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Wikimedia Commons, via Wikipedia: Yoga

Sport & Martial Arts

Yoga

1st millennium BCE onwardAncient Indian sagesYoga Sutras of Patanjali; UpanishadsGujarat

1,000 BCE

A system of physical postures, breath control, and meditation for body and mind.

Dated: 1,000–1 BCE
As scholars put it: 1st millennium BCE onward
Originator: Ancient Indian sages
Source text: Yoga Sutras of Patanjali; Upanishads
Region: Gujarat
Discipline: Sport & Martial Arts
Evidence: Documented
Confidence: High
Verification: Reference-cited

Meanwhile in the West

Now a worldwide health and wellness practice.

Fair to say

Modern postural yoga differs substantially from most ancient practice; framed here as tradition, not medicine.

Path to modern innovation

One of India's most widespread cultural exports.

1,000 BCEYoga

2010TKDL documentation of yoga postures

Transmission

Spread globally in the 19th-20th c.

Primary sources

4Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali Swamijii, Internet ArchiveUnreviewed
5The yoga-system of Patañjali; or, The ancient Hindu doctrine of concentration of mind, embracing the mnemonic rules, called Yoga-sutras, of Patañjali, and the comment, called Yoga-bhashya Woods, James Haughton, 1864-1935; Vyasa, Internet Archive, 1914Unreviewed

References

1Patanjali's Yoga Sutras
2scholarship on yoga history

Further reading

3Wikipedia: Yoga

Corrections and additional sources: edit IND-123 on GitHub.