Prompt - Think about the ways that yoga has been defined in word and action in your practice space and other experiences. What do you believe accounts for these definitions here in the United States? How does the definition differ from the way yoga is defined in India?

 Response -  Yoga is often defined as a spiritual practice centered around bettering oneself. In the classroom, topics such as self care, spiritual well being, relaxation, and physical fitness are highlighted. The US has marketed yoga as such, thus producing these types of definitions surrounding yoga in the west today. Yoga is marketed as a form of relaxation, a way to attain physical beauty, improve success, sleep, and sex appeal, and generally as a miracle cure all for the stresses and woes of American society. So naturally, when students flood yoga studios in search of these things, instructors ensure that those are what they will be getting by using them in their classroom dialogue. Yoga in India is also a spiritual practice, but a drastically different one than in America. Yoga is a way to get out of one's body and get closer to god, and is not something practiced as a class. It is not a form of exercise or relaxation, but a vigorous discipline linked closely with religion.

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