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My Opinions On Non-Brown People Doing Yoga
A THREAD
A THREAD
Disclaimer: I am not a professional yoga practitioner (yogi means an ascetic but I digress) nor teacher but I am Indian and have been practising yoga for the longest time of my life. These are just opinions and should be taken with a grain of salt since all Desis is different.
Firstly, this is the Yoga book I learned from videos. This book is from 1996, 3 years before I was born so it is a very old book. Hence, I have practised yoga for an accumulated total of 10 years (I am 21 now)
I am not a master at it but I definitely know a lot about Yoga. Yoga firstly isn't just an exercise but it's a whole system in itself. It is about the union of your mind, your body, your spirit and your soul, all together working in harmony. It's more complicated than it looks.
Briefly, Patanjali was said to be the author of the Yoga textbooks, called the Yogasutra, which is the foundation of yoga. It is said that he had learned Yoga, alongside 7 other disciples of Nandhi Deva, Lord Shiva's Vahana according to Tamil literature.
Here is the Tamil text, from the Thirumanthiram, Tantra 1, stanza 67
"நந்தி அருள் பெற்ற நாதரை நாடிடின்
நந்திகள் நால்வர் சிவயோக மாமுனி
மன்று தொழுத பதஞ்சலி வியாக் ரமர்
என்று இவர் என்னோடு எண்மரும் ஆமே"
You can look for it online as well:
http://www.tamilvu.org/library/l4100/html/l41A0ind.htm
"நந்தி அருள் பெற்ற நாதரை நாடிடின்
நந்திகள் நால்வர் சிவயோக மாமுனி
மன்று தொழுத பதஞ்சலி வியாக் ரமர்
என்று இவர் என்னோடு எண்மரும் ஆமே"
You can look for it online as well:
http://www.tamilvu.org/library/l4100/html/l41A0ind.htm
There are 8 limbs or branches of Yoga as extracted from Patanjali's Yogasutras. A practitioner has to definitely study each and every one of these branches in order to understand Yoga as a whole. Asana or Yogasana is the posture aspect and is the most popular.
Yoga also prioritises a lot of values, even while doing the posture. I won't go into too much detail but one of the main ones is AHIMSA, which is non-violence. What does this mean, it means non-violence to yourself, to the people around you and your own body!
Ahimsa to your own body depends on the individual itself, similar to intuitiveness while eating or doing the exercises. Hence, why Iyengar Yoga was introduced by BKS Iyengar as a way to be detailed, slow-paced and less violent to the body. Which is where props were introduced!
As you can see, Yoga is also a very body-positive system as people with any body types can join in. I will get into this soon as well. Yoga is very accepting and can be done by anyone and everyone. However, there are certain lines that need to be understood by people.
Here's where it gets a bit problematic, you cannot really push the ideologies of yoga just to learn Yoga in itself. There is a difference between not focusing too much on them versus completely eliminating the other limbs from the practice itself. Postures alone do not help.
Brown people are considered to be more subjective and more open in regards to this because we have a concept called Sarva Dharma, where all truths are just branches to the same tree. Which is why these topics are always like walking on a tight rope.
Which is why for me, I find it difficult to actually talk about these topics since I strongly uphold the Sarva Dharma values, which is why I am mostly pluralistic when it comes to beliefs and is why I visit mosques, churches, temples and other religious places without judgement.
Most brown people I know, are taught to be that way, I hope at least. The concept of there being 1 truth only is very much blurred amongst our beliefs and cultures. I am both Tamil and Punjabi so this becomes 10 times harder than it actually is because of my history.
My personal beliefs aside, I have to split the ground here. I do not have a problem with non-brown people doing yoga but there are some give and takes you to have to understand. A lot of the Yoga practitioners and practices found online are white-centric.
This isn't a personal attack but it is definitely true, a lot of the Yoga practitioners are white. There are some exceptions. Kino MacGregor in an Ashtanga Yoga teacher and is the youngest to receive certification from K. Pattabhi Jois who is the founder of Ashtanga Yoga.
That's why I am more subjective with Yoga practitioners and Yoga teachers who have qualifications from actual Indian Yoga Gurus. Most Yoga Gurus do not prefer to leave their ashrams in India so they usually allow students to go there and learn. This is why it's tricky!
