The History of Yoga with Stretching

A lot of times meditation is often connected towards the end of a yoga practice, stressful times, specific flexibility in contortion poses and finally my mobility sessions. How did this exactly come into play?

Prominent history started as old as in the 1500 time period formally known as the Vedas. At first, yoga was mainly careful meditative breathing and there was almost no talk about posture. The word meditation itself comes from the Latin word meditatum which closely meant “to ponder”. Similarly, the definition of yoga comes from the word “yuj” meaning being in a state of consciousness individually. Scientifically, breathwork is always a part of meditation. Think about it like the common “fight” or “flight” scenario. However, when you apply the specific breathing pattern this triggers the “rest and digest” system. This specific system revaluates our surroundings and signals that it’s safe to relax. Overall this even reduces stress hormone levels such as cortisol (regulates blood pressure, stress, immune system and other). You can see here that just meditating in general regularly helps to maintain a healthy lifestyle without having mental issues or just reducing the chances of having them. You can also connect this even more scientifically to the end of a yoga practice. Usually there’s a final meditation and really it’s not only relaxing your mind but also refueling those muscles that were activated during stretching.

Later, in the Classical Period this is when yoga finally added stretching. It was called the eight limbs of yoga. Honestly, you do not need a flexible body to do yoga. According to “blueosa”, the 8 limbs are:

1. “Yama – Moral discipline and restraint

2. Niyama – Positive duties or observances

3. Asana – Physical posture (only ONE of eight limbs!)

4. Pranayama – Breathing techniques

5. Pratyahara – Sense withdrawal

6. Dharana – Concentration

7. Dhyana – Meditation

8. Samadhi – Bliss and enlightenment.”

From seeing this, the Asana (stretching part) is barely using stretching as a part of yoga. 

Coming to the present now, the definition of “yoga” is now mostly altered. Now that yoga has been expanded from India and other parts of the world, the definition changed. Gyms have made it more of an intensive workout than a period of relaxation. Although this may be a downfall, recent teachers such as Richard Hittleman, Indra Devi and Swami Sivanada have all created profound yoga works and without them yoga wouldn’t necessarily be what it is today.

A lot of you must be wondering exactly why I put this as a mobility clinic article. Honestly, I think also focusing within your mind is just as important as doing the poses because that’s how they were done a long time ago. Equally combining mindfulness, flexibility, and yoga (now you know the true definition 🙂), this is what I may do in the future! Yoga itself contains so many attributes that are so amazing for this mobility clinic. Combining the importances of each topic, we can now understand that yoga is more than just self-intellectual curiosity. It is a solution to multiple types of self care and that true mind to body connection (also said in blueosa) that is often lost as other gym officials are putting into yoga as.

Thanks a lot for taking your time to read!

Works Cited

Blue. “Is Yoga Just Stretching? The Surprising History Explained.” Blue Osa Yoga Retreat + Spa, 23 Apr. 2018, https://www.blueosa.com/the-history-of-yoga/. Accessed 16 Apr. 2026.

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