Is the Globalisation & Westernisation of Yoga Killing Yoga? 😳

A bodybuilder, a Maharaja, and a Domino’s pizza walk into a yoga studio… Sounds like the start of one of my bad jokes, right? But that’s actually the history of modern yoga. And no, I’m not kidding.

So, has the Globalisation & Westernisation of Yoga Killed Yoga?

The answer is…… not really. 

In fact, globalisation - and yes, westernisation - probably saved yoga.

I find it ironic when western yogis claim that westernisation is killing yoga. Because let’s be honest - how would you or I even be practising yoga today if that hadn’t happened?

A hundred or so years ago, yoga was exclusive to sādhus and fakirs - holy men who weren’t doing yoga poses at all but were seekers in their own right. Yoga was a dying art form and it took westerners travelling to India, and then Indians travelling to Europe and America in the 1960s, to bring yoga into public life. That’s when the yoga postures were born, reshaped, and shared.

In many respects, the yoga we practise today is a completely western invention. It’s like a Domino’s pizza: inspired by Italians, sure, but it’s definitely not Italian. You get the idea.

So if you do beer yoga, Bikram yoga, goat yoga, naked yoga, disco yoga or yoga on a paddleboard… well, good for you. Maybe that’s what you need to find some kind of peace within yourself. And maybe that slightly odd version of yoga leads you somewhere deeper. Or maybe not.

But we know yoga is both the journey and the destination, so whatever form you do - that’s yoga for you.

So rather than say westernisation killed yoga, we should actually thank those who helped revive it: the Swedish gymnastics pioneers, strongman Eugen Sandow, the Maharaja of Mysore, Indra Devi, and countless others.

Trust me fam, - the yoga you practise, whatever form it takes, whether it's Hatha, Flow, Bikram, and even Ashtanga 😳 - all these forms are a complete western invention.

I made a video some time ago on the History of Yoga. You can watch it on YouTube → [link]

Namaskar

Zahir

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