The assault on Hindu civilization takes many forms, some violent, some insidious. None is more treacherous than the whitewashing of yoga, our most profound spiritual practice, into a sterile fitness routine baptized with Christian prayers.
Yoga is not a modular fitness regimen to be dismembered and repackaged; it is the beating heart of Sanatana Dharma. As Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (circa 200 BCE) codified, yoga is an eight-limbed path (ashtanga) integrating ethics, meditation, and devotion toward moksha (liberation). This holistic system emerged from Vedic fire rituals and Upanishadic contemplation (1500–500 BCE), later refined by Hindu rishis who viewed the body as a vehicle for transcendent union (yuj = “to unite”). Yet Western appropriators surgically try to remove its spiritual core, reducing dhyana (meditation) to “mindfulness” and pranayama to “breathwork” as if dissecting a living being to display its organs.
The colonial playbook: Erasure by rebranding
Christian yoga brands like “Holy Yoga,” “PraiseMoves,” “Yahweh Yoga” are not benign adaptations but theological land grabs. They replace Om with crosses, chant Biblical verses during surya namaskar, and market “Christian psalms”. This mirrors colonial missionary tactics: first demonize Hinduism as Mark Driscoll decries yoga as “hypersexualized” and “demonic”, then rebrand its practices as “redeemed” Christian tools. As scholar-priest Aseem Shukla of the Hindu American Foundation’s ‘Take Back Yoga’ campaign argues, this erasure perpetuates the myth that Hinduism contributed “nothing but superstition” to civilization .
Scholarly betrayal: Fabricating a “secular” Yoga
Western academia abets this theft. Mark Singleton’s Yoga Body (2010) disingenuously claims modern postural yoga is “largely 20th-century invention,” ignoring Krishnamacharya’s synthesis of Hatha Yoga Pradipika (15th c. CE) with Indian wrestling exercises (danda) and South Indian martial arts like Kalaripayattu and Silambam. Similarly, Jain’s Selling Yoga (2014) declares yoga “belongs to no religion,” disregarding that Bhagavad Gita (4.13) explicitly links yoga to Krishna-consciousness. This revisionism enables Christianizers to plead, “We’re not stealing Hinduism We’re using neutral exercise!”
Worst thing is, corporations like “Yoga Alliance” certify instructors with zero knowledge of Hindu philosophy. Matthew Remski, a college dropout with no Indology credentials teaches the Bhagavad Gita while dismissing its Hindu context. This is the ultimate colonization: White men profiting from dismembered Hinduism while denying us authorship.
Silent genocide: When appropriation erases identity
Pew Research confirms only 7% of Hindus practice yoga daily. Why? Because yoga’s commodification has alienated Hindus from their own heritage. Studios exclude South Asian teachers, while “decolonisation” activists ironically partner with Hinduphobes to police yoga’s “use”. The Hindu American Foundation’s #TakeBackYoga campaign exposed this crisis: 92% of U.S. yoga studios never mention “Hinduism”. Yoga is reduced to a headstand in designer leggings, a spiritual amputation cheered by those who once burned our scriptures.
The Hindu Resistance: Reclaiming our legacy
Hindus must reject this spiritual colonialism. As the Indian government’s 2015 International Yoga Day manifesto asserts: “Yoga is India’s gift to the world, rooted in Vedanta and Tantra”. We cannot tolerate pastors like Rev. Anthony Randazzo, who slathers Christian dogma onto asanas while denying their prana-activating purpose. Nor can we abide by “Christianized yoga manuals” that replace Yamas (ethical vows) with Beatitudes. Yoga’s ontology atman-Brahman unity, karma-samsara cycle is irreducibly Dharmic. To amputate this is to murder yoga itself.
Our duty: Spiritual decolonization
Let us declare: Yoga is not “stretching with Jesus.” It is the science of kaivalya (liberation) transmitted through Guru-shishya parampara for millennia. Prime Minister Modi’s promotion of International Yoga Day is a start, but soft-power diplomacy means nothing if we won’t name yoga’s mother: Sanatana Dharma.
Let this be our call:
• Legislate cultural integrity: Mandate yoga certification includes Hindu philosophy.
• Boycott appropriators: Shut down studios teaching “Christian yoga.”
• Demand acknowledgment: No more “mindfulness” euphemisms, say “Hindu spirituality.”
As scholar Ramesh Rao thundered, “Yoga has been shamelessly rebranded to appease those who still see Hinduism as pagan. We will not let our sacred science be orphaned!” The Christianization of yoga is spiritual imperialism in Lululemon clothing. Either we fight for yoga’s Hindu soul, or we surrender our last fortress to those who worship a god that demands exclusivity. On this Yoga Day, bend your body but never your dignity.
