"Throughout America's obsession with yoga the last half century, our perception and interpretation of it has changed considerably with each decade. The 2000s were a time when yoga teachers became celebrities, pro athletes and gym goers increasingly showed up on the mat, and students practiced by the hundreds in crowded studios to techno beats. Even as yoga became increasingly commercialized and exclusive in some ways, millions more were introduced to the practice and its benefits."
"The first time I did yoga was in my dorm room in early 2001. Knowing that my roommate and I preferred watching MTV's Total Request Live and smoking cigarettes, my dad had sent an instructional VHS tape in hopes that I would start making "healthier decisions." Yoga was counterculture back then, especially on my small college campus, and we popped the tape into the VCR expecting to laugh at people in unitards with their bums in the air."
Yoga's image and practice shifted across decades, with the 2000s marking a clear mainstreaming. That decade featured celebrity teachers, pro athletes and gym goers adopting yoga, and large classes set to techno. Commercialization and exclusivity increased even as millions more encountered yoga and its benefits. Many people first encountered yoga through VHS videos like Total Yoga, experiencing guided breathing and fluid movement that felt transformative. Early internet limitations pushed seekers to print flyers and local studios. The era blended fitness culture with countercultural roots, producing wider adoption alongside rising cost and access barriers.
Read at Yoga Journal
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