Since then, International Day of Yoga has been observed everywhere from Machu Pichu to Mumbai, from London to Lucknow, from Hollywood to Bollywood. It is highlighted in health magazines and at yoga “festivals,” by social media influencers and celebrities and everyday people. It is celebrated in yoga studios, on playgrounds, on campuses, and in community centers—by politicians and everyday people.
But if we dig a little deeper into the significance of such a day, the story behind the declaration and the formal global observance is a bit more nuanced and shaded than many may be aware. There are many narratives to be unwound in order to understand the complexity.
Ancient Civilization, Young Republic
The day was chosen because it was an auspicious one, Modi said—it falls on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, which has special significance in many parts of the world. From the perspective of Hindu mythology, the summer solstice marks an auspicious season. It begins the transition to Dakshinayana, the season between the solstices, when the sun travels toward the south on the celestial sphere. The second full moon after summer solstice is known as Guru Purnima, the day we celebrate the goodness of our teachers. On this day, Shiva, the god of destruction and recreation, and the first yogi (Adi Yogi), is believed to have begun imparting the knowledge of yoga to the rest of mankind.
This ancient practice, birthed in the Indus Valley of present-day India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, has strong roots in Sanatan Dharma (what was later called “Hinduism” by Islamic and colonial rulers). It was also influenced by Buddhism, Sufism, and Jainism. Its roots are deep across this land.
India is an ancient civilization and yet a young republic, having won its independence from many colonial rulers, most recently the British in 1947, less than 100 years ago. It’s a country still recovering from the trauma and grief of centuries of depletion of natural resources and material wealth; the loss of millions of lives and of human dignity; the looting of temples, places of worship, and palaces; the methodical cultural degradation of indigenous peoples. India has endured the mockery, then banning, then capitalization and appropriation of indigenous practices such as Ayurveda and yoga. The recovery from the depth of this devastation has been arduous.
This history of colonialism is one of the factors that provides the context for an international day honoring yoga—a perceived and real need for validation of all the rich wisdom and heritage that India offers and has offered the world. There is also a deeply felt need to reclaim all that was taken one way or the other by the British and other colonial rulers. In this light, one could see why this ancient practice has been proclaimed by the present Indian government as a “soft power,” a prominent cultural export, and India’s gift to the modern world. It is all these things. So, of course many in India support and celebrate International Day of Yoga. They see it as a symbol of reclamation.
But there have been many skeptics and critics of the day in India as well. And they have good reason to raise questions.
A Symbol of Reclamation
An important element in this story is the role of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Modi—an unabashedly nationalistic faction often conflating patriotic fervor with a Hindutva rhetoric.
Hindutva, a term coined by Veer Savarkar, a freedom fighter and Indian independence activist, is not to be confused with Hinduism. It is an ideology that seeks to establish the dominance of the Hindu way of life and define the Indian culture in terms of Hindu values. This ideology has gained traction through the years and has been co-opted by the BJP. Today its pro-Hindu ideology is seen as a response to growing and prevalent Islamic fundamentalism in the region.
What was intended to elevate one Indian culture is being used to suppress another. In August 2019, the government revoked the constitutional autonomy of India’s only Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir state and split it into two federally governed territories. Then there was a proposal for a citizenship verification process, which, combined with discriminatory citizenship law amendments enacted in December 2019, could leave millions of Muslims without a nation.
Once again, yoga has been co-opted and appropriated in an act of grandiose and performative showmanship—this time as a political tool to strategically homogenize a diverse and complex culture. Dissent has been framed by those in power as being anti-national. (This may sound familiar to Americans.) Under the government’s strict sedition and counter-terrorism laws, dissenters, protesting farmers, marginalized groups such as the Dalits, and minority religions such as Sikhs, Muslims, and others have been threatened, harmed, and killed when speaking out against the government’s actions (or inactions, in the case of the mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic).
If International Day of Yoga were a true celebration of yoga in its entirety, there would be no harming of human lives (ahimsa) and more truthtelling (satya) by those in power.
A Global Phenomenon
Even as we look at yoga in the context of the political situation in India, another reality is that in the modern world, yoga is global. In the United States, mainstream yoga has been taken over by the dominant White, able-bodied, cis-gendered culture—appropriated, capitalized, and reduced to a physical self-care practice and wellness lifestyle choice. In the West, the neo-colonization of yoga, personal and systemic racism, and Hindu-phobia have erased the traditional roots of the practice, ignored the people and teachers whose region it came from, and caused more separation than unity. International Yoga Day, a so-called celebration of yoga, is often used to gaslight the very real issues of discrimination and prejudice faced by South Asian and other BIPOC yoga practitioners in predominantly white yoga spaces.
So, the question many may have now is, how are we to honor and celebrate yoga? The answer lies in yoga itself. We celebrate yoga every day by practicing all the eight limbs with dedication. We honor the roots of the practice, and the land, and the teachers who gifted it to us. We can uplift and amplify diverse teachers, experts, and authors. We can offer spaces that are truly inclusive of difference. We can be accountable for the harm caused by racism, and speak out when we see oppression. We can recognize our shared humanity and the potential of the practice to transform our individual and collective suffering. We can embody compassion and courage in service not just to some of us, but to all of us. That is how an international day of yoga should be lived.
Anjali Rao (she/her) is a yoga educator, activist, multi-cultural training specialist, and a cancer survivor. Her work explores yoga philosophy and history, integrating marginalized voices using story-telling and poetry. She centers intersectionality, connection, and diversity of perspectives in her approach. As a multi-cultural trainer, she has worked with large tech corporations on power, communication, and culture, and has collaborated with several non-profits for domestic violence and cancer survivors in the Bay Area. Her passion is to share this alchemical practice and philosophy with people across ages, genders, and abilities. Growing up in India, Karma and Bhakti Yoga was a way of life; thus, community service, or Seva, and chanting is a part of her yoga practice and teaching philosophy. She facilitates programs that integrate social justice and yoga, is a part of teacher training faculties, and is a speaker at wellness conferences. She serves on the Board of the HERS Breast Cancer Foundation, a non-profit that helps survivors and those going through treatment regardless of financial status, and is the President of the Accessible Yoga Association Board of Directors.
Want more from Anjali Rao?
Read Anjali's recent post, "Yoga & Science: Offering a Decolonized Lens."
You can also check out Anjali's interview with Jivana Heyman on the connection between yoga and social justice, featured on the Accessible Yoga Podcast.
Anjali was also featured in conversation with Jivana for his Yoga Revolution podcast. In the episode, Jivana and Anjali discuss the intersection of yoga and social justice in the context of the modern world, capitalism, and the yogic texts, including the Bhagavad Gita and Yoga Sutras of Patanjali). Anjali also offers her wisdom about how to use our yoga practice to "bridge divides" within our many communities.
