X is for Xenophilia

 

 As always, a huge shout out to Ninja Minion Master Captain Alex and his army of ninja minions! 

My Theme: Yoga.  For those of you who don't know, I've been working on obtaining my yoga teacher's certification for the past year and am just a little over a month from graduating with my RYT200.  As such, I figure there's no better way to spend this month than teaching you folks some of what I've learned.

Xenophilia is an attraction towards foreign countries, peoples and cultures and is worth consideration in the spread of yoga throughout the western world.  If not for strong interest in the culture of yoga's country of origin the practice would not be what is is today.

Perhaps part of the attraction is the bipolar nature of our two cultures.  Here in America we are materially rich, spiritually poor, irreverent, and obsessed with money and all if can get us.  India is the complete and total opposite (save for the interest in money- but there it is based on necessity, not obsession.)  I myself have been drawn to the country where this rich practice has come from and find myself fascinated by the endless differences between our two cultures.

India is one of the world's oldest civilizations, is the birthplace of several of the world's largest religions (including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism), and fascinates the world with it's food, music and dance, clothing, cinema and, of course, yoga.  With such a diverse and long history it's next to impossible not to find some aspect of the culture intriguing.

I am personally grateful to the countless individuals who were so fascinated by this culture that they saw fit to spread all of the traditions we now enjoy over here.  (Not the least of which is yoga.)