Yoga's brief history, and who benefits?
The history of yoga has become quite convoluted especially since its migration to the Americas; it takes a wide range of forms including Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious beliefs. Scholars argue that the conversation of cultural appropriation around yoga shouldn’t be so simplified to this authentic, original tradition called ‘Yoga’ that existed in South Asia that was then appropriated, because premodern yoga traditions were not monolithic, rather they were dramatically diverse. From the 1880s to the early 1900s, yoga’s spiritual and religious beliefs were known in Western countries as a strange cult that was stealing young white women. And it is argued that the first contact between yoga and Western audience was through a figure named Indra Devi, whose real name was Eugenie Peterson, a Russian actress who brought the practice with her to Los Angeles in 1947. This caught the attention of actors who were interested in fitness and breathing techniques, and following this period ignited the concept of a white women teaching yoga.
Example of a common yoga studio in Kelowna, note the teachers.
Finally, it wouldn’t be after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 that yoga became part of the counterculture of the 1960s and onward. And in the contemporary moment, the yoga industry has been reduced to mere commercialization or commodification— “whitewashing” the practice, whose beneficiaries are not South Asian, but white and wealthy Westerners.
Yoga culture in media:
http://www.luluaddict.com/p/lulu-newbie-start-here.html (a blogsite for Lululemon addicts).
https://everydayfeminism.com/2016/05/yoga-cultural-appropriation/ (8 signs that yoga is culurally appropriated).
Treating yoga as a sole physical activity; through colonial suppression went from spiritual to…
Pushing your body to hold a pose, if fails, involves shame and ridicule.
Not acknowledging its origins, supporting a business model based on theft and disrespect.
Misusing sacred objects as decor in yoga studios that gives it an “authentic flare”.
Not paying attention to the treatment of traditional language/chants of the South Asian people.
A white person who ignores oppression— is leading the practice; the yoga industry marginalizes those who don’t fit the mainstream image of “modern” Western yoga, aka thin, white, middle class women.
Treating yoga as a commodity; yoga practices are all about sustaining oneself, having nothing to do with money, so when it turns into something that’s sellable— it loses its sacred value.
Thinking only about one’s personal gain.
Conclusion
It could be argued that yoga is an extension of colonialism; underlying racism. Converting South Asians into Western/Christian ideals, raped, murdered, etc for practicing yoga back then. By dismissing these events not only are you missing out on the significance of the practice – by buying into the mainstream industry version of yoga, you’re also only viewing yoga through a Western lens. This lens distorts what yoga is supposed to be, and adds racism, exotification, and exclusivity. The more the practice of yoga is dominated by this commercialized distortion, the more society invalidates the authentic healing practices of people of color.
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