yoga on the lawn

Don’t stress — International Day of Yoga can still be yoga your way

Unroll that yoga mat, breathe deep, find your downward dog and get ready to celebrate the United Nation’s first International Day of Yoga on Sunday, June 21

Unroll that yoga mat, breathe deep, find your downward dog and get ready to celebrate the United Nation’s first International Day of Yoga on Sunday, June 21.

What? This is all news to you? Don’t stress – we’re talking about yoga, after all. Not that there isn’t a bit of tension kicked up by India Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to honor the ancient practice. Modi hopes the world will be reminded that the practice is a uniquely Indian gift to the world with deep spiritual roots.

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Gokcen Coskuner-Balli, Ph.D.

Fair enough, but people around the world have gladly received it, tweaked it and made it their own, says a Chapman University professor who has researched the evolution of yoga in the American marketplace. Gokcen Coskuner-Balli, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Argyros School of Business and Economics, says the U.N. observance is a worthwhile reminder to honor yoga’s roots as a Hindu practice and discipline. But for non-Hindus and most western practitioners who enjoy everything from paddleboard yoga to “belly breathing” with Sesame Street’s Elmo, it won’t prompt much more than a polite nod to its religious applications, says Coskuner-Balli.

“American yoga has definitely taken a different form by focusing on the health and fitness of the asanas (poses). Even when people adopt the chanting, they do it to help with the stress of American life. It’s sort of a psychotherapy for an American lifestyle,” she says.

Pundits may take their shots, but Americans love yoga their way, she says. Today, 20.4 million Americans practice yoga, up from 4.3 million in 2001. They spend $10.3 billion a year on yoga classes and products, including equipment, vacations and media. That is an increase of 80 percent in just four years.

“It’s taken a very different form and people do not necessarily feel that they have to recognize that it was a Hindu practice in order to make it part of their lives,” she says.

As for Coskuner-Balli, she’s a fan of the trademarked and sweat-inducing CorePower style of yoga. She says it’s “not a very authentic form.” But she tried several as part of her research and loved it. And yes, she recently bought a pair of those cool floral yoga pants that are all the rage.

She smiles and shrugs. “I cannot help myself.”

(Top image: Students participate in the annual Yoga on the Lawn event sponsored by the Student Union and Fitness Center.)

Dawn Bonker

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