Yoga is really a Victorian Swedish exercise program from the YMCA

[Mintaka]

Amusingly enough, yoga historians have discovered that pretty much all the yoga practiced today in India is actually derived from a secular exercise program from Victorian-era Sweden.

“Swedish gymnastics” was a system invented by one Pehr Henriik Ling. It included stretching, balance exercises, calisthenics, and massage. (Later, a Dutch guy named Mezger, inspired by Ling, invented the massage techniques which are now known as “Swedish massage.” Ling was popular.) British Army officers liked Swedish gymnastics, as well as a related system called Primitive Gymnastics by a Dane named Niels Bukh. They brought these exercises to India… where it eventually became yoga.

Briefly, what happened was that young progressive Indians who were interested in independence decided that they needed to build up the bodies of the Indian people by getting them to do modern exercises. They mostly learned Swedish gymnastics in YMCA’s in India.

But in order to make the exercise more attractive, they talked about it in terms of their Hindu beliefs. Some of them began to compare it to the ancient yogis, and even to claim that their yoga was the same thing.

As the generations went on, later Indian exercise fans made it more and more about religion, spiritual healing, sexual energies, and so forth, but the basic movements were still Swedish. So all the “kundalini” and Hindu stuff has actually been grafted on.

Maybe all you need is Swedish gymnastics and Danish “Primitive Gymnastics.” No need to do yoga.

Also you will note in the Yoga Journal article above that some Victorian exercise mavens had their own bunch of Western cultish weirdness. So we can’t blame Indians for all the drama…

(PS - Yup, I know all this info came out in 2010 and 2011, but it still doesn’t seem to be common knowledge.)

(PPS - Here’s a book about gymnastics by Niels Bukh.)

 

[powerofk]

I wouldn’t be surprised, really. The thing is, though, much of the “New Age” stuff is the same garbage - religious/spiritual beliefs put on something that origianlly had no religioius connotations. Another example is Tarot cards - origianally, they were simply playing cards until it was “discovered” that they had been “used by witches since ancient Egypt”. In fact, the “major arcana” were simply trump cards (with the numbers dictating the higher trump) and the designs were the Italian card designs (as opposed to the French designs we’re so familiar with).

 

[Path_Finder]

I know a bit about what Swedish Excercises are; they are on youtube, videos from say, the 1950s.

archive.org/stream/b20425119#page/n0/mode/2up (King Swedish System)

There is a bit of study to learn the origins of Swedish Exercise but I know, like some modern exercises, all one needed was just a small place around themselves.

Pehr Henrik Ling (15 November 1766 in Södra Ljunga – 3 May 1839 in Stockholm)[1] pioneered the teaching of physical education in Sweden.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pehr_Henrik_Ling

So, to me, it’s a little different; in a nutshell, I’d say Swedish Exercise is much more active, cardiovascular versus Yoga’s static positions.

 

[Path_Finder]

I wouldn’t be surprised, really. The thing is, though, much of the “New Age” stuff is the same garbage - religious/spiritual beliefs put on something that origianlly had no religioius connotations. Another example is Tarot cards - origianally, they were simply playing cards until it was “discovered” that they had been “used by witches since ancient Egypt”. In fact, the “major arcana” were simply trump cards (with the numbers dictating the higher trump) and the designs were the Italian card designs (as opposed to the French designs we’re so familiar with).

I think Swedish Exercise is definitely different and I would not attribute any of this new age phenomenon to it. As said, youtube has videos of the Swedes practicing it decades ago, it looks nothing like Yoga and I think the comparison is unfair. At the most, Swedish Exercise would be more like Jack Lalanne.

youtube.com/watch?v=Ot9K-rS4A3M

This Swedish drill practiced by an English regiment during World War I is a bit like yoga, it is also quite a bit like what we think of as Calisthenics.

 

[AnneElizabeth]

There is also Pilates, created and started by Joseph Pilates. Its similar.

However, I’m not sure this "yoga is really Victorian Swedish exercise program’ bit is entirely true. I can see if they adapted similar moves to theirs, but I would have to do some extensive history study to really believe that is all it is and where it came from.

