Who Owns Yoga? | Sport | Al Jazeera   var _sf_startpt=(new Date()).getTime()              window.privDisableCSSInjection = 'true'; window.privLanguage = 'EN';                         window.rsConf = {settings: {hlicon: 'iconoff'}};                             Created with Sketch.             Watch Live                         Live   submit          al jazeera menu      submit   Home NewsMore   Middle East Africa Asia US & Canada     Latin America Europe Asia Pacific All     Middle East DocumentariesMore   Featured Documentaries Witness Al Jazeera World 101 East     People & Power Fault Lines Radicalised Youth Al Jazeera Correspondent This is Europe  Al Jazeera Selects  REWIND All     ShowsMore   Inside Story The Stream The Listening Post Talk to Al Jazeera     The Big Picture Head to Head Counting the Cost UpFront earthrise  Empire All     Investigations Opinion In Pictures MoreMore   Features Investigations In Pictures Interactive     Interactive Documentaries AJ Shorts Podcasts Reporter's Notebook Human Rights Sport Science & Technology Weather        Trending: Algeria India Pakistan Syria's War ISIS/ISIL         Most Searched

               googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1430377943388-2'); });       .oryx-bg { background-image: url(/web/20190304223721im_/https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/programmes/ALJAZEERA-CORRESPONDENT-BG01.jpg); }   Home Episodes Who Owns Yoga?  We explore the impact of our modern obsession with one of the world's oldest physical and spiritual practices.  Al Jazeera Correspondent 27 Nov 2014 10:08 GMT Health, Sport, India, Arts & Culture, US & Canada

  RenderPagesVideo('3901437924001', 0, '100%', 473, 'vdoContainer');The ancient practice of yoga has been packaged and commercialised in a myriad of different ways over recent decades.

  But while this has enabled it to reach millions of people, it has also brought with it the pitfalls of operating in a modern capitalist world.   In this film, we explore the obsession with yoga and the impact this is having on one of the world's oldest physical and spiritual practices, and ask: Who owns yoga? 

 The science behind yoga and meditation  By Bhanu Bhatnagar, correspondent

 Yoga is so utterly vast as a discipline and so old as a practice, that it was a tall order to make a film about it in all its diversity and complexity. And there is one important element that was left unexplored in our film which deserves mention: the science behind yoga and meditation.

 The last decade has seen an explosion of research into how and why yoga, mindful breathing and meditation impact our brains, bodies and behaviour. It's long been believed that yoga and meditation can positively affect a person's mood. But now, cold hard evidence appears to be confirming what sages and saints have been saying for thousands of years.

                Watch The Stream 'Finding Balance'        In 2012, 68-year-old Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard was named the world's happiest man.

 Researchers at the University of Wisconsin wired up the Frenchman’s skull with 256 sensors.

 The scans showed something remarkable. Daily meditation has given Ricard an exceptionally large capacity for joy and reduced his propensity towards negative emotions. Researchers showed that regular yoga and meditation can lead to increased activity in the brain's left prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for memory, mood and emotions, among other things.

 And you needn't be a Buddhist monk to benefit. Research suggests that just three weeks of 10 to 20 minutes of daily meditation can positively alter your brain.

 Neuroscience is taking us deeper into the inner workings of our minds. And it's revealing fascinating truths about our innate ability to heal ourselves, alter our dispositions, and according to Dr. Deepak Chopra, even change the expression of our genes.

 Chopra is part of a movement that aims to provide evidence of consciousness - a term thrown around loosely in the world of yoga and meditation that basically means an intense form of self-awareness, starting with the body and eventually encompassing all of existence.

 Yoga and meditation are bringing the usually hostile worlds of religion and science together; showing us that each individual has the capacity to heal themselves, physically and emotionally, through self-awareness and reflection.

     

 Yoga journeys  By Marie-Helene Carleton, filmmaker

 While working on this film and talking to people about their yoga journeys, I became intrigued by tales of their first time on the mat - and where it led. Just as there are multifold ways of doing yoga, so there are many stories of how one comes to it.

 But I started to notice a trend. Men often came to yoga to heal a physical injury, while women sought to heal an emotional one.

 A male professional wrestling champion who hurt his back needed to save his career. A troubled young man who described his upbringing as racist and violent fell off a building while high on drugs, broke his back, and couldn't walk. A young boy with debilitating health problems was given a cornucopia of pharmaceuticals that made him sicker.

 A young female dancer struggled with an eating disorder resulting from a sexual assault. An actress battled a deeply negative self-image. A female journalist needed to find a way to cope with the trauma of 9/11 and the death of her friends.

