by Liz O’Brien: Why I believe Ashtanga yoga has become so popular in the West…

Awaken

It’s interesting to me, this recent obsession in the West with Ashtanga yoga, largely spurred on by our favourite green-juice-drinking, handstand-walking, Instagramming yogi-superstars.

It’s interesting to me because I’m married to an Indian, and I’ve spent quite a lot of time in the vast sub-continent—a land drenched in prayer and spiritual devotion, and home to the city of Mysore, the birth-place of Ashtanga yoga. And yet few, if any, of the Indians I know rollout a mat and practice a vigorous.

What gives?

Here’s my theory: We Westerners, with our jittery minds and stiff bodies, need something really strong to capture our flighty attention; where is attention deficit disorder more prevalent than America, king of the West?

Source: Elephant Journal