Yoga, dating back to over 5,000 years ago, is a form of a spiritual practice in India. But in the western countries it has grown popular as a form of purely physical exercise. The early writings on yoga were transcribed on fragile palm leaves that were easily damaged, destroyed or lost. Yoga's long rich history can be divided into four main periods of innovation, practice and development.

Vedas a collection of mantras and rituals are the oldest written records of Indian culture and yogic activities. It focuses on uniting the physical world with spiritual world. We have to have a high level of concentration to practice this successfully. This inner focus is the root of all yoga. Yoga was developed and refined by Brahmins and Rishis. They made the records of their practices and beliefs as UPANISHADS, a huge and the most central Yoga literature. The Upanishads took the idea of ritual sacrifice from the Vedas and internalized it, teaching the sacrifice of the ego through self-knowledge, action (karma yoga) and wisdom (jnana yoga). The most renowned of the Yogic scriptures is the Bhagavad-Gita.

Yoga was now slowly finding it's form. As Yoga and it's secret teachings spread from teacher to student, or from guru to yogi, the concept of an individual system of thought began to take shape.

The first systematic presentation of yoga, PATANJALI”S YOGA SUTRAS, describes the path of classical yoga. Patanjali organized yoga practice into an "eight limbed path" containing the steps and stages towards obtaining Samadhi or enlightenment. He consider every human being as the compilation of matter (prakriti) and soul. Yoga is to free the soul from the physical world to attain its pure form. Patanjali is often considered as the father of yoga and his Yoga-Sûtras still strongly influence most styles of modern yoga. Here Yoga is presented in a systematic and approachable way.

Centuries after Patanjali, created a system of practice intended to revitalize the body and thus a prolonged life. For them, the Vedas are old one and they accepted the physical infinity as a means to achieve enlightenment. They developed Tantra Yoga, with radical techniques to cleanse the body and mind to break the knots that bind us to our physical existence. It is usually referred to as post-classical Yoga and this paved the way for the creation of Hatha Yoga

It is based on five basic principles:

• Proper relaxation
• Proper exercise
• Proper breathing
• Proper diet
• Positive thinking and meditation