Branding Yoga

Whether the commercialization of yoga is appropriate?

Yoga – An Introduction

• The sanskrit word Yoga came from root ‘yuj’, Meaning – union.

• The Yoga Sutras, a series of aphorisms, written by Patanjali, considered to be yoga’s most important precursor.

• He also wrote about Ashtanga Yoga (or the eight limbs of yoga):- Yama or restaint, Niyama or observation, Asana or physical exercises, Pranayama or breathing Techniques, Pratyahara or preparation of Meditation, Dharana or Concentration, Dhyana or Meditation, Samadhi or Absorption.

Yoga – An Introduction

Yoga – Initial Purpose

Yoga was associated with quieting the mind, transcending the physical self, and attaining communion with the divine.

Yoga – Modern Day Evolution

• Modern-day yoga reflected a plethora of ideas that teachers of yoga had passed down to their students over thousands of years. Some yoga practitioners focused exclusively on meditation, while other yogis and yoginis (male and female yoga devotees, respectively) engaged in highly physical forms of yoga. Even competitive yoga had a tradition in India.

• There’s Bikram Choudhury, the founder of Bikram yoga in America, who has aggressively fought to patent his approach to traditional yoga style.

Yoga – Branding: A Case Study of 2 different approaches

• Then there is the former model and ballet dancer Tara Stiles, who isn’t particularly interested in yoga’s roots or rules, but rather in mixing up different styles of yoga to create a beneficial exercise.

Yoga – Branding: A Case Study of 2 different approaches

Yoga – Issues with branding

The Indian government, meanwhile, took umbrage with Bikram’s legal claims, arguing that yoga was part of the country’s traditional knowledge. The government put together a panel of 100 historians and scientists that began cataloging 1,500 yoga poses found in ancient texts written in Sanskrit, Urdu, and Persian. The goal was not to challenge Bikram in court, the case explains, but rather to keep others from following his proprietary example…

Yoga – Branding: The Big Question

Whether the commercialization of yoga is appropriate?

Argument

• “The argument against it is that religion is something that is very personal, and that it should not be commercialized.”

• The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) launched an awareness campaign called “Take Back Yoga—Bringing to Light Yoga’s Hindu Roots.” The goal was not to convert yoga devotees to Hinduism, according to the organizers, but rather to have them acknowledge the connection.

Argument

• HAF cofounder and board member Aseem Shukla in the Washington Post’s On Faith column called “The Theft of Yoga” blasted the “facile complicity of generations of Hindu yogis, gurus, swamis, and others that offered up a religion’s spiritual wealth at the altar of crass commercialism.”

Argument

• The other side of the argument focuses on business rather than religion.“ It’s all about creating value for a large audience. By using marketing and branding you can be more effective and bring [your product] to a larger audience.

Argument

Evaluation

• “Yoga’s very popularity creates the possibility of corruption and distortion, and lowest common denominator teachings,” says Philip Goldberg, spiritual teacher and author of American Veda, in an interview with the Huffington Post.

$118 yogi crew sweater from lululemon

$128 yoga mat from Manduka

• Yoga, at its roots, was for men. It was traditionally a very sexist practice and women were excluded from it. It has changed a little bit and now, within civilizations, women go into the city to practice but the majority of practitioners in India are still men.

Evaluation

• The practice of yoga in the Western world looks a lot different, with 83 per cent of practitioners being women. Yoga classes are rarely one-on-one; they usually take place in mirrored studios with many students and one teacher.

Evaluation

• A major benefit of commercialization is the increased accessibility of yoga to the masses. With yoga being offered in more venues, by more teachers and in more styles than ever before, the ways that anyone can get involved increase dramatically.

Evaluation

• For example, Steve Jobs redefined the role of technology in our daily lives by creating elegant, effective, beautifully designed products that simply make things easier and more accessible.

Evaluation

• “The very fact that if you ask the average person what yoga is, they immediately think of a beautiful woman doing stretches and bends; that tells you how commercialized it has become.”

Evaluation

• "When a student recognizes they are going to a teacher to learn something [meaningful and useful] and that they are being given this great information that this person has acquired, they tend to value that more. On the other hand, if they're going to be led through a workout and it's a homogeneous workout that could be had anywhere, it's just a matter of time and place, then that doesn't have much value."

Evaluation

• Instead of judging as "good" or "bad," however, it must be recognized that commercialization quite simply is a large part of the current reality of yoga in the West. This pattern of commercialization can be seen in many subcultures that have become popular on a mainstream level, for example technology, Hip Hop and entertainment.

Evaluation

Solution – Middle Path

Being aware of the opportunities created by commercialization, while at the same time taking on only those that support one's authentic values. In this way, yoga as a culture and a movement can thrive within the industry it has created thereby transcending conflicts that exist between the extremes of supporting either commercialization or authenticity alone.

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