My yoga class is a microcosm of modern society. A group of individuals coming together in a spatio-temporal context to achieve different goals. It is also a study in efficiency or its lack; efficiency of not just the body, trying to twist and turn, but also of the belief system.

It is difficult to adopt any ancient art, craft, belief system or even word without navigating a landmine of sensibilities. For example, it is not easy to assert that hatha yoga or the physical practice of postures (asanas), is not the pure form of yoga. Even though it is seen as the most central yogic practice, this is probably not how yoga originated. And I'm not even referring to the pop styles of yoga practices that have emerged across the world purely thanks to laissez-faire.

These days, a good deal of breath is wasted, quite literally, on decoding whether yoga practice is geared toward an "inward-oriented detachment from material outcomes and desires", or if it's merely another fitness routine. If it's just the latter, why do some yoga teachers insist on following a puritanical pedagogical system of surrendering one's self?

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The large-scale export of yoga from the Indian subcontinent to the world........

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