No one knows exactly when yoga began, but it certainly predates written history. Stone carvings depicting figures in yoga positions have been found in archeological sites in the Indus Valley dating back 5,000 years or more.

The tradition of yoga has always been passed on individually from teacher to student through oral teaching and practical demonstration. The formal techniques that are now known as Yoga are, therefore, based on the collective experiences of many individuals over many thousands of years. The particular manner in which the techniques are taught and practiced today depends on the approach passed down in the line of teachers supporting the individual practitioner.

One of the earliest yoga texts was compiled by a scholar named Patanjali, who set down the most prevalent yoga theories and practices of his time in a book he called Yoga Sutras. The system that he wrote about is known as “Ashtanga Yoga,” or the Eight Limbs of Yoga, and this is what is generally referred to today as Classical Yoga. Most current students of yoga practice some variation of Patanjali’s system.

THE EIGHT OF LIMBS OF YOGA ARE:
1) Yamas, meaning your attitudes toward others and the world around you – refraining from violence, lying, stealing, casual sex, and hoarding.
2) Niyamas, meaning your attitudes towards yourself – observing  purity, contentment, tolerance, study, and remembrance.
3) Asanas, meaning the physical exercises
4) Pranayama, meaning control of the breath
5) Pratyahara, a preparation for meditation, this means that you turn your focus inward and you are no longer distracted by outside events.
6) Dharana, concentration, being able to hold the mind on one object for a specified time.
7) Dhyana, meditation, the ability to focus on one thing (or nothing) indefinitely.
8) Samadhi, is the ultimate goal of enlightenment. It is a state of peace and completion, awareness and compassion with detachment.