Hatha Yoga: Where old meets new

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Yoga: Where old meets new

The Columbia Missourian (U.S.)

September 14, 2007

By Taylor Rausch

 

Five thousand years ago, a league of nomadic people

landed in northwest India, forming the Indus Valley

Civilization. Walls 70 feet thick and 25 feet high cast

shadows over the two major cities of this early urban

society. These carefully laid out cities, Mohenjo-daro

and Harappa, were home to more than 80,000 people

and covered more than 800,000 square miles.

 

Between 1921 and 1932, two archaeologists, M.S. Vats

and John Marshall, unearthed the Indus Valley

Civilization, discovering a system of roads, bathing

pools, clay bricks, toys and toilets left behind by this

ancient and mysterious society.

 

They also found hundreds of wooden seals, depicting

Brahmanic gods and bearing cryptic inscriptions. One in

particular, seal No. 420, shows a squatted figure resting

on bent knees and pointed toes, the heels and soles of his

feet pressed together. The image attracted the attention

of a small group of scholars who suspected the position

to be the Mulabandhasana asana, an extremely

demanding yogic pose.

 

No. 420 sparked new speculation: Did the people of the

Indus Valley Civilization practice yoga more than two

and a half thousand years before the Hindu sage

Patanjali wrote the 196 Sanskrit mantras that constitute

the Yoga Sutras?

 

 

Often referred to as the father of yoga, Patanjali defined

the practice as " the stilling of the fluctuations of the

mind, " yielding " a perfect firmness of the body,

steadiness of intelligence and benevolence of spirit. "

 

When Patanjali wrote those words, he could not possibly

have envisioned fuchsia-dyed sponge mats shoved under

spandexed legs and pedicured toes in strip-mall studios

across America. Today yoga is a nearly $3 billion-a-year

industry, according to a study sponsored by Yoga

Journal, spawning a ravenous consumer subculture that

feeds on classes, equipment, books, DVDs, conferences

and clothing lines.

 

Yoga Journal, the leading industry publication and

promoter, also estimates that 16.5 million people

practice yoga in the United States every week. Dayna

Macy, the journal's communications director, says most

of those practitioners are upper-middle-class, college-

educated women in their mid-30s.

 

" She earns a lot of money, " Macy says, " and she's very

educated. "

 

And she's got lots of friends.

 

Macy says the Yoga Journal's subscription base has

tripled to more than 360,000 in the past few years.

 

Advertising revenues have increased accordingly, up 8

percent in the last five years, and the advertisers no

longer appeal only to a counterculture market.

Mainstream companies, such as Johnson & Johnson,

Ford Motor Co., Kellogg's, Kraft and Toyota, have

begun advertising in the journal, which was founded in

1975 for yoga's then-hippie subculture.

 

" If they're coming into the magazine, it's because of the

demographic, " Macy says. " Yoga has become very big

with affluent practitioners. The numbers are going up for

a reason. "

 

But how many of them are practicing yoga as Patanjali

defined it, as a foundation for a way of life in which

salvation can be attained through disciplined, unselfish

activity?

 

In Columbia, there are no fewer than 66 yoga classes

offered during any given week, taught by men and

women who have at least a passing knowledge of yoga

as a path to spiritual growth.

 

Some, like Linda Lutz, owner of Elm Street Yoga, sniff

at the trendiness of today's studios, where customers can

shop for the yoga of their choice.

 

" That's that 'facial yoga,' (and) 'yoga for abs,' " says

Lutz, who believes in what she calls the moral and

ethical base of yoga. " But we can't judge as moral and

ethical people; I shouldn't judge those people for going

to facial yoga. Who knows, it may be the thing that

helps sustain the moral and ethical body. "

 

The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit " yujir, "

meaning to unite or connect. The many branches of yoga

in the Hindu philosophy -the Ashtanga Yoga of

Patanjali's sutras; Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of devotion;

Karma Yoga, the yoga of work; Jnarna Yoga, the yoga

of knowledge; and Hatha Yoga, the yoga of movement,

breath and meditation - have a common purpose: union

with God.

