[reason-mr]

Singleton agrees that yoga poses as described in the material referenced by the OP here were existent far back, and that traditionally, yoga was considered far "more" than just physical poses (asana), as is evidenced by patajali, numerous historical references, the 8 limbs of yoga, etc. What he supposes, more controversially, is that more recent forms of physical asana, such those based as mysore style ashtanga yoga, were not evidenced in the original material he consulted and were subsequently added, though of course it must be said that much of this material was at least gathered, if not authored, though a colonial lens. (It must also be said that the traditional Indian method of writing on what are basically dried leaves has not done history any favors here) Therefore he assumes that those particular physical asanas (things like sun salutations, vigorous vinyasa practice, etc) were not in existence prior to the injection of more western forms such as calisthenics. He has no issue with the older material. Whether or not you believe his other main assertion is I think based on your experience with yoga, cultural appropriation, time spent in India, and related other matters. The irony of course is that, if you believe him, is that the "feel good do no good" part of yoga was added from western material and then re-exported back to west, where it because the predominant form almost to the exclusion of the others. Certainly from my experience of being in India and practicing various forms of yoga here and here, I can say that there are many forms of yoga existent in India which largely do not equate to the westernized versions primarily practiced in yoga studios here.

[haltingproblem]

The bizarre thing is western interpretations of Yoga focus so much on Mysore Ashtanga style. I have studied with other schools of Yoga and there are literally hundreds of lineages. It is like insisting Chicken Tikka masala and Naan are sole representations of authentic Indian food because that is what we experience in the west. Most Indian Yoga practitioners have never heard of Pratabbi Jois and Mysore Ashtanga but westerners keep holding them up as some epitome of Yoga.

The insistence that sun salutations are a innovation is again bizarre as there are sutras devoted to sun saluations. In many families, children are taught sun salutations by their parents and grandparents as ancestral traditions.

Even if you grant that modern forms of doing Yoga are an innovation inspired by calisthenics, why did that innovation come from European calisthenics when India has dozens of ancient arts like kalaripayattu that are practiced in Calisthenic sequences?

[reason-mr]

Also, on a personal opinion, I don't believe Singleton, or not in the main. Yoga is such a vast domain, super-setting normal human existence, and many things have likely been practiced and not documented over the years. I think we all need to look closely at cultural and particularly (if we are western) western biases here when dealing with this subject. Cultural appropriation is a real issue in yoga.