As our mantra says...this yoga is for mothers, brothers, sisters and grandmothers, poets, bakers, painters and artists. This is Yoga to the People! So let all of your doubts or questions be set aside... come and explore the world of yoga', are the words one can read when entering Yoga to the People's website. Is Yoga really practiced by everyone? i.e. regardless of someone's social class? If the practice of Yoga in Occidental societies is becoming more and more popular, one has to know that yoga has been part of the Occidental culture for a long time. Indeed, during the Antiquity, Alexandre le Grand, in his conquests beyond Persia, had brought back to Greece a yogi so that he could show his talents to the public. At the beginning of the 20th century, accounts of travellers such as Alexandra David-Néel or Romain Roland caused the curiosity of some Westerners, attracted by the concept of body experiment of the religion and by the philosophical corpus of the Hindu texts. Occidental societies seemed then prepared to receive the Hindu culture and the first centers of yoga were created.
[...] As a matter of fact, it has been objectified, as Asad would say[11], and converted to a consumer good; yoga philosophy now clearly belongs to the capitalist sphere, and its practice is both revealing of one's belonging to a specific social class and a tool used by class conscious people to show their social belonging. There is an undeniable community around Yoga, as a Californian magazine describing the "lifestyle for the modern Yogi"[12] reveals; to quote them . it's Yogi times. [...]
[...] Indeed, the importance of understanding the philosophy of Yoga and not stick to a behaviorist interpretation is quite obvious, if one aims at understanding why people act this way, and not only describe their actions. How can one account for such an attraction for Yoga's principles? Actually, both my discussions (formal or informal) and observations helped me understand that most of the students grew up in specific social classes, and were conveyed values that are in agreement with Yoga's one (the respect of the body, the importance of the spirit This room, both a physical and metaphysical room (such as a sphere), allows them to gather, i.e. [...]
[...] Indeed, the relevance of Engel thought is quite obvious here, as economic factors do not (necessarily) play a role in defining who does or not belong to the community - Yoga to the people is indeed donation based. A physical and metaphysical place to gather : the importance of the community In this particular activity, one can feel the importance of community as well as the shared philosophy of its members. First of all, one can analyze the name of the studio itself; Yoga to the People. [...]
[...] Willing to figure whether people are exclusively doing Yoga for healthy reasons, or if this practice is determined by socio-cultural factors, I will try to conduct this ethnographic research as objectively as possible. Indeed, this analysis will aim at being actor-oriented[1], and will be based on the "participant observer" method, according to Evans-Pritchard principles[2]. I Analysis through the angle of the activity and the physical space : Yoga & Yoga to the people What is Yoga and how can one explain its growing popularity ? [...]
[...] Most of the people are used to those moves, and follow easily, while a few others are furtively glancing at their neighbors was obviously one of them!). People are very focused, one can only hear the music, the teacher's voice and quite loud breaths. The course continues, people are carefully following her directives. Some of them breathe really loud, but no one seems to be surprised The teacher calms the atmosphere. Everyone is relaxing and stretching their bodies. She lowers the music, and tells people to focus on their breath, and to forget about their tough day Last part of the session. [...]
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