Many things sold today as “ancient traditions” are in fact quite new – invented traditions carefully packaged to look timeless and pure. Yoga is often staged as an ancient wisdom practice, which gives teachers, studios, and brands a special kind of authority. At the same time, it becomes a product that we buy.
When we consume yoga detached from any context, we also help to cover up power asymmetries: Who profits, who is rendered invisible, whose culture is being appropriated? If we take seriously the idea of yoga as a practice of liberation, then it also has to invite real transformation in how we relate to power, to each other and to the worlds we move in.
lilayoga monika scherer. 