Yoga is more than just fancy poses and stretches that the world knows it as. Whether you’re new to the exercise or just want to learn more, you’ve come to the right place!

There are myriad of health benefits to practicing yoga and there are hundreds of things people don’t know about the ancient exercise.

With that in mind, we bet you didn’t know these facts about the practice:

It’s One of the Most Common Exercises in the US

It might be hard to believe but yoga is widely practiced in the US. 1 in 5 American adults participates in what most people believe is an ancient practice.

Yes, that’s right! The yoga Americans practice isn’t part of the ancient practice. It’s been adapted to become mainly for exercise and some of the poses have been added by modern-day yogis.

Modern Yoga Started During the 20^th Century

Even though there’s a common belief that modern day yoga has its roots from thousands of years ago, that’s not true.

Modern postural yoga, the practice of actually holding poses, originated with early 20th century guru Krishnamacharya, who taught a mix of gymnastic and wrestling moves, Western calisthenics and hatha yoga, a medieval practice all but lost in India for centuries.

Hatha Yoga Made Breath Control Possible

It’s in hatha yoga, beginning about the 10th century that an emphasis on controlling breath and maintaining certain postures arose. But it has little in common with doing a sun salutation that is taught at gyms today for maintaining abs. Medieval hatha yoga’s goals included divination and attaining immortality.

In Sanskrit, Yoga has Different Meanings

Not a lot of people are aware of this but the word “yoga” went through several changes before it came to be what we know it as today.

Other meanings include a constellation of stars, the quality of industriousness and even a fraud! That’s not something you’d expect from a word that’s commonly associated with health.

Did you know these facts about yoga? What other facts do you know? Drop a comment below to let us know!

If you want to learn more about yoga or want to read a novel about it, we recommend Finding Warrior Pose by Priya Doty.

Set in India, Finding Warrior Pose is about a young 30-something woman named Jaya Gupta, who is being pressured into getting married by her parents. She soon learns of an old ‘ashram’ that was stolen from her family years earlier.

Determined to learn more, Jaya makes a bold decision to set off on a six-month trip to the ashram to learn yoga, unaware of the dangers that are lying ahead. The book is available on Amazon and Kindle.