 But while these gendered starting points may seem like a dichotomy – I started yoga to heal my back, or I started yoga to heal my heart – people often discover that the physical and mental benefits converge over time as the physical practice leads to an emotional awakening.

 Through the physical practice, the wrestler heals his back, and then creates his own form of yoga in order to bring it to men who regard it as only being for women. The troubled young man finds he can walk again, and evolves his perspective of others, becoming a peace-loving vegetarian, teaching a rigorous form of yoga and breathing techniques at Ted talks.

 The sick boy heals his body through yoga and becomes a world-class yoga athlete who champions the spiritual aspects of his practice.

 And the emotional, internal journey leads to physical wellbeing and integration with the body. The young dancer finds a way to cope with her trauma, and the loss of control, creating a new and popular form of yoga that is about ease and simplicity. The actress learns to love her body and becomes a popular yoga instructor and body model for yoga brands. The journalist finds acceptance of the past and peace in her life, with a rigorous two-hour yoga practice every day.

 The physical and emotional journeys intersect.

 In recent years, the starting point for yoga has shifted as well. Returning combat veterans are using yoga to heal the emotional and psychological wounds of post-traumatic stress disorder.

 The way people talk about yoga – as a spiritual technology, a science of the soul, or body prayer – are different narrative roads that lead to a similar point.

 What makes yoga distinctive is the mind-body connection led by the breath. Here, the mind and body are not in opposition, but unified through the act of breathing. Yoga is an experience of a special connection that happens when the physical and the mental come together and become something transcendent.

       Micah Garen, Co-filmmaker contributed to this article.           Yoga at The Shard, London, UK [Marie-Helene Carleton/Al Jazeera]

            Kajza Ekberg, Boxing yoga, London, UK [Marie-Helene Carleton/Al Jazeera]

            Diamond Dallas Page, DDP Yoga, Venice Beach, CA, USA [Marie-Helene Carleton/Al Jazeera]

            Praise Moves, a Christian alternative to yoga, Barstow, CA, USA [Marie-Helene Carleton/Al Jazeera]

            Sri Dharma Mittra at the Dharma Yoga Center, New York City, US [Marie-Helene Carleton/Al Jazeera]

    Source: Al Jazeera

   Tell us what you think    { "@context": "http://web.archive.org./web/20190304223721/http://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "mainEntityOfPage": "http://web.archive.org./web/20190304223721/https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeracorrespondent/2014/11/who-owns-yoga-20141117114315748275.html", "headline": "Who Owns Yoga?", "datePublished": "17 Dec 2014 11:47 GMT", "dateModified": "27 Nov 2014 10:08 GMT", "description": "We explore the impact of our modern obsession with one of the world's oldest physical and spiritual practices. ", "author": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Al Jazeera" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Al Jazeera", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "http://web.archive.org./web/20190304223721/https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/assets/images/AJLOGOGOOGLE.png", "width": 250, "height": 40 } }, "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "http://web.archive.org./web/20190304223721/https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2014/11/20/20141120133532380580_20.jpg", "height": 450, "width": 800 } }   { "@context": "http://web.archive.org./web/20190304223721/http://schema.org", "@type": "VideoObject", "name": "Who Owns Yoga?", "description": "We explore the impact of our modern obsession with one of the world's oldest physical and spiritual practices. ", "thumbnailUrl": "http://web.archive.org./web/20190304223721/https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2014/11/20/20141120133532380580_20.jpg", "uploadDate": "27 Nov 2014 10:08 GMT", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Al Jazeera", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "http://web.archive.org./web/20190304223721/https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/assets/images/AJLOGOGOOGLE.png", "width": 250, "height": 40 } } }  In FocusPortrait of a yogi A photographic exploration of the power of yoga to unite people across cultural and physical divides.

 Yoga bends the trends in Kenya New project trains yoga teachers and students in some of the poorest parts of Nairobi.

 Arts & Culture, Africa, Kenya

Behind The Scenes The making of Al Jazeera Correspondent Executive producer Farid Barsoum shares a behind-the-scenes look at the inspiration behind the series.

 Media, Arts & Culture

  Meet the Correspondents Al Jazeera journalists recount the personal journeys that lay the foundations for their films.

 Media, Arts & Culture, Indonesia

    Commenting has been disabled. To find out more, click here. 

   MORE FROM AL JAZEERA How different voting systems work around the world Nearly two billion voters in 52 countries around the world will head to the polls this year to elect their leaders.

