Yoga Studios decline in US

[Leo Gura]

Just now, Psychonaut said:

Haha I forgot everything they rammed down my throat in school.

No you didn't. You know how to read, write, math, history, and science.

[Jodistrict]

8 hours ago, Psychonaut said:

Western Yoga is IP theft. They took something from indian culture, stripped it of its core meaning and remarket it as a stretching routine. That is a perversion of the sanskrit heritage and core of all yoga. 

Krishnamacharya took many of his yoga poses directly from Western gymnastics.  It was his students who took yoga to the West in the 1960s.  So who stold what?  Is was a synthesis of Western and Eastern knowledge.

[Psychonaut]

3 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

No you didn't. You know how to read, write, math, history, and science.

IT was a joke. I am puking it out right now. 

The IT department says its ok. They can live with it.

They can live with IT. Haha.

Edited 20 hours ago by Psychonaut

[Thought Art]

@Psychonaut yeah

I edited it but lost connection 

Edited 19 hours ago by Thought Art

[Psychonaut]

What did you edit? The world?

[Thought Art]

@Psychonaut hmmm? Who knows?

[Psychonaut]

I forgot.

[Thought Art]

18 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

We are not saying Western yoga is useless. It is just over-popular from conformity.

Conformist things can still have upsides and benefits. School is conformist but still very beneficial.

Or, because people like it? 

[WonderSeeker]

On 11/2/2026 at 7:48 AM, aurum said:

Western yoga is overrated. So if it's declining, that would be a justified correction. 

I've had some great experiences with western yoga. What's it overrated relative to?

When you do it with friends, focus on body-awareness and the breath, and it's a quality studio with skilled instructors it can produce all kinds of benefits. 

[Recursoinominado]

58 minutes ago, Thought Art said:

Or, because people like it? 

ex-Yoga Teacher here.

Most people do it because it's trendy (when it was). What they want more is to get pretty pictures and videos to post on social media.

I live in a huge capital in Brazil but Yoga here is weak; we have almost zero big studios, i know basically zero people that practices it.

Lately, something interesting happened: an expensive studio suddenly became VIRAL on Instagram; I've seen many influencers posting photos from classes because the room was fucking aesthetic! I've seen many women I've personally known who NEVER practiced before, never even talked about yoga, but were posting stories from the studio because it was fucking aesthetic and trendy to post. 

PEOPLE WERE GOING THERE ONLY TO TAKE A FUCKING AESTHETIC PICTURE TO POST ON INSTAGRAM.

That's how much people "like" it, only in proportion that they gain something on social media by posting it. 

[Thought Art]

@Recursoinominado I’ve been to gyms and grew up doing it. Ive never seen anyone take a photo in class. But, I am sure the sexy trendy appeal was indeed a cultural fad. We all know instagram, etc..
 

I grew up doing Ashtanga in a small village well outside the city. 
 

Ive been to studios in Montreal and other Canadian cities. People seem to just be practicing for health and wellness. Idk classes were always full.

Western yoga is really good for you. I love it. I want to do it more. 

Edited 5 hours ago by Thought Art

[aurum]

3 hours ago, WonderSeeker said:

I've had some great experiences with western yoga. What's it overrated relative to?

When you do it with friends, focus on body-awareness and the breath, and it's a quality studio with skilled instructors it can produce all kinds of benefits. 

It’s overrated for its health and spiritual benefits.

The stretching in particular is almost entirely BS. And there is no spiritual practice happening.

Whatever benefits people are getting are largely in spite of what western yoga teaches, not because of it.

[Leo Gura]

48 minutes ago, aurum said:

The stretching in particular is almost entirely BS. And there is no spiritual practice happening.

That's an over-reach.

Yoga has all sorts of health and spiritual benefits if done seriously.

[aurum]

17 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

That's an over-reach.

Yoga has all sorts of health and spiritual benefits if done seriously.

What counts as seriously?

[Leo Gura]

17 minutes ago, aurum said:

What counts as seriously?

I deliberately leave that nubulous.

Serious is whatever produces results, not just feel-good vibes.

Edited 1 hour ago by Leo Gura