Yoga and orientalism
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Yoga has been associated with orientalism, the view of the East as somehow magical and mystical, since at least 1897 when Vivekananda visited the West, and to an extent before that when Western schola
The Orientalist Charles Wilkins translated the Bhagavad Gita in 1785.
Edward Said redefined 'Orientalism' in his 1978 book of that name.
Said's book used Jean-Léon Gérôme's romanticised image of the Orient on its cover.
Yoga teacher training in India, here Kundalini yoga in Rishikesh, provides a curated experience of yoga and of the country.
Yoga is by origin an ancient spiritual practice from India. In the form of yoga as exercise, using postures derived partly from medieval Haṭha yoga, it has become a widespread fitness practice across
The Om ॐ symbol and mandalas are sometimes used to adorn bodies and yoga studios, possibly a form of cultural appropriation.
Yoga practitioners in the west may make use of religious or ritual objects from different cultures in their practice.
Yoga in India has adopted elements of modern yoga from the western world, implying a cultural exchange rather than a one-way appropriation.
Neha Tandon writes that nobody "buys a 'Namaste in bed' shirt with ill intentions", though in her view that does not make it unproblematic.