I’m off to Yoga Land
By Nuria Reed
India, admittedly the Disneyland for bendy women, occupies the collective unconscious of the yoga world like a serious Oedipal complex.
Yogis speak its name with reverence in their eyes and a faint sheen of sweat glistening their brows. Oh, you’re going to India! they say, with a knowing look. Join the club, drink the chai-flavored Kool-Aid. Shit, I say, I don’t want to drink chai-flavored Kool-Aid; that sounds gross. This is, in essence, the beef (haha) I have with the India-as-the-Mecca-to-end-all-spiritual-and-physical-qualms yogis, the misconception that yoga in India means something inherently greater and more profound than yoga in the US.
To me, the connection between Western yoga — being asana — and India is a false one. It is one that all too many yogis try to force down my throat as truth, and sadly it just makes them sound uneducated and desperate to belong to a tradition greater than themselves. As humans we love tradition; we create it in our everyday lives as a way to make order out of a universe that would otherwise seem senseless. Some traditions last longer than others; none stay exactly the same.
What many yogis fail to understand is that the rigorous asana practice we today call yoga is not inherently pure or traditional. In fact, its roots are linked to charlatans, street performers and magicians, certainly not the classical and pure yoga of Patanjali. Why then this emphasis on India as the Mecca of yoga? It certainly is the home of the roots of many different kinds of yoga, but what we experience today as yoga and what Indian yoga “schools” are advertising back to us is not and never will be anything but a product of yoga as it developed in the West.
Now I’m not saying that there is something wrong with this, or that it cant do great things for people, economies and culture. Just come on, chai drinkers, and stop kidding yourself! The yoga your cute-as-button twenty-two year old teacher kicks your butt with at your posh studio is not authentic Indian. Authentic to America, yes, authentic to India, no — and what is wrong with that? Nothing, except it destroys the illusion (which is what yoga is supposed to be about right?) that India is the mystical and ancient source of modern day yoga.
In anthropology (the Kool-Aid I chose to drink) we call this “the pizza effect.”
In a nutshell: pizza as we know it evolved out of the Italian-American tradition. Its simpler form back in the motherland was nothing special. In fact, it was kinda looked down on as poor and low class. As time went by, pizza-loving American tourists went to Italy to seek out authentic pizza and, voila, pizza in Italy was reinvented as a traditional delicacy and sold back to these same Italian-Americans.
Same thing goes for yoga in the West, perhaps more so. A South Asian studies professor I had in college first brought this to my attention when I expressed interest in studying yoga culture. He looked bemused and said, “You know what is strange? Yoga studios are popping up all over India now… there never used be any.”
We all know that yoga is a huge industry. And personally I see nothing wrong with Western yoga. Sure, it produces some self-absorbed health freaks, but hey, there are worse things in the world. Just stop telling me you are going to India to finally perfect your deepest backbend, your perfect jump-back, and to find your true guru. Tell me instead you are going to India because you are curious to see how the people there have taken up yoga — our style of yoga — and are making a lot of money selling it back to us! Good for them.
By the way, in case you’re wondering, yes I am going to India to — wait for it — do yoga. I know, barf.
About Nuria Reed
Nuria Reed is an anthropologist and ashtangi. She wants you to know that yes her name is weird and no it is not a spiritual name. It is actually quite common in Spain. She currently lives in Santa Barbara, California with her chef boyfriend who routinely makes her delicious food. Despite this wonderful situation she hopes to be moving to Sweden to study development and teach yoga to other stiff cold-hearted alcoholics. She considers her cat her greatest teacher, taking daily lessons on fierce cuddling, extreme napping, and eating local. She recently bit the bullet and started a blog: nuriareedculturegirl.tumblr.com.
14 Comments !
Leave a Reply
Adam says:
Thanks for this. For me, linking my physical practice with any sort of Indian spirituality is a choice in full recognition of the fact that what I do is mostly American. I love that I can infuse my *exercise* to use a dirty word with loads of mind body awareness practices from different traditions to make something that works for me. But it will always be a modern fusion. Going to India, although exciting and interesting with many teachers to offer loads, isn’t quite necessary to deepen my practice. I could deepen my practice in my own backyard if I wanted to. Just more distractions!
Have fun in India!
Isabelle says:
Was in India last year, kept waiting for the spiritual enlightenment to happen, but no. While there, I fought with my beloved yoga teacher (who I don’t really speak to anymore), caught a nasty stomach bug that took me four months to get rid of, and have never felt so insecure and lost in my life before. So… let’s just say my eyes don’t get misty from longing when I talk about that place. As for the yoga, I practiced with three different teachers there, all were good, but the quality of the yoga there is not better than what we get in North America. In fact, in some ways I think that the yoga we do here is better suited to what my body and spirit need. My advice when it comes to India is simple: go for the sights, go for the culture, go with an open heart and mind, but have no expectations when it comes to your spiritual practice. Chances are, what you’ll learn will be entirely different from what you signed up for. And yes, I will totally go back one day.
Jenifer says:
My husband and I were talking about this yesterday — the romanticism around the East and India.
