Yoga

Yoga (/ˈjoʊɡə/; Sanskrit: योग,  Sanskrit pronunciation (help·info)) are the physical, mental, andspiritual practices or disciplines that aim to transform body and mind. The term denotes a variety of schools, practices and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism (including Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhism) and Jainism, the best-known being Hatha yoga and Raja yoga. The term yoga is derived from the literal meaning of "yoking together" a span of horses or oxes, but came to be applied to the "yoking" of mind and body.

The origins of Yoga may date back to pre-vedic Indian traditions. The earliest accounts of yoga-practices are to be found in the Buddhist Nikayas. Parallel developments were recorded around 400 CE in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which combines pre–philosophical speculations and diverse ascetic practices of the first millennium BCE with Samkhya-philosophy. Hatha yogaemerged from tantra by the turn of the first millennium.

Gurus from India later introduced yoga to the west, following the success of Swami Vivekanandain the late 19th and early 20th century. In the 1980s, yoga became popular as a system of physical exercise across the Western world. This form of yoga is often called Hatha yoga.

Yoga physiology described humans as existing of three bodies and five sheets which cover the atmman, and energy flowing through energy channels and concentrated in chakras.

Many studies have tried to determine the effectiveness of yoga as a complementary intervention for cancer, schizophrenia, asthma, and heart disease.