Is yoga, as we know it, just a myth?
Nothing about yoga is as many yoga practitioners believe: The results of the yoga study by Briton Mark Singleton are astonishing and challenge the objections of all those who trust in the ancient Indian yoga spirit of "body, mind & soul." In his book, published in 2010 by Oxford University Press, the religious scholar Singleton presents it very precisely and comprehensively: Body-focused yoga is a relatively new teaching, not primarily Eastern but equally strongly Western in character. Let's summarize the core statements of "Yoga Body – The Origins of Modern Posture Practice" and form our own opinion.
Yoga as a tiny cog in Indian culture
In the Western world, we mostly know yoga as a form of Hatha Yoga . Hatha Yoga is said to have originally come from India, where it was practiced as part of a millennia-old Hindu culture. Singleton argues, however, that in classical texts such as the Upanishads or the Bhagavad Gita, yoga is mentioned at most in the sense of spiritual perfection and meditation . Asanas seemed to be of such secondary importance that they served solely to control the breath and sit still in a meditative state. Contemplation was desired, and asanas represented one path among many ways to reach the desired state. The roots in ancient Indian practices therefore have little to do with health and fitness-oriented yoga styles of the 21st century. It was only the collision of Indian nationalism after the end of British colonial rule and the European physical culture movement a good 100 years ago that "our" yoga was shaped by refining Western gymnastic exercises with a spiritual superstructure.
Yoga as a trend sport of the late 19th century
The term "physical culture" emerged at the end of the 19th century and is linked to increasing industrialization. Fewer and fewer people earned their living through farming and other physically demanding activities. Many moved to the cities and worked in factories. Factory owners were concerned with the productivity of their workers and thus promoted physical culture as a national mission. The image of the athletic, well-trained body was born at that time and left its mark in India as well. Hatha Yoga, previously practiced to control life energy in the sense of Pranayama – for purification and contemplation – became postural yoga. At a time when the Olympic Games were being revived by Pierre de Coubertin, Swami Sivananda, Paramahamsa Yogananda, Bishnu Choran Gosh, and more spiritually motivated representatives such as Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo breathed new life into the idea of yoga.
What Turnvater Jahn and the first modern bodybuilder have to do with yoga
Religious scholar Mark Singleton, who lives in Santa Fe and teaches at St. John's College there, doesn't just make provocative claims. He supports his theses with historical sources, interviews contemporary witnesses, and considers findings from modern yoga research. Interestingly, in this context, the fitness wave in India at the end of the 19th century, influenced by bodybuilding pioneer Eugen Sandow, also had a political significance comparable to the German gymnastics movement of Ludwig Jahn, the "father of gymnastics." Indian men wanted to strengthen their bodies to break free from the colonial rulers. At the same time, however, they partly adopted training methods from the British army. By blending them with a context influenced by Hindu, Tantric, philosophical, and New Age thought, they gave physical culture its own direction and a completely new aspect of health. The legend of "body, mind, and soul" dates back to this time, making it only about 100 years old. In traditional yoga philosophy, mind and soul are one; there is no distinction.
Singleton's conclusions
Yoga is an exciting transnational phenomenon. Philosophical traditions and centuries of accumulated knowledge related to energy flows and states of consciousness have evolved into a new method through global cultural encounters and scientific advances. Modern yoga styles have emerged from cultural change and continue to evolve. This is precisely what makes yoga, this method that is neither sport nor religion nor medicine, yet encompasses a little of all of these, so unique.
Image © StudioM1
Is yoga, as we know it, just a myth?
by Nick on May 10 2023
Is yoga, as we know it, just a myth?
Nothing about yoga is as many yoga practitioners believe: The results of the yoga study by Briton Mark Singleton are astonishing and challenge the objections of all those who trust in the ancient Indian yoga spirit of "body, mind & soul." In his book, published in 2010 by Oxford University Press, the religious scholar Singleton presents it very precisely and comprehensively: Body-focused yoga is a relatively new teaching, not primarily Eastern but equally strongly Western in character. Let's summarize the core statements of "Yoga Body – The Origins of Modern Posture Practice" and form our own opinion.
Yoga as a tiny cog in Indian culture
In the Western world, we mostly know yoga as a form of Hatha Yoga . Hatha Yoga is said to have originally come from India, where it was practiced as part of a millennia-old Hindu culture. Singleton argues, however, that in classical texts such as the Upanishads or the Bhagavad Gita, yoga is mentioned at most in the sense of spiritual perfection and meditation . Asanas seemed to be of such secondary importance that they served solely to control the breath and sit still in a meditative state. Contemplation was desired, and asanas represented one path among many ways to reach the desired state. The roots in ancient Indian practices therefore have little to do with health and fitness-oriented yoga styles of the 21st century. It was only the collision of Indian nationalism after the end of British colonial rule and the European physical culture movement a good 100 years ago that "our" yoga was shaped by refining Western gymnastic exercises with a spiritual superstructure.
Yoga as a trend sport of the late 19th century
The term "physical culture" emerged at the end of the 19th century and is linked to increasing industrialization. Fewer and fewer people earned their living through farming and other physically demanding activities. Many moved to the cities and worked in factories. Factory owners were concerned with the productivity of their workers and thus promoted physical culture as a national mission. The image of the athletic, well-trained body was born at that time and left its mark in India as well. Hatha Yoga, previously practiced to control life energy in the sense of Pranayama – for purification and contemplation – became postural yoga. At a time when the Olympic Games were being revived by Pierre de Coubertin, Swami Sivananda, Paramahamsa Yogananda, Bishnu Choran Gosh, and more spiritually motivated representatives such as Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo breathed new life into the idea of yoga.
What Turnvater Jahn and the first modern bodybuilder have to do with yoga
Religious scholar Mark Singleton, who lives in Santa Fe and teaches at St. John's College there, doesn't just make provocative claims. He supports his theses with historical sources, interviews contemporary witnesses, and considers findings from modern yoga research. Interestingly, in this context, the fitness wave in India at the end of the 19th century, influenced by bodybuilding pioneer Eugen Sandow, also had a political significance comparable to the German gymnastics movement of Ludwig Jahn, the "father of gymnastics." Indian men wanted to strengthen their bodies to break free from the colonial rulers. At the same time, however, they partly adopted training methods from the British army. By blending them with a context influenced by Hindu, Tantric, philosophical, and New Age thought, they gave physical culture its own direction and a completely new aspect of health. The legend of "body, mind, and soul" dates back to this time, making it only about 100 years old. In traditional yoga philosophy, mind and soul are one; there is no distinction.
Singleton's conclusions
Yoga is an exciting transnational phenomenon. Philosophical traditions and centuries of accumulated knowledge related to energy flows and states of consciousness have evolved into a new method through global cultural encounters and scientific advances. Modern yoga styles have emerged from cultural change and continue to evolve. This is precisely what makes yoga, this method that is neither sport nor religion nor medicine, yet encompasses a little of all of these, so unique.
Image © StudioM1
