are available, some free, for yoga practice at beginner and advanced levels; by 2018, over 6,000 commercially produced titles were on sale. Over 1,000 books have been published on yoga poses. Yoga has reached high fashion, too: in 2011, the

fashion house Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and place. "A fashion designer create ...

Gucci Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragran ...

, noting the "halo of chic" around yoga-practising celebrities such as Madonna and Sting, produced a yoga mat costing $850 and a matching carry case in leather for $350. In India, participants typically wear loose-fitting clothes for yoga classes, while serious practitioners in yoga ashrams practice an arduous combination of exercise, meditation, selfless service, vegetarian diet and celibacy, making yoga a way of life.

Holidays and training

Yoga holidays (vacations) are offered in "idyllic" places around the world, including in Croatia, England, France, Greece, Iceland, Indonesia, India, Italy, Montenegro, Morocco, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Turkey; in 2018, prices were up to £1,295 (about $1,500) for 6 days.

Teacher training Teacher education or teacher training refers to programs, policies, procedures, and provision designed to equip (prospective) teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, approaches, methodologies and skills they require to perform their t ...

, as of 2017, could cost between $2,000 and $5,000. It can take up to 3 years to obtain a teaching certificate. Yoga training courses, as of 2017, were still unregulated in the UK; the

British Wheel of Yoga The British Wheel of Yoga was set up in 1965 by Wilfred Clark as a co-ordinating body for yoga groups throughout Britain that welcomed all schools of thought. It provides level 4 yoga teacher training leading to the Certificate in Yoga Teaching an ...

has been appointed the activity's official governing body by

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded par ...

, but it lacks power to compel training organisations, and many people are taking short unaccredited courses rather than one of the nine so far accredited. Bikram Yoga - with Bikram Choudhury - Flickr - tiarescott

Bikram Yoga - with Bikram Choudhury - Flickr - tiarescott

Copyright claims

has become a global brand, and its founder, Bikram Choudhury, spent some ten years from 2002 attempting to establish

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

on the sequence of 26 postures used in Bikram Yoga, with some initial success. However, in 2012, the American federal court ruled that Bikram Yoga could not be copyrighted. In 2015, after further legal action, the American court of appeals ruled that the yoga sequence and breathing exercises were not eligible for copyright protection.

In culture

Literature

Yoga has found its way into types of literature as varied as autobiography,

chick lit Chick lit is a term used to describe a type of popular fiction targeted at younger women. Widely used in the 1990s and 2000s, the term has fallen out of fashion with publishers while writers and critics have rejected its inherent sexism. Novels id ...

, and documentary. The actress

Mariel Hemingway Mariel Hadley Hemingway (born November 22, 1961) is an American actress. She began acting at age 14 with a Golden Globe-nominated breakout role in ''Lipstick'' (1976), and she received Academy and BAFTA Award nominations for her performance in W ...

's 2002 autobiography ''Finding My Balance: A Memoir with Yoga'' describes how she used yoga to recover balance in her life after a dysfunctional upbringing: among other things, her grandfather, the novelist

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

, killed himself shortly before she was born. Each chapter is titled after an asana, the first being "Mountain Pose, or

Tadasana Tadasana ( sa , ताड़ासन, translit=Tāḍāsana), Mountain pose or Samasthiti ( sa, समस्थिति; IAST: ''samasthitiḥ'') is a standing asana in modern yoga as exercise; it is not described in medieval hatha yoga te ...

", the posture of standing in balance. The teacher of yoga and mindful meditation Anne Cushman's 2009 novel ''Enlightenment for Idiots'' tells the story of a woman nearing the age of thirty whose life as a nanny and yogini hopeful isn't working out as expected, and is sure that a visit to the ashrams of India will sort out her life. Instead, she finds that nothing in India is quite what it seems on the surface. The ''Yoga Journal'' review notes that underneath the chick lit "fun romp", the book is a serious "call to enlightenment and an introduction to yoga philosophy". Kate Churchill's 2009 film ''Enlighten Up!'' follows an unemployed journalist for six months as, on the filmmaker's invitation, he travels the globe – New York, Boulder, California, Hawaii, India – to practise under yoga masters including Jois, Norman Allen, and Iyengar. The critic Roger Ebert found it interesting and peaceful, if "not terribly eventful, but I suppose we wouldn't want a yoga thriller". He commented: "I'm glad I saw it. I enjoyed all the people I met during Nick's six-month quest. Most seemed cheerful and outgoing, and exuded good health. They smiled a lot. They weren't creepy true believers obsessed with converting everyone."

Research

Yoga is becoming a subject of academic inquiry; many of the researchers are "

scholar practitioner Participant observation is one type of data collection method by practitioner-scholars typically used in qualitative research and ethnography. This type of methodology is employed in many disciplines, particularly anthropology (incl. cultural an ...

s" who do yoga themselves.

Medknow Medknow Publications also known as Wolters Kluwer Medknow or simply Medknow, is a publisher of academic journals on behalf of learned societies and associations. Previously an independent Indian publisher, Medknow is now part of within Wolters ...

(part of

Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer N.V. () is a Dutch information services company. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands (Global) and Philadelphia, United States (corporate). Wolters Kluwer in its current form was founded in 1987 with a m ...

), with Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana university, publishes the peer-reviewed open access medical journal ''International Journal of Yoga''. An increasing number of papers are being published on the possible medical benefits of yoga, such as on stress and low back pain. The

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury a ...

in London has created a Centre of Yoga Studies; it hosted the five-year Hatha Yoga Project which traced the history of physical yoga, and it teaches a master's degree in yoga and meditation. Academics have given yoga as exercise a variety of names, including "modern postural yoga" reflecting its emphasis on asanas (postures) and "transnational anglophone yoga" denoting its growth in the English-speaking world, especially America.

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

Modern Yoga Research
website, managed by the scholars

, and Mark Singleton
What's behind the five popular yoga poses loved by the world?
– a

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

''Seriously...'' program and web page by Mukti Jain Campion {{Yoga scholars Yoga Physical exercise