Yoga in the US- Friend or Foe?

So last night I watched my friend Rick do this weird exercise regiment for the better part of two hours in his attempt to get fit and find himself a girlfriend, and part of his exercise routine involved Yoga poses. It reminded me of some articles I read recently about the Americanization of Yoga and its transformation from a philosophical and spiritual ritual to a mere athletic practice to get oneself limber.

For those who don't know, the Yoga that we Americans think of is really a small aspect of a very elaborate mental practice to help focus your mind and help you achieve liberation. The positions that we think of as Yoga are meant to help us focus on our bodies instead of the stimuli from the outside world, and are not meant to be used in the same way as one does kickboxing or weight lifting. It's a sad fact that very few American Yoga instructors are versed in its spiritual history, and even fewer know anything about Hinduism at all. In fact, most Yoga teachers avoid mentioning anything of Yoga's ties to Hinduism, for fear of making people feel "uncomfortable".

While I feel that anything that helps get our unfit nation in shape is a good thing, it really saddens me that the American Yoga industry feels that it must remove itself from its roots in order to be successful. If only yoga instructors had to receive certificates from accredited institutions like massage therapy, where wanna be yoginis are taught the spiritual history as well as the physical postures, in hopes that they will pass this knowledge on to their pupils.


Do you know how hard it is to find a pic of a non-white person doing yoga? Very! pic from http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/features/health/theskinny/blog/2007/09/ please don't sue me

Links for those wanting to know more:
http://www.hinducurrents.com/articles/19969/lets-take-yoga-back/
http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2010/04/theft-of-yoga.html