Consuming Yoga: Promotional Culture and the Media Representation of Yoga

The practice of yoga has gone through a resurgence and geographical shift in the past hundred years. In the Western world, and to some extent in India, yoga has been decontextualized from its spiritual, religious, and even cultural history. Yoga is often paired with unrelated traditions to create a collage of spirituality based on the needs of the individual. This syncretic borrowing has become the norm for many practitioners who may or may not realize they are participating in this decontextualization and accept teachings about yoga that are historically inaccurate. Modern yoga has taken on certain traits and values which can be thought of as the image or style of yoga. Many of these traits have no historical or religious basis but are seen with frequency in mass media and social media. This dissertation looks at the current cultural meaning of yoga in the United States. It demonstrates how yoga has been used in mass and social media and what messages are conveyed when people conspicuously consume yoga as a practice or by carrying products related to yoga. It explores whether the shift in yoga has harmed the practice or the people who practice yoga.Ph.D., Communication, Culture, and Media -- Drexel University, 201