What were you doing to celebrate the United Nations’ International Day of Peace? Did you miss it? Don’t feel bad. It was September 21, and is actually an annual day declared by the UN as “devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.” This year’s theme was “The [...]
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Limber up, folks. The Yoga Olympics are inevitable. We’ll just leave this right here: Think you can do a perfect surya namaskar? You could be up for a medal later this year. International Yoga Day promises to be bigger and better, with “Olympic-type” competition likely to be on the cards. That’s from Friday’s Economic Times. “We are [...]
Heads up tattooed yogis. A man’s Hindu goddess tattoo got him into some big trouble over the weekend. Australian tourists Matthew Gordon and his girlfriend were out for lunch in Bangalore, India when locals began harassing him after seeing his large shin tattoo of Yellamma the Hindu goddess of the fallen and India’s lowest caste. [...]
Putin-asana? Wait, did yoga just get a glowing endorsement from Russia’s most virile and intolerant leader? In a showing of uncharacteristic fallibility, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted to India’s Narendra Modi that he’s never tried yoga (never?!) but that he would finally face it boldly and give it a go (and conquer it handsomely, obviously, [...]
While we were savasaning, Russian officials went ahead and changed their minds and reversed the yoga ban. Just like that. Maybe they were just kidding about yoga being “inextricably linked to religious practices” and that it could “spread new religious cults.” Maybe they bowed to pressures from the public who thought their fears were unfounded and ridiculous. [...]
Ugh. The inalienable right to practice yoga is not felt internationally, apparently. Russian officials have hopped on the anti-yoga train claiming the practice is “inextricably” linked to religion (aka Hinduism) and could “spread new religious cults and movements.” Via Time: According to the Moscow Times, which cited a report in the Russian Kommersant daily, the owners of two of the [...]
International Yoga Day sounded like it could be all happy one-love, but it is just not sitting well with everyone. The Indian government has been putting out fires ever since the UN declared June 21st International Yoga Day. Are they promoting a Hindu nationalist agenda? Are sun salutations religious? Does yoga amount to worship? All [...]
International Yoga Day may seem exciting for the world, but it’s not making everyone happy, especially in India. Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it his mission to lead yoga’s cultural rebirth, or at least reclaim its roots, there have been some critics on the sidelines questioning his methods and intentions. For the Muslim [...]
The first ever UN-approved International Day of Yoga is fast approaching. And now it’s been reported that India’s leader will be publicly yoga-ing in celebration come June 21st. According to Reuters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will “practice physical poses and breathing control” at the country’s main event, government spokespeople confirm. Apparently it’s not just for show, [...]
