Yoga[a] (UK: /ˈjəʊɡə/, US: /ˈjoʊɡə/;[1] Sanskrit: योग 'yoga' [joːɡɐ] ⓘ; lit. 'yoke' or 'union') is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain liberation (moksha),[2][3][4][b] as practiced in the Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist traditions.[5][6] Modern forms of yoga are practiced worldwide,[7] often mainly for exercise accompanied by other elements like relaxation.[8][9]

Yoga may have pre-Vedic origins,[c] but it is first attested in the early first millennium BCE. It developed as various traditions in the eastern Ganges basin and drew from a common body of practices, including Vedic elements.[10][11] Yoga-like practices are mentioned in the Rigveda[12] and some early Upanishads,[13][14][15][d] but systematic yoga concepts emerged during the fifth and sixth centuries BCE in ancient India's ascetic and Śramaṇa movements, including Jainism and Buddhism.[16] The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the classical text on Hindu yoga, samkhya-based but influenced by Buddhism, dates to the early centuries of the Common Era.[17][18][e] Hatha yoga texts began to emerge between the ninth and 11th centuries, originating in Tantra.[f]

Much of the yoga in the Western world is a modern syncretised form consisting largely of asanas, derived from hatha yoga and western physical culture;[9][19] this differs from traditional yoga, which focuses on meditation and release from worldly attachments.[20][8][21][a] It was introduced by gurus from India after the success of Swami Vivekananda's adaptation of yoga without asanas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[22] Vivekananda introduced the Yoga Sutras to the West, and they became prominent after the 20th-century success of hatha yoga.[23] In 1925, Yogananda started a Kriya Yoga centre in Los Angeles,[web 1] becoming one of the first yoga teachers in the United States.[web 2][web 3]

EtymologyOutdoor statueA statue of Patanjali, author of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, meditating in the lotus positionThe Sanskrit noun योग yoga is derived from the root yuj (युज्) to attach, join, harness, yoke.[24][25] According to Jones and Ryan, The word yoga is derived from the root yuj,to yoke, probably because the early practice concentrated on restraining oryoking inthe senses. Later the name was also seen as a metaphor forlinkingoryoking tothe divine.[25]

Buswell and Lopez translate yoga as 'bond', 'restraint', and by extensionspiritual discipline."[26] Flood refers to restraining the mind as yoking the mind.[27]

Yoga is a cognate of the English word yoke, since both are derived from an Indo-European root.[28] According to Mikel Burley, the first use of the root of the word yoga is in hymn 5.81.1 of the Rigveda, a dedication to the rising Sun-god, where it has been interpreted as yoke or control.[29][30][g]

Pāṇini (4th c. BCE) wrote that the term yoga can be derived from either of two roots: yujir yoga (to yoke) or yuj samādhau (to concentrate).[32] In the context of the Yoga Sutras, the root yuj samādhau (to concentrate) is considered the correct etymology by traditional commentators.[33] In accordance with Pāṇini, Vyasa (who wrote the first commentary on the Yoga Sutras)[34] says that yoga means samadhi (concentration).[35] Larson notes that in the Vyāsa Bhāsy the term samadhi refers to all levels of mental life (sārvabhauma), that is, all possible states of awareness, whether ordinary or extraordinary.[36]

A person who practices yoga, or follows the yoga philosophy with a high level of commitment, is called a yogi; a female yogi may also be known as a yogini.[web 4]