Question: There seem to be so many different kinds of yoga “out there” today. How do you decide which kind to pick? Is it just a fitness fad? A form of exercise to tone up the body? Does it have a spiritual dimension?

Yoga is used in a variety of ways in the North American context. In India, yoga evolved over thousands of years with the result that there are many different schools, branches, and styles of yoga. Similarly, in North America, yoga has evolved in the decades since its mainstream introduction in the 1970s.

However, it is essential to make a distinction between contemporary yoga and traditional yoga. Both forms are found in North America, but they are very different. Contemporary yoga is all about fitness and using yoga as a form of exercise. Contemporary yoga’s focus is not the spiritual component. In contrast, traditional yoga is wholly preoccupied with the spiritual. Its practice is focused on self-transformation. It is a process of working with the self through observation, acceptance, and understanding. Through this process, we begin to connect with our true Self, the place in us which is always and everywhere in direct and immediate contact with God.

There is extraordinary diversity within the categories of contemporary and traditional yoga. Under contemporary yoga, yoga practice may be solely about fitness and exercise with classes ranging from Yoga Boot Camp to Yoga Butt to Yogilates (a combination of yoga and Pilates). But it also includes classes of gentle yoga or chair yoga offered to seniors, nursing home residents, and physically challenged individuals. There are also many corporations offering yoga lunch hour classes to aid employees in stress management and in some sectors, to reduce workplace injuries due to repetitive motion work. Americans are devoted to self-help ideas and the physical benefits of yoga are becoming better known. Consequently, there are plenty of people practicing yoga simply for health maintenance or wellness.

Purists find it tempting to dismiss contemporary yoga in North America as an exercise fad but even under the contemporary yoga label, there is enormous variety. While contemporary yoga is the major form of yoga in the West, it would be inaccurate to say it is the only yoga in the West because there are many people who practice traditional yoga.

Traditional yoga is a spiritual discipline and its practice includes classes that incorporate the perspectives of specific faiths like Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism. The classes may also simply emphasize self-awareness and self-discipline in order to become a more compassionate, centered human being, irrespective of a specific religion. As yoga was originally developed in India to prepare people for meditation, we believe traditional yoga should include a period of meditation, though there are many traditional yoga programs that do not include meditation or only encourage students to develop a meditation practice at home.

Bernadette Latin