7 Fun Facts You Might Not Know About Yoga

I have written about fun facts of yoga many times before, but today my friend and student got me thinking about some facts that are not so widely known.  She has been practicing yoga with me for almost 2 years and is one of my good friends now.  We were chatting after class about the yoga certification course because she is thinking about getting certified.  She really had done her research about yoga and made me dig in the back of memory to everything I have learned.


After I got home I thought it would be good to share the fun facts of yoga you probably haven’t heard of, so here you go.

1. There are 19 different types of yoga, hatha is the most common practice in the US.  Hatha focuses on breathing, postures, and meditation. 
2. Yoga has been around for 5,000 years but because it was passed on orally from generation to generation, many researchers believe it has been around for more than 10,000 years. 
3. There are 4 periods in the history of yoga.  Pre-classical, classical, post-classical, and modern yoga.  Throughout these periods traditions have been passed on and new types of yoga formed to better suit the times, but always keeping the traditions. 

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4. The yoga eight-fold path to a better life is described in The Yoga Sutra.  The yama, niyana, asana, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi, or Patanjali’s eight-fold path is described thoroughly in The Yoga Sutra
5. The language of yoga is Sanskrit, it is also the oldest literally language of India. 
6. A yoga practice will never be exacting the same.  Intensions, thoughts, feelings, auras, and your environment is constantly changing creating a new practice every time.
7. The number of yoga poses has always been disputed.  The Complete illustrated Book of Yoga describes and outlines 66 official poses and 136 different modifications and variations.  Over time many yogis have suggested the possibility of more poses and postures, with countless variations.

There are so many more fun facts that are so widely known, but I cant think of them right now.  Yoga has so much history and variation that it is constant journey of discovery, learning, and growing.

Yoga has endless opportunities for spiritual, mental, and physical growth.

Namaste.

Anita