Hindus Mount “Take Back Yoga” Campaign

There’s a stir going on in the Hindu community over yoga’s ancient roots. It (yoga) belongs to them, they claim, and they hate the way their cherished art is being practiced in the West. So the Hindu American Foundation is mounting a “Take Back Yoga” campaign to raise awareness of yoga’s Hindu origins.

Image byAaron Neifer

Why is it important where yoga originated? Well, without Westerners knowing where yoga came from, most of its spiritual essence is lost. For proof of this, you need only look at the way that most Westerners practice yoga—as exercise.

According to Sheetal Shaw, an official with the Hindu American Foundation:

“Yoga is primarily a moral and spiritual philosophy, a fact she says has been lost as the popularity of physical yoga has boomed in the West. ‘There has been a conscious de-linking between Hinduism and yoga,’ in the United States and elsewhere, she says.” (Source: CNN’s Belief Blog)

Shaw hopes that her organization’s “Take Back Yoga” campaign will not only re-link Hinduism with yoga, but will also put the spiritual back into the practice of yoga.

I hope their campaign works. Practicing yoga in a mindful, spiritual way elevates this already soothing practice into a sort of moving meditation that will help us spiritually transcend our ever-more-stressful lives. Do you think that their “Take Back Yoga” campaign will help to put the spiritual back into yoga?

National Alliance on Mental Health Takes a Spiritual Bent—Sort of

The National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) is taking a more spiritual, holistic approach to mental health issues.

As part of its “Hearts and Minds” initiative, NAMI is introducing a number of practices for mental health management and recovery that were once considered exclusively spiritual practices.

For instance, NAMI has a “mindfulness” (think Buddha) section on its Hearts and Minds website, which includes a 10-minute guided meditation along with information and instruction on such spiritual and/or holistic practices as yoga, basic meditation, Tai Chi, and guided meditation. NAMI’s “Hearts and Minds’ section also offers a holistic solution to mental health issues with instructions on using creative outlets—such as dance, writing, and painting—to improve your mental health.

And these spiritual and holistic methods are working.

According to Melodika: 

“Ed Knight of Colorado Springs says he uses meditation to help control hearing voices and panic attacks: ‘Without the combination of meditation and medication, I would be in and out of the hospital very frequently. I haven't had a panic attack in several years and I have ceased to hear voices.”

I think that NAMI’s new focus on combining spiritual and/or holistic practices with the traditional treatments of medication and therapy is a great first step in merging mind, body, and spirit—and one that is long overdue.

NAMI, by the way, is one of the largest mental health organizations in the United States, with over 1,100 state and local affiliates around the country.

Spiritual or Religious?

Are you spiritual or are you religious? That’s the question asked in a survey conducted by Life Way Research, and the answer of a majority of the respondents is compelling.


Spirituality, it seems, no longer refers to those who espouse New Age beliefs, burn incense, and participate in fire-walking ceremonies. Rather, the study found that those who regularly attend traditional religious ceremonies are just as likely to describe themselves as spiritual as those who follow no traditional religious doctrines.

How can this be?

In his article In the Courier-Journal, reporter Peter Smith quotes this portion of the report by Life Way: :

“Apparently, ‘religious' has fallen out of favor…[t]hose who trust Christ as Savior were particularly likely to describe themselves as more spiritual than religious. This is no longer a term that means ‘I don't have any particular beliefs but believe in spirituality in general.'”

Rejecting that “Religious” Word

I must admit that my own personal beliefs may mirror the results of this study somewhat. I have never described myself as religious, even when I attended regular Christian church services when I was a child. To be religious, to me, means following a very conservative set of rules that robs one of spiritual joy. But I do believe in Jesus even though--yes--I much prefer the word “spiritual” to describe myself.

But…

I also have no particular religious affiliation today. Rather, my own beliefs are a mixture of many different spiritual belief systems. (My home alter, for instance, displays a figurine of Jesus Christ and Buddh, I read the Tao Te Ching, and I meditate to the musky scent of incense).

So…am I spiritual or am I religious?

Are you?

Image by Bill Alexander