Selling Yoga: From Counterculture to Pop Culture

by Andrea Jain

Premodern and early modern yoga comprise techniques with a wide range of aims, from turning inward in quest of the true self, to turning outward for divine union, to channeling bodily energy in pursuit of sexual pleasure. Early modern yoga also encompassed countercultural beliefs and practices. In contrast, today, modern yoga aims at the enhancement of the mind-body complex but does so according to contemporary dominant metaphysical, health, and fitness paradigms. Consequently, yoga is now a part of popular culture. In Selling Yoga, Andrea R. Jain explores the popularization of yoga in the context of late-twentieth-century consumer culture. She departs from conventional approaches by undermining essentialist definitions of yoga as well as assumptions that yoga underwent a linear trajectory of increasing popularization. While some studies trivialize popularized yoga systems by reducing them to the mere commodification or corruption of what is perceived as an otherwise fixed, authentic system, Jain suggests that this dichotomy oversimplifies the history of yoga as well as its meanings for contemporary practitioners. By discussing a wide array of modern yoga types, from Iyengar Yoga to Bikram Yoga, Jain argues that popularized yoga cannot be dismissed--that it has a variety of religious meanings and functions. Yoga brands destabilize the basic utility of yoga commodities and assign to them new meanings that represent the fulfillment of self-developmental needs often deemed sacred in contemporary consumer culture.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, History

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

An academic journal article that morphed into a book - sometimes it worked well, other times not as succinctly. Jain makes some compelling arguments that yoga cannot be "claimed" by any group:

By the end of the first millenium C.E., yoga proponents in different Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions systematized yoga in definitive terms... following the twelfth century incursions of Muslims into South Asia, even Sufis appropriated elements of yoga."

She details Hindu and Jain yoga systems (the latter which gets very little mention in any other literature, clearly setting this work apart), but largely ignores Buddhist yoga tradition. The title of the book, referring to yoga as a commodity, is discussed in the text, but it isn't a comprehensive title for the book as a whole. This is a religious history scholarly approach to yoga - how it was practiced, how it is practiced now, and how it was made into a product.

The most readable chapters - almost standalone studies themselves - were:

-Chapter 4: Branding Yoga 20th/21st century yoga systems, namely Krishnamacharya and his disciples, and the further western branding of postural yoga. Her synthesis on Anusara and John Friend was of particular interest as I myself watched that one from the sidelines.

-Chapter 5: Postural Yoga as a Body of Religious Practice - the essence of this chapter was strong, but it did become a bit nit-picky as Jain criticized and picked apart another publication about the same subject. Still interesting to observe the yoga as religion vs spirituality aspect, and delving into the insider views of rituals, mantras, and "hierophany", the experience of the mundane flesh, bones, and physical movements as sacred. (Relating specifically to Iyengar's famous mantra The body is my temple, asanas are my prayers.

-Chapter 6: Yogaphobia and Hindu Origins Truly an interesting cultural lens here - seeing a particular entity ("yoga") and seeing how it is viewed and vilified as "demonic" by certain Christian groups, as well as purist Hindu groups who want to "reclaim". This chapter seemed to be the most original in the book.

One could easily pick this book up, read the Conclusion - a synthesis of everything in the book, and then go back into the chapters to delve in. There's some important work here, but I think it is harder to digest since it was written for an academic audience.

In the history of religions, there are no original ideas of practices, and there are no unchanging essences. Religious phenomena arise in continuous processes of syncretism, appropriation, and hybridization. Yoga is no exception. In short, the problem with any essentialist definition of yoga remains: Who's to say which, if any, yogis have it all wrong?

3.5 stars

[Amanda Comi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another stop in my journey to understand why people will pay $35 for goat yoga with someone who was trained over a few weekends but won’t try a ballet class with a world class instructor for $10. I’m still searching but according to this monograph, the answer to yoga’s popularity is found in it’s ability to be adaptive in a way that’s perceived as a reformation and not a “capitalist selling out”

This book assumes knowledge of some primary yoga texts and also Singleton’s thesis from Yoga Body.

[Bookish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me start on a positive note by saying I loved the cover of the book ;- ) The guy in the sweats with the hand lettered Om Navah Shivaya in front of the ladies in polyester was nicely done. I felt it went down hill from there. I’d like to say that this is what happens when good PhD theses are turned into books without adequate editing but TBH I’m not even sure it was a good thesis. On the bright side, I did learn two new vocabulary words (soteriological and hierophany – Who knew?). I tried hard to look past the obligatory stodgy academic language here, but it just felt like her argument about the commercialization of yoga was never clearly separated from the history piece, or the also interesting but poorly laid out analysis of the transition from mental practice to a body practice, and the forces for and against this.
I've read other books about the history of yoga in the US, all of which I’ve found more interesting, easier to read, and thus more usefully informative about interesting figures like Sivananda, Theos Bernard, and others. They make an appearance here, but, I found it dry, colorless and not very well tied to the overall narrative. I wish I could say something better about Selling Yoga – but I found it really frustrating to read (and I did read the WHOLE THING). Even the relatively small part that was specifically about commercializing yoga – which I think could have been really interesting if there had been more context (e.g., $106 mala beads from LuluLemon – surely something could have been made of the cultural appropriation mixed with the breath taking gall of that) instead of just assertions that clothes and mats are over priced and not really necessary. But things like how did yoga grow, what was the tipping point, how did this rapid expansion lead to the rapid growth of companies like Athleta and Lululemon, and at least at Athleta, really have yoga take over from all other types of athletic gear? What about the role of the teacher training schools, and gym offerings, that while helpful physically to many strip out the meditative and internal aspects?
I know that writing and finishing a thesis is tough, but this thing read like her heart was never in it – and like she really didn’t care about the topic. Maybe if the organization of it was better, it would have.

