The Washington Post released an article in response to the below video from Equinox that has and continues to spark controversy across the internet. The title of the article is “Who Owns Yoga” and interviews the yogini in the video, Briohny Smyth. Smyth was raised in Sydney, lived in Thailand, and now teaches yoga at the Equinox gym in West Hollywood. Many “Purists” insist that while what she’s doing may require strength and skill, “it’s not yoga.”
This argument continues to be at the forefront of the yoga practice. Has yoga been commercialized to continue to grow the $6 billion industry, or are these young people really demonstrating how they have grown in their practice?
The timing of the video could not have been more spot on. Just a few weeks ago another giant in the yoga world, Lululemon, released the video “Shit Yogis Say” and the New York Times posted the article “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body.” Yoga sure didn’t wreck young Smyth’s body and this advertisement is inline with all of the other Equinox ads. The “Purists” should recognize that the popularity of yoga just may reach the group of people Yoga was intended for… The Young at Heart.
