Yoga this, Yoga that
Modern writings and classes about yoga often misinterpret the divinely filled subject. Because of this, yoga in the west is not always recognized to its full potential. In trying to summarize the way yoga is viewed from a modernized, western perspective, I have sourced a few different areas of content.
In reviewing Elizabeth De Michelis’ A History of Modern Yoga, we can see how, and where, modern teachings went astray from the divinely paved path of yoga. Michelis writes:
“The expression ‘Modern Yoga’ is used as a technical term to refer to certain types of yoga that evolved mainly through the interaction of Western individuals interested in Indian religions and a number of more or less Westernized Indians over the last 150 years.”
Like most everything that has been submerged in western culture, yoga has evolved with contemporary ideas and practices. When yoga was introduced in the west, certain components of the subject became more prevalent, while others quickly sank in priority. Through literature and culture movements, yoga began to become a trend-like activity. People began exploring eastern religions, and a sense mysticism was spreading throughout the west. Michelis writes:
“Westerners were starting to perceive ‘yoga’ as something they could engage in, not just something ‘out there’.”
Taking note on the way Michelis labels ‘yoga’, emphasizes the large misunderstanding westerners have about the subject. Michelis argues that Modern Yoga plays the role it does for several reasons, specifically esotericism of the subject and modernized forms of Hinduism:
“It is in the interweaving and intersecting of these cultural trajectories that we find an interesting proliferation of Modern Yoga forms. Mapping them out and retracing their history can help us to understand the role played by esoteric currents in the shaping of modern Hinduism, and how Neo-Vedanta and New Age religion have influenced and supported each other in providing forms of religiosity suited to today’s cultural temper.”
Sporadic esotericism and an already skewed view of Hinduism marked the starting point to how yoga was going to be viewed and treated in the west. Michelis credits specific pioneers such as Vivekananda for large portions of modern Hinduism in the west, and declines such claims that Ramakrishna had a similar influence. Regardless of the leading ‘crusaders’, the confusion within modern Hinduism was evident, and the ramifications began to leak into the evolution of yoga in the west.
In hopes to provide evidence to Michelis’ argument regarding the lack of genuine substance for yoga in the west, I explored several leading modern yoga publications. YogaJournal.com, a leading ‘yoga’ website and magazine is a prime example of the sort of things Michelis raised in her book. The most recent publication of Yoga Journal has Modern Yoga written all over it. A lady sitting, with her palms placed together, decorates the front page. Headlines fill the left side, content ranging from diet to exercise. “Finding the right style of yoga”, “Step by Step: 100 Poses”, and “Veg Recipes”, to name a few. The issue is broken into several sections including, poses, practice, wisdom, health, and lifestyle.
In agreement with Michelis’ argument, the majority of the content is nested within the postural and health sections of the website. The few philosophy articles revolve around Patanjali’s sutras, but only cover “dharana, dhyana, and samadhi”. In search for more content regarding the philosophical and spiritual side of yoga, I logged on to their website. The “Philosophy” section is a sub-category in their wisdom section. The website was beneficial because it had a separate section for the most popular philosophical articles, but the top 8 articles looked similar to the articles in the sections of the website that were more modernly influenced. Numbers 9 and 10 however, related to Samadhi, and were articles posted in an effort to help readers obtain this final limb of the sutras. Here is an excerpt to help understand how Yoga Journal is describing this limb:
“When I first began to study yoga I thought that samadhi was a trancelike state which would take the practitioner away from everyday consciousness to a better state of being. Over the years, my understanding has changed. Now I think of samadhi as exactly the opposite of a trance. Samadhi is a state of being intensely present without a point of view. In other words, in samadhi you perceive all points of view of reality at once, without focusing on any particular one.”
As we explore western writers and modern yoga, we find that there is a large difference in eastern and western viewpoints. Michelis is accurate in her arguments regarding the culture differences between Modern and Classical Yoga, but her reasons for such can be viewed subjectively. This clear difference between cultures has strongly influenced the way yoga has been presented to myself and others.
My point with this, is that it is completely up to you on how you practice yoga. Whether yoga is something you go and “do”, or whether yoga completely paves the path for your personal journey, I know that yoga will be uniquely special to each of you. I hope this little bit has helped explain, or helped reveal, a little bit more about how I view Modern Yoga. If you would like to share your experience, thoughts, or opinion on the matter, please feel free to comment below.