A bridge too far: yoga, spirituality, and contested space in the Pacific Northwest

In 2015 a plan to celebrate the inaugural International Day of Yoga in Vancouver generated a powerful backlash. What might have been for some a public expression of their interest in a trendy wellness activity, and for others a meaningful demonstration of an important spiritual practice, was cancell...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bramadat, Paul 1967- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge [2019]
In: Religion, state & society
Year: 2019, Volume: 47, Issue: 4/5, Pages: 491-507
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Vancouver (British Columbia) / Yoga / Spirituality / Commemoration day / Rejection of
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
AG Religious life; material religion
AZ New religious movements
KBQ North America
Further subjects:B Canada
B Spirituality
B Sociology
B Religion
B Urban Studies
B Yoga
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Summary:In 2015 a plan to celebrate the inaugural International Day of Yoga in Vancouver generated a powerful backlash. What might have been for some a public expression of their interest in a trendy wellness activity, and for others a meaningful demonstration of an important spiritual practice, was cancelled just a week after it was announced. How did this single postural yoga class so quickly and definitively galvanise public opinion, and what can this teach us about the machinations of public discourse? In this brief but revealing controversy, most interlocutors focused on local political considerations, paying somewhat less attention to the now common critique that postural yoga is elitist and vapid, and virtually none to claims and metaphors related to spirituality that circulated widely among practitioners and promoters. This incident may remind us that religious and spiritual claims are not sui generis but always part of larger social discourses that reveal a great deal about quite this-worldly concerns, interests, and values.
ISSN:1465-3974
Contains:Enthalten in: Religion, state & society
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/09637494.2019.1678977