Are yoga or Ayurveda related to religion?

This is a question I have gotten more than once - either out of historical curiosity or there may be a hesitancy to practice yoga or engage in an Ayurvedic lifestyle due to a fear of it being tied to religion, most often named is Hinduism. It is definitely a touchy subject because religion & spirituality are very personal and sacred - I totally understand the hesitancy to not betray one’s own belief system. This is why I would love to discuss this and clear the air about any misconceptions or questions that may be out there.  Now I am not a scholar or an expert in Sanscrit or religious studies, so take my understanding of it with a grain of salt. Also - it is very complex, complicated and messy - with thousands of years in between us and the original information, things have evolved and also been lost in translation, so we need to take that into consideration as well. 

The history and relationship between the two may be complicated but the short answer is no - Ayurveda and yoga are not directly tied to religion.  There may be many different versions or interpretations but here is mine, which is accepted by all yoga teachers and Ayurvedic practitioners I have talked to. 

First we need to go back to the source: the Vedas. These are the oldest set of texts known to humankind, dating back possibly as far as 6,000 BC.  There are 4 main books: the Rg Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda & Atharva veda.  The Rig Veda is the oldest of them all, coming first, and contains information mostly about scriptures. It has been thought that Hinduism and yoga both originated from this text, but the article below states “the sources of Hinduism and yoga are the same, [but] yoga as a tradition predates the formulation of what modern Hindus think of as their religion.”  So in other words, Yoga actually predates what we know as modern Hinduism today and both have evolved separately from each other. Additionally, “scholars regard Hinduism as a relatively recent synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no single founder. This Hindu synthesis emerged after the Vedic period, between  500-200 BCE.” So again, yoga & Ayurveda pre-date what we know today as Hinduism. You may also have heard about Patajlai being the founder of yoga.  However, Patanjali only organized the teachings of yoga that were already there.

The second Veda is the yajur veda which includes information about rituals and routines.  The 3rd, Samaveda, is all about music and songs.  Lastly, the atharvaveda describes herbs, spices & formulas.  There is a supplemental text within this veda that contains all the information about Ayurveda, which is even further broken down into subcategories, but that's more than we can cover here.  

In my experience, yoga and Ayurveda can both be spiritual, but are not religious.  They meet you where you are at in your own spiritual or religious journey and can only serve to enhance it.  Want to take the physical part of yoga but don’t care about spirituality? That’s just fine - take what you need and leave the rest. However if you are looking for more, there is a deep and rich philosophy behind both practices of yoga & Ayurveda that can only lead to a better life but won’t lead you astray from your belief system. 

For more information, check out the articles below which go deeper into this conversation: https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/philosophy/beyond-belief/
https://beyogi.com/history-of-yoga/