Yoga Has A Rich History In The US

It might surprise many people to learn that yoga has ayoga to a Western audience used to focusing on the
long history in the United States. For a lot ofbody rather than the mind. Hittleman's goal was to
Americans, their knowledge of yoga may only dateteach American students to gradually embrace the
back to the 1960s, when the concepts of spiritualismspiritual side of yoga, which many people have.
and meditation were embraced by the country'sAs Hittleman worked to expand yoga on the East,
counterculture.Walt and Magana Baptiste were working to increase
But it might surprise you to learn that yoga has a faryoga's scope on the West Coast when they open a
longer history in the U.S., dating back to the late 1800s.studio in San Francisco in the 1950s. Both of the
In 1883, Swami Vivekananda made an appearance atBaptistes were students of Yogananda and Walt
the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago where hebrought the influence of Vivekananda to the practice,
greeted his "sisters and brothers of America", acreating an entirely new approach to yoga. Their yoga
salutation that brought a standing ovation from thelegacy is continuing with their son and daughter, Baron
large audience in attendance. His idea that all of theand Sherri.
religions of the world are merely separate parts of aAlso in San Francisco, Swami Vishnu-devananda,
larger religion was a new concept to those hearing himarrived from India in 1958 and, with sponsorship from
speak about the mind, body and spirit.famed artist Peter Max, created the landmark book,
Shortly after the arrival of Swami Vivekananda,"The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga". It became an
Yogendra Mastamani also traveled to the U.S. fromessential guide for yoga instructors and practitioners.
India and set up a base in Long Island, N.Y. in 1919 andVishu-devananga would later go on to create the
created the American branch of Kaivalyadhama,Sivananda Yoga Vedanta yoga centers, which has
which is an India-based group that was a leader in thebecome one of most prominent yoga school
exploration of yoga from a scientific perspective.franchises in the entire world.
Mastamani introduced Hatha Yoga to the UnitedAs the 1960s embrace of counterculture got into full
States.swing, more and more people began to investigate the
One year later, one of the most popular yogis of allspirituality of yoga and possibly the most famous
time, Paramahansa Yogananda, arrived in Boston togroup of yoga practitioners were The Beatles, whose
introduce kriya yoga to the U.S. He created theassociation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi made him one
Self-Realization Fellowship, which now has itsof the most famous yogis in the world. He created the
headquarters in Los Angeles. Yogananda also wroteMeditation school of yoga that today employs more
the world-famous best seller, "Autobiography of athan 40,000 instructors and approximately 4 million
Yogi", a book that is still an inspirational resource forfollowers worldwide.
many yoga instructors and students.In the late 1960, Harvard professor Richard Alpert left
Beginning in the 1930s, Jiddu Krishnamurti achieved aon a journey through India and returned as Ram Dass,
new level of notoriety for a yogi when he began givingwho captured the imagination of the young people of
well-received, eloquent seminars on Jnana-Yoga, orAmerica and sparked their interest in the potential of
the yoga of discernment. His enlightening talks broughtyoga with his 1970 college tour to support his book, "Be
him attention from a number of celebrities, includingHere Now". It implanted the idea of taking a spiritual
actors Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo and writersquest as a dream of many young people.
Aldous Huxley and George Bernard Shaw.As the 1970s progressed, yoga studios began
In 1924, the U.S. imposed a restriction on the number ofappearing all over the country. Mount Madonna,
Indians it would allow to move to the U.S., meaningfounded by Baba Hari Dass, brought residential yoga
students who sought the teachings of yogis had toinstruction to Santa Cruz, California. The International
travel to India. One of these students was TheosSociety for Krishna Consciousness, begun by Shrila
Bernard, who traveled to India and came back in 1947Prabhubada, created the international spiritual practice
to write the book "Hatha Yoga: The Report of aof Bhakti Yoga. Ashtanga-vinyasa Yoga was brought
Personal Experience", an influential book which is stillto the U.S. by Pattabhi Jois in the mid '70s and made
widely today.yoga popular with new groups of people. Swami
In that same year, yogi Indra Devi, born in Russia,Satchitananda was probably the most famous
opened one of the original Hatha Yoga studios in thenon-musician to appear at Woodstock. Female yogi
Los Angeles/Hollywood area and was given the titleSwami Sivananda Radha is credited with probing the
of "The First Lady of Yoga". Devi was admired bylink between the psychology and spirituality of yoga.
housewives across the U.S., as well as HollywoodAnd Swami Chidananda, a student of yoga master
stars such as Gloria Swanson, Jennifer Jones andSwami Sivananda, produced one of America's most
Robert Ryan. Devi passed away in her Buenos Aresfamous and familiar yoga instructors, Lilias Folan,
home in 2002.whose PBS series, "Lilias, Yoga and You", which aired
But there is one man who is credited with bringingfrom 1970 to 1979, brought into nearly every home in
yoga into the mainstream of America and, ironically, heAmerica.
is not a native of India. While Richard Hittleman didYoga has continued its influence across America with
study in India for several years, he came back to theclasses and studios in cities all over, from the smallest
U.S. in 1950 and worked as a yoga instructor in Newtown to the major metro areas. Meanwhile, the birth of
York, introducing a non-spiritual version of yoga to thethe digital media market has taken yoga CDs, DVDs
country and altered the way yoga is perceived in theand Internet websites to even more homes, making it
U.S. Hittleman emphasized the physical aspects ofa mainstay in American life.