Yoga: Has the ancient lineage disappeared?

By: Anna Wallace

The Facts
Yoga has been around for approximately 5,000 years but
did not become popular until the 1980s.
yoga.

In 2008, approximately 15.8 million Americans practiced Four years later, in 2012, that number increased to 20.4
million Americans.

The percentage of people that practice yoga increases on

an average of 20-25% every year.

How Has the Trend Changed the Practice?

As the popularity of yoga has increased, many different variations of the practice have developed as well; therefore, destroying the ancient practice. What was practiced five thousand years ago differs from todays practice.

me here in book form and then the gurus started to arrive, its all been a question of how do you adapt these ancient teachings and practices, modernize them and bring them to a new culture, without distorting or corrupting them, or diluting their effect? Thats really the key issue here.
Yoga has eight elements and in America, asana, the physical element, is the only one being incorporated into yoga classes . Meditation has almost been forgotten about as many participants are only interested in a short fast pace class that focuses on getting in shape. There is no longer a desire to train the body and mind to self observe and become aware of their own nature.

Commercialization

Companies such as Lululemon, a clothing brand specifically for yoga, are capitalizing on the yoga trend. Their clothes are cool and trendy even for people who dont do yoga. Industry experts say this is a long-term trend and that the yoga sector is not just a short term boom. Bill Harper, vice president and group publisher of Active Interest Media's Healthy Living Group says, "Companies that want to advertise to the health-and-fitness market for women will want to make sure that yoga is a strong segment in their target. Bill Harper also said, Lululemon has done a great job of marketing, but theyve also ridden the growth of yoga and for lack of a better word, the hipness of yoga because theres lots of people who are buying Lululemon clothes that probably dont do yoga but they kind of like the idea of it. Kind of like Nike when they first got into running business, it was cool to wear a pair of Nikes even though you never set foot on a track.

THEN

VS.

NOW

Yoga Journal Source

For over 30 years, this magazine has been a helpful tool to both yoga students and teachers. Yoga Journal is able to cater to different yoga communities all across the country by incorporating a wide variety of information into their articles. The article, Yogas Greater Truth questions how genuine yoga teachings are today. Cambridge University student, Mark Singleton, tells about a time when he was

browsing through the library and stumbled upon a book that illustrated familiar yoga poses. He was quite confused considering the book was about primitive gymnastics. Mark had been attending yoga classes for quite some time and began to wonder, If I was not participating in an ancient, venerable tradition, what exactly was I doing? Was I heir to an authentic yoga practice, or the unwitting perpetrator of a global fraud? His curiosity led him to investigate and partake in extensive research in order to find and answer. It turns out that the poses we know today were not dominant components of yoga 5,000 years ago. The reason for this is because achieving health and fitness was not the main purpose back then. Mediation and spirituality were equally important.

Bed, breakfast, and yoga

The article, bed, breakfast, and yoga is another great example from Yoga Journal to support how extensive the yoga trend is becoming. The number of yoga participants has reached an all time high while continuously growing and businesses are beginning to catch on. It explains that even hotels are prepared to accommodate those in need of their daily does of yoga. After reading the article I learned that some hotels provide mats in the gym, while others will personally deliver a mat to a room by request. If the yoga mat isn't satisfying enough, there are often times television channels and/or instructional DVDs dedicated to yoga. Kimpton hotels were a specific residency mentioned in the article; they offer a roll out service that includes a mat, towels, flavored water, and fresh fruit. Others offer actual classes free of charge.

Of course a Motel 6 wouldn'tt offer these kinds of services but 5 years ago, no one did. Today, nearly 92% of yogis will practice at least a couple times a week if not daily. It is suddenly becoming a way of life for many and is quickly being accommodated.

Why is Yoga Journal reliable?

Yoga journal has been a trusted source of information for over 30 years. The information published comes from experts that have extensive working knowledge on their topic, Mark Singleton is a great example. His article directly relates to how yoga has lost touch with its original values and by using numbers and statistics. This sets the tone for a solid argument. I have done yoga for over several years and Singleton even has me questioning if the yoga I have been practicing is 100% genuine. My research topic relates to this article because it discusses how yoga has changed over the years. I spent a lot of time searching for good sources so I was very pleased to find an article that related so closely to my topic. Singleton provided information that compared yoga five thousand years ago and the yoga that is practiced today by using reliable books found in his schools library. His curiosity led him to continue researching and he came up with a

Is There More to Yoga Than Exercise?

This article is a peer-reviewed source found on the library's database. It directly addresses the issue of the lack of information about the rounded benefits of yoga by comparing both the physical and mental aspects. A study was put to the test by gathering 81 undergraduate students with mild to moderate depression, anxiety, or stress. They were split up into three groups; one group practiced yoga as exercise, the other practiced integrated yoga, and the third group was the control group. The main purpose of this is to prove that yoga is more than just a form of exercise. Over time, participants in the integrated and exercise groups saw an increase in flexibility and decrease in depression and stress compared to the control group. Decreased anxiety and decreased salivary cortisol were also experienced but only by the integrated group. This proves that when yoga is practiced with both physical and spiritual goals, one will be provided with the full benefits of yoga. Today, many yoga studios only focus on the exercise portion and are quick to neglect focusing on the spiritual side, which is just as important.

Reliability
I believed this source to be reliable because it was a peer reviewed article which means that other professions have reviewed and given their feedback to the author. The study discussed was conducted at an accredited university and the results helped to support my topic. It explained that when yoga classes are structured to incorporated more than just physical elements, the number of benefits increases. The audience of this article would include anyone involved in yoga and even those who are considering yoga because it increases the awareness of how yoga can be falsely practiced. People who are associated with yoga would be interested in my topic solely because it raises a question that is not normally questioned. The information collected from the study reflects the authors points which proves that article was well and accurately argued.

The Benefits of Yoga

Increases Flexibility

Eases Sleep Problems

Improves Breathing

Calms The Mind

Soothes Chronic Pain

Reduces Stress

Research Inspired Questions

So much money has been put into the yoga industry, what will happen
once yoga looses its popularity?

Are many people that participate in yoga aware of this issue? Is the yoga trend really here to stay? What do yoga instructors think about this issue? Why arent men as interested in yoga compared to women?

Works Cited Page

Singleton, Mark. "Yoga's Greater Truth." 08 Jun 2011: n. page. Print. Smith, Andy. "Is there more to yoga than exercise?." . Alternative therapies in health and medicine, n.d. Web. 12 February 2014. Spaldin, Lavinia. "Bed, breakfast, and yoga." Yoga Journal. Aug 2013: 24. Print.