June 21, 2016, United Nations Headquarters in New York, the world celebrates the International Yoga Day. Jaggi Vasudev, one of the most influential gurus and mystics of India, speaks on the sidelines of the celebrations and says, “Two billion people around the world practice yoga, basically, because it works.” Can we go deeper?

North America has 22 million yogis. In France, nearly 3 million people try to do postures on their mats.

But how many know what yoga is?

To answer this question, let’s dive into 2 major books, A History of Modern Yoga. Patanjali and Western Esotericism by Elisabeth De Michelis and Yoga Sutra Patanjali by Michel Angot.

Yoga is not a sport. No offense to those who stretch on the rhythm of their breathing. Yoga is not either a way of finding a balance between body and mind. People who think that mastering poses whose secret is kept by sacred texts are the most effective way towards their well-being are far from the truth. Originally, this practice does not aim to live better but, on the contrary, to cut short the life in this world.

In truth, modern yoga, as we know it, is far from its origins. Let’s start with some numbers (see picture). In fact, most of the people practice yoga to improve their  flexibility, stress issues or general conditioning.

Yoga that most of the people do has been created by Swami Vivekananda. This philosopher was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century.

But this yoga is a recent creation. Moreover, those who practice it can not deny that it looks like a sport. Many yogis want to keep their minds fresh and be healthy (aspirations widely shared in our contemporary world). The word yoga, as it is perceived in the collective imagination, has become a convenient name for something it is not.

To understand it, we must go back to the origins…

To be continued.

Namasté