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inner city
June 2009 
History is now
Posted on Apr 29th, 2006
by 
Harshada
Harshada
Recently, I attended a lecture on the history of yoga. It was excellent and it awakened an insight that I would like to share.
The history of yoga is still unfolding. Often, we approach yoga as an ancient Indian practice that we, as modern western students, struggle to uncover. There is an assumption that we are trying to "get back" to an ancient wisdom. Really, this is a fallacy.
This period, the one that we're creating right now is perhaps the most significant period in the history of yoga. Over 20 million people per week attend yoga classes in the US. Countless others around the world are pursuing yoga in different forms. Masters- real yoga masters have videos, audio cds and broadcast over satlite.
Purests (I, for instance) often complain that the form of yoga that enjoys this proliferation is pretty "watered-down". What we mean is that the practice is largely used as form of physical exercise employed for cosmetic beauty or physical health. The "inner practice" has been largely de-emphasized. Few people understand real yoga.
Lately, I have been reconsidering this. This "yoga of antiquity" that I dream of is really just that. Of course, in ancient times there were great sages who gave us the ancient texts like Bhagavad Gita, Siva Sutra, Yoga Sutra, etc. But their times were also imperfect. In those days, for instance, women were prevented from practicing. In those days, asana practice as we know it today was almost unheard of. Yoga was practiced almost exclusively by full-time male monks and it was hard. There were no aromatherapy baths or soothing music. No eye pillows either!
I want to throw this out there: We are creating the practice of yoga. I am an enthusiastic supporter of evolution. We are guided by the ancients, of course. But we are also improving what they gave us. Here are just a few bullet points of goodness from our time.
Now, my friends its up to us to take it all to the next level. We are the yogis of yoga history! We are creating the history every time we practice and definitley every time we teach.
How are we going to do it?
Here are a couple of seeds I would like to cast out to your fertile ground.
Let's:
The history of yoga is still unfolding. Often, we approach yoga as an ancient Indian practice that we, as modern western students, struggle to uncover. There is an assumption that we are trying to "get back" to an ancient wisdom. Really, this is a fallacy.
This period, the one that we're creating right now is perhaps the most significant period in the history of yoga. Over 20 million people per week attend yoga classes in the US. Countless others around the world are pursuing yoga in different forms. Masters- real yoga masters have videos, audio cds and broadcast over satlite.
Purests (I, for instance) often complain that the form of yoga that enjoys this proliferation is pretty "watered-down". What we mean is that the practice is largely used as form of physical exercise employed for cosmetic beauty or physical health. The "inner practice" has been largely de-emphasized. Few people understand real yoga.
Lately, I have been reconsidering this. This "yoga of antiquity" that I dream of is really just that. Of course, in ancient times there were great sages who gave us the ancient texts like Bhagavad Gita, Siva Sutra, Yoga Sutra, etc. But their times were also imperfect. In those days, for instance, women were prevented from practicing. In those days, asana practice as we know it today was almost unheard of. Yoga was practiced almost exclusively by full-time male monks and it was hard. There were no aromatherapy baths or soothing music. No eye pillows either!
I want to throw this out there: We are creating the practice of yoga. I am an enthusiastic supporter of evolution. We are guided by the ancients, of course. But we are also improving what they gave us. Here are just a few bullet points of goodness from our time.
- Being kind to yourself- This is a central principle to modern yoga/wellness practice. This is new. Yoga in ancient times was almost the opposite. Before the rise of tantra (around 800 ce), yoga was really about overcoming yourself by force. We have blended yoga with holistic medicine and "gourmet lifestyle" to come up with the eye pillow- aromatherapy - loofa and yoga mat practice of today.
- Kids Yoga- In ancient times, boys were sometimes drafted into the ashrams and yogashallas, but it wasn't the "magical child" thing it is today. We have learned to respect and honor kids and their wisdom.
- Women's Yoga- Need I say more?
- The Internet- and massive book distributers. We enjoy an unprecidented access to wisdom from countless traditions. Just look at your bookshelf if you have any doubt.
- Anybody's Yoga- Today, people from almost any walk of life can practice yoga. Being a business man, mom, homosexual, hospital patient, or even a hospice resident need not prevent you from practicing. We have evolved past the time when yoga practice was an either/or proposition.
- The codification and refinement of allignment in yoga Asanas- BKS Iyengar, and his Guru Krishnamacharya to thank for this. Before Light on Yoga, we didn't really have the clear (almost) universal aligment ideas or asana names that we go by today. The sanskrit names like trikonasana, or chaturangadandasana are modern- at least teh way we use them today. This is important because this provides the means to train teachers and keep students safe. Current teachers like John Friend are still evolving the alignment principles.....
Now, my friends its up to us to take it all to the next level. We are the yogis of yoga history! We are creating the history every time we practice and definitley every time we teach.
How are we going to do it?
Here are a couple of seeds I would like to cast out to your fertile ground.
Let's:
- Make inner practices like meditation more prominent in the yoga world. This is what my firm Banyan Education is all about.
- Make teacher training more indepth. Teacher trainings are big business these days. It seems like everybody and their sister are now yoga teachers. If you are a yoga teacher- become a master teacher. If you train teachers, raise the bar: insist they learn everything from sanskrit to improv!
- Find ways to bring yoga into the American "ghetto"This is one demographic that has not not yet enjoyed the eye pillow-aromatherapy revolution. Our "inner cities" (Black, Latino, Immigrant Populations) and rural poor communities are mired in the basest commercialism. The big companies market unhealthy choices to these folks without mercy. They make billions from selling fast food, shoes, and ever-changing pop music (mostly with negative messages). Gaiam, are you reading this? If you have a dharma business, find a way to reach out to groups of people who have no yoga....offer a free class, lecture, box of product- whatever.
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