[daemyra, the realm's delight · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read if you want to decolonize your yoga practice. I say this because Selling Yoga provides historical context that is much-needed for online discourse surrounding who gets to say what yoga is. However, Jain liberally quotes Mark Singleton, which is a major red flag.

Jain is much more interested in rehabilitating the bad image of spirituality in pop culture than she is in exploring the problems of commodified spirituality. I think this is where my own worldview was challenged, and I recognized how criticisms of commodified spirituality can also disenfranchise those who have found healing.

To this extent, Jain is also not interested in finding "authentic" yoga but this is problematic when Jain does not address the systems of oppression that are at play that allow yt people that create styles of yoga like Anusura or Jivamukti that oversaturate the market. I am uncomfortable with the conflation of actions of someone like John Friend creating a yoga brand versus say, B.K.S. Iyenar or Muktananda (Siddha Yoga). They are not the same. There is an element of potential cultural appropriation that is not addressed but labelled as "invention" and "innovation."

Yes, yoga has meant different things to different people at different times - we can all agree that it's a little silly to gatekeep yoga but at the same time, I have a big problem when this argument is made to shrug our shoulders and not look at things from a colonial lens. We need to understand the actions of yt yoga brands from that critical perspective.

Ultimately, Jain is very optimistic about how yoga in pop culture can be empowering for those who interact with it. Lots to noodle on!

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I did learn a lot about the history of yoga’s commercialization and the various movements/philosophies that were developed along the way, I feel like the structure was a little lacking. The flow of the chapters felt disorienting and it was hard to retain what I’d learned because of the way it was organized. If I read it again, I’d take the time to annotate thoroughly to avoid this problem. However, as a Hindu who was previously almost militantly anti-modern postural yoga, this book did change my perspective a little bit. Basically it helped me understand that yoga as a path to Hindu spiritual development and Saturday hot yoga class in LA were two separate things and shouldn’t be analyzed through the same framework. I found the brief bits about the Indian government’s attempts to “trademark” yoga in a sense particularly interesting.

TLDR: This book reads narratively like clicking through every single Wikipedia article you can find about yoga (though it’s clearly better researched as evidenced by the robust footnotes and bibliography).

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful in providing context for the rise of Iyengar, Jois, and Desikachar inspired yoga in the US, as well as brief accounts of early advocates of yoga in America like Ida Craddock. Jain's more recent examples are too focused on Texas and would have benefited from a broader perspective on different groups and organizations in other states, but the book is helpful nonetheless in providing some perspective on modern yoga in the US. It also serves as a good account of the baseless fear-mongering of postural yoga by self-appointed religious figures, past and present.

[Johnnysbookreviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is like a textbook. Nothing easy about this book.

The book is about yoga, and how it came from India to now being everywhere. We have naked yoga to lama yoga, and they'll be more later on.

The big question this book tried to uncover is 'what is yoga?' the definition varies for everyone, but what does it mean for you? For me, it's the combination of movement and strength that brings people together on a like minded goal. It's empowering.

[Noah Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book interesting and it definitely brought up many good discussions, but it was just way too difficult to understand as someone who does not have a background in philosophy and the Hindu religion. It is one of if not the most difficult book I have read in terms of academic jargon and (in my opinion, overly) complex sentence structure.

[Chelsea Kulhanek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative; anyone interested in the practice of yoga, especially teachers, should read this book…Jain explains the complicated history of what we generally consider “yoga” over the years in different geographic and cultural contexts.

It’s pretty academic in structure and tone, which made it a bit of work to read, but worth it IMO.

[SB]

Honestly I do not know how to rate this. This is the second time this has happened to me this year.

[Susan Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very academic book so it's not an easy read, but it provides excellent insights into the paths yoga took once it came to the West, and the many anti-yoga sentiments, called "yogaphobia."

[Daniel Wise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true scholarly examination of modern postural yoga in the West. Who owns yoga? Is what we do true yoga?
A great lineage of how we came to where we are today in the modern postural systems.
A must read for anyone serious practitioners (Or any of the millions of new yoga teachers)
Kudos for the work.

[Mills College Library]

181.45 J254 2015

[Frances YSM · Rating 4 out of 5]

這書太好玩兒了。
CC2015念4月15日進的這本新書，我是第一個看的。

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating take on how yoga came to be the international fad that it is today. Grounded in solid academic research, historical context, and original thought, Selling Yoga is worth the read for those interested in the history of yoga, consumer culture, or globalization.