American Yoga
November 21, 2009
Missouri is taxing yoga, just like South Dakota. As the next state in the country to impose a sales tax on yoga, legislators are telling yoga instructors and studio owners to get real about what it actually is. David Zanone, a manager at the Missouri Department of Revenue, claims that the practice "is not a religion." On October 13, 2009 he sent out notices to 140 yoga and Pilates studios informing instructors that the four-percent sales tax would go into full force and effect on November 1. Local communities charge a variable sales tax in addition to that. The cash-strapped state hasn't backed down on its stiff position, placing yoga in the "recreation" category. But Rajan Zed, a Hindu chaplain, regards the move as "religious infringement." He supports instructors who insist that yoga is a spiritual pursuit rooted in Hinduism. For some studios, having a tax-exempt status for operating as a religion could make the difference between keeping the yoga mats on the floor or having them rolled up and carted away in a dumpster. So as yoga instructors protest the decision, teachers across the country are wondering if they too will have to defend the religiosity of their practice.
Miriam-Webster Dictionary defines religion as "the service and worship of God or the supernatural; a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices; a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.
In addition to servicing the printed definitions, many churches and synagogues run afterschool programs, daycare centers, soup kitchens and other civic activities. They become pillars of society and perhaps that's how we truly identify them as religions. Yoga, for the most part, is still contained in aesthetic studios with wood floors, soothing music and aromatherapy. The adjacent gift shops selling tee shirts and stretch pants don't help the "religious" picture.
But many embrace the practice for all that it can do. Trumping health benefits, teachers cite the many ways practicing the sun salutation series will reduce stress and promote wellness. Assuming asanas (yoga positions) can purportedly help ease back pain, headaches, digestion and muscle spasms. Catholic priests don't tend to make these kinds of claims about their sermons. Nor are rabbis in the habit of trying to rally followers to form an Olympic team. On the other hand, yoga classes have been successfully banned from public schools in New York, Alabama and Colorado because concerned parents protested that they didn't want their children instructed in Hindu rites; they charged that the practice is a form of religious indoctrination. During these legal battles, having nothing to do with taxes, yoga instructors cited the American Yoga Association's stance: "Yoga is not a religion."
Something happened to yoga on its way from India to the U.S.
In exchange for flat abs and awesome arms, something got left behind.
Perhaps it all started with aerobics. Spandex, leg warmers and Jane Fonda lit up the Exercise Kingdom in 1982 with the skyrocketing success of the Jane Fonda Workout Video, which sold 17 million copies, making it the highest selling home video of all time. VCRs flew off the shelves and an entire "fitness guru" industry was born. Gorgeous runway models who could make their svelte figures go 3-D in exercise videos cashed in on the craze. From Kathy Ireland to Cindy Crawford, the videos kept coming and the commercialization of fitness routines soared in gyms, shops, homes, bookstores and studios. But as more and more leg warmers wore off, more yoga mats rolled out. These spiritual practitioners espoused calm meditation and deep breathing as a way to inner peace, fitness and health. Americans, who began complaining about the downside of aerobics on the knees, hearts and hamstrings, could also dispense with some of the expensive gear like the bikes and treadmills. With yoga, you just needed a body.
As yoga became popular it joined forces with the New Age and holistic healing movements. Its wares and workbooks began to mimic aerobic moves. Generating dollars at specialty shops, studios and web portals like Gaiam, it found its way alongside books and tapes by Edgar Cayce and Michael Beckwith. The commercialized movement came complete with intense yoga workshops in bucolic settings and retreats to India. In short it became Americanized.
And that's how Missouri sees it, through a keyhole: the American brand. NewsSip
Photo Credit: Yoga Shiva Rea by Loveobx23
