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[quote=Anonymous][quote]
Two issues here: first, your fellow Hindus don't all agree with you and think of yoga as only the religious experience. Therefore, you can't speak with authority for how Hindus feel. I believe that both you, I, and my Catholic friend do yoga - just getting different things out of it. Second, you run into an issue of closing the barn door after the horses have escaped. In English, yoga means religious/spiritual practices as well as non-religious practices and "hot body" practices. It is too late to demand a more narrow definition. The time to do so was when the word was coming into the lexicon and even then it might have been too late.

It's been nice chatting with you but I am done with this topic from my end. Best wishes to you.[/quote]

I'm fine at this point with agreeing to disagree, and I think I'm also ready to drop the subject, at least on DCUM, for now! I do think that if I continue to feel strongly about this, I'd rather express my opinion in through a medium that could reach more people/affect change in a way that gets my message across but wouldn't hurt people.

[quote]NP.

OP, I think this is a very eloquent post (as many of them have been), and the first one where I've been able to totally understand your position. I've been following this thread closely.

I do a daily practice of hatha yoga, mostly for my health, but also to connect my breath, body, and mind, and slow things down. I don't chant, but I do breathe. I fully understand that this isn't the Hindu practice, and I certainly don't want to insult Hindus--I'm not a "yogi" by any means. My question, then, is since the practice has been adopted, changed, and morphed from its original religious intention, there's a shorthand for what I do, and that shorthand is "yoga." I go to vinyasa yoga classes. I follow yoga instructors on YouTube. And so while I might use another, more secular term for what I do, isn't it up to the "yoga community" of teachers, studios, and practitioners to make that change and find different words?

I hope that makes sense.[/quote]

Hi! At this point, from a practical perspective, I'd say you're probably right. I'm also really happy that you derive benefit from your practice, and my original frustration in my OP was indirectly because of the attitude of the girl I know in RL and then attributing that girl's attitude to the wider yoga community. Some yoga practitioners do act like her, and some of them are more sensitive, like you. My position should not in any way be taken personally against one person or even a dozen people, but more against the wider movement that has led us to this point.[/quote]

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