Five thousand years of yoga.

The earliest archaeological evidence of yoga predates writing. Stone seals excavated at Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley civilisation (modern Pakistan) depict a horned figure seated in what looks unmistakably like a cross-legged meditation posture, surrounded by animals. Whether this 'Pashupati seal' depicts a proto-yogic practice or a religious deity is debated by archaeologists, but the seated posture and meditative pose are recognisably yoga to any modern practitioner.

What we can say with confidence: organised contemplative and breath-based practices existed across the South Asian subcontinent at least 5,000 years ago. Yoga is older than the Pyramids of Giza, older than Stonehenge, and roughly contemporary with the earliest cuneiform.

The Vedas (Rig, Sama, Yajur, Atharva) are the oldest surviving Sanskrit religious texts, composed orally over centuries before being written down. The Rig Veda contains the first textual references to yoga, primarily as a discipline of mental focus and ritual concentration rather than the postural practice modern Westerners associate with the word.

The Upanishads, composed between roughly 800 and 200 BCE, deepen this. Yoga in the Upanishads is consistently presented as a method for union (the Sanskrit root yuj means 'to yoke' or 'to unite') with ultimate reality. The Katha Upanishad gives the first systematic description of yoga as a graduated mental discipline.

Part of the much longer Mahabharata epic, the Bhagavad Gita is one of the foundational texts of yoga philosophy. Set as a dialogue between the warrior Arjuna and the deity Krishna on the eve of battle, the Gita systematically presents three paths to liberation: Karma Yoga (the yoga of action), Bhakti Yoga (the yoga of devotion), and Jnana Yoga (the yoga of knowledge). A fourth, Raja Yoga (the yoga of meditation), is implied throughout.

Crucially, the Gita establishes yoga as a comprehensive ethical and spiritual framework, not just a physical or contemplative practice. Every modern style still references the Gita in serious teacher training.

Patanjali (whose biographical details remain mysterious) compiled what became the foundational systematic text of classical yoga, the Yoga Sutras. The Sutras consist of 196 short aphorisms organised into four books, codifying yoga as an eight-limbed system (Ashtanga, 'eight limbs') for the cessation of mental fluctuations.

The eight limbs are Yama (ethical restraints), Niyama (personal observances), Asana (posture), Pranayama (breath control), Pratyahara (sensory withdrawal), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (absorption). For Patanjali, posture is a relatively small part of yoga, a means of preparing the body to sit comfortably for the deeper internal work.

Every serious modern lineage references Patanjali. The R1SE philosophy page covers the Eight Limbs in detail.

Between roughly the 9th and 15th centuries CE, a distinct tradition of yoga developed that placed posture and breath at the centre of practice. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, written by Svatmarama in the 15th century, is the most influential surviving text. It describes asanas, pranayama techniques, mudras (energy seals), and shatkarmas (cleansing practices) in systematic detail.

Hatha (the word combines ha, sun, and tha, moon) is the foundation of essentially every modern physical yoga style. When Western yoga refers to 'Hatha Yoga' it is referring to this lineage, however broadly interpreted.

Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888-1989) is widely credited as the father of modern yoga. Born in Karnataka, he studied for years across India and Tibet, mastering Sanskrit, ayurveda, and yoga philosophy, before settling in Mysore at the Mysore Palace in the 1930s to teach yoga to the children of the Wodeyar royal family.

What is extraordinary is that Krishnamacharya personally taught essentially every major figure in the global yoga export of the 20th century: BKS Iyengar (his brother-in-law), K. Pattabhi Jois, TKV Desikachar (his son), and Indra Devi (one of his first Western students). Each took yoga in a different direction.

Iyengar codified a precise, alignment-led method that became the global standard for therapeutic yoga (Iyengar Yoga). Pattabhi Jois systematised Krishnamacharya's vigorous flowing sequences into the Ashtanga Vinyasa series (Ashtanga Yoga). Desikachar developed a deeply individualised, breath-led approach (Viniyoga). Indra Devi opened the first major yoga studio in Hollywood and effectively launched yoga as a Western cultural phenomenon.

Indra Devi (1899-2002) was a Russian-born actress who took the yoga name from Krishnamacharya and opened her Hollywood studio in 1947, teaching Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe and Gloria Swanson. She is widely credited as the first to make yoga accessible and aspirational to mainstream Western audiences.

Through the 1960s and 70s the counterculture made yoga a defining practice, often combined with broader Eastern philosophy interest. The Beatles' famous trip to Rishikesh in 1968 (to study Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi) brought yoga and meditation to vast popular attention.

BKS Iyengar travelled to the West repeatedly from the 1950s onward, teaching Yehudi Menuhin and many other prominent students, and his 1966 book Light on Yoga became the global instruction manual for postural yoga.

Bikram Choudhury, born in Calcutta in 1944, developed a sequence of 26 postures and two breathing exercises performed in a 105°F (40°C) room with 40% humidity. He opened his Beverly Hills studio in 1974 and aggressively franchised the method through the 1980s and 90s. At its peak there were over 600 'Bikram Yoga' studios worldwide.

Bikram's personal reputation collapsed through the 2010s following multiple sexual harassment and assault allegations (documented in the 2019 Netflix documentary 'Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator'). He fled the United States to avoid civil judgments. The community responded by separating the man from the method: most studios now teach the sequence under names like 'Original Hot Yoga' or '26 & 2'.

Crucially, the wider hot yoga movement is much bigger and older than Bikram's specific sequence. R1SE teaches hot yoga across Vinyasa, Hatha, Flow, Flex, Power and Sculpt styles at 35°C, deliberately at a more sustainable temperature than Bikram's 40°C, with the science backing the lower temperature for cardiovascular safety while still triggering the full heat-adaptation response.

The 2000s saw yoga move decisively from counterculture to mass-market wellness. Lululemon (founded 1998) became a billion-dollar brand selling yoga-adjacent apparel. Dedicated yoga studios opened in every major Western city. Hot yoga, Vinyasa flow and Power Yoga (developed by Bryan Kest and Beryl Bender Birch in the 1990s as an Americanised Ashtanga) became the dominant accessible formats.

The science also caught up. Through the 2000s and 2010s, randomised controlled trials began testing yoga against conventional medical interventions for low-back pain, anxiety, depression, hypertension and chronic disease. The results were consistently good enough that NICE began including yoga in its UK clinical guidelines.

Three things shaped the post-2015 UK yoga scene. First, dedicated studio chains (Frame, Triyoga, FLY LDN, Heartcore) replaced the gym-yoga model with high-touch, design-led spaces. Second, hot yoga gained scientific legitimacy distinct from the Bikram baggage. Third, social media changed how yoga was discovered, taught and practised, for better and worse.

R1SE Brook Place opened during this wave with one of the largest dedicated hot yoga studios in the North. Our 35°C heated rooms are calibrated to the modern evidence: hot enough to deliver heat shock proteins, tissue extensibility and cardiovascular conditioning, sustainable enough for daily practice across years.

Today R1SE operates two Sheffield locations and runs comprehensive yoga teacher training through the R1SE Academy, plus a daily mix of hot and non-heated yoga across Vinyasa, Hatha, Yin, Power, Sculpt, Bliss and Chill formats.