When we think of yoga today in west, we imagine colourful hair, massage therapy and Game of Thrones tattoos, toned bodies in a room filled with mats. You can easily see posters of women, very fit and flexible, doing difficult yoga pose near the seaside. People go yoga for twisting, stretching, doing fancy poses and trying to be super flexible. Yogic dancing postures on hip-hop music are the new additions. Few associate the practice with tantric systems, some created yoga poses for married couples looking to improve their sex lives. Over the past few decades, it has also grown in popularity in the West where yoga has become a multibillion-dollar industry. According to one yoga chronicle practitioners in the United States spend more than $10 billion a year on classes, clothing and accessories. A typical studio class can cost more than $18 per hour.
The way yoga studios outside India are popularizing yoga is now a serious matter of concern. Should we continue with this modern creation or yoga should be seen from its origin?
Yoga has been practiced in India for thousands of years, it’s taught in many schools and individuals or groups can be seen doing “Asana” (yoga poses) in parks across the country. It has become one of the most fashionable practices in the world, yet a number of myths have grown up around it.
Every “body” is a yoga body. There are popular misconceptions among people that they cannot join yoga if they are overweight and not flexible. You don’t have to do difficult poses to get something out of your practice. There’s no such thing as a good yoga practice or a bad yoga practice as long as you’re paying attention to what your body needs and what feels right to you. Yoga is not about difficult postures. And the postures are for all types of bodies, they have nothing to do with good or bad shape.
Yoga is much more than asana. Millions of yoga lovers do stretching and twisting and proudly say they do yoga. “The yoga sutras of Patanjali (codifier of yogic science), has defined yoga as “citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ” (Union of healthy body and mind). However, most of the yoga gurus and trainers forget the fact that healthy mind is essential for attaining a healthy body. Yoga consist of eight components, divided into two broad categories. First category directly relates to the external world whereas the second connects us with our own inner self. “Yam” (moral imperatives); “Niyam” (cleanliness), pranayama (breathing exercises) and asana (posture) are the preliminaries required to excel on the higher paths which are “Pratyahara” (awareness); “Dharana” (concentration); “Dhyana” (meditation) Samadhi (oneness with the subject of meditation). I don’t want to complicate the subject but trying to explain how yoga involve healthy breathing , thinking, and meditation and sitting with yourself longer, but not just exercise and sweating .
Yoga is not religion. Some Muslim leaders and organizations say yoga is essentially a Hindu religious practice and that chanting mantra is against their preaching. Yoga does not conflict with any religion and does not prescribe the worship of any specific “deity or deities. How can some irresponsible statement by some religious people bother us? Let’s understand the fact that chanting mantras or the sun salutation are not mandatary for yoga practice.
Yoga is not for weight loss. Yoga has always been about physical fitness. Many yoga fans argue that they do yoga simply for fitness or weight loss. Some yoga studio (mostly seen in fancy yoga studio in western countries) claim that it can reduce 5-10 kg of weight in just half a month. Some claim that it eases back pain by keeping their spines supple and strengthening the muscles that support it. Let me remind you that gentle yoga has nothing to do with weight loss. No doubt, it keeps you fit and balanced, however too much practice of hat-yoga and believing poorly qualified instructors can create problems as well. People should be careful about doing yoga when they have bad back pain. Yoga can reduce stress levels. But anyone who thinks they are going to get in shape is deceived.
(The writer is Associated with JNU)