Commodification of Yoga in United States Culture

Ellise Verheyen

Rel. Stu. 3210H

15 May 2014

Commodification of Yoga in U.S. Culture

What originally began as a spiritual practice linked to Indian Hinduism has, in recent decades, commercialized and spread like wildfire. Yoga, or at least a ghost of its original form, has taken root in the United States and can be found on nearly every street corner of cities large enough to house a studio. So what exactly does this Americanized version of yoga entail and how is it that this huge piece of the Hindu tradition became such a hot commodity?

One of the first, most well-known exposures to the tradition of yoga came from Indian Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda. In September of 1893, the Parliament of the World’s Religions met as a part of the Chicago World’s Fair and Vivekananda came to speak about his faith. Little did he know that the nation would be so enthralled with what he had to say. After only one year, this charismatic figure had established the first of many Vedanta Societies in New York. The Vedanta Society emphasized a way of knowledge that merged with several Christian facets, making it accessible to a largely Christian audience in the United States. Vivekananda then spent the following thirty years in America, teaching the yogic discipline of meditation, as well as kriya yoga, a form that organizes the seven energy centers of the body. From there, the organization grew to include forty-four centers, as well as many similar groups, that spanned the country by the mid-1980 (Corrigan/Hudson 372).

Surprisingly enough, very few Hindu-practicing Indian immigrants actually participated in these communities. The Hindu custom that was being performed in the United States was very different than that which the ethnic communities founded in California by Indian immigrants practiced. Throughout the 20th century, yoga changed with each decade. Through the ‘50s and ‘60s, yoga was known as either a spiritual practice or an alternative way of getting high. In the...