Prompt: Is Yoga a Religion? Much of the criticism of yoga in the West as "cultural appropriation" comes from the position that yoga in India is part and parcel of the religious traditions of Hinduism. Do you believe Yoga is a religion? Support your position from experience and the materials presented in class.
Response: While yoga in the traditional sense correlates with popular eastern beliefs of reincarnation and connecting to a higher reality, yoga itself was never a religion. A spiritual practice, yes, but the idea of yoga being a religion was only brought about as a way to separate it from hatha practices as shown in "Naked in Ashes" and make it more palatable to the west. To me, yoga feels as if it has religious elements, but it has always felt like more of a spiritual practice that can be done regardless of one's religion. I have always seen yoga as a mind quieting practice, rather than some sort of connection with a religious deity.

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