 Interactive, Infographic, Nigeria

  How Moscow lost Riyadh in 1938 Russian-Saudi relations could be very different today, if Stalin hadn't killed the Soviet ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

 Europe, Russia, Saudi Arabia

  The great plunder: Nepal's stolen treasures How the art world's hunger for ancient artefacts is destroying a centuries-old culture. A journey across the Himalayas.

 Interactive, Arts & Culture, Nepal

  'We scoured for days without sleeping, just clothes on our backs' The Philippines’ Typhoon Haiyan was the strongest storm ever to make landfall. Five years on, we revisit this story. 

 Philippines, Interactive, Environment

 Related Portrait of a yogi A photographic exploration of the power of yoga to unite people across cultural and physical divides.

   Yoga bends the trends in Kenya New project trains yoga teachers and students in some of the poorest parts of Nairobi.

 Arts & Culture, Africa, Kenya

 Latest News Venezuela in crisis: All the latest updates Self-declared interim president Juan Guaido returns to Caracas despite arrest threats. 

 Venezuela, Latin America, Nicolas Maduro, War & Conflict

  Bouteflika's offer fails to appease Algeria's protesters Anti-government rallies continues despite ailing president's proposal to hold new polls if he wins fifth term in office.

 Algeria, Middle East

 Trending  Khashoggi messages show distrust of 'Beast Pac-Man' MBS US, China declare trade war ceasefire CNN: Facts first, just not on Israel Poroshenko for 'Normandy format' talks with Russia Pablo Escobar's legacy 25 years on: Tributes and disgust US Navy's Middle East chief found dead in Bahrain Macron tells PM to hold talks with protesters G20 Summit 2018: All the latest updates Moon: Trump says likes North Korea's Kim, will fulfill his wishes 'World is at a crossroads. Act now or risk disaster'                       MUST-SEE PROGRAMMES101 EastPartition: Borders of BloodSeventy years after the partition of India, we examine the troubled legacy of the event that shaped the subcontinent.

India-Pakistan Partition, India, Pakistan

WitnessMaria Ressa: War on TruthIn an era of disinformation, the CEO of Rappler takes on forces that she believes are undermining world democracies.

Media, Philippines, Facebook

People & PowerThe Forgotten Heroes of EmpirePeople & Power investigates the UK's scandalous neglect of its colonial-era African soldiers.

World War, United Kingdom, History

WitnessSky and Ground: A Syrian Family's Journey Across BordersOne refugee family faces incredible odds and countless setbacks as they travel over 3,000km across Europe.

Syrian Refugees, Germany, Immigration

         

   News  Programmes  Opinion  About  Investigations  Contact Us  Video  Privacy Policy  Cookie Policy  Cookie Preferences    Facebook  Twitter  Google+  RSS  Podcast  YouTube  SnapChat    © 2019 Al Jazeera Media Network

      About   About Us  Press Office  Awards  Code of Ethics  Terms and Conditions  Privacy Policy  Cookie Policy  Cookie Preferences  Community Guidelines  Work for us  HR Quality     Connect   Contact Us  Apps  Social  Channel Finder  TV Schedule  Podcasts  Newsletter  Submit a Tip       Our Channels   Al Jazeera Arabic  Al Jazeera English  Al Jazeera Mubasher  Al Jazeera Documentary  Al Jazeera Balkans  AJ+     Our Network   Jetty  Al Jazeera Centre for Studies  Al Jazeera Media Institute  Learn Arabic  Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights  Al Jazeera Forum  Al Jazeera Film Festival  Al Jazeera Hotel Partners              © 2019 Al Jazeera Media Network

       

          $(function() { $('img.lazy').lazy({ effect: "fadeIn", effectTime: 1000, defaultImage: "http://web.archive.org./web/20190304223721/https://www.aljazeera.com/img/nov-2016/novresptopfeature.jpg", visibleOnly: true }); });      googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1430377943388-0'); });        googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1430377943388-1'); });       googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1430377943388-4'); });     try { $('.topadcontainer').remove(); $('#topdivad').insertAfter('#oryxcontext'); document.getElementById("topdivad").style.display = "block"; if (document.getElementById("toprightlongad")!= null){ var RightDiv = document.getElementById("toprightlongad"); RightDiv.innerHTML = document.getElementById("rightlongad").innerHTML; document.getElementById("rightlongad").innerHTML = ""; } $( document ).ready(function() { if (document.getElementById("ArticleSecAd")!= null){ var RightboDiv = document.getElementById("ArticleSecAd"); RightboDiv.innerHTML = document.getElementById("rightbottomad").innerHTML; document.getElementById("rightbottomad").innerHTML = ""; } }); $('#div-gpt-ad-1430377943388-2').remove(); } catch(err) { }     googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1430377943388-3'); });