https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to yoga and meditation en https://religiondispatches.org/2022/07/10/meditation-sickness-everyone-talking-about-how-nobody-talking-about-risks-meditation There are some visible signs that particular Buddhist communities in the United States are beginning to see a greater need to respond to what are often today called “challenging” or “adverse” meditation experiences. For a few decades now, meditation practices… Sun, 10 Jul 2022 12:47:39 EDT Ira Helderman c25ccb12-3b04-41e9-bb34-400829e97d24 https://religiondispatches.org/2018/05/08/fight-white-supremacy-we-must-resist-essentialism-author-responds-0 This piece is a response to Rumya Putcha’s criticism of the author’s original RD piece, “Fox News Controversy on Yoga and White Supremacy Reveals Problem of Yoga Discussion.”In February of this year, I wrote on RD that Fox News journalist… Tue, 08 May 2018 01:42:20 EDT Andrea R. Jain 841b18e0-a1eb-48e5-af70-e55d2f5abada https://religiondispatches.org/2018/05/08/rd-response-fox-crit-white-supremacy-yoga-engages-victim-blaming-0 This piece is a response to Andrea Jain’s “Fox News Controversy on Yoga Reveals Problem of Yoga Discussion.” Read Jain’s subsequent response here . Nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the… Tue, 08 May 2018 01:42:16 EDT Rumya Putcha 02863c88-c928-478a-a141-c31f7feaeea5 https://religiondispatches.org/2018/02/07/fox-news-controversy-yoga-and-white-supremacy-reveals-problem-yoga-discussion A recent Fox News headline, “Americans who Practice Yoga Contribute to White Supremacy, Michigan State University Professor Claims,” dangled like red meat before its readers, begging them to snap. Which is precisely what happened; the comments section is littered with… Wed, 07 Feb 2018 10:49:51 EST Andrea R. Jain da1645d0-2b1e-454a-b533-d36120e231f7 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/07/12/namaslay-or-how-black-women-are-using-trap-yoga-mode-spiritual-resistance “Being conscious of your mind and body isn’t something that should be exclusive to white people.” Wed, 12 Jul 2017 05:57:16 EDT Anita Little e4fe8b52-e2f7-418b-82f8-4a43400c7501 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/03/31/maybe-question-should-shabbat-be-new-yoga In a recent article at Bloomberg Businessweek, Jennifer Miller examines the budding Jewish wellness-and-lifestyle scene—think artisanal matzah companies, campy mountain retreats, and Pinterest photoboards designed to inspire anyone who “curates, organizes and hosts dynamic Shabbat dinner experiences.” The facts on… Fri, 31 Mar 2017 02:43:42 EDT Michael Schulson 97786a3a-caf8-484a-8a7a-ff841b32d6eb https://religiondispatches.org/2016/10/04/worlds-most-influential-yoga-teacher-homophobic-right-wing-activist He’s also really into herbal remedies and natural foods. Tue, 04 Oct 2016 01:35:05 EDT Andrea R. Jain, Michael Schulson 567dfe0a-6d12-4b44-8979-e85ed81a6fb6 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/06/24/hopping-meditation-brandwagon-heartfulness-makes-landfall-los-angeles As I leaned back in my chair and tried to focus on my breathing for the umpteenth time, a loud snore ripped through the auditorium, jolting me out of my seconds-long quest for healing and transformation. An attendee several rows… Fri, 24 Jun 2016 06:56:57 EDT Anita Little 465ed008-bea8-4d7a-a0bd-9b7b718b4799 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/06/14/spinning-not-religious-inside-new-economy-spiritual-fitness The body is big business. The Sports and Fitness Industry Association estimates that it generated $84.3 billion in wholesale sales in the U.S. alone. If you include food, gyms, studies, clothing and equipment, that number increases dramatically to half a… Tue, 14 Jun 2016 04:15:59 EDT Ilyse R. Morgenstein Fuerst ae4bab77-2cc0-45cc-a1be-c326d7f52428 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/02/22/surprisingly-short-history-popular-yoga Last month, a yoga class at the University of Ottawa that was cancelled amid accusations of cultural appropriation made a quiet return to the class schedule. The controversy initially erupted in November when a yoga instructor received an email from… Mon, 22 Feb 2016 04:02:57 EST Andrea R. Jain, Michelle Goldberg be761169-442e-4d5a-b9a3-886cec185000 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/02/01/lets-stop-calling-rape-and-harassment-bikram-yoga-founder-just-another-guru-scandal When Bikram Choudhury was first teaching yoga in the 1970s at his yoga studio in the basement of a Beverly Hills bank building, he very much represented the ascetic ideal of the yoga guru, sleeping on the studio floor and… Mon, 01 Feb 2016 11:53:06 EST Andrea R. Jain ea96aa99-c0de-4dbc-90cc-b99d832ceeef https://religiondispatches.org/2016/01/21/put-your-money-where-your-mind-profit-meditation-studio-opens-new-york Ellie Burrows and Lodro Rinzler had their big idea over a cup of tea. Certain details change with the telling (was it a nail salon or a hair salon?), but here’s