Yoga Branding & Ownership Claims - Your Thoughts?

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

There are many folks who ‘brand’ yoga. I am conflicted about this. Yoga has been passed down through thousands of years of teachings and now people are claiming ownership of yoga sequences or yoga styles.

I’ve seen so many people ‘name’ there yoga, when at it’s root it is all the same. I understand the desire to make a name for yourself in the yoga world so that you can earn a living and continue to teach, but I just wonder if it has gone too far when people go around naming ‘their’ yoga and claiming that it is substantially different or more special than other yoga taught around the world… when people start franchising…

I don’t know, it almost seems like when people start claiming that ‘my’ yoga is special or better… that people should take ‘my’ yoga instead of the next persons yoga that we are allowing ego to enter our teaching, which seems decidedly un-yogic.

For example, Bikram Yoga sequence is trademarked. There is nothing revolutionary about the sequence. The movements have been taught for thousands of years. The ‘founder’ of Bikram yoga did not invent anything new, he simple utilized ancient teachings that were freely shared with him. The heat element - well, I find that humorous since it is my understanding that Bikram yoga started in Arizona where it is scorching hot. What a great way to reduce your energy bill - turn the heat into a positive selling point. Sorry Bikram folks - I’m not making fun of your practice - I’m just questioning whether this practice of trademarking and branding is co-opting yoga, which might be seen as ego driven, unyogic and ultimately stealing from the ancient teachers.

Perhaps some of you have perspectives you would like to share?

#2

YogiMoni,

It is largely an outcome of the whole flimsy approach of the West to the spiritual sciences. There is nothing wrong with any of these things that you have mentioned, those are just superficial. The problem is that what was intended as a science and technology towards ones enlightenment has become bastardized to fulfill the desires of people in the marketplace. Now just about anybody can go through a three month training program and become certified to teach yoga. No inner transformation is needed, no commitment to exploring into your own being is needed, and with such a half-hearted attitude it was only natural that what has come to be called yoga in the marketplace has happened. All of those companies which are trademarking themselves, to me the problem is not even that they are trademarking their products, but that they are even considered yoga in the first place. Rather than referring to something like Bikram Yoga as yoga, it should simply be called asana practice. It is not a science for the expansion of consciousness, it is just a physical workout routine. Nothing wrong with bringing the body to a certain state of fitness, but it should not be called yoga. The word yoga itself simply means Union, when the finite and the infinite merge as one in your experience, then you are in a state of yoga. Any method which leads towards this can be called a method of yoga. And unless one has come to ones own awakening, how can you possibly assist others towards their own awakening ? It would be just like one who is blind dreaming about seeing. So to me there is a far greater problem. If you are trademarking what you are offering, what is the problem ? In fact it is a convenience, so that what you are offering can be identified for what it is. The problem is that certain people in the West, without any direct experience, with their half-hearted and flimsy attitude towards the spiritual, are transmitting what they are calling yoga like immature children. Nowadays there is naked yoga, marijuana yoga, all kinds of yogas which are just created to appeal to the marketplace. It is simply irresponsible. In the East, before the disciple would become qualified to teach, he would have to go through tremendous discipline and training, pouring his whole being into the practice. And even if you have been practicing for years upon years, unless the master can see that you have come to your own enlightenment, you cannot even speak to others about yoga. That is the amount of commitment and one-pointedness which has always been emphasized in the spiritual sciences, and that is why what is scientific has not degenerated into what is simply superstition. That is why the approach of modern science has been so effective, because they always put these safety gaurds to make certain that such things would not happen.

Mans being is very complex, and if you are tampering with the system without the proper inner understanding, rather than doing good, it can create more harm. That is why it is essential that the yogic sciences is approached with a certain amount of dedication, commitment, and one-pointedness, and that anybody who enters into such a journey of the inner exploration of man, enters into the search with a certain fire to inquire as deeply as possible into oneself and realize ones Buddhahood.

#3

I don’t have a problem with branding. The fact of the matter is that not all yoga is the same. Different teachers may have a different background, emphasis, approach, or philosophy, and branding is necessary to differentiate oneself from others and communicate the peculiarities of your approach to potential students.

AmirMourad, for example has his own brand, and in a round-about way in his post here he is promoting his brand. He is attempting to position himself as someone who has dedicated a lot of time and effort into his practice, and not just a 200 hour certificate and therefore his brand is superior and more of an ‘authentic’ type of yoga. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a little ironic though because Amir himself hasn’t followed a traditional path, he is self-taught and self-proclaimed.

