Inside Yoga 143 (5/10/2015)
Al Jazeera correspondent, Bhanu Bhatnagar, asks “Who owns yoga?” in fascinating documentary about yoga. Bhanu is an Indian who works in Doha for the TV station as well as teaching yoga, and this film takes him across the globe as he asks this question about yoga.
This well-balanced film looks into various aspects of yoga as it is today – the meaning of yoga and what it means to practice yoga, as well as the commercialisation and exploitation of this traditional practice in our modern world.
The film starts with the international yoga competitions, which I find at odds with the traditional meaning yoga – namely, it is about looking within, not competing with others with the physical postures.
The journalist describes the competitions to a lady at a yoga studio in London, and her response is spot on as she says, with some surprise “it’s ridiculous”.
The film takes us to the USA which has taken hold of yoga and made it into a commercial product. This is where “spiritual materialism” is rampant. It also goes into the question of ownership with interviews with those who seek to patent and copyright yoga.
Towards the end of his visit to the USA Bhanu visits co-founders of Jivamukti Yoga, David Life and Sharon Gannon who have some poignant comments on the topic.
David says at one point, there is “no such thing as a purely physical practice”; and his partner, Sharon says “yoga is striving to live in harmony with the Earth, environment and animals.”
Tackling the topic of ownership the Indian government has taken steps to stop anyone from trying to own yoga, which is a good move by the government but a sad indictment of the way things are these days with certain individuals and companies trying to “own yoga”.
The journalist ends his journey in India, the source of yoga, and there he has an interesting conversation with Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev, founder of the Isha Foundation, who points out that yoga’s success is down to the simple fact that it makes sense and it works – I couldn’t agree more.
He also comments on the “sickness of modern societies” as he calls it. He says when describing this sickness: “If I discover something in nature, I must own it – intellectual property. If something is for the well-being of human beings, nobody can ever own it, it must belong to everyone.”
Bhanu comments that in this commercialised and politicised world, it is important that yoga remains deeply personal. And adds that yoga is all about intention, something I agree with.
He adds that yoga is still an ancient science of the soul, “connecting your breath with your body. It is so simple”.
Watch the film and make up your own mind. See the link, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGvkki0tLoU&feature=youtu.be
Any comments for me, fil in panel below
