What does drinking wine, listening to soothing music, or nuzzling with adorable baby goats have to do with Yoga? Absolutely nothing. What does a multi-billion dollar industry full of tight fitting clothes, kitschy magazines, and overpriced mats and water bottles have to do with Yoga? You guessed it … Absolutely nothing. These are all things that white people have added to Yoga in order “differentiate” themselves, and get more people into their classes. While in and of itself, there is nothing wrong with White people practicing Yoga to better their lives – the problem occurs when it is stripped of its intended meaning and the culture to which it belongs.
Whitewashed
Imagine for a moment that the majority of Chinese Restaurants were owned and run by White people – and Chinese people were not even able to open up a Chinese restaurant because the demand for Americanized Chinese food had superseded the desire for the real thing. Now imagine that in order to even open a Chinese restaurant, one had to go through an extensive certification process and pay money to White facilitators to learn the art of cooking “authentic” Chinese food. This is where we are at with Yoga.
For the vast majority of White Americans, Yoga is merely a fun way to become stronger, more flexible, work on our breathing, relieve stress, and feel better about our bodies. While all of those are noble pursuits – the means don’t necessarily justify the ends.
When it comes to cultural appropriation, Western culture has a “take what you want and leave the rest” attitude. The part that we take is usually the part that can be altered and monetized – and “the rest” ends up being the part that provides context, significance, and meaning. In it’s current form, Yoga has become a white-centric space. Most Yoga studios in the U.S. are White-owned, led by White instructors, and full of primarily White practitioners.
Devoid of Spirituality
Yoga originated close to 5,000 years ago within an orthodox sect of ancient Indian philosophy. It had very little to do with body movement and flexibility – which became more prevalent in the past two centuries – but instead was primarily a form of spiritual practice steeped in mantras, rituals, and core values.[i] Yet once the West got a taste of this “exotic form of stretching,” White folks were hooked.
We then reinvented and rebranded the actual practice of Yoga, leaving out the spirituality altogether – instead adding soothing music, heated floors, wine, goats, and countless other novel components that further dissociate Yoga from its true form. This is not to say that Yoga should (or even can) be completely sterile of any outside influence – but when the westernized version becomes the expectation, it undermines the practice itself.
Yoga “Hacks”
Beyond the practice itself, Westernized Yoga has also blossomed into a swanky health, beauty, and fitness industry – riddled with White-owned Yoga magazines touting exaggerated benefits and unproven health claims of [Western] Yoga. Want to know how to achieve “Om in 30 seconds,” “Harness Your Inner Ganesha Power?” or even use Yoga to improve your skiing.[ii]
Just open up a copy of Om Magazine.While you’re at it, feel free to purchase some of the cool hipster apparel featured in their ads such as “Buddha Pants.” In addition to misrepresenting the practice, these publications further rip off Indian culture by hawking overpriced health foods, traditional medicines, and ancient remedies.
Western Yoga Means Money … And Lots Of It
The sheer commercial value of westernized Yoga is what ultimately makes it such a strong contender for first place in the “Cultural Appropriation Olympics.” In fact, some data currently places the Yoga industry at $84 billion worldwide, with the average practitioner spending nearly $65 thousand over their lifetime on workshops, classes, and Yoga accessories.[iii]
Yet as is the case with almost every instance of blatant cultural appropriation, the billions in profit inevitably end up going straight into the pockets of the people who took it, while hardly a cent has actually benefited the people from whom it was taken – beside the single-digit incomes of overseas factory workers forced to work grueling hours using noxious chemicals to create Yoga mats, garments, and accessories for export.
Real Practitioners Get Pushed Out
The novelization of Yoga has pushed many genuine South East Asian Yoga practitioners and instructors to the fringes, if not completely out of, this multi-billion dollar industry. White folks now have a distinctly Westernized palate of what Yoga should look like, sound like, and feel like – and that expectation has overshadowed the practice itself.
Understandably, those who teach real Yoga are unwilling to conform to the whitewashed expectations of a practice that they have devoted their lives to. Westernized forms of Yoga have overshadowed not only the practice itself, but also marginalized the people to whom it actually belongs.
We Love Our Yoga
Yoga has become yet another lucrative opportunity for American capitalism to greedily commodify something that does not belong to us. In other words, America doesn’t actually love Yoga – instead, we love the appropriated version of Yoga that we have created for ourselves. Moreover, our economy loves this version of Yoga even more.
How Can You Help?
If you choose to practice Yoga, here are a few things you can do to mitigate your impact:
*Note: This list is adapted from yoga studio owner, teacher, and podcaster, Arundhati Baitmangalkar. You can read her article, “How We Can Work Together to Avoid Cultural Appropriation in Yoga,” in Yoga International to learn more and find out how you can help.
- Write to big yoga brands and demand inclusive representation. Express your unwillingness to buy into the appropriation of yoga.
- Use your social media accounts to amplify Indian and South Asian yoga voices.
- Demand that the Yoga Alliance standardization model include attention to cultural appropriation.
- Support Indian and South Asian teachers with your dollars through classes, trainings, and more.
- Question yourself, your yoga teachers, and your studio owners about representation and appropriation, and seek out and/or provide educational resources.
- Are their South East Asian practitioners, teachers, or owners at your Yoga studio?
- Are you surrounded by sacred symbols and deities as décor?
- Does your studio also give a platform to disrespectful and frivolous offerings like beer yoga and goat yoga?
Sources:
[i] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yoga-philosophy
[ii] https://www.ommagazine.com/magazine/issue-113-january-2021/
[iii] https://bookretreats.com/blog/yoga-statistics
[iv] https://yogainternational.com/article/view/how-we-can-work-together-to-avoid-cultural-appropriation-in-yoga