#4

Thank you for taking your time to share your thoughts and comment on my query.

[QUOTE=AmirMourad;72146]
… to me the problem is … that they are even considered yoga in the first place. Rather than referring to just asana practice. It is not a science for the expansion of consciousness, it is just a physical workout routine. …
[/QUOTE]
Yes, I can see your point. I agree that is the core problem - people ‘bastardizing’ yoga to make a quick buck rather than using it to create a better world. Now that many gyms are hiring yoga teachers there are so many people who think they ‘do yoga’ but are only doing exercise. I never know what to say to those people. Do I let them keep their delusion… let them think they are ‘doing yoga’? Or do I give them a hint that there is more to yoga than gym exercise?

Usually if they are not my students I keep my mouth shut. If they are my students I will usually say something like, “In our practice together the movement we do are simply a means to an end. Asana is not yoga practice - it is a means to raising your awareness. If you want a cute butt you can go to the gym. If you want to develop your awareness and develop your physical/emotional/spiritual self, than this class is for you.”

[QUOTE=AmirMourad;72146]

The word yoga itself simply means Union,
[/QUOTE]
I often hear and read yoga referred to as meaning Union - to yoke - to join - to unite. In doing research for a workshop that I recently taught I discovered something interesting. It was said that the first time that the word yoga is found in ancient text it actually was used to refer to a ‘discipline’. So the word yoga was first used to refer to various disciplines that lead to enlightenment and later, with Patanjali, I think, it was used as Union. I would have to go through my research to share the facts.

[QUOTE=AmirMourad;72146]

[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=AmirMourad;72146]

… And unless one has come to ones own awakening they should not teach yoga…
[/QUOTE]

I respect your belief here. And I agree that there are many people teaching yoga who are not of service to society, and in fact may perpetuate unhealthy things. At the same time, what human being is to officially decided/judge/determine whether another human being is enlightened? Only the divine or God can make that determination. I think that as yoga students we must practice discernment about what teachings we follow. And for those of us who teach, we must do our best to teach from a divine heart. However we are still human beings and not Gods… so as human beings we are all still in the process of awakening (some of us further along than others) and can only do our best to help others follow our quest for the divine connection. Also while one person may be further along in one area, they may be more limited in another. So, having multiple teachers and discernment about what we accept from our teachers is essential, I think.

Also I do not think years of training equates to quality of teaching. To me what makes a great yoga teacher is a warm, loving, kind, genuine heart. I know ‘gurus’ who have practiced for years and claim enlightenment, while in reality they are stuck in ego. On the flip side I know people who are yogic in all that they do, even though they may not have even studied yoga. Of course it is important to study the science of yoga if you are to teach it, but I believe that there are good teachers that come from all types of training backgrounds.

[QUOTE=AmirMourad;72146]

…Nowadays there is naked yoga, marijuana yoga, all kinds of yogas which are just created to appeal to the marketplace.
[/QUOTE]

Hahaha… I know, it is so silly. They have ‘punk rock yoga’ and ‘disco yoga’ and ‘acro yoga’ now too. What the heck? Talking about co-opting yoga. And ‘hot naked yoga’ that has got to be the lamest of all.

#5

Anyone know why there is a giant ad on my original post? I didn’t put that there. Does this forum automatically place ads on people’s posts?

#6

’ ’ To me what makes a great yoga teacher is a warm, loving, kind, genuine heart.’ ’

Compassion, love, having a genuine heart - though these are certainly qualities which are essential to assist others along the path, by themselves they are not capable of assisting others towards ones enlightenment. It is very simple - unless you yourself have become awakened, it is impossible to assist others towards their own awakening. Being compassionate does not mean that you become qualified to teach yoga anymore than being compassionate makes you qualified to perform open surgery. It is a necessary quality, but by itself it is not enough.

’ ’ I know ‘gurus’ who have practiced for years and claim enlightenment, while in reality they are stuck in ego. ’ ’

Then those people are not gurus.

