DO YOU USE incense, practise yoga, or maintain gemstones for their healing energy? Or better still, have you ever considered how detached you are from their cultural background? Or consider that however well-meaning you are, you unintentionally participate in cultural appropriation.
Consider the popularity of turmeric lattes, the ubiquitous usage of the holy “Om” symbol on consumer items, or the trendiness of oil pulling—an ancient Ayurvedic medicinal method urged as a new “wellness hack.” These illustrations expose a more general problem: Western society’s selective acceptance of wellness practices, frequently disconnected from their cultural and spiritual connotations.
Profit Above Standard Practice?
One of the most apparent forms of traditional wellness activity transformed by Western workout culture is yoga. Though millions of people practise yoga worldwide today, how many know its deep intellectual and spiritual roots? Before Hinduism, yoga began in 2700 BCE with techniques meant to link body, mind, and spirit. However, in modern environments, yoga is more commonly promoted as a trendy exercise than a spiritual practice.
With companies like Headspace and SoulCycle making millions, the worldwide wellness sector is worth over $4.2 trillion. This commercialisation of wellness begs a crucial issue: has the original intent of these age-old techniques been lost in the chase of profit?
It’s okay that people want to help others and share knowledge, but things go wrong when money becomes more important than honouring the practice’s integrity. Comparably, some teachers have yet to study in India or acquire fundamental books like the Sutras of Patanjali. How, then, may they teach yoga with integrity and respect?
The New Wellness Elite
The Western wellness business sometimes seems to cater to a particular group: white, wealthy people. Popular Instagrammers who advocate wellness trends through their yoga take have fuelled this culture. Sadly, the commercialisation of wellness techniques hardly helps the underrepresented practitioners—Chinese acupuncturists, African shamans, or Indian yogis—who are original practitioners and cultural stewards.
A Chronicle of Cultural Erasure in Health
Modern wellness practices’ cultural appropriation has a complicated past. For example, traditional Ayurvedic practitioners were discouraged or even banned from working under British colonial administration in India. Likewise, despite past limitations on cultural activities for Indigenous people in the United States, Indigenous spiritual traditions like smudging with white sage—a practice valued by many Native American groups—are sometimes commercialised in Western markets.
The Shamanic Reiki Effect
Does shamanic Reiki strip cultural authenticity? Like many spiritual and cultural paths, traditional shamanism and Reiki originate from Indigenous people in the United States and Japan. They are deeply rooted in their respective environments and have distinct philosophical, pragmatic, and cultural values.
Combining these methods into “Shamanic Reiki” can oversimplify or dilute each’s intricacy and cultural relevance. They deny their spiritual depth and cultural background, which results in cultural appropriation when aspects are stolen and altered without complete awareness of or respect for the original settings.
Not Appropriation, Respect
Is there a polite approach to interacting with these wellness practices without appropriating them? Understanding their roots and honour the cultural interpretations of these behaviours is essential. For instance, if you use Sanskrit phrases in yoga sessions, knowing their meaning and proper pronunciation helps you avoid reducing these practices to transitory trends.
Key steps to consider:
- Educate Yourself on Cultural Significance: about the roots and cultural relevance. Awareness of the spiritual and historical relevance helps one avoid inadvertent cultural appropriation.
- Support these traditions: Support authentic sources, such as culturally connected teachers and communities that are original stewards of these methods.
- Avoid Misappropriated Symbols like the “Om” to preserve the cultural integrity and respect that these symbols merit.
Cultivating awareness and respect for the cultural roots of wellness practices, especially those adapted into Western contexts, contributes to a wellness culture that values integrity, inclusivity, and respect.
