Uploaded February 2020 | Updated September 2026, 10 hours ago
Historical Look at Yoga: Past, Present & Future with Bob Smith takes a look at its evolutionary process over the centuries. The roots of yoga are looked at in the Vedic period, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras, Tantra Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga and the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo. Writings by Professor Rae Heimbeck and by Sri Aurobindo are highlighted, as is a timetable of how yoga has come West in the 20th Century. While the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo is emphasized, a historical perspective of modern-day yoga is explored by looking into the life-work of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda, Paramahansa Yogananda, T Krishnamacharya, Indra Devi, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Baba Ram Dass, BKS Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois and many others. The growth of asana practice around the world over the last 40 years is dissected, including the ensuing problems that have come along with it. The last portion of the talk consists of readings by Bob on the writings of Sri Aurobindo, taken from the first few chapters of “The Synthesis of Yoga”. This is the video offering created out of a talk Bob Smith presented on the 25th of January, 2020 at the NW Yoga Conference in Seattle, USA. Background photos and videos help to reveal the story as it unfolds..
Historical Look at Yoga: Past, Present & Future with Bob Smith takes a look at its evolutionary process over the centuries. The roots of yoga are looked at in the Vedic period, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras, Tantra Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga and the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo. Writings by Professor Rae Heimbeck and by Sri Aurobindo are highlighted, as is a timetable of how yoga has come West in the 20th Century. While the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo is emphasized, a historical perspective of modern-day yoga is explored by looking into the life-work of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda, Paramahansa Yogananda, T Krishnamacharya, Indra Devi, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Baba Ram Dass, BKS Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois and many others. The growth of asana practice around the world over the last 40 years is dissected, including the ensuing problems that have come along with it. The last portion of the talk consists of readings by Bob on the writings of Sri Aurobindo, taken from the first few chapters of “The Synthesis of Yoga”. This is the video offering created out of a talk Bob Smith presented on the 25th of January, 2020 at the NW Yoga Conference in Seattle, USA. Background photos and videos help to reveal the story as it unfolds..
