Yoga Requires Action
Hi, Michelle here. Most of the time I’m writing with the broader voice of this collective, but as the head of this operation, sometimes I should say hello and speak with my own voice about what we’re up to. Originally I wrote a fiery blog post for today about consumerist capitalism in Yoga (don’t worry, it’ll come a little later) but I decided that instead of talking about the Yoga culture we’re up against, I want to talk about the Yoga culture we’re working for.
Yoga is about truth - the truth of interconnection, oneness, union - truth that is as radical as it has become cliché. But it’s only cliché at the surface, when there’s no action to hold it up. Let’s make it radical again, yeah?
First, just a little bit of history to understand modern Yoga’s radical roots. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, compiled around 500 BCE, is a foundational text of modern yoga, but it wasn’t widely read for nearly 1500 years. At the time the Yoga Sutra was written, it was meant for an exclusive elite. The study and practice of Yoga was limited to the male priests of the Brahmin class and the boys and men of the royal class. Everyone else was excluded. Spirituality came to be considered as separate from society, and the concerns of society separate from spiritual practitioners, who were often physically separate from the rest of the community.
(There are, of course, modern practitioners who live within the structure of society but attempt to separate themselves from the concerns of society in favor of their own spiritual pursuits. Spoiler alert: that’s not how we do things around here)
yoga to the people
Yoga went underground (or rather, out into the wilderness) and later, into the home. Over time, more ‘householders’ began to study and practice at home, rejecting reliance on the priestly class. The rise of Buddhist and Tantric philosophy heavily influenced this new movement, including the tenet of nondualism, the understanding that there is no separation between the divine and the physical, and no separation between the ‘self’ and everything else. This was in direct opposition to the Brahmins and indeed to the hierarchical caste system of Indian society.
By the time Britain colonized India, in 1858, Yoga was seen as such a threat to the Brahminic structure that it was outlawed, as many in the Brahmin caste had allied with the British in order to retain power.
It was around this time that the Yoga Sutra, initially written for the elite ruling class, came to be used by householder yogis and by Swami Vivekananda to inform the social justice activism of Karma Yoga, which emphasized active rather than passive belief. For the householder yogi, practicing as part of daily life, work, and community, Yoga requires action.
Yoga in action
In the 19th and 20th centuries, protest movements against colonial rule and against the caste system drew heavily from Yogic philosophy. Mahatma Gandhi wrote about and promoted satyagraha (“truth force”), Yoga as nonviolent resistance. In the United States, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. also drew inspiration from Gandhi’s work and reframed satyagraha as “love force.”
Though the Yoga asana and philosophy we practice today is rooted in Brahminic tradition (and in fact the majority of foundational modern teachers like Sri Krisnamacharya, Pattabi Jois, and B.K.S. Iyengar were all of the Brahminic caste), it has grown and evolved according to each generation of students and seekers who carry the practices forward. Now, as in the time of Brahminic rule, a radical approach is needed, built on the truth of interconnection.
living yoga
Radical interconnection pairs awareness with action. It means we stand up for the rights and well-being of others. It means we consider the impact of our actions and the actions of our government on people we’ll never meet in places we’ll never see. It means we don’t just say “we are all one;” we act like it too. We help where we can, speak up where we can, live the practices of yoga.
That’s why I’m all about bringing these practices to life, applying ancient wisdom to modern living. When you hear terms like ahimsa and aparigraha, I want you to know that they come from pre-colonial Indian texts, that they’ve been brought to life and carried by (mostly BIPOC) seekers and students across generations and continents, and that they are relevant to your every single day. I want concepts like these to come to your mind in difficult and joyful and idle-Tuesday-afternoon moments. I want you to know that Yoga is here for you.
Because yoga is for everyone, period. You don’t need to be in a particular place or look or move a certain way or have a certain income. That’s why we built Pulse the way we did, with free, pay-what-you-can and sliding scale offerings for anyone with access to the internet (which isn’t absolutely everyone, I know, but we can work on that too).
In traditional Yoga terms, we’re householders, not renunciants. To practice Yoga now - Yoga as a way of being, not as an extra-curricular - demands social awareness. As Jivana Heyman writes, “your practice automatically becomes socially engaged because your life is socially engaged. Practicing yoga is not an excuse to ignore what is happening around you.”
That’s where I’m coming from when I teach an online asana class or lead a retreat or write a blog post (and I think I can say that for everyone else on this platform too). We live in communities and social systems that extend beyond the yoga room, impacted by politics and the laws that assert politics into daily life. Our practice needs to extend beyond the yoga room, too. //
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I intend for this post to be a reflection, more than a scholarly work. However, it’s important to note that in addition to my own studies, I used the following articles for reference and can also recommend them for further reading:
Why Yoga Has Always Been Political written by Jivana Heyman and published by Yoga Internationa
What Is the Connection Between Yoga and Social Justice? written and published by Susanna Barkataki
Activism and the Trajectory of Modern Yoga written by Hasta Yavari and published by OmStars.
PYC is a community we’re building together, with the intention of mutual care. We hope you receive the support we offer here with joy, knowing your very presence in this community nourishes it. And when you’re able to invest in a sliding scale membership or contribute for a drop-in practice, know that you’re offering support to every other member of this community. 💓