This may come as a surprise to many people, but yes it's true.
Yoga actually has a pretty long history...
A very, very long history...
(This blog post is part of a series of blog posts from Dani's Yoga Series)
Yoga has its origins, in Ancient India, from more than 5000 years ago — to be more specific, the Indus Valley Civilization.
The Indus Valley Civilization is one of the oldest we know of today.
Not only was it probably the oldest civilization in the world, it was also very advanced for its time, and way larger than other old civilizations such as Ancient Egypt.
Because of its ancient lineage, Yoga still retains certain terms and names in its original language — the ancient Indian language known as Sanskrit.
The word "Yoga", in Sanskrit, means "to concentrate".
(You don't have to worry about Sanskrit, there's only just a few essential words you need to know, and they're not that hard to learn)
The practice of yoga had continued to develop throughout the past thousands of years, which gave rise to its different styles and forms — each with its own unique approach.
One of the most popular styles of yoga which you'll come across today is Hatha Yoga. You'll find it very simple, as it mainly consists of poses. This is what most yoga studios offer, and its very beginner-friendly.
Another popular style is Vinyasa Yoga. Its slightly more advanced because it includes poses, breathing techniques and meditation.
Generally, anyone familiar with the Hatha style can easily transition into Vinyasa Yoga. There are many health benefits from both styles of yoga (I will get into them in upcoming blog posts so be sure to subscribe).
But you don't really need to have prior experience to start.
In the next blog post, we'll take a closer look into the parts & pieces of yoga.
Image Credits:
Photo by Valeriy Ryasnyanskiy from Pexels Link To Image