Yoga is Not
Yoga is not a modern new age therapy; it is not about skinny girls in tight pink leotards promoting weight loss. It has nothing to do with exposing one’s body in front of the mirror or camera, nor is it a way to meet new ‘cool’ open-minded female friends; and it is definitely not about looking sexy or demonstrating seductive poses.
The modern popular connection made between yoga and sexuality is embarrassing; the link between spiritual discipline in general and sleaziness, is simply disgraceful – not only for those who practice it or promote it, but also to us all as a human race.
The noble discipline and inner work which yoga encompasses is far, far beyond a few body postures or what yoga is known for, and globally associated with, nowadays.
Yoga is a traditional path, an ancient philosophy and ancient spiritual practice. It was created and taught with the sole purpose of facilitating inner development. It is designed to help sincere aspirants reach the highest human goal – self realization.
Back in the 1893, with the well known yogi – Swami Vivekananda, traveled to America, yoga came to the west from India and slowly became a great hit. Useful in creating and sustaining physical and mental wellbeing, yoga spread like wild fire.
The benefits of practicing yoga are now well known, and yoga has become a popular and very successful therapeutic tool across the globe. In general, from all the research that has been carried out on yoga practice in the past century, it seems that as long as it is practiced with correct guidance, sensitivity and care, yoga is pretty much beneficial for everyone.
While dedicated and sincere practitioners have always enjoyed the energetic, vibrant and healthy advantages of regular yoga practice, it seems that in the last few years the connection between yoga and sex has become closer, more and more.
As unbalanced and excessive use of sexuality is rapidly polluting each and every field of life. Yoga, been connected to all kind of energies, openness and flexible bodies, is naturally a victim, and it is commonly used in a sexual way to draw attention and advertise. The term ‘yoga’ is nowadays popularly linked with the image of young semi-naked girls on the beach with their legs widely spread.
Sadly, most people who are searching for more information about yoga are actually just looking to see pornographic photos of nude women performing weird body postures. Sadder still, is that yoga journals, magazines, teachers and studios are in fact encouraging and supporting this direction by promoting yoga in a sexual way, publishing articles such as “5 most sexy yoga postures” and posing so called “yoga” practitioners in tiny bikinis doing ridiculous poses as they have their hands in ‘Namste Mudra’.
It is so very disappointing to see the support for this direction from those who pretend to be educators and representatives of yoga.
And thus, in the shameful social state we find ourselves in, the very little interest that people may have for the real depth of yoga will surely wither away. And, unfortunately, the longing for spiritual knowledge is being continuously replaced with the growing disrespect towards truth, the female body and the science of human development.
