Yoga As Exercise or Alternative Medicine - Background and Overview

Background and Overview

Yoga came to the attention of an educated western public in the mid 19th century along with other topics of Hindu philosophy. New schools of yoga were introduced in the context of Hindu revivalism towards the end of the 19th century. The first Hindu teacher to actively advocate and disseminate aspects of yoga to a western audience was Swami Vivekananda, who toured Europe and the United States in the 1890s.

The physical asana of hatha yoga have a tradition that goes back to the 15th century, but they were not widely practiced in India prior to the early 20th century. Hatha yoga was advocated by a number of late 19th to early 20th century gurus in India, including Sri Krishnamacharya in south India, Swami Sivananda in the north, Sri Yogendra in Bombay, and Swami Kuvalyananda in Lonavala.

In the 1960s, western interest in Hindu spirituality reached its peak, giving rise to a great number of Neo-Hindu schools specifically advocated to a western public. Among the teachers of hatha yoga who were active in the west in this period were B.K.S. Iyengar, K. Pattabhi Jois, Swami Vishnu-devananda, and Swami Satchidananda. A second "yoga boom" followed in the 1980s, as Dean Ornish, a follower of Swami Satchidananda, connected yoga to heart health, legitimizing yoga as a purely physical system of health exercises outside of counter culture or esotericism circles, and unconnected to a religious denomination.

Since then, yoga has been used as supplementary therapy for diverse conditions such as cancer, diabetes, asthma, and AIDS. The scope of medical issues where yoga is used as a complementary therapy continues to grow.

There are many different styles and disciplines and people practice yoga for a variety of reasons. One of the main goals of yoga is to improve overall well-being through teaching discipline and self-regulation. Recently, research has focused on the healing properties of yoga and how it relates to positive psychology. Researchers wonder what psychological advantages it can afford, in addition to the previously discovered physical benefits. Yoga has proven to offer different and multiple benefits for individuals ranging from consciousness of one's body and its capabilities, satisfaction from challenging oneself physically, and increased energy and mental clarity and concentration. While the topic is still somewhat new and some research is still preliminary, results have shown significant improvements in both physical and mental health among a variety of subjects in various circumstances.

The practice of yoga traditionally includes both meditation and exercise, but in the West the focus is mainly on exercise. The more classical approaches, such as Iyengar Yoga, move at a more deliberate pace, emphasize proper alignment and execution and hold asanas for a longer time. They aim to gradually improve flexibility, balance, and strength. Other approaches, such as Ashtanga or Power Yoga, shift between asanas quickly and energetically. More recently, contemporary approaches to yoga have developed, inviting students to become their own authority in yoga practice by offering principle-based approaches to yoga that can be applied to any form.

Nearly all types of yoga practices include asanas, pranayama (breathing exercises), and savasanas (relaxation techniques).