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Started on Yoga Day, Implement Everyday
By Sowmya Ayyar
Sowmya Ayyar dons many hats; She is a Researcher At the Banaras Hindu University who is pursuing her Ph.D in “Spiritual Women Sanghas’, She is the Founder -Director of Prafull Oorja Charitable Foundation, a Bangalore based NGO which trains yoga therapists to implement sustainable programs with communities in vulnerable conditions and She is also the President of WICCI Karnataka Yoga Council
This year’s Yoga Theme is “Yoga for Women Empowerment”. This theme resonates with me so deeply, especially considering that my life revolves around creating visibility for women in spirituality and the arts. I’m touched that the United Nations has chosen this theme for the International Day of Yoga 2024.
However it doesn’t stop with one day or even one year. Women throughout the world have been suppressed by societies in many eras, cultures, and traditions. It will take a lot of empowerment, strength, courage, and steadfastness (sthiram) from a lot of women over many years and generations. Women have already been on this path for centuries, gaining equal rights to education and careers, land and property, and many other areas. Now is the time for women in yoga and all other areas to rise.
I believe that women can support one another extensively by working together in a strategic manner. The power of women’s sanghas can be noted through groups such as Chausath Yoginis, Andal and Pavaais, Radha and Gopis, and the Sisters of Brahma Vidya Mandir–groups I am researching as part of my PhD. This is also evident in other groups– Missionaries of Charity and Brahmakumaris, to name a few. These are all groups of women who support one another in their common goals and visions for global and local peace through their spiritualities. And now, it is also evident in our own WICCI Karnataka Yoga Council– a group of women who embody feminine qualities such as power, strength, courage, empathy, understanding, and support in the current space of yoga.
Right now, when we think about Yoga, the lineages are most often founded and led by men: from Patanjali and Svatmarama to Vivekananda, Sivananda, Iyengar, and Krishnamacharya; and even Prime Minister Modi’s own yoga teacher, Shri Nagendra, who is also the founder of the famed SVYASA University in Bangalore. Most of the yoga teacher training courses are led by men (just do a quick Google search and you will know!). Yet these classes are marketed heavily to women, and women are the primary consumers. We may say that gurus at their level are not male or female, yet they have chosen to be embodied in the male form, and we live in this world that is gendered. Women yogini leaders are far less, and are far less recognized.
Many may respond that India has always given space for women, and subsequently list off important women from the past such as Maitreyi, Lopamudra, Gargi, and Meera. However, how much do we know about these women? Unlike Kabir who has a thriving following today, Meera and Lalleswari’s work are esoteric and inaccessible. Unlike the men of their times (such as Soordas and Tulsidas who were contemporaries of Meera), women such as Meera, Akka Mahadevi, and Lalleswari had to fight to be who they wanted to be. They were all chastised for treading a purely spiritual path of bhakti, sans family. While Akka Mahadevi and Lalleswari were amongst the first writers of poetry and music in their respective languages (Kannada and Kashmiri), they were not patronized by the royal families in the 11th and 12th centuries when they lived. Their music has not become popularized today. They were not given credit and titles such as the “Trinity of Carnatic Music'' or the “Father of Carnatic Music”. Those honorific titles were bestowed upon men.
What exactly does yoga for women’s empowerment look like? Having developed a program on Nature-based Yoga for Domestic Violence Survivors as a part of my Master’s Thesis research in 2010, and later worked with Prafull Oorja’s team to implement classes for women trauma survivors, a part of me says that it’s about teaching yoga to women. It is about providing techniques for women to weather the many storms of their lives. A portion of Yoga for Women’s Empowerment can be through women’s health and wellness yoga programs: for girls who are pubescent and need guidance to navigate the changes in their bodies and moods; for pregnancy and post-partum requirements to ensure the birth of happy babies and a peaceful future in the world; for work-life balance as women juggle their careers with families including children and elders, splitting time and energy; and of course for menopausal hormonal changes and osteoporosis prevention as we age.
Yoga for Women’s Empowerment is more than just asana and pranayama or other physical practices. It is more than just mental practices such as meditation and chanting.
As I have mentioned, women haven’t always been given their due credit or equal importance in society and in the yoga field. While I appreciate BKS Iyengar’s “Light on Yoga”, I also want to know about the women who wrote on yoga: Labanya Pandit, for example. It always bewilders me why thoughts like hers are lost, perhaps because she and her thoughts weren’t well-marketed and publicized. Stuntwoman Reba Rakshit also didn’t receive acknowledgement until a recent hagiographic book on her, “Strong Woman Reba Rakshit” – The Life And Times Of A Stuntmaster was published a few months ago.
Women should be recognized for their creativity, innovation, and contributions in the field of yoga and across sectors. Women are leading innovative businesses and creating solutions in the space of technology and yoga, building apps and conducting classes online. They are developing tools such as apps and softwares, that can support teachers and students of yoga. Women are academicians, researchers, writers, bloggers, vloggers, and photographers. They study yoga and its impact in scientific, academic ways. They build businesses in order to fill the gaps in the industry. They support other businesses through consumption. They support other yoga teachers through attending classes and workshops. They are the backbone of the yoga industry. I feel it is time for the government, corporates, and society in general to provide more opportunities, more support, and more funding to women-centric yoga organizations, so that they are highlighted and can rise into prominence for all time to come.
For my own part, I’m also trying to be innovative in my work in yoga strategically through: writing in this newsletter; encouraging other women to write and read; leading the WICCI Karnataka Yoga Council; implementing a women’s speaker series; and inculcating my interests in seeing women rise through strong feminine qualities through my own creative endeavors.
Yoga for Women’s Empowerment is about reimagining the world of yoga through the eyes of women– women who utilize yoga’s philosophies and practices with a purpose of empowering themselves and others in their circle. It is about recognizing their contributions and achievements in all sectors of the yoga world, giving women credit, and making sure their thoughts and ideas are taken forward. It’s about making an inclusive society in the sphere of yoga and through yoga.
Love & Light,
Sowmya Ayyar
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