Comments on: Asanas For Sale: The Privatization Of Yoga

By: sarah Mangion

sarah Mangion — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 05:02:58 +0000

gosh…maybe I should copyright some of my moves! I did start “sacred flow” yoga…best start my trademarking today!

By: Shirley Archer

Shirley Archer — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:32:35 +0000

You’ve written a provocative article about a topic I’ve also given alot of thought. While my quote you included was given in response to a journalist’s question that did not mention any styles that you described, I still believe that hatha yoga has a lot of benefits to offer those who are exposed to it at varying degrees of authenticity. I’m a certified Sivananda instructor who has enjoyed a variety of yoga styles since childhood. My master’s degree is in East Asian Studies. And, I was raised by a Japanese mother with a deep respect for East Asian civilizations and traditions. I believe yoga has the power to transcend these commercialization efforts. I also wrote an article about how the Indian Government has now grown aware of these trends, has established a Ministry and is now trademarking its cultural treasures from its ayurvedic and yogic traditions. My article is not on the internet, but you can learn more about that here: http://www.hvk.org/articles/1005/44.html. I write a mind-body-spirit monthly column with many articles posted here http://bitly.com/vryJ where I seek to educate people about the historical origins of these traditions, the truth about American contributions and how the science is now validating the power of classical practice. Keep up the conversation. Namaste.

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By: Gennaro

Gennaro — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:39:47 +0000

I don’t mind that profit has entered the field. Nothing wrong with individuals making a profit doing something they love. The lawsuit and copyright of certain postures though goes against the nature of yoga itself. It’s important for the teachers to respect the core of the Eastern traditions. That goes for the consumer too.

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By: Bhaskar Banerji

Bhaskar Banerji — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:21:34 +0000

To some extent this is to be expected as weâ€™re talking about the US here, the home of Baskin Robbins, 31 flavors. Nowhere in the world do we find the kind of differentiation of disciplines as we do in North America. This is partly due to the fact that we are a culture of pioneers; people who deliberately moved here to begin a new live, breaking from traditions and to some extent, re-inventing their wheels. So, itâ€™s not surprising to see this re-invention of the wheel at every level – from financial mechanisms like derivative swaps to schools of yoga. This country is famous for being a hotbed of creativity and unfortunately the shadow side of creativity is a certain amount of destructivity, as we can plainly see with the current financial meltdown. I say it just comes with the territory of Americana.

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By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:53:56 +0000

Great post – it brought up some thoughts for me on protectionism in yoga. I wrote my own thoughts on this issue here http://www.foodandyoga.ca/mcyoga/

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