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Unfortunately type 1 is a classic case of cultural appropriation. Yoga is fundamentally a spiritual exercise that aims to strengthen not just the body. Therefor

Unfortunately type 1 is a classic case of cultural appropriation. Yoga is fundamentally a spiritual exercise that aims to strengthen not just the body. Therefore, practices like Surya Namaskara are not just a series of exercises for strength and flexibility but also a must for spiritual improvement.

xjdodbfhuf 5y ago
Nobody cares. If people want to capitalize on the actually useful parts of the exercise then more power to them.
mtalantikite 5y ago
I agree with you, but from what I’ve read in Mark Singleton’s research Surya Namaskar actually only appeared in the early 20th century and when it was advertised at Mysore palace where Krishnamacharya was teaching, it was as a separate class from “yoga”. That’s not to say you can’t practice it as a moving meditation, but it definitely is part of the modern movement of asana practice.
- loopz 5y ago
  Being modern, doesn't mean bad though. Old texts and practices aren't really that relevant in a modern life setting. What matters is how it is used and for what purposes. Some of the old texts may seriously alter perspectives, though it also need to be lived.
robbomacrae 5y ago
Is 5-a-side, or soccer golf cultural appropriation? Or can we just celebrate new options evolving and enriching the lives of those who like it that way. How do we know your classic yoga is the real original and it didn’t come from some kind of stretch routine for an ancient dance?
- sg47 5y ago
  There are ancient texts that describe Patanjali's yoga and the reason behind it.
pcmoney 5y ago
Taking the parts you like from something and leaving the parts you do not is not cultural appropriation. Any culture can redefine anything they want from other cultures. Just like most western yoga studios are LGBTQ friendly and many Hindus are not.
- rocknor 5y ago
  > Just like most western yoga studios are LGBTQ friendly and many Hindus are not. That is false. Please don't spread this myth. The homophobia is mostly a social hangover from colonial times. Steps are being taken to change that, and it should go away with time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_and_religion#Hinduism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_and_religion#Hin... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_history_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_history_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_India https://time.com/5918808/homophobia-homosexuality-lgbt-asian-values/ https://time.com/5918808/homophobia-homosexuality-lgbt-asian... https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/11/asia/british-empire-lgbt-rights-section-377-intl/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/11/asia/british-empire-lgbt-...
  - pcmoney 5y ago
    Glad it is improving but I don’t see how “many Hindus are not” is false? Also blaming pretty much everything bad on colonialism is a pretty tired excuse.
  - amriksohata 5y ago
    100% correct @rocknor
- amriksohata 5y ago
  Well this reminds me of Superbrain yoga https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSwhpF9iJSs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSwhpF9iJSs Which guess what? Is just a variation of a Yoga move from India that the teachers used to give to improve cognition in children who were not focussing in class https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murga_punishment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murga_punishment The idea is that squats or moving your head up and down rushes blood to your head. Further if you hold certain activation points like your ears whilst doing it, it activates certain parts of the brain that improve coordination and brain power. All ripped from Hinduism, what I suggest to those who love Yoga and feel they benefit from Yoga is explore the other types of Yoga mentioned in the Gita. After all, if the Rishis/Sages were right about Yoga, Hinduism is clearly onto something in the Gita about the other types of Yoga.
kranner 5y ago
Sincere question: what do you mean by "spiritual improvement"?
- loopz 5y ago
  Karma yoga probably.
unmole 5y ago
The overwhelming majority of Indians are supportive of people from other countries practicing Yoga, even if it is for physical health. The Indian government itself events for the International Day of Yoga. So, even if one thinks that cultural appropriation is a thing, the culture where Yoga originated is perfectly happy with the appropriation.
- goodpoint 5y ago
  That does not make cultural appropriation ethical.
  - unmole 5y ago
    I thought the whole idea of cultural appropriation is that it was disrespectful of the culture that is being appropriated and is something done against the wishes of memebers of said culture. Is there something else that makes it unethical?
    - slothtrop 5y ago
      That is now the definition that proponents of the term popularly use after backtracking from widespread push-back. Of course it's yet another case of bait-and-switch. The literal term "cultural appropriation" parsed at face-value does not suggest anything about disrespect; if one really wants to call out disrespect, they can just do so, there's no need for a buzzword in the first place. Racism is racism, disrespect is disrespect. If the term doesn't clearly convey what it means, it's a shitty term, or it's designed to create friction rather than understanding. This is such a case, where those with identity-politics as a hobby and religion will talk out of both sides of their mouths. Buzzwords are favored in media and op-eds because of their nefarious nature. We should dispense with them and communicate what we mean. Most of them share the same problem, e.g. "white fragility" ("well ackshuallyyy it just means that white people are uncomfortable talking about race" -- yeah? Then why call it that?)
    - goodpoint 5y ago
      > Is there something else that makes it unethical? Yes. The main problems are around taking elements of a culture without providing proper attribution or butchering them. Translated to FOSS, it's the equivalent of reusing somebody's software without attributing authorship (even if the license requires it). Or a large company making a backdoored fork of Firefox called "FireFox" and misleading users into blaming Mozilla for it. It gets worse when the copycat overshadows the original. Besides, I met plenty of people, both from India and not, complaining about the butchering of Yoga.