I am definitely happy as an Indian person, that people are practising Yoga and understanding it but I will not dismiss that there is a lot of racism, fatphobia and discrimination in the yoga community itself, mainly in the West. Click on a Yoga hashtag and you see white people.
Here's an article from an Indian-American Yoga practitioner who talks about this situation. You can read this article as well because it definitely is informational and a very much needed conversation. https://www.self.com/story/yoga-indian-cultural-appropriation
This is a totally different scenario as that is Swami Vishnudevananda, who is teaching yoga to people from multiple races. Nowadays, I rarely see pictures of Indian people doing yoga at all, which could be a sign of erasure and white-washing the art of Yoga.
Similarly, we also have instances of Yoga that is used in a sexual manner, like in Janelle Monae's song "Yoga" where her lyrics talk about "Let your booty do that yoga" which can be very offensive and insensitive due to the high discipline nature of yoga.
Does yoga talk about sex? Yes, yes it does. Does it go deep into the conversation? Of course. The difference is that Yoga is also sexualised instead of sexuality being a branch of it. We literally have the Kama Sutra which does talk about sex, but it's not ONLY about sex.
This is why it's starting to become problematic, it's the simplifying of Yoga by the West, that gives Yoga a bad image. Even the chanting of the Pranava mantra "OM" is not a trend, we use "OM" in every single prayer or chant. We even have a prayer for the word OM itself.
Hindus chant:
Omkaram Bindhum Samyuktam |
Nityam Dyayenti Yogina: |
Kaamadam Mokshadam Chaiva |
Omkaraaya Namo Nama: ||
Which is a prayer dedicated to the word OM but many people do not know or understand how significant these little details are.
Omkaram Bindhum Samyuktam |
Nityam Dyayenti Yogina: |
Kaamadam Mokshadam Chaiva |
Omkaraaya Namo Nama: ||
Which is a prayer dedicated to the word OM but many people do not know or understand how significant these little details are.
The West has made Yoga into a caricature when talking to Indian people and how some Western people, especially white people talk over Indians in regards to Yoga or our Hindu spirituality. Even articles I found are white people who changed their names into Sanskrit names.
Here is another article in regards to Yoga which addresses the elimination of the main and important aspects of Yoga from the Western styles of practices. Just because Yoga is very accepting, does not mean you can just blur the lines... https://futuretravel.today/ask-a-hindu-indian-is-yoga-cultural-appropriation-560c7a54f793
Even the word Namaste is thrown around a lot without people knowing what it is. Imagine hearing a Becky saying Namaste to you, an Indian person, while you're walking down the street trying to get your morning coffee. I would start speaking in Tamil and confuse her.
I hear people saying "Namaste Bitch" as well, which to me is quite offensive. It means "The soul in me honours the soul in you" and each Indian race has their own version. I say Vanakkam, Namaskaram, Namaste, Sat Sri Akal (mainly for Sikh Punjabis) and many more.
The concept of Chakras is also thrown around a lot. Chakras aren't just something you see from Naruto and call it a day. It's something not many people are advised to talk about, I know amongst Indians, we don't really talk about it too unless we have a spiritual guide.
Which boils down to this- Do I think non-brown people can do Yoga? Yes, yes they can but there are certain rules that I need you to understand and digest. Always make sure you get a knowledgeable Indian person's opinion first regarding this matter.
Secondly, does this person have actual certification from an Indian Hindu guru and has trained for years about the whole Yoga system? If yes, then you can practice with that person because certifications are very important and they are approved by an Indian Guru themselves.
If the person has no qualification whatsoever and does not include Indians, people from different races, body sizes, sexualities, gender identities- that is not Yoga.
Because Yoga is so white-washed, it's so hard to see anyone other than white people doing Yoga.
Because Yoga is so white-washed, it's so hard to see anyone other than white people doing Yoga.
I can say that when you actually take time to learn and actually pay people who learned it from Indian Yoga experts, it would be much more beneficial in the long run. https://www.rishikeshyogpeeth.com/200-hour-yoga-teacher-training-india.html
Here's another article from an Indian yoga instructor and I feel it's more important to listen to them more and make our choices. You cannot be racist and do Yoga, it goes against the Yoga teaching itself and let's be honest, racists are stupid. https://www.yogajournal.com/teach/indian-american-yoga-teacher
My answer is again, anyone can do yoga make sure you do your proper research in regards to yoga. It's not just a trend, it's a 2500-year-old tradition and practice, it deserves its respect.
