The Roots of Yoga: Understanding the Philosophy Behind Your Practice
- Keith B. Richmond
- May 3
- 7 min read
Yoga is a living wisdom tradition that has evolved across centuries and continents.
This article is an invitation to discover more about its roots, its understanding across cultures, and to embrace your yoga path as a way of living.
Yoga Philosophies & Teachings Across Eastern Cultures: Roots of Yoga in Indian Philosophy
Philosophy is the foundation of traditional yoga. Fully immersing in yoga means understanding why you are practicing it. While yoga’s roots run deepest throughout India, related practices emerged across Asia, shaped by their own cultures and philosophies.
India
Indian yoga philosophy is an intricate system encompassing metaphysics, the theory of knowledge called epistemology, ethics, psychology, and cosmology.
The Samkhya philosophy, which forms the basis of much of classical yoga, shows a fundamental duality between purusha (pure consciousness, the witness) and prakriti (matter, nature, everything that changes). Here, the goal of yoga is the realization that you are the witness of your life, not the life story itself — untouched by the fluctuations of the body and mind.
The oldest Indian textual roots of yoga appear in the Vedas. The Upanishads develop these ideas into in-depth philosophical dialogues. The teachings of the Bhagavad Gita encompass karma yoga, jnana yoga, bhakti yoga, and raja yoga. It functions as a living guide to how a human being can act in the world without losing themselves.
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras provide the most systematic classical formulation. Patanjali, also known as the father of classical yoga, describes the nature of the mind (chitta), the fluctuations that cause suffering (vrittis), and the eightfold path (ashtanga) that leads to liberation.
In India, yoga is intimately bound to the concept of dharma — the cosmic order and natural law that sustains the universe — and one’s role within it; liberation from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (samsara). There are several paths: devotion (bhakti), selfless action (karma yoga), knowledge (jnana yoga), breath and posture (hatha yoga), sound and mantra (nada yoga). The paths may differ, but they lead toward the same destination of union with the Divine, and recognizing your essential nature as pure awareness.
Tibet
While not called 'yoga' in the same sense, the most prominent form of Tibetan Buddhism, the Vajrayana, emerged in the 7th century from the Mahayana tradition. This form of Buddhism embraces ritual mantras, mandalas, and mudras as a means to accelerated awakening. Other forms of Vajrayana can be found in China and Japan. Vajrayana is also called Tantrayana because it is based on the Buddhist Tantras, which emphasize the unity of wisdom and compassion, symbolized as the union of male and female. In Taoism, the philosophical orientation aligns with the natural flow of the Tao, the principle of harmony and balance.
Tibetan practices such as Yantra Yoga share a lot with classical hatha yoga. The Tibetan Buddhist tradition also honors deities and works with subtle body energies (the tsa-lung system, similar to the Indian nadi and prana systems).
China
In China, similarities are found in Taoism. Qi gong and nei gong are systems of breath, movement, and internal cultivation that resemble pranayama and the awakening of subtle energy. Both traditions refer to a life force of flowing energy channels (prana in Sanskrit, qi in Chinese) and transforming ordinary consciousness through disciplined inner work.
The commonalities across these traditions are rooted in the same fundamental truths about consciousness, the body, and the nature of liberation — and embedded into their respective wisdom traditions. Differences emerge through their respective philosophy and practices:
India works with Atman and Brahman
Tibet with Buddha-nature and shunyata
China with the Tao and wu wei
There is also a universal recognition that the human being is more than the body-mind, that liberation is possible, and that disciplined practice is a transformative journey.
These cultural philosophies and teachings shape how yoga is taught, what the teacher-student relationship looks like, how progress is measured, and what enlightenment actually means. A yoga practice supported by a philosophical foundation helps you navigate and live your yoga path.
The Bridge: Yoga's Relationship to Source
There is a common recognition across the cultures that have developed yoga-like practices worldwide: that beyond ordinary reality is a deeper order that transcends the individual self, but is not separate from it – call it Brahman, Buddha-nature, the Tao, the Holy Spirit, Great Spirit, or simply the universe.
Yoga, in its classical sense, is the discipline of discovering that path directly through experience. This bridge is accessible to anyone willing to show up with genuine sincerity and an open heart – a mind, body, and soul transformation.
Symbolism, Deities, and Mythology in the Yogic Tradition
One of the most meaningful aspects of classical yoga is its connection to deity, symbolism, and myth. To the modern Western culture, Hindu deities can appear exotic, superstitious, and even scary.
Photo by Trishik Bose for Pexels
This is a profound misunderstanding.
The deities of the Hindu yogic tradition — Shiva, Shakti, Ganesha, Saraswati, Krishna, Durga — represent psychological and cosmic principles:
Shiva is pure consciousness, the witness, the great yogi who sits in eternal meditation at the center of being.
Shakti is the energy of manifestation — the dynamic, creative, feminine power without which consciousness could not move or express itself.
Ganesha, the elephant-headed remover of obstacles, represents the power of the discriminating intellect to clear the path.
