Yoga brands

[Suhas_Tambe]

Aren’t we tired of branding, labeling, and dwarfing yoga in our perception?

I read about “PM Yoga” and thought of this. There are several aspects to it. First, there is no answerability to any central authority for yoga or to any clearing house for a broad-based regulation. So, it is easier to cull out any part of yoga - practice, approach, innovation - and sell it to people under a brand name.

Second, once the new name catches public imagination it gains currency and becomes part of the yoga jargon. The brand equity gives a false impression of the brand’s “completeness” or ability to stand on its own.

Third, the brand creators have to make it a viable business proposition. They start looking for add-ons in the form of yoga attire, adjuncts and paraphernalia. Eventually this drowns the little yoga at the brand’s core.

Fourth, the newcomers are attracted to the exotic ones, like there is growing curiosity for tantra these days. The seekers eventually get disillusioned and hop from one style to another, but remain confused about the real yoga.

Fifth, the new yoga ‘craze’ is really fueled by media that is always looking for ethnic flavor and new lingo. Colorful pictures of happy young ones putting their bodies in impossible origami, sells. A whole new world of yoga - retreats, conferences, annual bashes, blogs, and forums have emerged.

The lone casualty in this is yoga itself. Ironically, a predominantly internal Yoga process has grown in the Western world as a highly externalized movement. The best creative talent is projecting Yoga in color spreads, flowery narrations, catchy slogans, indulgent yoga-ware and glossy graphics. It is almost like an ad-film from heaven with a complete cover-up of the pain and sufferings of dying. Yoga that seeks to elevate awareness away from the gross (physical), is more & more grounded in the very physical and tangible. Yoga that opens our eyes from plurality to singularity itself appears to be facing an identity crisis in the growing crowd of its mirror images. One may wish rather cynically for this yoga craze to get even more frenzied and fragmented so that the yoga tourists will lose interest in yoga and move to some other greener pastures.

[lotusgirl]

Suhas,

Many yoga tourists remain tourists only wanting to view the sites, satisfying a physical need. But there are a few who come as tourists, but find their home. Do we close the many “doorways” to yoga so as to keep yoga pure? In doing so we risk losing many students. In my many years of teaching, I’ve seen students come and go. Those who come and stay have, over time, realized yoga’s deeper meaning. While a “good workout” through asana is a plus, that is not why they attend class.

I do find it interesting that in many of the articles I’ve read about branding, Jois and Iyengar are not considered to have branded a style. They are spoken of as the “standard” from which others borrow or take. But did they not also borrow, take or invent? The Sutra’s speak little of asana. This has opened the door to a myriad of interpretations. But asana is part of yoga. It prepares us for meditation. It keeps the body healthy.

Very much agree with the media fueling the craze. I recently wrote to Yoga Journal asking why they focus so much on asana and have cover photo’s of poses 99% of the population will never be able to do. I suggested Hindu artwork or pictures of the Masters. Our society is in large part ego driven. Media perpetuates this.

As far as PM yoga goes, I’m not sure you can consider it a branded style. PM yoga is usually designed to calm the body and mind.

There is nothing more beautiful than to witness a student’s progress from a more physical practice to an inward journey. And it does happen. Maybe not on a global scale, but we need to start somewhere.