’ ’ Of course it is important to study the science of yoga if you are to teach it, but I believe that there are good teachers that come from all types of training backgrounds.’ ’

There are many teachers, but as far as inner transformation is concerned, a teacher cannot be of much help. There is a tremendous difference between a teacher and a master. A teacher can give you knowledge, information. The function of a master is to assist you towards your own awakening which he himself has realized out of his own direct experience. So if you look around, you will find many teachers, they are as common as hair while those who have seen into the heart of the matter are as few as horns. If you come into the presence of a teacher, then absorb whatever you may find useful from him. But sooner or later you are bound to remain dissatisfied, and the reason is because without inner transformation - nothing, absolutely nothing is going to be found to bring you to a contentment. Even coming into the presence of a master is no guaruntee that one will come to ones liberation.

#7

I agree with you Yogimouni :slight_smile:

This is why I do not practice any of the Yoga styles. Mostly, because they are directed at Hatha Yogis, and the Yoga I practice is Jnana and Raja. The other reason is, I don’t need somebody tell me what sequence I need to do my postures in and constantly realign me. It baffles me how this realigning business has turned into a multi-billion dollar industry.

I love your picture by the way, beautiful :slight_smile:

#8

[QUOTE=AmirMourad;72146] The problem is that certain people in the West, without any direct experience, with their half-hearted and flimsy attitude towards the spiritual, are transmitting what they are calling yoga like immature children. [/QUOTE]

This can of course never happen in “the East” :wink:

[QUOTE=AmirMourad;72146] … unless the master can see that you have come to your own enlightenment, you cannot even speak to others about yoga.
[/QUOTE]

Does it mean that your master told you that you are enlightened, AmirMourad?

The brandedness of Yoga irritates me as well. Recently I saw a video with Sharath Jois, who said, that he would never call himself a guru. After a break, he gave the necessary addition: “A guru never calls himself a guru.” :roll: Anyway, I am glad that I roughly know what I can expect in an Ashtanga class and how Iyengar Yoga differs from it. Here the “brands” help me orientate. Bikram Yoga with its protected set of poses is a bit overdone though, but reflects the commercialisation of Yoga, as it exists in the East and West today.

#9

[QUOTE=AmirMourad;72146]YogiMoni,

It is largely an outcome of the whole flimsy approach of the West to the spiritual sciences.[/QUOTE]

Let’s first get this myth out of the way. The ‘branding’ of yoga began with Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya and his boys from Mysore a century ago. It could be they were from the west end of Mysore - perhaps this is what you meant.

At any rate, commercialization of stuff that some see as sacred is not limited to yoga. Modern society (west, east, north and south) is driven by financial economics, and people’s self worth are gauged by monetary value. Some sit back in the rockers and moan these modern times, but that is the reality of exisitence now.

What I have learned is that yoga is a very personal practice. It is enough to follow your own path and nevermind what Bikram is doing, unless you are drawn to that practice. If you were to ask my opinion - Bikram and some others who have ‘branded’ yoga are clowns performing in a circus for a paying audience. That is all. For my part, I take great pleasure in offering a space where people can practice the style of asana that is best suited to them.

#10

mukimuki,

"This can of course never happen in “the East”

It has happened everywhere, in the East and the West. But the East has forgotten even of it’s own history, even those countries which you are calling of the “East” are not even Eastern, they have become Westernized. The “Western civilization” is not a geographical situation - it is something cultural. As far as the inner sciences are concerned, this is an area which has been explored to it’s ultimate depth in the East, nowhere else in the history of humanity have so many human beings become involved in the process of the expansion of consciousness as it has happened in the East. The spiritual sciences are neither Western or Eastern, in the same way that electricity is neither Western nor Eastern. The people who happened to discover this science happened to be of the East.

“Does it mean that your master told you that you are enlightened, AmirMourad?”

No, I have never had a master. It is possible to come to one’s enlightenment entirely through one’s own efforts, without the guidance of a guru, but this is not something which is possible for the vast majority of individuals. Even if you come to your enlightenment, you still do not carelessly think about teaching others unless you have become firmly established. Even Gautama Buddha, after coming to his awakening, was very resistant to teach others. It is said that the god Brahman had to eventually convince him to start teaching the path, otherwise after his awakening he had no intention to start showing the path to others. Like this, many masters who started teaching may have been at one time very hesitant to teach. They know the enormous difficulty of trying to express the inexpressible, and the rare amount of commitment that is needed to enter into the path.

“Recently I saw a video with Sharath Jois, who said, that he would never call himself a guru.”