 

Patanjali's 196 aphorisms, the sutras, unfold as a

blueprint for moral life. The eight limbs explain the

principles of ethical living, such as nonviolence,

truthfulness and absence of greed, as well as the

techniques of breathing, posture, concentration and

meditation that lead to an enlightened state of self-

actualization or hyperconsciousness.

 

Yoga was introduced to the United States by

Paramahansa Yogananda, a swami, or high clergy, of the

Hindu religion. In the 1920s, Yogananda toured the

country, lecturing on the science of yoga and meditation.

But it wasn't until the publication of his " Autobiography

of a Yogi " in 1946 that the ideas of the Yoga Sutras

were readily accessible in the West. Until a wave of

Indian teachers, led by B.K.S. Iyengar, arrived in the

United States in the 1960s, Americans viewed yoga as

an Eastern philosophy. The free-spirited counterculture

emerging at the time helped advance the practice even

more as it was gradually simplified, stripping away the

ancient Hindu traditions at its core.

 

By the 1990s, yoga had become part of America's

increasing obsession with good health. Yoga entered

gyms and health clubs. Studios dedicated to the practice

began popping up on what seemed like every corner in

America, right above the local Starbucks. In the U.S.,

yoga lacks the spiritual connection in many studios.

Many classes focus purely on the physical objectives of

yoga instead.

 

Edwin Bryant, an associate professor of religion at

Rutgers University who teaches the Yoga Sutras, says

the idea that yoga is a series of poses, or asanas, is a

typical American exploitation of a sacred pursuit.

 

" It's a reflection of American consumer and market-

oriented superficiality, " Bryant says. " Yoga means

meditation. Yoga has come to mean asana only in the

modern West. "

 

Through the doors of the MU Student Recreation

Complex, a handful of students pass by the thumping

bass and television-smattered Jungle Gym and venture

up the stairs to the TigerX studios for a yoga class.

Participation is on the rise, according to TigerX

coordinator Angela Eastham. In any given week, 21

types of yoga classes, including pilates-infused " Piloga "

to the newly added Vinyasa Power Yoga, attract

hundreds of TigerX passholders.

 

The yoga instructors are mostly students, such as MU

graduate student Erika Lynn Breedlove, who was

certified as an instructor last spring.

 

The TigerX five-week yoga training regimen branches

off from a national certification program, YogaFit,

aimed at health clubs. TigerX staff are certified in

YogaFit and utilize the program's materials and

principles.

 

YogaFit is the brainchild of Beth Shaw, who eliminated

the Sanskrit names of the postures, as well as the oming

and chanting associated with traditional yoga to make

the practice user-friendly, according to YogaFit's Web

site. Soon came the clothing line, the TV show and

innovation in the classroom, such as " YogaButt " and

" YogaCycle. "

 

Though stripped of the spiritual tradition, YogaFit has

taken hold in America because of its physical benefits.

Studies have been conducted by a variety of

organizations, such as the University of Pennsylvania

School of Medicine and the Research Council for

Complementary Medicine in London. Preliminary

studies have suggested that yoga can reduce symptoms

of carpal tunnel syndrome, asthma, diabetes, migraines

and depression. Although there is no conclusive

evidence of yoga's health benefits, other studies show

that yoga may decrease anxiety as the movements and

meditation increase levels of the neurotransmitters g-

aminobutyrate and dopamine in the brain.

 

Breedlove says TigerX's yoga-instructor training does

incorporate some of yoga's rich history. However, that

training doesn't necessarily make it into the classes.

 

" I would not classify anything of what we do as

spiritual, " Breedlove says. " Our relaxation components

are something that's very loosely guided, rather than

being a spiritually-focused meditation. That's probably

one thing that makes TigerX classes stand out among

studios around town, as those are often more spiritual. "

 

One of those studios was the dream of Ken McRae and

his wife, Kathleen.