It is frustrating, because then people do not value what they have. What we have in our yoga practices is unique. It has it’s origins in Indian culture and tradition, but the material has been utilized in a new way when in a new culture. This is based on cultural need.
I was talking to a friend about the value of something arising of it’s own. I was talking about Yoga in NZ. When I first came to NZ in 2007, there was a lot of astanga, iyengar, and sivananda. But, most of the yoga was the spiritual sort — connected to Indian gurus. It was very “Indian.”
But, there was starting to be a shift — more Australian influence, and more American influence. As more people moved from Australia, the UK, and the US — as well as when many Kiwis were returning from these places — that influence was starting to take root.
Anusara is still “new” here. Shiva Rae’s influence has been here since 2007/8, but is still just brushing the surface. The work of Baptiste, Barkan, and Grilley have been brought here since 2007.
So, now there is birthing a “something else.” Teachers here are Kiwis. They are themselves, their own culture with their own perspectives, desires and needs (many of which I do not fully comprehend, but enjoy trying to figure out). They like tradition, but they also like innovation. It’s sort of a quiet innovation — because there is, at times, what I believe is a “fear” (for lack of a better word) of “stretching those wings.”
But, this could also be because many of the teachers are “new” to teaching. I come in contact with a lot — and teacher training here is really interesting and it’s own “animal” to discuss — but I’m finding that a lot of teachers are not seeking out their own voices yet. They are holding firmly to the tradition of their teacher — whatever that is. Sometimes, there’s a smidgeon of hero-worship involved (which is really quite common with new teachers, and I’ve been there myself), which I’m sure will dissolve as the teachers gain more confidence in their own voice.
I am excited to see what arises. Already, what I taught in the US has been influenced by the culture here. The people who are coming to my classes — most of them new to yoga — like what I have to offer, both in the tradition and in the american-ness (additions). But, I am also influenced by the people here — what they are asking me about, what they want, what their bodies seem to respond to, and how it all fits together.
And, their multi-cultural influence is interesting. It is it’s own thing. I like it. And it is, of course, Real Yoga (I might TM that. LOL)
Vision_Quest2 says:
For a minute there, I thought that John Friend place in California was not yet operational … and that you’re time-traveling …
Yoga Land | yogapossible says:
[...] this recovering yogi post by Nuria Reed To me, the connection between Western yoga — being asana — and India is a false [...]
Christine says:
Thank you!! There is NOTHING wrong with Western yoga! I studied my first yoga training under a very old yoga training. Will keep the name out of it because its not so much the tradition as it is the people that are running it now. But time is ever moving. And once those guru’s are gone…who is there to carry on the tradition people that manipulate words just like the westerners do too with Christianity! I will take what I want from what I learn from any source. That is my take on yoga and life! Yoga is the union of me, right? So if I like a westerners approach to yoga more than an old tradition…that’s ok by me! Who is it hurting?? And for the India fantasy…I dream that too. But I cannot stop to think of some disease and/or bugs I might pick up. I thought about doing my original training in India, but quickly stopped when I read that women that are menstruating cannot go to the temple. I thought…really?? Yikes no thanks!
So there is nothing wrong for me with Western Yoga or any yoga for that matter. Its up to the individual! Thanks for you viewpoint! Love it!!
Bob says:
Thats a great take on what I have often felt about my practice. I get great rewards out of my “western” practice but curiosity has often tempted me to wonder if my yoga is in fact authentic and but as you elude to… Who really cares? It’s good for me! Similarly, do the Japanese really eat raw fish, or is it a packaged American scam? I don’t really care, so pass me a tuna roll…
kk says:
“self absorbed health freaks”—HAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH. Yup.
Kanani says:
Have a great trip. But do –get out of the yoga community a bit. There’s a richness to India that is unforgettable. One of the best accounts of the paradoxes there can be found in this travel blog. http://www.jonandkimb.com/blog/blogindex.html
Jenifer says:
Did i read that blog this morning? Was it on flying circus or whatever?
Yes, off the beaten path is always the way to go when traveling. My favorite method is to simply get a plane ticket and the first night’s reservation, and then. . . go with it. Amazing adventures, let me tell you.
Anyway, the point of the article really isn’t about not going to India. I think it’s about not getting caught in “Orientalism” or in the romantic ideas about what india is and –even more so — not attempting to be validated by a trip to India.
Otherwise, yes, visit India.
Judiesjuice says:
I’m one of those yogis who wants to visit India. I’m not searching for enlightenment (I’m already enlightened ;0-). I want to experience the culture. I’m not sure where to begin my research. Any suggestions? Many thanks.
Nuria Reed says:
Hey People!
Thanks for commenting, I totally dig the dialogue. Ya India is certainly going to be interesting on so many levels, luckily I have my trusty Recovering Yogis to back me up. Stay tuned.
Andy says:
Isn’t Sri K. Pattabi Jois’ yoga shala in Mysore India basically the basis for what all western yoga is? I don’t think they teach much beyond asana there.
BOOM—pwned.
j/k I hear what you’re sayin girl.
Power Yoga in Pune says:
Hi,
Wow….What a good site this is !!!!!
Thanks India for yoga…….Yoga is so helpful for health.
Regards.