Yoga Appropriation. Yoga and the Roots of Cultural Appropriation, Shreena Gandhi. I first questioned my yoga practice in 2018 when I saw the headline “Americans who practice yoga contribute to white supremacy.” I read and reread this backlash article multiple times questioning the purpose of this news. Yoga in India today is a little different from both modern American practices and its own cultural origins. There’s still a lot of debate in India over how yoga should be taught and practiced. But regardless of the debate, yoga in India is far from a fashion statement or gym alternative. Cultural appropriation in yoga happens on many levels, from the messaging we receive from many major brands and media to the Sanskrit mantras printed on T-shirts.
Yoga & Cultural Appropriation. I often hesitate to call myself a “yoga teacher.” I prefer to view myself as a student, a lifelong disciple of one of my culture’s most precious gifts, yoga. A tradition of spiritual teaching that has evolved and survived several cultural onslaughts for well over 2,500 years. The latest being its current. Why the Appropriation of Yoga Matters. If these signs of cultural appropriation are familiar to your yoga practice, that doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. We’re all taught to follow the systems of oppression that dominate our society, and every one of us has to go through a learning process to decolonize our thoughts and behaviors.
You may be wondering why is a “Christian yoga” teacher talking about appropriation? It’s true, on the surface it may seem like this is textbook cultural appropriation white-washing yoga’s history. The difference is intentionally recognizing what we are adapting and honoring its origins.
Yoga, like so many other colonized systems of practice and knowledge, did not appear in the American spiritual landscape by coincidence; rather, its popularity was a direct consequence of a larger system of cultural appropriation that capitalism engenders and reifies. Cultural appropriation in yoga happens on many levels, from the messaging we receive from many major brands and media to the Sanskrit mantras printed on T-shirts. Yoga and cultural appropriation. One perspective is that an ancient practice from a developing country has been gutted through cultural appropriation—the process of taking something traditional from a marginalized group and turning it into something that profits the dominant group. I am the author of Honoring Yoga’s Roots: Unpack Appropriation and Evolve Your Practice available for pre-sale now. I run a Honor Yoga’s Roots online course that offers training so yoga teachers, studios, classes, and programs are well prepared to be inclusive, accessible and welcoming while honoring the roots of yoga.
