Admittedly it’s been a while since I was a university student, but I seem to remember the campus as being a place where opening and expanding one’s mind and thoughts were strongly encouraged. Imagine my surprise when I read about student leaders at the University of Ottawa cancelling a free yoga class, open to persons with and without physical disabilities, on the grounds of “cultural appropriation.” Attempts by the teacher to keep the class open by renaming it “mindful stretching” were thwarted, due to Western oppression and colonialism and the resulting cultural genocide.
As a devoted yoga practitioner for nearly nine years, I have one thing to say about that: KISS MY ASANA.
I am a white woman, and so I generally shy away from using words like “cultural appropriation.” However, I think we can safely say that the Western adoption of yogic principles such as ahimsa (non-harming to other beings), satya (truthfulness), saucha (cleanliness), and samtosa (contentment) are not the same as playing Cowboys and Indians. Yogic breathing to encourage focus and serenity is not the same as dressing up in blackface. Balancing in a headstand is not the same thing as donning a black wig and a kimono and going as a geisha to a Halloween party.
There is a big difference between cultural appropriation and respectfully adopting elements of a culture that is not necessarily ours by birth.
I am Scottish-Norwegian by heritage; without adoption of other cultures, I should be at all times wearing a tartan or bunad, eating haggis and lutefisk, and playing on the bagpipes. My neighbours should be thrilled that other cultures have been introduced to me and I’m not currently playing the bagpipes or cooking lye-soaked fish.
We live in a big, beautiful, multicultural country. At my children’s school, they learn about Eid, Ramadan, Hanukkah, Pow-Wows, Chinese New Year, Moon Festivals, and Diwali, as well as the typical Christian holidays. The introduction to different cultures, traditions, and celebrations has made their lives richer. When my son wishes his friend a Happy Diwali, he is not appropriating Hindu culture; he is honoring his friend in a respectful way.
Sri K Pattabhi Jois, who is credited with popularizing the Ashtanga method of yoga, was thrilled about the number of people he reached through the practice. Ashtanga was largely unknown in the West in the 1970s, and its growth to being one of the most popular yoga traditions by the year 2000 was an incredible thing for him. To Pattabhi Jois, the more people practicing yoga, the better the world would be.
Practicing yoga has made me a better person. At the heart of yoga is the desire to do better, to be better, to live better. Yoga is more than putting your legs behind your head or reaching for your ankles while doing a backbend; true yoga is taking the contentment that is in your heart and spreading it to those around you. True yoga is putting kindness and compassion into the world and making it a little bit better. A yogi leaves a place a little bit better than when they found it. It is disappointing that the University of Ottawa cannot see that.
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