Recent Decades
One of the most prominent Yoga guru is Himalayan Swami Sivananda. Swami Sivananda served as a doctor in Malaysia and opened schools in America and Europe in the 1960s and 1970s. Among Sivanandi's works is the modified Five Principles of Yoga: 1. proper relaxation (savasana); 2. proper exercise (Asanas); 3. proper breathing (pranayama); 4. proper diet (vegetarian), and; 5. positive thinking and Meditation (dhyana).
He also wrote more than two hundred books about Yoga and Philosophy. Swami Sivananda is the founder of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers through his disciple, Swami Vishnu-devananada. Swami Vishnu-devananada also wrote the Illustrated book of Yoga.
Swami Sivananda's other notable disciples include: Swami Satchitananda who introduced chanting and Yoga to Woodstock; Swami Sivananada Radha, the woman who explored the connection between psychology and Yoga, and; Yogi Bhajan who started teaching the controversial Kundalini Yoga in the 70's. He also founded the 3HO organization (Healthy, Happy, Holy) which now has around 200 centers worldwide. There was also the great Sri Krishnamacharya, who taught Viniyoga Hatha-Yoga. The Viniyoga tradition is continued by his son, Desikachar. Desikachar's brother-in-law, B.K.S. Iyengar, also continued teaching Viniyoga Hatha-Yoga and had quite a large number of followers. Living Yoga masters today include Sathya Sai Baba who has millions of followers and Swami Satyananada, founder of the Bihar School ofYoga.
In conclusion, Yoga is the most diversified spiritual practice in the world. Crossing over many cultures (including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and the West), Yoga also extends over multiple languages such as Hindi, Tibetan, Bengali, Sanskrit, Tamil, Prakit, Marathi and Pali. The Yogic tradition continues to proliferate and spread its message of peace to this very day.
