Today marks the 60th anniversary of the historic March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. His work on advocating for civil rights for Black Americans was also complemented by the actions of several others, perhaps the most well-known being Rosa Parks’ Montgomery bus boycott in 1955. Both King and Parks not only provided the vision and leadership to the racial equality movement in the US, but also gave it spiritual direction.
Lesser known is the influence of yogic principles on the development of the spiritual journeys of these Black leaders. MLK was inspired by MK Gandhi’s principles of non-violent social change and practised karma yoga in spirit. On his visit to India in the 1950s, he said, “To other countries, I may go as a tourist, but to India, I come as a pilgrim”. Parks is remembered as an avid yogini who used yoga for self-care. Recently, a photo of the civil rights icon went viral where she is seen practising Dhanurasana using a blanket below as a yoga mat.
Stephanie Evans, author and professor who was the first to get her hands on the photo in her research, has stated that ‘meditation and yoga’ are helpful factors in race, gender, activism, and the sustainable struggle for human rights. The photos were on display at the library of the US Congress.
In 1975, Ebony magazine, a key proponent of Black culture, published an article “Yoga: Something for Everyone,” in which African-American civil rights activist Angela Davis emphasised not just the physical but also mental benefits of yoga when she described her experience practising Hatha yoga in jail. “I have never used yoga as an end in itself, but merely as a means of preparing myself for a more effective struggle”.
Yoga has permeated the United States in myriad ways over the past few decades. It has grown beyond just a practice that heals the mind and body to transform into a tool for social change that brings communities together. In this context, it is important to particularly acknowledge how Yoga has contributed to the Black community in the US.
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Origins of yoga in the Black community
Be it Swami Vivekananda, Paramahansa Yogananda, Desikachar of the Krishnamacharya Yoga tradition, or for that matter, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, several spiritual teachers from India packaged Yoga for American consumption over the years.
According to our research through Stephanie Evans’ resources, Paramhansa Yogananda started a dedicated study group for the Black community when he was informed that the study group he was initially going to address did not allow the Black community to attend and benefit.
Several Black celebrities, including writer Howard Thurman, musicians John and Alice Coltrane, actor Herb Jeffries, musician Sonny Rollins, and writer Sue Thurman became early adopters and students of yoga. Rollins travelled to India to explore the philosophical aspects of yoga and integrated it into his jazz improvisations. Howard Thurman’s famous interactions with Gandhi inspired him to take to yoga and understand its essence.
On the West Coast, late Bobbe Norisse became the first Black certified Iyengar Yoga instructor. She embarked on her teaching journey in 1975, when few black women were involved in teaching spiritual practices. “When we see black men being killed, it’s traumatizing. It could be our children, it could be us. We don’t know what to do about it. Yoga is a graceful and effective way of handling that pressure,” she once said, alluding to her pull towards yoga.
According to Eddie Stern, who had a large role to play in popularising Yoga in the US in the 1990s and 2000s, “another important reason for the Black community to take to yoga in the 1960s and 1970s was the fact that yoga was not commercialised as it is today in the US”. Coming from a lineage of learning from Indian traditions with over three decades of experience teaching yoga in the US, Stern’s students have ranged from regular members of the community (including the Black community) to eminent artists such as Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Moby.
“Back in the day, yoga meant personal and social justice. It was about finding freedom. Yoga represented equality. It was easier for the Black community to take to yoga back then, as there was no corporatisation of yoga in the US. It was available. They would do yoga for inner peace.”
Adding to this, Deepak Chopra, wellness guru and founder of the Chopra Foundation, said, “Nothing is more important than social and economic justice. This is the core of creating a peaceful, just, and sustainable world. Efforts to empower the Black community through yoga must be made, welcomed and supported.”
