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It is unclear when yoga actually originated, but seals were discovered depicting a yoga posture during the excavation of some ruins in prehistoric India in an area that now lies in Pakistan. These ruins revealed a very advanced civilization dating to around 5000BC.

The earliest texts mentioning yoga were the Vedas, and these seem to have spanned about 2,000 years, from 3000–1200BC. These texts were followed by the Upanishads, written between 800 and 400BC. The word Upanishad literally describes a sitting where the master or guru instructs his pupils. This is how yoga has been passed on from generation to generation, over the years. The spirit of the Upanishads can be compared with that of the New Testament ‘The Kingdom of God is within you’.

‘Meditation is a truth higher than thought. The earth seems to rest in silent meditation; and the waters and the mountains and the sky and the heavens seem all to be in meditation. When a man achieves greatness on this earth, he has his reward according to his meditation.’

CHANDOYA UPANISHAD 7.6

The Bhagavad Gita, dating from about 500BC, tells of the struggle of the human soul, helping it to find God in all things and all things in God. It tells of a great battle for the rule of a Kingdom or the Kingdom of the soul, a battle between the forces of light and darkness. It shows that this is a battle that affects us all.

The Patanjalis Yoga Sutras, written between 200BC and 200AD, are a crucial yoga text. Patanjali wrote of a practical eight-part approach to yoga, frequently referred to as the Eight Limbs of Yoga.

‘Restraint, observance, posture, breath-control, sense withdrawal, concentration, meditative-absorption and enstasy are the eight members of yoga.

Non-harming, truthfulness, non-stealing, chastity and greedlessness are the restraints.’

PATANJALIS YOGA SUTRAS II, 29–30

These eight limbs were not regarded as a ladder to be climbed one rung at a time, but more the necessary ingredients in the recipe for life. The ancient yogis realized that life can be a difficult and complicated journey but its careful teachings and disciplines guide us along our path. They had a deep understanding of man’s nature and of the mind – body connection, and they devised this system to help us obtain happiness and peace of mind, as well as a perfectly toned healthy body.