Who invented Yoga?

Source: Freepik

Have you ever taken a yoga class, felt great afterward, and then suddenly thought, “Wait… who actually came up with yoga?” It’s a good question, and not an easy one to answer.

Unlike something like the iPhone or lightbulb, yoga wasn’t “invented” by one person. It’s actually thousands of years old and has been passed down, changed, and adapted by many different people over time. It started in ancient India, long before Instagram or yoga pants were a thing, and it wasn’t even about stretching or poses at first!

The yoga most of us know today, lots of movement, poses, deep breathing, maybe a little music, is just one modern version of a very old practice. And the real story behind yoga is full of deep philosophy, spiritual teachings, and cultural history.

So if you’ve ever wondered why yoga feels so peaceful, or why some classes focus on stretching while others feel more like a meditation session, you're not alone. Yoga has gone through a big transformation, and once you learn its story, it might just change the way you see your own practice. Let’s dive in.

Early Origins: Indus‑Sarasvati civilization and upanishads

To understand where yoga began, we need to go way back, like 5,000 years ago back. The earliest signs of yoga come from the Indus-Sarasvati civilization in ancient India, one of the world’s oldest known cultures. Archaeologists have uncovered stone seals from this era that show figures sitting in what look like meditative poses. These little carvings might not seem like much, but they give us clues that yoga was already part of spiritual life even back then.

The first written mention of yoga appears in the Rig Veda, one of the oldest sacred texts in the world. The Vedas were collections of hymns, mantras, and rituals used by priests and sages. While yoga isn’t described the way we know it today, the ideas of unity, discipline, and connection to the divine were already there. At this stage, yoga was more about spiritual practice and mental focus than physical movement.

A few centuries later, the Upanishads took yoga deeper. These were philosophical texts that explored the nature of reality, the self, and the universe. The Upanishads introduced key concepts like karma (action), jnana (knowledge), and bhakti (devotion), all central to yogic thought. Instead of focusing on rituals, these writings encouraged people to look inward through meditation, breath control, and self-study. Yoga became a path to understanding the true self and breaking free from ego.

So, in its earliest form, yoga wasn’t about touching your toes or flowing through sun salutations. It was a powerful inner practice, meant to help people live with more awareness, purpose, and peace. This spiritual foundation still influences many yoga teachings today—even if it's sometimes hidden beneath layers of sweat and stretchy pants.

Sage Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and systematization of Yoga

Fast forward to around 200 BCE, and we meet one of the most important figures in yoga history: Sage Patanjali. He didn’t invent yoga, but he did something equally powerful, he organized it. Until then, yoga was a mix of spiritual ideas, practices, and philosophies passed down orally or scattered across different texts. Patanjali took all of that wisdom and shaped it into a clear, structured path in his famous work: the Yoga Sutras.

The Yoga Sutras is a collection of around 195 short statements (or sutras) written in Sanskrit. Don’t let the simplicity fool you, these lines pack a lot of meaning. Patanjali laid out the purpose of yoga as calming the fluctuations of the mind, and outlined an eight-step path, known as the Eight Limbs of Yoga, to help achieve this. These include ethical principles (yama and niyama), physical postures (asana), breath control (pranayama), and deeper practices like concentration, meditation, and ultimately, spiritual liberation (samadhi).

What made Patanjali’s work so important was its clarity. For the first time, yoga was presented as a practical, step-by-step system, not just a set of mystical teachings. His framework offered a way for anyone, regardless of background or belief, to work toward self-awareness and inner peace.

Even today, almost every modern yoga tradition, no matter how physical or philosophical, can trace its roots back to the Yoga Sutras. Patanjali is often called the “Father of Yoga” not because he started it, but because he gave it structure, direction, and staying power.

Source: Freepik

Modern Revival: Swami Vivekananda, Krishnamacharya, B.K.S. Iyengar

After centuries of quiet evolution, yoga entered a new chapter in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a period often called the modern yoga revival. This was when yoga began to shift from a deeply spiritual practice taught in private settings to something more accessible, visible, and eventually global.

