Mystical Paths: Hindu’s Take Back Yoga.

From a Jewish website, another take on the *Take Back Yoga* effort.

Dr. Shukla is especially interesting. He says that American yoga has been engaged in *overt intellectual property theft* for purposes of *crass materialism.* But the yoga movement in America is double-edged, for its commercial success has enabled it to thrive in this strange money-worshipping nation. Perhaps this is the only means through which we could be persuaded to take up the practice?

‘Take Back Yoga’ campaign: Back where? – Faith & Reason.

The capitalist Hindus are as silly as the capitalist Americans. They are afraid yoga has been co-opted – not even as some sort of colonial enterprise, but as a BRAND!

Please someone help me figure this one out.

Yoga linked to increased levels of a critical brain chemical

The relationship between yoga and positive emotion is phenomenologically clear; now, there is a proven parallelism between yoga practice and increased levels of GABA, typically lowered in anxiety and depression. Here we again see the great mystery of the direction of causality with respect to mind and matter. The answer, of course, is that the distinction is heuristic rather than substantial – they are, as Alan Watts said, the head and the tail of the same cat.

Yoga vs. Christianity | revelife.

Check out what the Christian community thinks about Yoga – the term *pantheism* occurs frequently. And straighten those elbows, for Heaven’s sake!

In an age when American yoga is growing by leaps and bounds, what is happening with the tradition in the land of its origin – and why do we American yogis generally know so little about it? From Dr. Raghuram’s superb sVyasa program to the Patanjali Yogapitha of Ramdev Baba, first-rate yoga education is widely available to persons of all physical and intellectual backgrounds. Apparently, the only obstacles are linguistic and cultural. Yoga in America is associated with certain counter-cultural tendencies, including an understandable skepticism about the involvement of colleges in the apparatus of empire. This is regrettable, for we have a crisis of genuineness here in the states, with many unqualified teachers being produced every day by dubious organizations. India, on the other hand, has many fine yoga colleges, where students receive superb all-around training in the tradition – before they begin teaching asana to the public. In America, the physical and philosophical aspects of yoga have unfortunately become widely divorced from one another. Here, Sanskrit – the peoples’ language of yoga – is the province of a few high-and-mighty universities, and actual practice is looked down upon as *non-objective* in college departments that teach yoga history and thought. America and the west do boast many fine teachers with excellent practices, credentials and expertise; very few of these teachers, however, have a high-quality understanding of the tradition and its importance – completely understandable given how our colleges have tended not to present yoga as what it is – a powerful, living practice. Given these conditions, our goal should be to unite devotion to excellence in the physical aspects of yoga with a strong understanding of its symbolic and intellectual content. Only in this way can the tradition be effectively practiced, transmitted and preserved in the west.

Rajiv Malhotra: A Hindu View of Christian Yoga.

This excellent article by a yoga practitioner and scholar takes the point of view that yoga is in fact incompatible with certain key characteristics of the Christian mindset, especially its tendency towards historicism and body-denial.

13 yoga bosses snared in long arm of law – The Standard.

There are obvious dangers to mixing money and yoga. Slimy gurus, get-a-job-quick schemes, *learn yoga online,* and other such abominations breed like cockroaches when the two come together. So is it any surprise that Hong Kong seems to have its own yoga Sopranos? Not to me, especially after the hilarious Yoga Money Order Scam – but that’s another blog post…

Lauding few Arizona schools for introducing yoga, Hindus urge all USA schools to launch yoga.

Brought to you by the same state that will want to see your papers if you ain’t quite white enough: yoga for high schoolers. I suppose anything is possible now. But YOW – advanced yoga philosophy and the Ashtanga intermediate series? These are going to be some seriously sore, thoroughly chilled Vedantin Arizonan teenagers. (that sounds like putting ketchup on angel food cake).

The Collegian » Yoga classes on campus help students relax.

While otherwise a fairly standard presentation of yoga benefits and practice, it is intriguing that increasing numbers of men – especially in college – are beginning to take yoga. Football players, who require a good deal of focus as well as injury prevention, are beginning the practice. Perhaps this will go some way towards addressing the peculiar gender imbalance that characterizes modern American yoga.

Noticed – Yoga Mats Falling Out of Favor – NYTimes.com.

The yoga mat is both a functional and a symbolic component of modern yoga practice. Symbolically, the mat constitutes a microcosm, a space sealed off from everyday life where concentration becomes possible. It also contains within it, virtually speaking, every asana session, every meditation performed on it. For this reason, you might think of it as a kind of talisman, which can remind you instantly of all your accumulated efforts.

Practically, the mat’s function is very simple: prevention of slippage. Even many sticky mats do not perform this function properly if you sweat heavily, as do I. Hence, at Bikram studios, you’ll always cover your mat in a towel. For this same reason, Ashtanga practitioners will often use the cotton mysore mat.

The bottom line, though, may be our Western obsession with *gear.* From walking sticks for hikers to spandex suits for bikers, we consumers like to mark our cultural territory with affectations of various types. To the extent that the mat functions neither symbolically nor practically, it is precisely such an affectation, and should by all means be jettisoned at your earliest opportunity.