Yoga is a Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part of which, including breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures, is widely practiced for health and relaxation. In VEDIC Sanskrit, yoga means "to add", "to join", "to unite", or "to attach" in its most common literal sense. It also could take on meanings such as connection, contact or union. There is a broad variety of schools, practices and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, particularly Vajrayana Buddhism and Jainism. The best-known are Hatha yoga and Rāja yoga.

Origin

The origins of yoga have been speculated to date back to pre-Vedic Indian traditions, but most likely developed around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, in ancient India's ascetic and śramaṇa movements.

Although Yoga is said to be as old as civilization, there is no physical evidence to support this claim. Earliest archaeological evidence of Yoga's existence could be FOUND in STONE seals which depict figures of Yoga Poses.

For a better DISCUSSION of the history of Yoga, we could divide it into four periods:

Vedic PERIOD,

Pre-Classical Period,

Classical Period, and

Post-Classical Period.