Yoga Origins

Swami Vivikeananda was a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western World.

On September 11 in 1893, Swami Vivekananda came to America to speak at the Parliament of World Religions at Chicago World's Fair. He was a monk from Calcutta and he made a brief presentation representing India and Hindusim. At his initial opening of "Sisters and brothers of America!", he was met with a 2-minute long standing ovation. According to Sailendra Nath Dhar, when silence was restored he began his address, greeting the youngest of the nations on behalf of "the most ancient order of monks in the world, the Vedic order of sannyasins, a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance".

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In the 1920's, Paramahansa Yogananda also travelled to America. He began the Self-Realization Fellowship and teachings of Kriya Yoga. From the mid-19th century forward, there was an influx of Indian spiritual teachers to the west.

Here is a brief, and not exhaustive, recounting:

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• 1956 - originally from the West, Swami Radha (student of Swami Sivananda Saraswati) returned to Canada and founded the Sivananda School of Yoga in Montreal, going on to establish Yasodhara Ashram in BC in 1963.
   

• 1959 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi came to the United States, teaching Transcendental Meditation, establishing centers in London and San Francisco. The same year, he began the International Meditation Society to propagate his teachings.
   

• 1960 - Amrit Desai, disciple of Kripalu, came to the US from India and began teaching yoga in Pennsylvania. In 1972 he established residential yoga center which changed its name to 'Kripalu Yoga Fellowship' in 1974.
   

• 1964 - Ashtanga Yoga (yoga as exercise) came to the west through students that had studied at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute (founded by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in 1948). Jois was a student (like Iyengar) of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya. The style is an energetic synchronization of breath with movement (it is the style that gave a spinoff to Power Yoga).
   

• 1968 - Yogi Bhajan introduced 'Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan' to the United States and established the 'Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization' (3HO) as a teaching organization.
   

• 1960's-70's - Neem Karoli Baba became the spiritual master of many westerners who travelled to India during this time, notably Ram Das (author of Be Here Now), Bhagavan Das, Krishna Das (musician who brought kirtan to mainstream America and the world) and Jai Uttal.
   

• 1972 - Swami Satchidananda founded Yogaville in Seigler Springs, California (Integral Yoga).
   

• 1976 - the first Iyengar Yoga Institute was founded in San Francisco by Mary Dunn, Judith Lasater and others; B.K.S. Iyengar began teaching individual students 'yoga as exercise' in 1952 in India and published 'Light on Yoga' in 1966.
   

• 1970's - Paulie Zink, a martial arts champion, introduced the practice of long-held postures incorporating principles of traditional Chinese medicine (Yin Yoga). He was sought out in the 1980's by Paul Grilley who began studying with him.
   

• 1997 - John Friend establishes Anusara School of Hatha Yoga, originally derived from Iyengar's style.
   

• 2007 - Judith Lasater, an early disciple of B.K.S. Iyengar, went on to create restorative yoga (long-held poses), based on Iyengar's postures and use of props, such as blankets, to support the body.