At the mention of yoga, people drop to their hands and knees on blue mats, their bodies in designer yoga apparel stretching and positioning themselves in taught poses.
RHYTHMIC breathing rushes out of nostrils as a mental countdown begins: one and inhale; two and exhale and switch position, the important is to not misconceptions about yoga.
After a flurry of routines leaving both mind and body relax, some people will roll up their yoga mats and rush home to cook dinner. Others will sit on their mats and meditate, focusing on spiritual exercises.
What Does Yoga Mean Today?
The art of yoga has become a diverse activity, practiced by over 20 million people in the United States alone. Perhaps it’s for this reason that the future of yoga can be hard to define.
Since yoga can mean so many different things to so many different people, it’s hard for this type of mental and physical discipline to take only one specific path.
Commercialism Of Yoga
While the art of yoga has been around since the 15th century in India, where people practiced asanas to ready the mind and body for spiritual meditation, it was first introduced in America in 1893, according to the Huffington Post.
Yoga became “discovered” as television commercials
The spiritual side of yoga faded in the background as people bought into the physical side of exercise, and in so doing this promoted the commercialization of yoga as people purchased all the must-haves: yoga mats, clothing, towels, totes, exercise balls, resistance bands, yoga DVDs and anything else that can be marketable.
Sudden Growth and New Styles Of Yoga
With the explosion of yoga as an “exercise” instead of meditation and spiritual ritual, people sought to get involved in this career avenue by becoming instructors.
Schools open across the nation to specifically teach yoga, as the business side of it increasing.
As the concepts of yoga spread, so too did new styles and positions
New styles of yoga have also taken unusual routes. Hip-hop yoga with music and even anti-gravity aerial yoga can be found today. Even the traditional teaching of yoga between an instructor and a class has changed to adopt modern technology.
Beginners and experts are practicing yoga by streaming video classes, directly to their computers or signing up for virtual classes.
The Future Of Yoga
Yoga has diversified into so many different types, that now purists are calling for a return to its spiritual aspects as well as decreasing the number of inexperienced, teachers not teaching the actual poses in the right manner.
In addition, Instructors are seeking better training teachers to prevent the dangerous injuries associated with yoga, and need to avoid misconceptions about yoga.
In 1999, season yoga professionals formed the Yoga Alliance, according to CNN News. This is a nonprofit organization dedicated to having a set of minimum standards for teacher training. misconceptions about yoga.
This allows yoga instructors and enthusiasts to self-regulate the industry ?
Schools that are members of the Yoga Alliance can offer certification to their graduating teachers who can proudly show. in other words, they are receiving the required training to teach yoga. This helps to weed out unqualified teachers.
Yet this self-regulation may not be enough
Yet many yoga instructors are against government intervention and self-regulation, claiming that because yoga is a free discipline. It should be left to the teacher and student to decide on the type of yoga classes taught.
It will be interesting to see how people interpret how yoga should be taught.
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Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ira-israel/yoga-practice_b_1223529.html, http://www.matsmatsmats.com/yoga/yoga-disciplines.html, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/nyregion/11yoga.html, http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/29/health/yoga-health-concerns, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/fashion/sundaystyles/04YOGA.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
