Classical Period
Classical Yoga a.k.a. Astanga Yoga, Raja Yoga, Patanjali Yoga
500 – 200 BCE
While yoga is mentioned throughout many of the ancient Sanskrit texts, it wasn’t until the period around 500 – 200 BCE that the teachings of yoga were compiled into one major work. That work is called the Yoga Sutras and was reputed to be composed by the Sage Patanjali. Patanjali gathered all the information on yoga that had been previously written about in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita, as well as, practiced in the Samkhya and Vedanta schools of Hinduism. He identified yogic wisdom and systematized it into a classical format, effective for use in his own time period as well as today. Even though yoga had been practiced for thousands of years, the writing of the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali was a major milestone in history. Yoga became identified as one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy in its own right. This system is referred to by several names – Classical Yoga, Raja (royal) Yoga and Ashtanga (eight limbed) Yoga. It remains one of the major psycho-philosophical influences on our practice today.