Our research indicates that the Black community not only benefited from the more well-known Hatha yoga but also other forms of Yoga such as karma, bhakti, and jnana. The examples of Black celebrities and community members embracing Yoga reveal that they were drawn not only to its physical benefits but also to its philosophical essence. They used Yoga to bolster their mental resilience, much like those involved in civil rights movements.
In line with the Bhagavad Gita’s teaching, ‘yoga karmasu kaushalam,’ which translates into “yoga is skill in action”, Black yoga teachers and practitioners in the US view yoga as a skillful approach to life.
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Today’s situation
In recent times, several teachers from the Black community, such as Jaytaun McMillan, have studied yoga under Chopra and Stern. McMillan has over a decade of experience taking yoga to marginalised communities in the US, especially the Black community.
According to him, a Google search for Yoga in the US earlier showed photos of only white men and women practising yoga; this is slowly but surely changing today, in part due to the movement surrounding the killing of George Floyd. He is of the view that yoga has enabled Black-led empowerment. “The tools of yoga and meditation have well and truly helped the black community reach their ‘inner selves’,” he said.
Stern said he makes it a point to reach out to the Black community. “Today, my classes are filled 60–70 per cent by communities of colour, including Black and Indian. I reach out to them publicly. This is the only way inclusion is possible.”
Murali Balaji, a diversity and inclusion thought leader, says it is incumbent on the Hindu community to speak of yoga from its philosophical roots for communities of colour to connect with.
However, Stern argues that this needs to be done through dialogues. “One has to work on accessibility. Yoga has worked in marginalised communities because it provides answers to suffering. Nobody is immune to suffering. I feel that especially for vulnerable communities, communication and teachings have to be dialogic, not monologic; that’s what Indian scriptures allude to as well. Listening is key to this.”
Today, Black yoga teachers are also looking to get certified in India. Isatou Gaye, one such teacher for the past three years, said that she was awaiting an opportunity to visit India and get certified. “I want to train in India, but owing to the pandemic, there was a change in my plans.” Isatou has been a student of yoga for the past six years under the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance.
“It is true that yoga was looked at as a white activity and was only for privileged people, but lately, since more and more people are getting involved, this is changing.” Indeed, yoga is for everyone, and a new wave is emerging where people of colour are embracing the practice and reaping its benefits.
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Health & wellness benefits
While there has been almost a four-fold increase in non-Hispanic Black adults practising Yoga in the past two decades, the truth remains that as the importance of wellness continues to grow around the world, its imagery continues to lack diversity.
The irony is that the Black community in the US has one of the most urgent needs to avail the benefits yoga promises to offer. Data suggests that anxiety, stress, depression, and cardiovascular diseases affect Black people disproportionately compared to other communities.
According to Gail Parker, author of Transforming Ethnic and Race-Based Traumatic Stress with Yoga and President of the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance, trauma is often stored in the nervous system. For communities that have faced generational trauma, stress and anxiety become part of their genetic make-up and can result in an impaired nervous system, which is always on high alert. Yoga has tremendous healing benefits and can empower the body to become more resilient to stressors.
This year, PM Modi joined the 9th International Day of Yoga celebrations at the UN headquarters in New York, where UN General Assembly president Csaba Korosi highlighted the significance of Yoga. “Yoga changes our physical performance but it can spark in us different mental and intellectual performance. I have been an admirer of Yoga. Our world needs balance and self-control. Yoga is one of the means of achieving this,” he said.
Today, Yoga has reached not just different nationalities but also several communities within the US. While we may have come a long way since the historic March on Washington, the George Floyd and Dujuan Armstrong incidents are stark reminders that racism is still pervasive in the US. Yoga can be harnessed as a powerful tool to not just promote physical and emotional well-being for the Black community but also to cultivate safe spaces for self-healing and inner peace.
Sudarshan is author, policy expert and alumnus of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. He tweets @sudarshanr108. Ritika is health and wellness expert, Founder, Arth – Art of Health and alumnus of Columbia University, New York. She tweets @RitikaPatni. Views are personal.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)