Before studios, mats, and postures, yoga already existed. But in what form? I’m wondering how yoga was born and what problem it was originally trying to solve? > Likes and Comments

Before yoga became something we do with the body, it was something people lived.

I’m curious about its earliest roots. Was yoga born from meditation, observation of nature, inner inquiry, or something else entirely?

When you think about the origin of yoga, what comes to your mind first — a scripture, a yogi, a place, or a realization?

No right or wrong answers here. Just shared curiosity and perspectives.

Interesting question. My thought is it existed as a philosophy handed down as a way to be and shared through stories. Consider the 8 limbs as pillars. What do others think?

Kris wrote: "Interesting question. My thought is it existed as a philosophy handed down as a way to be and shared through stories. Consider the 8 limbs as pillars. What do others think?"

I like how you framed it — “a way to be” rather than something to do. That feels very close to how the earliest expressions of yoga appear.

The idea of the eight limbs as pillars is interesting because it suggests structure came later, as a way to preserve something already lived. Before codification, it seems yoga was less about practice sequences and more about sustained awareness — how one related to breath, perception, action, and inner stillness.

Stories, observation, and lived inquiry probably carried it forward long before texts tried to contain it.

I’m curious — do you see the eight limbs as a map created after the experience, or as something that actively shaped how people lived?