While the first mention of Yoga in Indian history dates back to over 5,000 years ago, the traditional practice has now evolved owing to cultural influences from the West. You must have heard of Ashtanga yoga, hot yoga and even dog yoga. Despite the variety of names, they all boil down to the same purpose: ensuring health benefits.
Let’s find out the science behind the practice and how it has been moderniSed.
What does research have to say about Yoga and your body?
Studies have proven that practising Yoga has a positive effect on cardiovascular risk factors. It helped lower blood pressure in people with hypertension (high blood pressure), as stated in a report by Harvard Health Publishing.
In fact, a study conducted by Yale showed that yoga can help people who suffer from depression and anxiety. The medical community has time and again relied on yoga exercises as a means to complement treatment and manage symptoms of diseases. While yoga on its own cannot cure people of diseases such as cancer and arthritis, it does help in improving their overall quality of life, as mentioned in the International Journal of Yoga.
How old is the tradition of Yoga in India?
While there is a lot of speculation about how old the practice is, the earliest mention of the word Yoga in the country has been recorded in the Rig Veda (collection of Indian hymns) and is thought to have been written around 1500-2000 BC. Yoga in this period and in the following centuries mainly focused on how the practice could benefit the mind. The integration of the practice into mainstream society mainly started in the 20th century with the rise of Western gymnastic styles.
How has it been popularised across the world?
The spread of yoga as an exercise in the West has often been credited to Swami Vivekananda who organised worldwide conferences and translated yogic texts from Sanskrit to English. As a result, the West opened its arms to yogis and swamis from India such as Indra Devi, B.K.S Iyengar, and Bikram Choudhury. Additionally, the rise of social media and other platforms such as yoga studios has allowed yogis and swamis to share their expertise on a wider scale than before.
Reports stated that yoga has turned into a multi-billion dollar industry, worth an estimated $80 billion dollars globally. In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too has constantly promoted yoga through campaigns such as the Fit India campaign. He has on multiple occasions become the face of yoga by practising asanas on Yoga days throughout his term. Interestingly, reports claim that the centre spent Rs 140 crore in the last five years to organise Yoga days.
How has popular culture played a role in popularising the practice?
The practice is not just limited to ancient texts and popular leaders. Famous celebrities from the Bollywood and Hollywood industry have time and again become brand ambassadors of yoga. In fact, Priyanka Chopra played a yoga ambassador in the Hollywood film Isn’t it Romantic?, Actress Bipasha Basu as well, released a series of solo fitness DVDs where she is seen practising yoga. She stated that the idea behind releasing the DVD is to make people more aware of yoga.