xjdodbfhuf 5y ago

Nobody cares. If people want to capitalize on the actually useful parts of the exercise then more power to them.

mtalantikite 5y ago

I agree with you, but from what I’ve read in Mark Singleton’s research Surya Namaskar actually only appeared in the early 20th century and when it was advertised at Mysore palace where Krishnamacharya was teaching, it was as a separate class from “yoga”. That’s not to say you can’t practice it as a moving meditation, but it definitely is part of the modern movement of asana practice.

loopz 5y ago
Being modern, doesn't mean bad though. Old texts and practices aren't really that relevant in a modern life setting. What matters is how it is used and for what purposes. Some of the old texts may seriously alter perspectives, though it also need to be lived.

robbomacrae 5y ago

Is 5-a-side, or soccer golf cultural appropriation? Or can we just celebrate new options evolving and enriching the lives of those who like it that way. How do we know your classic yoga is the real original and it didn’t come from some kind of stretch routine for an ancient dance?

sg47 5y ago
There are ancient texts that describe Patanjali's yoga and the reason behind it.

pcmoney 5y ago

Taking the parts you like from something and leaving the parts you do not is not cultural appropriation. Any culture can redefine anything they want from other cultures. Just like most western yoga studios are LGBTQ friendly and many Hindus are not.

rocknor 5y ago
> Just like most western yoga studios are LGBTQ friendly and many Hindus are not. That is false. Please don't spread this myth. The homophobia is mostly a social hangover from colonial times. Steps are being taken to change that, and it should go away with time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_and_religion#Hinduism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_and_religion#Hin... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_history_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_history_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_India https://time.com/5918808/homophobia-homosexuality-lgbt-asian-values/ https://time.com/5918808/homophobia-homosexuality-lgbt-asian... https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/11/asia/british-empire-lgbt-rights-section-377-intl/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/11/asia/british-empire-lgbt-...
- pcmoney 5y ago
  Glad it is improving but I don’t see how “many Hindus are not” is false? Also blaming pretty much everything bad on colonialism is a pretty tired excuse.
- amriksohata 5y ago
  100% correct @rocknor
amriksohata 5y ago
Well this reminds me of Superbrain yoga https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSwhpF9iJSs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSwhpF9iJSs Which guess what? Is just a variation of a Yoga move from India that the teachers used to give to improve cognition in children who were not focussing in class https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murga_punishment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murga_punishment The idea is that squats or moving your head up and down rushes blood to your head. Further if you hold certain activation points like your ears whilst doing it, it activates certain parts of the brain that improve coordination and brain power. All ripped from Hinduism, what I suggest to those who love Yoga and feel they benefit from Yoga is explore the other types of Yoga mentioned in the Gita. After all, if the Rishis/Sages were right about Yoga, Hinduism is clearly onto something in the Gita about the other types of Yoga.

kranner 5y ago

Sincere question: what do you mean by "spiritual improvement"?

loopz 5y ago
Karma yoga probably.

unmole 5y ago

The overwhelming majority of Indians are supportive of people from other countries practicing Yoga, even if it is for physical health. The Indian government itself events for the International Day of Yoga. So, even if one thinks that cultural appropriation is a thing, the culture where Yoga originated is perfectly happy with the appropriation.

goodpoint 5y ago
That does not make cultural appropriation ethical.
- unmole 5y ago
  I thought the whole idea of cultural appropriation is that it was disrespectful of the culture that is being appropriated and is something done against the wishes of memebers of said culture. Is there something else that makes it unethical?
  - slothtrop 5y ago
    That is now the definition that proponents of the term popularly use after backtracking from widespread push-back. Of course it's yet another case of bait-and-switch. The literal term "cultural appropriation" parsed at face-value does not suggest anything about disrespect; if one really wants to call out disrespect, they can just do so, there's no need for a buzzword in the first place. Racism is racism, disrespect is disrespect. If the term doesn't clearly convey what it means, it's a shitty term, or it's designed to create friction rather than understanding. This is such a case, where those with identity-politics as a hobby and religion will talk out of both sides of their mouths. Buzzwords are favored in media and op-eds because of their nefarious nature. We should dispense with them and communicate what we mean. Most of them share the same problem, e.g. "white fragility" ("well ackshuallyyy it just means that white people are uncomfortable talking about race" -- yeah? Then why call it that?)
  - goodpoint 5y ago
    > Is there something else that makes it unethical? Yes. The main problems are around taking elements of a culture without providing proper attribution or butchering them. Translated to FOSS, it's the equivalent of reusing somebody's software without attributing authorship (even if the license requires it). Or a large company making a backdoored fork of Firefox called "FireFox" and misleading users into blaming Mozilla for it. It gets worse when the copycat overshadows the original. Besides, I met plenty of people, both from India and not, complaining about the butchering of Yoga.