Yoga (/ˈjoʊɡə/;^[1] Sanskrit: योग; pronunciation) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. Yoga is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophical traditions.^{[2] [3]} There is a broad variety of yoga schools, practices, and goals^[4] in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.^[5][6][7] The term “yoga” in the Western world often denotes Hatha yoga, a physical practice of postures called asanas.

The origins of yoga have been speculated to date back to pre-Vedic Indian traditions; it is mentioned in the Rigveda,³ but most likely developed around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE,^[9] in ancient India’s ascetic and śramaṇa movements.^[10]4 The chronology of earliest texts describing yoga-practices is unclear, varyingly credited to Upanishads.^[11] The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali date from the first half of the 1st millennium CE,^[12][13] but only gained prominence in the West in the 20th century.^[14] Hatha yoga texts emerged around the 11th century with origins in tantra.^[15][16]

Yoga gurus from India later introduced yoga to the West,^[17] following the success of Swami Vivekananda in the late 19th and early 20th century.^[17] In the 1980s, yoga became popular as a system of physical exercise across the Western world.^[16] Yoga in Indian traditions, however, is more than physical exercise; it has a meditative and spiritual core.^[18] One of the six major orthodox schools of Hinduism is also called Yoga, which has its own epistemology and metaphysics, and is closely related to Hindu Samkhya philosophy.^[19]

Many studies have tried to determine the effectiveness of yoga as a complementary intervention for cancer, schizophrenia, asthma, and heart disease.^[20][21] The results of these studies have been mixed and inconclusive.^[20][21] On December 1, 2016, yoga was listed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage.^[22]