Response to Five Myths About Yoga

2015, September 4

A writer responds regarding who introduced Americans to yoga

Andrea R. Jain suggested in her Aug. 16 Outlook essay, “Five myths about yoga,” that I mistakenly wrote in the New York Times that Swami Vivekananda “introduced ‘yoga’ into the national conversation.”  That, however, is an entirely correct statement. For all intents and purposes, Vivekananda was the first missionary from the East to the West.

While Vivekananda did not explicitly reference the word “yoga” in his famous 1893 World Parliament of Religions speech, he had lectured previously on yoga in New England. Moreover, he continued to lecture extensively and write on the four yogas throughout the United States and Europe from 1893 through 1900, wowing such academic elites as William James, Charles William Eliot and George Santayana.

Ida C. Craddock was indeed a fascinating, brilliant and tormented feminist, but her work with sex, belly-dancing and mysticism was hardly comparable. Paramahansa Yogananda, like Vivekananda, also came out of the non-dual Vedantist tradition, but he did not come to the United States until 18 years after Vivekananda’s death, and he never garnered the attention accorded Vivekananda.

I agree with Jain that Vivekananda “encouraged his disciples to turn inward, toward the self, rather than outward, toward external authorities.” Indeed, “he wasn’t a fan of yoga poses” — but this instruction was for Westerners whom he perceived to be unduly body-centric. For his fellow Indians, however, he encouraged all manner of strength-building physical exercise, including Hatha yoga and soccer.

Ann Louise Bardach, 
Santa Barbara, Calif.