Balancing yoga traditions with modern wellness requires flexibility

CU Boulder scholar Loriliai Biernacki reflects on the differences between ancient yoga and yoga as it's practiced today during Yoga Awareness Month

As yoga enthusiasts across the country celebrate Yoga Awareness Month in September, it's difficult to ignore how much the practice has evolved-especially in the West. Yoga, born as a spiritual and meditative practice rooted in centuries-old Indian traditions, has become a global phenomenon often centered on physical health and wellness.

A 2022 study by the Centers for Disease Control found that almost 17% of U.S. adults 18 or older had practiced yoga in the preceding 12 months, and about 57% of those who did incorporated meditation into their practice.

But even when it incorporates meditation and other mindfulness practices, how closely does modern yoga resemble the practice that was born millennia ago in India? Loriliai Biernacki, a University of Colorado Boulder professor of religious studies who teaches a course called Yoga: Ancient and Modern, notes that what is taught in studios now may bear varying degrees of resemblance to yoga's origins.

Mental mastery to physical wellness

Yoga's traditional roots go far beyond the stretches and poses seen in most local studios and fitness centers today. According to Biernacki, the earliest yoga practitioners focused on mental mastery and spiritual growth. Historical documents also point to beliefs that accomplished "yogis" could acquire magical powers to read another person's mind or transform objects.

"The goals are essentially what we might think of as enlightenment," Biernacki explains, "with the terms 'mokṣha,' 'kaivalya,' and 'nirvāṇa,'"which are Sanskrit words that describe yoga's founding ideals of liberation, detachment and karmic release.

In its original context, yoga emphasized learning to control the mind and finding peace rather than achieving physical fitness.

As described in the Sir Edward Arnold translation of the Bhagavad Gita, the yogi is one who:

Sequestered should he sit,
Steadfastly meditating, solitary,
His thoughts controlled, his passions laid away,
Quit of belongings. In a fair, still spot
Having his fixed abode,--not too much raised,
Nor yet too low,--let him abide, his goods
A cloth, a deerskin, and the Kusa-grass.
There, setting hard his mind upon The One,
Restraining heart and senses, silent, calm,
Let him accomplish Yoga, and achieve
Pureness of soul, holding immovable
Body and neck and head…

However, modern yoga, especially as practiced in the West, has shifted its priorities.

"Yoga practice today is very much focused on bodily health if one goes to a studio to practice yoga," Biernacki notes. Poses, or āsanas, are now central to most yoga classes, and the practice is commonly associated with physical wellness, flexibility and relaxation.

"Āsana is not something we find in yoga as a practice in the early part of the first millennium, but by about the 12th century or so, we do begin to see an incursion of emphasis on a variety of different bodily postures in the practice of yoga," Biernacki explains.

This shift is no accident. Commercialization has played a significant role in transforming yoga from a spiritual journey into a global wellness trend. Biernacki points to the influence of marketing and the rise of yoga as a booming industry as key factors driving this shift.

"Of course, commercialization has played an outsized role. A great resource on this score is Andrea Jain's book on yoga transformation in the modern period, Selling Yoga," she says.

While physical health is undoubtedly valuable, evolving goals raise the question of whether modern yoga has strayed too far from its roots. The answer may lie in how individuals choose to practice yoga and whether there is room to reconnect with its original mental and spiritual aspects, Biernacki says.

Appropriation or evolution?

As yoga's popularity has grown in the West, so too have discussions around cultural appropriation. Some question whether certain modern adaptations of yoga-those that have been commercialized or stripped of their spiritual components-disrespect the practice's origins.

Biernacki says she believes the issue isn't black and white: "It's probably a mix of cultural appropriation and some modicum of paying homage to the insight and wisdom that we find in these traditions of yoga."

On one hand, the commercialization of yoga can lead to a superficial understanding of a practice with centuries of spiritual depth, she says. Western yoga classes and studio branding may use terms like namaste or chakra without studying their spiritual significance.

On the other hand, Biernacki notes that some modern yoga instructors do attempt to preserve the roots of the practice. "I do find it interesting that there are a number of teachers who are, in fact, emphasizing connecting yoga with its literary roots in a way that does take the history of yoga seriously," she says. "Especially popular is the classic text 'Patañjali's Yoga Sūtra,' which is keyed into yoga as a way of mastering the mind."

Ultimately, the question of cultural appropriation depends on how individuals and studios approach the practice, Biernacki says. For some, yoga may be a mindful homage that embraces historical context while adapting to modern needs. For others, yoga may simply be a brand or a lifestyle with beautiful aesthetics.

Balancing act

As yoga continues to evolve, it's unclear whether modern adaptations will dominate or if instructors and practitioners alike will seek a return to its traditional roots. Biernacki suggests that both trends will likely coexist.

"I suspect that traditional practices will probably be more popular, but there will be some modern adaptations," she says.

This resurgence echoes a broader cultural shift towards mindfulness, as an ever-growing body of research supports the benefits of yoga for conditions ranging from depression to back pain to cancer.

The rise of interest in traditional practices could signal a desire to reconnect with yoga's deeper spiritual roots. Biernacki points out that many instructors already strive to bring these philosophies into their practice and remind students that yoga is about more than just physical postures.

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