Saraswati is the goddess of learning, music, and wisdom. She oversees the creative intelligence that seeks the truth.
In episode 6 of The Authentic Yoga Podcast with Ashram Ibiza founder Sativka, traditional yoga master Yogi Manoj offers an authentic explanation of Hindu deities and what they represent:
How Yoga Cultures Have Influenced Modern-Day Yoga
Popularized by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, the dynamic, breath-synchronized practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is rooted in a specific lineage from Mysore, India. It emphasizes tapas (disciplined heat), tristhana (the union of breath, gaze, and posture), and the gradual refinement of the nervous system through consistent, structured practice. Kundalini Yoga blends tantric kriyas (specific sequences of action), Sikh devotional chanting, Vedic pranayama, and a strong ethical framework. It works with the chakra system, awakening the dormant spiritual potential at the base of the spine and unlocking different levels of consciousness.
Modern vinyasa yoga, most commonly found in Western culture, uses ashtanga's breath-movement synchronization and alignment principles. It often incorporates elements of dance and somatic movement.
The meditation and mindfulness dimensions of modern yoga owe a lot to Tibetan Buddhism. Concepts like compassion (karuna), loving-kindness (metta), impermanence, and the beginner's mind have traveled from Buddhist contexts into yoga spaces worldwide.
Taoist philosophy has greatly contributed to the yin yoga tradition. Characterized by long holds in passive poses to target deeper connective tissues, yin yoga is embedded in Chinese medicine's understanding of meridians, qi, and the balance of yin and yang energies. The practice is an example of Indian asana form meeting Chinese energetic philosophy.
Yoga Practitioners Need Foundational Understanding
The depth to which you understand the philosophical and symbolic context of yoga is the depth to which you can access its deeper dimensions. A yoga practice without a philosophical foundation may have structure, but the sense of the sacred that gives it meaning may be lost.
Many practitioners believe their physical practice deepens when they study the philosophy. When pranayama is understood as the regulation of prana — the vital life force — rather than just breathing exercises, the practice transforms. When you understand that savasana (the final resting pose) is not just relaxation, it becomes a deep experience of dissolving the ego-self.
Understanding the philosophy protects practitioners from the spiritual bypassing that is epidemic in modern wellness culture. Without a philosophical grounding, yoga can become another tool for feeling good or performing wellness. With philosophical grounding, yoga becomes a genuine inquiry into the nature of the self.
Why Yoga Begins With Ethics: The Yamas and Niyamas
Before poses are taught in classical yoga, before you are taught to regulate your breath or direct your gaze, the tradition addresses something more fundamental: ethics and how you live. The first two limbs of Patanjali's eightfold path — the yamas and niyamas — encompass an ethical and personal code of conduct. They are considered the soil in which all other practices grow.
The yamas are the five ethical restraints: ahimsa (non-harming), satya (truthfulness), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (right use of energy), and aparigraha (non-grasping). They govern how we relate to the world around us. They are practical observations about the conditions necessary for a clear mind and an open heart.
The niyamas are the five personal observances: saucha (cleanliness), santosha (contentment), tapas (disciplined effort), svadhyaya (self-study), and Ishvara pranidhana (surrender to the Divine). They govern how we relate to ourselves and our practice. Svadhyaya, the ongoing practice of honest self-inquiry, is perhaps the most demanding. It requires that we look at ourselves without flinching: at our habitual patterns, our resistances, our projections, our stories.
Also in The Authentic Yoga Podcast, Yogi Manoj offers his philosophical perspective on the yamas and niyamas and living the yoga path.
From Practice to Path: Yoga as a Way of Living
There is a moment when many serious practitioners describe an inner shift. Your yoga practice starts becoming a part of your life. The breath awareness you cultivated in class is more evident when you are walking, talking, and when you’re being still and present in the moment. The self-inquiry of svadhyaya becomes a constant, quiet companionship.
This is the point at which yoga becomes something you live. This embodied, integrated state is known as Jivanmukta, the liberated-while-living. It’s not a state of permanent bliss, rather a quality of presence — the capacity to meet whatever arises with clarity, compassion, and calm.
The yoga path to living practice moves through phases of enthusiasm, discipline, struggle, deepening, and integration. The tradition anticipates this.
What does this look like in daily life? It looks like:
Pausing before reacting
Telling the truth even when it's inconvenient
Sitting quietly and not being productive
Approaching difficulty and uncertainty as practice rather than as an interruption
Genuine curiosity about your inner SELF
Yoga is a living tradition that continues to evolve, but its essence remains unchanged.
To understand its roots is to access a depth that goes beyond movement, a way of questioning, observing, and living with greater awareness.
At some point, the practice begins to move beyond the mat. It becomes part of how you breathe, respond, relate, and see.
This is where yoga shifts from something you do to something you live.
If you feel called to explore this path more deeply, take the time to study, practice with guidance, and connect with teachings that are rooted in tradition.
Explore our classes, trainings, and philosophy-based programs at Ashram Ibiza.
Because yoga is not something you achieve. It is something you grow into, step by step.
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