People today are tempted to think of yoga as the brainchild of some new-wave philosophy. They might think it originated with some recent guru. In actuality, yoga is about 3,000 years old.

Statues and seals depicting persons in various yogic positions have been found in remains dating back to the third millennium B.C.E.; but the earliest form of yoga as we know it was probably Jain yoga (900 B.C.E.). Jain yoga involved severe sensual denial and restraint. To free the soul from birth and rebirth, Jains felt it was necessary to restrain the senses completely to be beyond both love and hate. In reality, this means to be in control of all positive or negative emotions.

As early as 900 B.C.E., the Jain monks and Tirthankaras (perfected beings) would train themselves to ignore the pains and longings of the body completely. Nearly 3,000 years later, the details of such practices are lost to us. Jain yoga today has evolved; it is now focused more on restraining oneself to prevent injury to any living being.