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This page is Yogi as advanced practitioners of Yoga. For other meanings, see Yogi (disambiguation).

One who practices yoga is called a yogi or in Sanskrit, a yogin (masculine) or yogini (feminine). These designations are mostly reserved for advanced practitioners. The word "yoga" itself --from the Sanskrit root yuj ("to yoke")--is generally translated as "union" or "integration" and may be understood as union with the Divine, or integration of body, mind, and spirit.

Historically

History is replete with Yogis that have inspired people for many generations. Yogini Meera from the Bhakti tradition, Shankaracharya from the Jnana Yoga tradition, Patanjali from the Raja yoga tradition are just a few examples. Some refer to Jesus christ as a Karma Yogi.

Modern Yogis

Beginning with the arrival of the great Swami Vivekananda in 1893, there has been a steady flow of learned teachers that have brought the transcendental message of Yoga to the West. Although the influence of these Yogins is deeply inscribed into the surface of the modern yogic ethos, both in India and America, a proliferation of 'yoga clinics' and non-spiritual yoga systems has been seen in the West, especially in the United States. While many Americans view it as an exercise system that simply enhances one's health, a much greater number in India (and a minority in America) still see it as it has been for over 5,000 years, whether in the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras, the writings of the Dalai Lama, or the "Yoga Boom" of the 20th century, a system of spirituality universal in its application.

First brought to America by the great yogi and disciple of Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), the Hindu representative at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, Yoga has also been transported in the arms of many other great yogis and formed into stratified schools seeking to propagate Yoga in its great spiritual context. These teachers have made their imprint in both India and America, and continue to serve as modern embodiments of Yoga.

Many modern schools of Hatha Yoga derive from the school of Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who taught in Mysore, India from 1924 until 1947, at which time he moved to Madras, where he taught until his death in 1989. Among his students prominent in popularizing Yoga in the West were Sri K. Pattabhi Jois famous for popularizing the vigorous Ashtanga Vinyasa style, B.K.S. Iyengar who emphasizes alignment and the use of props, Indra Devi and Krishnamacharya's son T.K.V. Desikachar who developed the Viniyoga style. Desikachar founded the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Madras (now Chennai), with the aim of making available the heritage of yoga as taught by Krishnamacharya.

Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952), a practitioner of Kriya Yoga, moved to America purporting a pluralist ideology with Yoga as the binding force, specificaly trying to reconcile Hinduism and Christianity. Yogananda founded the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles, in 1925. His Autobiography of a Yogi is considered a spiritual classic. His chief disciple was Rajarsi Janakananda, a great yogi born in the West.

Sri Aurobindo's translations and interpretations of Hindu and Yogic scriptures, such as the Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita, reflect his background as a Western-reared Bengali who later embraced his homelands spiritual traditions, focusing on the goddess Srii. His epic Hindu/Yoga poem Savitri is a treasure of Hindu Yogic literature, formally being the longest poem ever written in English. Besides his influence and scholarly writing on Yoga, he also founded Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, that continues to propagate the practice of Integral Yoga. This is Aurobindo's synthesis of the four main Yogas (Karma, Jnana, Bhakti and Raja).

Sri Chinmoy (born 1931) brought a similar synthesis of elements to the West, after spending twenty years at the Sri Aurobindo ashram in Pondicherry. His teachings emphasize love for God, meditation on the heart, and religious tolerance rooted in modern Vedantic principles.

Swami Sivananda (born in Pattamadai, Tamil Nadu, on September 8, 1887, attained Mahasamadhi in Rishikesh, Uttaranchal, on July 14, 1963), one of the greatest yoga masters of modern times, authored over 300 books on yoga and spirituality. Sivananda also established Sivananda ashram in Rishikesh, and founded the Divine Life Society. His disciple, Swami Satyananda (born in Almora, Uttaranchal, in 1923), has established the International Yoga Fellowship Movement, and the Bihar School of Yoga. Satyananda's main disciple Swami Niranjanananda (born in Rajnandgaon, Madhya Pradesh in 1960) later founded Bihar Yoga Bharati, the world's first yoga university. Another disciple of Swami Sivananda's, Swami Vishnudevananda (1927-1993), was sent by his Guru to the West in 1957, where he founded the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers. He authored The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga, first published in 1960. He is also known as the Flying Swami for personally flying a small airplane over conflict areas in the name of peace.

Swami Rama Tirtha was the founding spiritual head of the Himalayan Institute. He was the first yogi to come to America and be subjected to the scrutiny of modern science. He allegedly stunned doctors by stopping the beating of his heart completely for several minutes.

Gopi Krishna (1903-1984) was a Kashmiri office worker and spiritual seeker. He wrote autobiographical accounts of his spiritual experiences with Yoga. His most famous one is Kundalini: Path to Higher Consciousness. Gopi Krishna's graphic accounts of his experiences stand out as among the clearest journals documenting a spiritual transformation. They are highly recommended as reading for anyone interested in Yogic phenomena.

Swami Ramdevji Maharaj is a modern Indian yogi who follows the tradition of astanga yoga discovered by Maharshi Patanjali. While the important aspect of pranayama was neglected due to its lack of popularity and fear of potential negative side-effects, Swami Ramdevji Maharaj has broadcast teachings about it over a satellite channel AASTHA and held mass campainings all over the country. He claims to have used these techniques to cure various diseases.

Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, Bengal, India, 1921-1990 incorporated within Raja Yoga, advanced meditation techniques from the tantras. He is the founder of Ananda Marga.

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada popularised the process of Bhakti Yoga in many countries around the world through his movement called the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, (more popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement) which he founded in 1966.

Mahamandaleshwar Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda (Swamiji) comes from Rajasthan, India, and has been living in Vienna, Austria since 1972. Swamiji is the author of the scientific master-system Yoga in Daily Life and founder of the International Sri Deep Madhavananda Ashram Fellowship and Yoga in Daily Life ashrams and centres worldwide. He also inspired the foundations of the Yoga in Daily Life Youth Union and the Ayurveda Academy of Yoga in Daily Life.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati (born 1923) is an important yoga master and guru in both his native India and the West, developing a physical and mental relaxation technique called Yoga Nidra, which literally means "sleep of the yogis".

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