Regulating Yoga: A Question on Religious Practices

Yoga is a very ancient practice that involves linking (yoga literally translating to "yoke") mind and body. The practice is believed to have been passed down to humans from the Master Yogi, Shiva. The most ancient yogic practice is Kundalini, which literally means "the coiled up one." It involves meditating both mind and body, which causes a coiled up serpent at the base of the spinal chord to unwind and move through the chakras. Eventually the serpent will reach the crown chakra, the Sahasrara, in which one essentially becomes enlightened, though the most important chakra is the heart chakra, or the Anahata (this chakra is where one obtains compassion). Of course, like any general description of a religious practice, that is all very general and inaccurate. There is much more to it than just that. But I must get to the point here.

Yoga has become a very popular "alternative" exercise practice in America. We generally think of yoga as learning to bend yourself into a pretzel. But it is actually heavily related to Tantric-alchemical philosophy (it has been found that a good number of yogic practices arose around the same time the Arabs introduced India to Hermetic alchemy), and is a matter of perfecting the self, both mind and body, than becoming a contortionist. In fact, it really doesn't have anything to do with contortioning, just like alchemy really didn't have anything to do with turning lead into gold. Superficially, that's the way it seems. It has to do with cleansing and perfecting the mind by linking the mind to the body. Again, this is all very general.

Since yoga has become so widespread in America, it is subjected to malpractice and scandals (there are countless forms of yoga which were, literally, invented in the past 10-15 years, irrelevant of the original Kundalini, and far from what Shiva had in mind). In 1999 the Yoga Alliance was created to preserve the values held by yogis, and shortly after they began a registry that yoga schools and instructors to register for. Sadly, a good number of instructors have fallen through the cracks. Like any religion, some "yogis" don't register and poorly teach yoga, and a good number of injuries have resulted from malpractice. Currently there is a growing push to regulate, and regulate heavily, yoga schools and instructors.

Yoga, like any practice, should have a license and fees in order to practice. All states have a division that regulates and checks all licensed professionals and businesses. These professions can be anything from kick boxing to massage therapy, from lawyers to architect, barber to physician. Somehow yoga managed to avoid ever requiring a license to teach. Many states have begun requiring yoga schools to pay fees, take classes, and obtain a license, or be forced to shut down.

Now, I'm not trying to report the news, you can check all the above here. What I want to get at is that yoga is religious practice. So, can the government regulate religious practices? Does that not violate separation of church and state? This is a bit of an ethical dilemma.

Yoga has become a rather secular activity, and probably the whitest exercise activity currently. But the choice of regulating yoga rests not on the government, but on yoga schools. If they are going to teach it as a spiritual activity, which many schools do, then they will be forced to admit to it's Hindu pagan roots and spiritual guidance. That will certainly scare away the large section of the Christian population. A lot schools advertise their yoga as mere exercise, and that it won't conflict with any previously held religious beliefs. Well, that kicks them out of the religious aspect, which will require such schools to be regulated.

Admit to being a pagan practice in a Christian dominated America, or be forced to be regulated. The problem is much deeper than just this. Yoga is not a religion. Hinduism is the religion, and yoga is just a practice (a bit like ascetic prayer for Christians). The government cannot regulate a religion, but it can regulate those aspects of a religion that bleed out into the secular world.

In 1984 the US Supreme Court established that the Nativity scene of Christ's birth was a secular image (Lynch v. Donnelly). Just two years ago in the case Salazar v. Buono the Supreme Court ruled that the Christian cross is a secular image when used on public, and therefore government owned property (the issue was over whether or not the cross a Mojave National Park should be removed, and for it to stay it had be secularized).

The government holds the right to regulate or outlaw religious practices in certain cases, such as in public schools. But in the case of yoga, money, and a lot of it, is being exchanged without regulation or a license (massage therapy is very heavily regulated, as it is also very dangerous when someone doesn't know what they're doing, while many consider it to be a spiritual experience). So that interesting dilemma gets us no where: admit it's pagan or be regulated. Face depopularization or be regulated. Really, I don't see a problem with either one. Those who do it for the spiritual value shouldn't care if it's not popular, and those who are doing it for the money should just accept that everyone else has to have a license (even kick boxers!).

The separation of church and state is already blurred enough in this country. Government can regulate religious practices? Does that not violate that separation? Well, snake charming is considered a religious practice, and the government regulates that as well (thanks Scott for that detail). But you can't make a bunch of money and preach spirituality, and then claim it's just exercise. You can't have the cake and eat it too.

I don't like two-part shows, nor two-part blog posts, and I don't like doing two-parters even more. But this post is too long as it is. But I will need to discuss the taxation of churches and its implications of separation of church and state.