It is hard to separate facts from myths when we look at the yoga history - some say the origins of yoga date back 8,000 years, many say it is around 5,000 years and some say it's considerably less.
The yoga we practice in the West today is very different and certainly very much younger than the ancient yoga. The styles currently taught tend to be based on traditions that can be traced back just a few centuries or even just a few decades.
There are some beautiful and informative books on the subject - The Yoga Tradition by Georg Feuerstein, The Mirror of Yoga by Richard Freeman, to name two of the most competent representations. The one that sheds light onto the contemporary postural practice is Yoga Body by Mark Singleton - highly recommended reading.
The styles we practice all stem from the works of Shri T. Krishnamacharya, and the Ashtanga Vinyasa Style in its current form is probably no more than 80 years old. Please see the separate page about Ashtanga Yoga.
This page will publish more on the subject of the history of yoga - please visit it again...