WESTERN MEDIA’S PORTRAYAL OF

MEDITATION AND YOGA

Erica Hett

EASTERN RELIGIOUS ORIGINS OF MEDITATION AND YOGA

Hinduism Meditative yoga leads to samadhi- deep concentration

leading to liberation of self Yoga = system for attaining liberation

(Knott, Hinduism)

Buddhism Meditation involves visualization and concentration

Samadhi and Siddhi Visualize Buddha world and living in it Enables people to navigate through life and escape

samsara.

(Lopez, The Story of Buddhism)

FROM THE WEST TO THE EAST…

“How Yoga Won the West”http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/opinion/sunday/how-yoga-won-the-west.html?_r=1

Vivekananda (1863-1902) brought yoga from the East to the West.

Focus of yoga: religion Introduced religious yoga to

the West, not the type of yoga seen today in the West.

Vivekananda, who traveled widely to deliver his spiritual

message, in Pasadena, California, in 1900.

THEMES SEEN IN WESTERN MEDIA:

Yoga and meditation

Reduces stress and clears the mind Improves overall health and can

improve health conditions Increases body fitness (flexibility and

strength) Yoga studios

Meditation reduces everyday stress

Media often conveys meditation as a “quick-fix” to our stressors

“10-Minute Meditation For a More Peaceful Holiday Season”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leslie-davenport/meditation-tips-_b_1097870.html

Holiday season is stressful, but meditation can help

Meditation leads to a “more tranquil mind and compassionate awareness.”

This 10-minute meditation routine includes three sections: Body Wise, Heart Wise and Soul Wise

http://www.jackiepetersonpaintings.com/images/Winter%20Meditation.jpg

“Meditation: A simple fast way to reduce stress”

Written by the Mayo Clinic staff:

Benefits of meditation Decrease stress levels, helps certain medical

conditions Enhanced physical and emotional well-being

Meditation: a type of mind-body complementary medicine

Relaxation and peaceful mind Yoga- leads to a more flexible body and calm mind Elements of meditation:

Focused attention, relaxed breathing, quiet setting, comfortable position

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/meditation/HQ01070

Meditation improves health

Meditation helps with a variety of health problems.

Researchers use functional magnetic resonance imaging scans (fMRI) to look at how meditators’ brains are different than those who don’t meditate. Experience meditators have decreased

activity in areas of brain called the default mode network. Leading to “lapse of disorders such as

anxiety, ADHD, and buildup of beta amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease.”

“Meditation may help brain tune out distractions ”

http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/news/meditation-may-help-brain-tune-out-distractions

Picture above is a fMRI scan of experienced meditators. “The areas shaded in blue highlight areas of decreased activity in meditators’ brains.”

Yoga in schools improves students’ concentration

“Class is in session at Achievement First Bushwick Elementary School, a charter school where students are taught in a hallway by instructors from Little Flower Yoga.”

“In Schools, Yoga Without the Spiritual”http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/nyregion/in-yoga-classes-at-schools-teachers-avoid-the-spiritual.html?_r=4&ref=religionandbelief • Yoga in schools is presented

as non-religious.• “No om. No prayer

position with the hands. Nothing that anyone could look in and think, this is religious.”

• Bent on Learning program• Teaches yoga to children

in school• Improves students’

concentration and reduces their stress levels.

Yoga enhances the body and mind

“9 Yoga Poses to Connect the Body and Mind”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elena-brower/yoga-wellness_b_1092453.html

Yoga helps increase muscle flexibility and wellness of your mind

Yoga sequence: Nine poses that enhance your body and mind

At left is the first two poses of the yoga sequence:

“From standing with feet parallel, inhale your arms high overhead. With eyes soft, exhale your arms out wide to shoulder height. Repeat this 9 times. Breathe under your arms, into all sides of your heart & let your breathing tell you when to move. Feel your body absorbing that motion.”

Competition between yoga studios“Off the Mat, Into Court: Lawsuit Pits

Bikram and Yoga to the People”http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/off-the-mat-into-court-

lawsuit-pits-bikram-and-yoga-to-the-people/?ref=yoga

Two studios (Bikram Yoga NYC and Yoga to the People) in New York offer Bikram Yoga

Competition between the two studios led to a lawsuit

Founder of Bikram Yoga is suing Yoga to the People for copyright infringement.

Bikram Yoga- series of yoga poses done in a heated room.

Diverse yoga classes“Downward Facing Dude”http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2011/11/10/

how_two_broga_enthusiasts_hope_to_make_yoga_more_accessible_for_men/?page=full

Broga class (blending of the words “bro” and “yoga”) Purpose: To have men feel more

comfortable while doing yoga. Emphasizes yoga as physical

exercise Yoga is “slightly more

aggressive”(includes push-ups and squats between poses).

Broga enthusiasts hope to make yoga more accessible

for men.

CONCLUSION

The portrayal of yoga and meditation in the media has a large influence on the way people interpret the purpose of these practices.

Western media emphasizes that meditation and yoga are ways to maintain physical health.

Decreases stress levels, clears the mind, increases body fitness, and improves overall health.

The religious origins (Buddhism and Hinduism) of yoga are not seen in Western media.