That is his own egotism. If one is truly awakened, then whether one calls oneself a guru or not, it makes no difference at all. If you are too concerned about calling yourself a guru, then you are as egoistic as those who are suffering from clinging to the idea of being a guru. Otherwise, there is no problem - the word itself simply means the dispeller of darkness. Anything or anybody which dispells the darkness of your ignorance is a guru, it does not even need to manifest in a human form.

#11

[QUOTE=AmirMourad;72209]“Does it mean that your master told you that you are enlightened, AmirMourad?”

No, I have never had a master. It is possible to come to one’s enlightenment entirely through one’s own efforts, without the guidance of a guru, but this is not something which is possible for the vast majority of individuals.

<snip>[/QUOTE]

Though generally accepted (in a number of Yogic and Buddhist schools) that yes, by all means, “it is possible to come to one’s enlightenment entirely through one’s own efforts” – there is a small issue of “verification” (or “self-verification”, in case there is no “authorized” spiritual guide to certify).

This is rather interesting topic, that was once discussed in a multi-page thread (elsewhere on the Net), wherein a number of fully transmitted Zen Buddhist teachers voiced their opinions.

Hands palms together,

el gatito

#12

YogiMoni,

Yoga’s universal appeal and Hinduism, its biggest and most comprehensive sponsor, not being rigidly possessive, the latter day practitioners have freely experimented with Yoga, selectively adopted it, recklessly fused it with any other disciplines, ungratefully put their own name-tags on their hybrid creations and criminally commercialized a holy path.

This problem seems to be universal, not confined to either East or West. East is still selling the mystique by using the symbols of colorful robes, beards and heritage. West is selling the impossible body knotts, “instant” nirvana and moksha in 7 easy steps at picturesque retreats. Yoga journey of lifetimes has become yoga tourism and the great holistic concept has become fragmented into “how to” techniques for even dogs and infants.

Branding may be the rule of the day. But that creates more hurdles for the seeker to cross to arrive on the true path. Lift any yoga periodical and one sees no style-seller telling the seeker that his/her is one approach or one interpretation of what yoga is. The impression is cultivated that “that’s it; that’s all that yoga is”. This is re-writing history in order to legitimize their enterprise is amusing. There is no need.

Yoga invites experimentation as its goal is self-realization. If one’s path of realization initially goes through the ego trips, mental acrobatics, or spiritual punditry, it is still a process as long as one remembers to transcend these hurdles sooner or later. Yoga has survived for so long that it will not be constrained by any of the above. Not being centrally institutionalized or not having any censoring authority is yoga’s strength and not a weakness.

#13

Grieving about the current state of affairs cannot bring about change. Yoga has attracted so many egos because it is attractive - sexy and alluring. The effect of yoga practice on the the human nervous system has made it addictive and enabled it to thrive through the centuries. If some want to dance in its glow, so be it. One good thing about the wide net that all this branding casts - it occasionally captures those who otherwise would not venture near and shows them a path that they otherwise would never have found, and made them better people for it.

#14

Thanks FlexPenguin, I stand corrected.

Having grown in India and worked in US, I am privileged to say this. Human weakness is not confined to either West or East. But there are increasing number of people who are making significant contribution to yoga and yes, they work silently and outnumber those who by action and/or intention hurt the good cause.

In the West, dedicated and focused scholarship of many accomplished yogis is certain to deliver a completely new “yoga idiom” to the mainstream modern sciences. In the East, there are growing number of enlightened yogis who are demystifying yoga and liberating it from the colors of religion, ethnicity or life-style demonstrating to every human being how yoga can be a way of ordinary household life. These developments are nascent but distinctly promising.

I was wrong like a few others in overlooking this positive aspect. Branding and misplaced emphasis are only signs of a process of evolution that is not yet complete.

#15

Like many, I came to yoga due to pain. Shortly thereafter, there was a spark within that sought a deeper meaning. So as mentioned by Flex and Suhas, yogasana or branded yoga can be the “opening of a door” on the Yogik path. As a teacher, I’ve witnessed first hand when students start to realize this. In the beginning, they attend class I once did , for physical benefit only. Some will stay there, at least for a while. Others soon understand asana is only a part of the whole picture. You watch their eyes close as they practice. They begin to feel comfortable during meditation and doing so for longer periods. They breathe and come to realize when they don’t. When class ends and everyone is silent, you know they are beginning to understand.

Little baby steps. Yoga is relatively new in the west and is evolving. One student at a time.