India’s history is rich and vast and has so many different belief systems. Its not unlikely too that they had their own form of bodily stretches and exercises that they found… so I highly doubt it is as this article says.

its not unheard of that different civilizations come up with similar things even when those civilizations never communicated. Necessity is the mother of invention.

 

[edwest2]

About Yoga:

catholic.com/magazine/articles/the-trouble-with-yoga

Tarot Cards, whatever their claimed origin, are New Age tools to be avoided. I’ve seen many different decks.

Ed

 

[anon67074017]

I personally don’t participate in yoga because it is too ritualistic. The rituals in yoga are not Catholic. They appear to be pagan. I think Catholics should avoid yoga.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Amusingly enough, yoga historians have discovered that pretty much all the yoga practiced today in India is actually derived from a secular exercise program from Victorian-era Sweden.

“Swedish gymnastics” was a system invented by one Pehr Henriik Ling. It included stretching, balance exercises, calisthenics, and massage. (Later, a Dutch guy named Mezger, inspired by Ling, invented the massage techniques which are now known as “Swedish massage.” Ling was popular.) British Army officers liked Swedish gymnastics, as well as a related system called Primitive Gymnastics by a Dane named Niels Bukh. They brought these exercises to India… where it eventually became yoga.

Briefly, what happened was that young progressive Indians who were interested in independence decided that they needed to build up the bodies of the Indian people by getting them to do modern exercises. They mostly learned Swedish gymnastics in YMCA’s in India.

But in order to make the exercise more attractive, they talked about it in terms of their Hindu beliefs. Some of them began to compare it to the ancient yogis, and even to claim that their yoga was the same thing.

As the generations went on, later Indian exercise fans made it more and more about religion, spiritual healing, sexual energies, and so forth, but the basic movements were still Swedish. So all the “kundalini” and Hindu stuff has actually been grafted on.

Maybe all you need is Swedish gymnastics and Danish “Primitive Gymnastics.” No need to do yoga.

Also you will note in the Yoga Journal article above that some Victorian exercise mavens had their own bunch of Western cultish weirdness. So we can’t blame Indians for all the drama…

(PS - Yup, I know all this info came out in 2010 and 2011, but it still doesn’t seem to be common knowledge.)

(PPS - Here’s a book about gymnastics by Niels Bukh.)

Yeah, but I still hurt myself every time I try it.

 

[Exiled_Child]

Yoga is far, far older than recorded history, so no, it most definitely was not invented in Victorian era Sweden! It’s a pretty funny piece of misinformation, though. Probably it’ll become some kind of internet-spawned urban legend which will be impossible to fully eradicate, and will be forever embedded in alternative history. Kind of like the endless number of misinformed theories regarding the “true” origins of Christianity. But, no, the Rig Veda predates the Old Testament by probably a millennia, and it explicitly discusses yoga.

Part of the misunderstanding is that Westerners generally think of yoga in a high school physical education class sort of sense. This is quite false though, and in India there are apparently university-sized libraries filled with nothing but books devoted to various schools and aspects of yoga. Which leads me to believe that our notions of what yoga is are quite shallow.

 

[Path_Finder]

Yoga is far, far older than recorded history, so no, it most definitely was not invented in Victorian era Sweden! It’s a pretty funny piece of misinformation, though. Probably it’ll become some kind of internet-spawned urban legend which will be impossible to fully eradicate, and will be forever embedded in alternative history. Kind of like the endless number of misinformed theories regarding the “true” origins of Christianity. But, no, the Rig Veda predates the Old Testament by probably a millennia, and it explicitly discusses yoga.

Part of the misunderstanding is that Westerners generally think of yoga in a high school physical education class sort of sense. This is quite false though, and in India there are apparently university-sized libraries filled with nothing but books devoted to various schools and aspects of yoga. Which leads me to believe that our notions of what yoga is are quite shallow.

Absolutely, Yoga is very old, that is why there are these various branches such as Hatha, Vinyasa and the more dubious; Kundalini. As if all of these branches could have been formed in the last 100 years. There is even a history of Yoga in the Americas one can look up, it probably came here in the 1910s or so out on the West Coast.