So far we have been looking at cultural appropriation specific to yoga culture. However the stark abuses, atrocities and genocide of the first nations people in Canada and the U.S needs to be spoken of.

The last week was heavy due to the discovery of 215 first nations children, some as young as 3 who were buried behind the Kamloops residential school after being physically, sexually, emotionally and spiritually abused by priests, nuns and the government. I was not surprised yet shaken.

I had read up and spoken to elders about residential schools so I was aware to an extent. I also have first nations students, so I know of their missing sisters, lack of facilities and marginalization that still happens today.

“Namasthe” warrants a post of its own as it has become the poster child of appropriation that “lay Indians” - meaning everyday people from India or of Indian heritage - (not just yoga practitioners or academics) are getting annoyed with. Namasthe has become the trigger for the exclusion that is seen in yoga spaces and studios in the west. Many BIPOC people (Black Indigenous & People Of Colour) feel they do not belong, as they enter white spaces and this is the push back for that.

This is also the push back from years of imperialism and oppression, where yoga was banned in India during British rule (around 200 years) along with other sciences and arts like classical dance, Ayurveda and martial arts. Weavers were taxed so highly (more than 70% tax) that many were forced to buy British, machine made clothes that were only taxed around 1/25th of what Indians were taxed. The sheer atrociousness of all of this seethes within the corners of one's mind, carrying ancestral pain, as many revolt against the Namasthe being exoticised.