As with many ancient traditions, the Indian exercises of yoga have been exploited and misunderstood by Western culture for many centuries. Fitting with the ideals of the 1960's, many Americans found yoga an attractive addition to their lifestyles, starting one of many fashionable yoga trends in the states. With the advent of new technology, and the drive of capitalism, yoga has seen a resurgence of popularity in America, including tutorials on DVD to "How-To" programs on the computer headed by Gurus and so called experts. But the center of this current trend seems to concentrate the practice on health, a seeming contradiction to its actual purpose (granted, there are a few faithful "How-Tos" out there). Video tapes like "Yoga-Abs" and "Yoga-Flexibility" seem to do nothing more than exploit the exercise to make money. To truly understand the purpose of yoga, one must first understand the history and people behind it. .
Some of the earliest recorded documents of yoga are found in the Vedic period in Hindu scriptures called the Upanishads. They were written roughly around 500 B.C.E. Before this time, the people of the Indian continent lived in an almost completely stratified society headed by the Brahmins, the priest class. This structured society was centered on the priest who performed fire sacrifices to give gifts to the many gods who controlled separate aspects of the natural world. If pleased, the gods would repay the people by keeping order in the universe. For example, if they were giving gifts to the god of sun, then they would get sunlight to grow crops. So, obviously, the Aryan society relied heavily on this practice to stabilize their daily lives. All of their literature was written down in what is known as the Vedas dating as far back at 2000 B.C.E.
But, over time, the Aryan culture evolved. Scholars of the time, disgruntled by the natural focus of early Vedic views, started looking deeper into the universe and themselves.