Did you see a beautiful lady with popularly idealistic body measurements pausing for a provocative posture in pictures..? Yes That's how the new age yoga works.Let us examine how the word 'Yoga' plays its art of misinformation and disinformation in today's health concious population. Let us also critically analyse whether there is any need to celebrate Yoga this much..
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Scientific or spiritual is the better way of advertisements??
You can consider Yoga in whatever way that suits you. If you are a medical professional, you can choose it as a way of treatment. If you are a counselor / therapist, you can consider it as a meditation tool. But the problem is, what it can assure more than a regular exercise? If you want to make your body flexible, there are routine exercises other than Yoga, that can have better guaranteed results. But why people prefer Yoga now a days?? The reason is the way its portrayed in the media with the help of some hyper flexible yoga practitioners, predominantly women. If you simply do an image search of the word Yoga, you will not see any men doing Yoga.People will get amazed on such pictures and aspires to try with some level of curiosity, attraction and hope. Yes,the success of 'Yoga' is just the success of its advertisements that suitably mixed up with beauty consciousness and health consciousness in a culturally, traditionally, medically and spiritually plastered outfit. This is what makes Yoga different. The bogus claims made by some Yoga practitioners are more mythical than scientific.
Yoga vs poverty and casteism.
Can you imagine a poor man doing yoga except in a street circus.?? Yes, may be a saint. That's what am trying to say.. Yoga is considered as a divine way of life, almost similar to vegan diets promoted by some people to establish their purity of life. Yoga has become a part of life mostly to the elite class of indian population. Its now been deemed as a lifestyle routine of the people live in better social and economic condition. Definitely, there will be a tendency to adapt to the way of celebrity lifestyle and there may be people who tries to do so inorder to gain a sense of superiority, atleast to themselves. There is nothing wrong to live the life as a person wish to, within the legal limits, but establishing one form of lifestyle as ideal and other as bad to earn popularity to the former, that suits only to a particular section of the society is wrong and discriminative. There exists a brahminical sensibility in it if you analyse it carefully..
Yoga and Corporate agenda.
There are lots of MNCs that provide Yoga sessions to its employees to reduce their mental stress on workplace. People think that its a great thing. It is. But, why the company don't hire more employees to reduce the stress of its existing workforce.?? Why the company is not reducing working hours?? They wont, instead of that, they will give free Yoga sessions. Likewise, Yoga has become a safety valve for labour exploitation. In corporate world, we can see the trend of Yoga for lifestyle diseases. Its also a try out to avoid body-shaming and racist jokes in office room. Its more like a cosmetic attempt than a medical treatment. I am not saying Yoga doesn't have any healing effects. I am simply questioning whether is it overrated or not..?
Yoga and mental health..
Can you to tell an anxious farmer to go and do yoga before or after his hectic work?? But for an office goer with a decent salary can be a suitable customer of Yoga. Why is that..? Its because of the time availability. Its good to have a Me-Time to everyone to assure their mental health. But, Yoga can be a meditation tool regularly when you have enough time to spend for your own happiness. Look at those people who says they are happy after doing yoga. May be they can be happy after the session, but if they are having a life that allow them to find time for themselves regularly, then what's the point in saying that they are mentally stressed..? One can argue that the stress level of an individual is incomparable. But i think, if a person is happy after doing yoga, which means that person was already happy before Yoga.
So... New age yoga is more of a media creativity with lots of toxic and dangerous elements on it. Health hazards induced after doing Yoga is also a reality. Yoga may or will have some benefits, but what you see as Yoga may not be what you are actually looking for.