One of the first people to bring yoga to the world stage was Swami Vivekananda. In 1893, he spoke at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago, where he introduced audiences to Indian philosophy, including ideas from yoga. But Vivekananda wasn’t teaching poses, his focus was on Raja Yoga, the mental and meditative aspects rooted in Patanjali’s teachings. His calm presence and powerful message helped plant the seed for yoga’s spiritual appeal in the West.

A few decades later in India, Tirumalai Krishnamacharya played a different but equally important role. Often called the "father of modern yoga," Krishnamacharya blended traditional yoga philosophy with a more physical, dynamic approach to movement. He believed yoga should be tailored to the individual, which was a major shift from the one-size-fits-all mindset. His teachings laid the groundwork for many of today’s popular styles, and he trained some of the most influential yoga teachers of the modern era.

One of those students was B.K.S. Iyengar, who helped bring yoga fully into the physical realm. His method, Iyengar Yoga, focused on precision, alignment, and the use of props to make postures safer and more accessible. His book, Light on Yoga, became a foundational guide for yoga practitioners around the world and is still widely read today. Iyengar's global reach helped turn yoga into a serious, respected discipline far beyond India.

At the same time, other students of Krishnamacharya, like Pattabhi Jois, who developed Ashtanga Yoga, and Indra Devi, one of the first women to teach yoga in the West, also played major roles in expanding yoga’s reach. By the mid-20th century, yoga had become not just a spiritual path but a worldwide movement, thanks to the efforts of these teachers.

This modern revival reimagined yoga for a changing world, bringing together breath, movement, and philosophy in ways that made it more approachable for everyday life. And that’s the version many of us know today: a practice that’s deeply rooted in tradition but always evolving.

How historical lineage shapes studio class offerings today

Walk into any modern yoga studio, and you’ll find a wide mix of class styles, Vinyasa, Hatha, Ashtanga, Yin, Power Yoga, and more. While they may seem different on the surface, many of these offerings are deeply rooted in yoga’s historical evolution.

Take Ashtanga and Power Yoga, for example, both stem from Pattabhi Jois, who emphasized a fast-paced, physically challenging sequence of poses. Classes that focus on precise alignment and use of props often follow the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar. If your studio offers Vinyasa Flow, it likely draws influence from the Ashtanga lineage but with more creative freedom in sequencing.

On the flip side, classes centered around breathwork, meditation, and self-reflection are deeply influenced by the Upanishads and Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, where the goal wasn’t flexibility but mental clarity and spiritual insight. And practices like Yin Yoga and Kundalini Yoga reflect other branches of yoga philosophy, each highlighting the balance of energy, intention, and stillness.

Today, many studios use platforms like Rezerv to offer this range of classes in a more streamlined and accessible way. With built-in website tools, flexible pricing options, and support for both in-person and online formats, Rezerv helps preserve the diversity of yoga’s heritage while making it easier for modern practitioners to explore it.

Conclusion

So, who invented yoga? The answer isn’t simple, and that’s what makes it so fascinating. Yoga didn’t come from one person or one moment. It grew slowly over thousands of years, shaped by ancient civilizations, spiritual seekers, and modern pioneers who all added something to the practice we know today.

From the quiet meditations of the Vedas and Upanishads, to Patanjali’s structured Yoga Sutras, to the physical styles introduced by Krishnamacharya and his students, yoga has constantly evolved to meet the needs of the time. What began as a path toward self-realization became, over centuries, a global practice that touches nearly every corner of the world.

Today’s studio classes may look very different from the yoga of ancient India, but that doesn’t mean they’ve lost their connection to the past. Many of the values—like awareness, discipline, and inner peace, still remain at the heart of the practice. Whether you’re on the mat to stretch your body or steady your mind, you're part of a tradition that spans generations.

And maybe that’s the most powerful thing about yoga, it continues to grow with us. It adapts, includes, and evolves, just like the people who practice it. So next time you step onto your mat, take a moment to remember: you’re not just doing a workout. You’re stepping into a living history.