(Episode 514): INCORRECT! Yoga and Appropriation…

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Shownotes!

Because citations are political…

We are so excited to, once again, chat about the complex topic of Yoga and the ways that it changes and becomes appropriated. Our killjoys discuss yoga in both an ancient and a modern context. And we hope this helps answer your burning questions about yoga and all things appropriation!

“Yoga practices include any number of things–and exist for Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, Muslims and more–including folks who do not neatly fit into these world religion labels.
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— Professor Morgenstein Fuerst

The 101: Where we did the professor work…

So, what do people get so INCORRECT about yoga?

So, what did we talk about in this episode?

Yoga is, in fact, part of a set of cultures that are appropriated and at the same time unique/distinctive
Cultures are never stable which is to say that yoga has always been in flux, it has never just been ONE thing
Power and privilege means that this western yoga gets recycled and revalued and re-appropriated

On this episode, Professors Morgenstein Fuerst and Goodwin are here to remind you that yoga and the practice thereof, has been used throughout different cultures, times, and spaces for centuries. If there is one thing that we can take from this episode is that yoga does not exist purely in the global religions paradigm. It is not purely Hindu but can be Muslim, Jain, Buddhist, etc. And, yoga doesn’t look like doing bendy stretches. It is not always physical and is certainly not just a modern practice.

What should we know about the history of yoga?

Many scholars would attribute the history of yoga to Hindu, but more broadly, Sanskritic history…
When Europeans showed up, the act of yoga reminded them a lot of carnies. And so, under imperialism, the mainstream white protestants saw yoga as deviant
And then, it became flipped as being a counterculture practice, and this is a huge part of yoga being popularized throughout history!

What’s the thesis here?

The ways that yoga has been shifted and appropriated throughout time, makes the popularization of yoga a movement towards yoga being understood as “western” and “secular”. When really, yoga is deeply religious and rooted in religions that originated in South Asia.