the official version: during a teatime conversation, Burrows asked… Thu, 21 Jan 2016 12:33:29 EST Michael Schulson 7244d37b-04ca-4079-832f-0950cca3e969 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/12/20/ten-religion-stories-went-mostly-missing-2015 Once again, RD’s editors have asked me to think about stories at the intersection of religion and culture that mainstream journalism passes over or treats inadequately. It takes a sour disposition to do this, and I’m pleased to say that… Sun, 20 Dec 2015 09:31:35 EST Peter Laarman 14ddebc8-5fd4-4d01-ba54-d7ce38e0a47a https://religiondispatches.org/2015/03/18/yoga-ok-catholics-or-not-conversation-continues A further response to Andrea Jain Wed, 18 Mar 2015 12:16:37 EDT Kyle Garton-Gundling 3ba779f4-6793-4e86-8d05-36c0178bd316 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/03/10/no-its-still-yogaphobia The conversation continues: a response to Kyle Garton-Gundling Tue, 10 Mar 2015 10:37:00 EDT Andrea R. Jain 6d8ab663-265b-46f8-9fb2-715438d84190 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/02/26/pat-robertson-warns-yoga-will-have-you-speaking-hindu Pat Robertson, the notorious and influential television evangelist and founder of the Christian Coalition of America, is not new to the yogaphobic maelstrom that has been brewing for as long as Western Europeans and North Americans have been familiar with… Thu, 26 Feb 2015 03:03:08 EST Andrea R. Jain c3f21e05-55a2-47c2-a79a-741f73265ab9 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/01/29/fake-evil-spiritual-commodified-whats-truth-about-popular-yoga What inspired you to write Selling Yoga? Near the beginning of my graduate school career, I had the opportunity to travel to Rajasthan to research Jain traditions and came upon the Jain Shvetambara Terapanth (a Jain sectarian tradition) and its… Thu, 29 Jan 2015 05:29:35 EST Andrea R. Jain 48c7072f-8c60-4f1d-9ae2-788bbe2d00c9 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/01/05/10-noteworthy-yoga-developments-recall-2015 From the passing of Iyengar to homophobic yoga to the Super Bowl, yoga made headlines and continued to evolve in 2014. Mon, 05 Jan 2015 05:30:32 EST Andrea R. Jain 96681ebf-b8bd-42ca-aaf6-d837373812a0 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/12/29/rage-against-new-age-machine-three-days-osho-international-meditation-resort I went to India searching for spiritual enlightenment. I found a neoliberal heaven that catered to my worst possible self. That’s almost true. I took my journalism class to India this past spring to cover the role of religion in… Mon, 29 Dec 2014 06:00:00 EST Diane Winston b4a48f5b-b1f1-42a8-8ca7-b6fdab4c0e76 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/12/15/claiming-yoga-india Modi’s recent efforts are mired in inaccurate myths of yoga’s static essence and Indian origin. Mon, 15 Dec 2014 06:00:03 EST Andrea R. Jain ed68997c-0dcc-43b9-9d75-fa7637ac30b2 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/08/22/pop-culture-yogi-b-k-s-iyengar-dead-95 Yoga popularizer, entrepreneur, and guru B. K. S. Iyengar died on Wednesday in the Indian city of Pune at the age of 95. The “Lion of Pune” had a robust persona that will be greatly missed, not only by family… Fri, 22 Aug 2014 04:09:40 EDT Andrea R. Jain c995babd-bfde-4ea1-84a7-33073d6e2b03 https://religiondispatches.org/2013/04/18/francis-jesuit-philosopher-pope Amid the clamor to figure out who Pope Francis might be, observers never failed to mention that he is the first Jesuit pope. But what does that really tell us and, more importantly, as his decisions begin to come down the pipeline, what is most important to know about his Jesuit worldview? Thu, 18 Apr 2013 05:10:21 EDT J. Michelle Molina 30a3bb25-dd15-44ac-9498-6405f345e763 https://religiondispatches.org/2013/02/25/protesting-yoga-schools-welcoming-bible-study When is touching your toes just touching your toes, and when is it an effort to indoctrinate small children in Hinduism? Mon, 25 Feb 2013 03:55:34 EST Katherine Stewart 1c9a73ca-6a43-40a5-9b67-22b41eced6ee https://religiondispatches.org/2013/02/25/spiritual-not-religious-or-just-lazy The folks most likely to be alienated by Daniel’s book are, unsurprisingly, the seekers—those who call themselves SBNR, of course, but also those who want religious community, or at least want to want it. For these folks, who may be, as she says, “shopping” for a place to belong, Daniel has absolutely no patience. Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:25:41 EST Kate Blanchard dcbb55aa-afc6-415b-a114-ce0751a3a49d https://religiondispatches.org/2012/10/10/does-record-number-religious-nones-mean-decline-religiosity Media excitement continues over the latest Pew poll showing continued growth in the religiously affiliated. But do such data really tell us what we need to know about the Four F’s of Contemporary American Spirituality: Family, Fido, Friends, and Food? Wed, 10 Oct 2012 04:09:25 EDT Elizabeth Drescher 9bac9e31-a8d4-4127-ad73-9b420ea3809c