 

Ken McRae spent five years teaching at a Kripalu

Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Mass., which can

house 400 students and instructors. He has a grander

vision for yoga than the fluorescent glow of the MU rec

complex studios.

 

" I sold my home and all my possessions and lived there

on staff, " McRae recalls. " You volunteered your time,

and they offered you food, accommodation and health

care. "

 

After leaving Kripalu, the McRaes traveled the world

and ran a yoga studio in Virginia before returning to

Ken's native Canada. Five years ago, they came to

Columbia to teach, and in December of 2006, they

opened alleyCat Yoga, tucked away behind the

landmark The Tiger hotel downtown.

 

The interior of alleyCat is a testament to McRae's

vision. The dimmed lights, exposed brick, softly

whirring ceiling fans and walls soaked in maize, purple,

sage and spots of red don't fit the commercialized mold

of most yoga studios. The vibe at alleyCat is one of deep

relaxation. The room is hushed except for the chanting

of the om that concludes the class.

 

McRae says his classes don't emphasize yoga's spiritual

traditions, although he estimates about 20 percent of his

students come for a spiritual experience. Most come to

relax.

 

" Yoga works every time, " McRae says. " All you have to

do is show up. "

 

Diane la Mar says it was McRae's personal style of

instruction that drew her to alleyCat, with an emphasis

on mindfulness and individuality, echoing the tenants of

the Kripalu style.

 

" Something about the way he teaches really increases

my sense of self-acceptance, " la Mar says.

 

Most studios in the United States practice Iyengar yoga.

Unlike the Kripalu branch, which encourages finding

one's own version of the asanas, Iyengar stresses the

technique and fluidity of the poses. It incorporates a

series of props, including blocks, ropes, cushions and

belts, designed to improve each posture.

 

Born in 1918 in the poor village of Belur, Karnataka,

India, B.K.S. Iyengar suffered tuberculosis, typhoid and

malaria as a child. Yoga become his respite. In 1966,

Iyengar published " Light on Yoga, " which has been

translated into 18 languages, making Iyengar's approach

to yoga one of the most widely studied in the world.

 

Elm Street Yoga follows the Iyengar tradition. Instructor

Linda Lutz's weekly classes draw a variety of students.

On a recent Wednesday evening, two men and nine

women, all in T-shirts and sweats, quietly chose Iyengar

props from the front of the room and assumed the

child's pose, a resting position, waiting for the class to

begin.

 

Lutz, a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, has

watched yoga surge in popularity in the U.S. since the

1960s. She has had her own studio in Columbia for nine

years and is committed to the Iyengar practice.

 

" I initially chose it because I found it challenging for me

personally, " says Lutz, who has a doctoral degree in

marine biology. " It's fairly scientific. We have to

understand muscle movement. Yoga is about alignment,

and we have to start with physical body alignment. "

 

At alleyCat, the instructors quietly move through the

poses while students follow their lead. Lutz takes a more

active approach, coaching her students through each

posture. A large, south-facing wall with ropes looped

through meticulously aligned metal hooks hints at the

Iyengar emphasis on correcting postures.

 

Most of Lutz's students come to Elm Street as part of a

physical healing process. Not surprising, since Lutz's

first job in Columbia was teaching yoga for

rehabilitation at Boone Hospital Center. But, she says,

her students tend to evolve in their practice to find

something closer to yoga's deeper purpose.

 

" Eventually, everyone attends for a spiritual reason, " she

says. " It just depends on what you call spiritual. "

 

Yoga practitioners say that for all its emphasis on

spirituality, yoga should not be mistaken for a religion.

It is considered a branch of Hindu philosophy, but it is

not the Hindu faith.

 

Bryant says yoga as meditation in the Hindu tradition

takes on " different flavors in different sects. " The

American model has just stretched a little too far from

Patanjali's original sutras, he says.

