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How Yoga Became Popular in the United States?

The word Yoga has been derived from the Sanskrit root, ‘yuj’, meaning, to join or unite, which is, to unite one’s own will with the will of the God, through concentration and focus on oneself (Iyengar, 1966). Simply put, yoga is a science of asanas (postures) and meditation to attain an understanding into one’s nature of existence (Castaneda, 2014). The appropriation of Yoga into the American culture has been attributed to the post-colonial theories. This paper takes a closer look at how the colonialism and the post-colonization theories led to the emergence and popularity of yoga in the United States.

The Post-colonial theories and Yoga

The post-colonial theories refer to the theoretical approaches that try to disrupt the dominance of the European countries after-colonization. 

Orientalism and Yoga

Some of the post-colonial theories that indicate how western culture was of the opinion of being superior to eastern culture relates to the theory of Edward Said’s theory of ‘Orientalism’. According to this theory, West characterized Eastern culture and still continues to characterize Eastern culture as uncivilized, inferior, undeveloped and exotic (Gungor, 2019). Considering the East inferior, the West used the theory of Orientalism to suppress and govern the Orient. In his theory of Orientalism, Said considers that “Orientalism” is a thought process based on the ontological and epistemological segregation between the ‘Orient’ and the ‘Occident’ (Hamadi, 2014). According to Said, such discourses are used as a justification by the colonialists for their occupations and the horrors that accompanies with them (Hamadi, 2014). Not only have the Colonizers imposed their language and culture on the so-called Orient people, but have ignored and demeaned their cultures, values and languages, in their pursuit to dominate the East and exploit their wealth in the name of enlightening the Orient (Hamadi, 2014). It is because of this theory of Orientalism that Western culture colonized India and even culturally appropriated Yoga without completely knowing the essence of it (Gungor, 2019). 

Modernity and the Adoption of Yoga

Another theory by Friedman (2015) claims that modernity is less “Euro-centred” than most people believed it to be. The term ‘modern’ has been derived from the Latin term ‘modernus’, that distinguishes contemporary from the ‘ancient’ past (Ashcroft et al., 2007). Modernity refers to the modes of social organization, having emerged in the Europe from sixteenth century and expanded to the whole world in the wake of colonialism (Ashcroft et al., 2007). According to this theory, modernity has existed throughout the history of humanity and yoga complies with the theory of modernity as it is being adopted as physical fitness exercises by the West today. Thus, modernization of Yoga proves that Yoga is modern in its approach of keeping the mind, body and spirit heathy, that is why it is being adopted by the West.  

Neocolonialism and Cultural Imperialism

The post-colonial theories have faced extensive criticism from economists, and political and religious perspectives. From the point of view of optimists, such theories are merely a means to defy the exploitative and discriminatory practices of the West. On the contrary, the pessimistic view opines such theories to be superstitious and ambiguous (Rukundwa and Aarde, 2009). It is thus evident, that the post-colonial approaches were a way to dominate over East by the Western countries. In the wake of imperialism, a new concept ‘neocolonialism’ has emerged, according to which, the Western countries still dominate the Orient through their interference in the economic and political affairs of even those countries that have gained independence from the European countries. It is indeed an outgrowth of the classical colonialism (Young, 2001) or simply put, it is the last stage of imperialism (Rukundwa and Aarde, 2009). The Western countries dominate the Orient in terms of language, to consumer products and even entertainment (Nayar, 2015). In the age of Globalization, Cultural imperialism is an ugly face of ‘Neocolonialism’ (Nayar, 2015). Despite modernizing the culture of the East, the West has also acquired the ethnic art and yoga for their own profit and good (Nayar, 2015). 

Yoga, Modernization, and Western Adoption

Although Yoga has originated in the East, the West has acquired the Science of yoga and modified and commercialized it for their own profit (Nayar, 2015). Thus, Yoga being modern in its approach, has been adopted well by the West. 

Yoga: From Colonization to Cultural Appropriation

Swami Vivekananda and the Introduction of Yoga to the West

The origins of Yoga are found in the Indian culture and the man credited with bringing Yoga to the West was Swami Vivekananda. In their colonization of India, British employed narratives that were racist and orientalist that created a socio-cultural, religious, political hierarchy with Cristian Europeans being at the top and Indians at the bottom. This humiliation among the Hindu leaders, including, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and Ram Mohan Roy led them to take a Hindu Nationalist stance against racism and British exploitation (Heather, 2014). The modern form of yoga was exported from India to North America during British colonial rule in India and was a response to the British Colonization (Heather, 2014). 

Research into Yoga’s Physiological Benefits

In the 1920s, myriad researches were done by the psychiatrists and doctors to understand the physiological control as demonstrated by the Yogis. They documented the abilities of the yogis to slow down their heart rate by controlling their Autonomic nervous system through the Science of Yoga (Castaneda, 2014). It was these benefits of the yoga asanas, meditations and yogic breathing techniques, that led to sprouting of the organizations such as Integrative Yoga Therapy. The growth of yoga has been steadily rising since the 1920s in the United States (Castaneda, 2014). 

Thus, yoga has gained much popularity in the United States because of its multiple benefits to keep mind and body happy, healthy and hearty.

Reference List

Ashcroft et al., (2007) Post-Colonial Studies. Routledge. Available at 

http://staff.uny.ac.id/sites/default/files/pendidikan/else-liliani-ssmhum/postcolonialstudiesthekeyconceptsroutledgekeyguides.pdf

Castaneda, C. (2014) America the Yogiful: Insights into American Yoga Culture Today. Rollins 

College. Available at https://scholarship.rollins.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1056&context=mls

Demeter, M. (2006) The Commodification of Yoga in Contemporary U.S. Culture. Florida

State University. Available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241835560_The_Commodification_of_Yoga_in_Contemporary_US_Culture

Heather, M. (2014) Extreme Makeover: Yoga in the British Empire. Available at 

https://decolonizingyoga.com/extreme-makeover-yoga-british-empire/

Hamadi, L. (2014) Edward Said: The Postcolonial Theory and The Literature of Decolonization. Lebanese International University. Available at https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/328024387.pdf

Iyengar, B. (1966) Light on Yoga. London: George Allen and Unwin.

Nayar, P.K. (2015) The Postcolonial Studies Dictionary. Wiley Blackwell. Available at

http://www.surendranathcollege.org/new/upload/JAHIRA_HOSSAINP.%20K.%20Nayar-The%20Postcolonial%20Studies%20Dictionary2020-12-03P.%20K.%20Nayar-The%20Postcolonial%20Studies%20Dictionary.pdf

Rukundwa, L.S. & Aarde, A.G.V. (2009) The formation of postcolonial theory. HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies. DOI:10.4102/hts.v63i3.237. Available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/45681076_The_formation_of_postcolonial_theory 

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