Authenticity in Yoga
Why it's not just about what's old, or what anyone says
Are gong baths part of yoga? What about cacao circles, sun salutations, or flowing spinal stretches called “cat-cow”? Who gets to decide and on what grounds?
The only reference to anything gong-like in pre-modern yoga describes what one hears after blocking one’s ears. The Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā (5.74–75) lists “the sound of a cricket, then that of a bamboo flute… thunder, a jharjhara drum, a bee, a bell, and a gong, followed by the sounds of a trumpet, a kettledrum, a tabor, and so forth.”1
Meanwhile, cacao was imported to India by the British, and no ancient yoga texts teach kneeling back-arches – though they’re found in Western exercise manuals. As for sun salutations, the postural sequences practised today were developed by soldiers and martial artists, and popularised by bodybuilders rather than yogis.2
What does this tell us about what’s authentic? In itself, not all that much. Modern yoga is a hybrid creation, combining new methods with older traditions. All of this has precedents – yogic techniques and the theories behind them have repeatedly changed, so the more important question is how innovations relate to the past.
It’s really up to each of us to find our own answers to that. I think it can be helpful to own our opinions, instead of reaching back into antiquity to justify things that are recent creations.
We’re going to be exploring how this works in a weekend immersion in yoga philosophy on March 1 and 2. You can join us online or at The Shala in London. Find out more via the button below – or watch the video for a light-hearted flavour of what to expect…
This interactive course combines a deep dive into a text of your choice with accessible discussions of yogic ideas. Suitable both for teachers and practitioners, it will help you to find your own way to bring philosophy alive.
* To study yoga’s evolution in depth, join me for the year-long Path of Knowledge *
If you like what you find here and want to support it, please make a donation or send me fuel…
Translation by James Mallinson in The Gheranda Samhita (Woodstock: YogaVidya.com, 2004).
For more details, see this special issue of The Journal of Yoga Studies (vol. 4, 2023).