DESPERATELY
SEEKING SERENITY
dipika, dated to the 15th century
CE, making it one of the oldest
surviving texts of hatha yoga, the
yoga of physical exercises.
The way we practice asana —
usually in a crowded, mirrored
room — has also changed over
the years to suit modern needs.
Traditionally, yoga was a private,
personal practice that involved a
sacred bond between student and
teacher (guru), part of the oral system of imparting knowledge known
as guru-shishya paramparya.
“In the West, there are streams
where this authentic transmission
from living masters to students
still exists,” Viniyoga founder
Gary Kraftsow said at the Omega
Institute Being Yoga conference
in 2011. “But there’s a lot of yoga
that’s made up, modern stuff, with
no understanding of depth and
meaning of text.”
Although the guru-student tradition may have gone the way of
the loincloth (which was, yes, the
original yogawear), Indian knowledge has been steadily spreading in the West since the 19th
century (Henry David Thoreau
is commonly said to be the first
yogi in America). But the physical practice didn’t really catch on
until the “new cultural era” of the
HUFFINGTON
12.22.13
1970s, a time of surging interest
in both spirituality and physical
fitness, Goldberg explains.
“Following the fitness and exercise boom in America, it was the
physical practices [of yoga] that
caught on,” he said.
“How do you adapt these
ancient teachings and
practices, modernize them
and bring them to a new
culture, without distorting or
corrupting them, or diluting
their effect?”
That fitness and exercise boom
— propelled by the emergence
Richard Simmons and Jane Fonda
as fitness stars, and the at-home
video workout — led to growing scientific interest in yoga and
meditation. More and more American research demonstrated their
measurable physical and mental
health benefits, legitimizing yoga
in the eye of the public.
Today, yoga has come to be seen
as something of a panacea for the
ailments of modern society —
tech overload, disconnection and
alienation, insomnia, stress and
anxiety. And in many cases, the
timeworn technique is the perfect antidote to the modern speed
of life that’s created a culture of