 

" As long as there are teachers still representing the

authentic systems, " Bryant says, " then there is still

hope. "

 

Minutes outside the hum of downtown Columbia, that

hope lives in the shrine of a Hindu temple. An open

room, pictures of the Hindu devas, or gods, and a quiet

that saturates every corner set the scene of the Shanthi

Mandir's Saturday afternoon yoga class.

 

 

" There's a presence there, " instructor Kate Walker says.

" You feel a reverence to begin with. "

 

A handful of Indian women and some of Walker's

veteran students rotate through the asanas, breathing in

the afternoon air of the shrine.

 

Yoga for the Hindu woman is immediately spiritual in

the shrine, Walker says. It is where their gods are; as

they breathe through the poses, they are namaste,

bowing down.

 

Walker has been teaching yoga in Columbia since 1974.

She began her training when she was 19, studying in

both India and America. This spring, Walker agreed to

teach a few classes for the temple. Her Saturdays at

Shanthi Mandir have brought the Hindu yoga tradition

to mid-Missouri, and she's determined to turn the

practice back to its roots in the East.

 

" I was always fascinated with philosophy and religion,

understanding religion, ever since I was 5 years old, "

Walker says. " I also really loved dance. I wondered

which direction would I go. I chose both. "

 

The immersion in Hindu culture creates a much greater

understanding of yoga for Walker and many of her

Hindu students. It is a smaller part of a much larger

meditative lifestyle.

 

" The mind is a busy marketplace, " Walker says.

 

Walker's class begins by focusing the mind, which spins

into meditation, meant to reduce thoughts to a mere hum

that falls to the background.

 

For Visala Palaniappan, yoga has always had a role in

her life. Palaniappan left India in 1983 and has studied

with Walker since she began teaching at Shanthi

Mandir.

 

In India, unlike here, yoga pervades much of the culture.

Memories of yoga practiced in the halls of the temple

are still fresh to Palaniappan, she says, even though the

constant exposure didn't spark her interest when she was

young.

 

Walker says many Hindu students learned yoga poses

and stretching as schoolchildren. For many Indians, she

says, that is the extent of it. Yoga in India is often seen

as something reserved for someone much older, a deep,

spiritual practice that many younger Hindus shy away

from.

 

It's an interesting contrast to the American scene.

 

Walker takes no more than 15 students, some in the

traditional salwar kameej and others in sweats. They

face the devas, ready for a spiritual 90 minutes of

intimate meditation, choosing the yoga of original

tradition.

 

" I don't talk about the spirituality, but they discover it, "

Walker says. " The Hindu spirituality is something that

they breathe in and breathe out every second because

that's how they're raised. "

 

Walker has maintained her philosophy throughout her

35 years of teaching. She starts each class standing. She

centers the students, moving them forward onto the balls

of their feet from their heels, silencing the chatter of the

day's events from their minds.

 

" I want them to feel the ground beneath their feet, "

Walker says. " I'm not going to teach my students to be a

pretzel. I've seen where people just put people in

postures. ... I want them to feel their bodies. "

 

Yoga in the shrine isn't about intricately engineered

props or perfect postures. Walker wants the students to

feel their bodies and their breath in a meditative state.

 

Although new to the practice, Palaniappan says she is

discovering herself through yoga. The physical work,

the asanas, is merely the vehicle to the quiet peace of

meditation.

 

" From my perspective, " she says, " the goal of yoga is

spirituality. "

 

Walker says it will always be a struggle in America to

practice a yoga true to its traditions of meditation. This

century has spawned a new breed of yoga, a

commercially-driven evolution that has merged with

America's consumer culture. There will always be

crammed schedules, lunch dates and car pools that don't

quite align with the Hindu traditions of a yoga geared

for meditation.

 

Yet more than 8,000 miles from its traditional

beginnings, yoga's spiritual roots have not been

obliterated. Echoes of tradition resonate in a downtown

alley and behind a plate-glass facade off Elm Street.

And every Saturday in the shrine of a temple, the hope

of the faithful endures.

 

" The West has a way of taking things and turning them

into other things, " Walker says. " I do think that people

have to start somewhere. "

 

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