If you haven’t realized by now, I am a white woman. My heritage is mostly European dissent (Norwegian, Dutch, German) with my maternal grandmother and her family coming from Azores Island, Portugal. Even this is “technically” European. So, stepping onto the mat to teach a practice that originates from Asia that is thousands of years old is something I do not take lightly. I know the danger of cultural appropriation is serious.

The book White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals by Amanda J. Lucia was a recommendation I came across by one of the many Asian yoga teachers I follow on social media. (I wish I could remember who - but I have forgotten.)

When I first picked up this book to start to read it was hard to get through the first chapter. It was a little dry only because it had a ton of background facts and information to set up for the rest of the book.

Amanda Lucia has an extensive background in religious studies and is a Professor of Religious Studies at University of California-Riverside. She studied in India, has training in Hindi, Urdu and Sanskrit. So, her knowledge on the global exportation, appropriation and circulation of Hinduism is deep.

Once I was able to get through the first chapter I devoured the rest of the book. It covers events/festivals some might be familiar with. Such as: Burning Man, Bhakti Fest, Wanderlust and Lightning in a Bottle. Each of these festivals claim to guarantee “transformation”, “magical connection” or “finding your tribe”. Each of these festivals are also, overwhelmingly, filled with very affluent white people that can afford time off work for days (or weeks) to fly to remote locations. Some of these festivals require camping but camping supplies (tent, sleeping bag, food, travel batteries) are not cheep. While others offer full hotel accommodation and that costs money as well. Not only are attendees mostly white, but those on stage or leading classes, yoga, meditation, sound baths, etc. are also mostly… white. With the name "Bhakti" one might expect it would be led mostly by teachers of Asian descent. Historically, that has not been the case. Although, small shifts in acknowledgement and stepping away from cultural appropriation has begun recently.

What I found most interesting is how Lucia explains the intertwining of New Age & yoga in each of these festivals. Not that I have anything against this (and from what I can tell, neither did the author) but correlating yoga (a practice with deep roots and history) to New Age (something that is… newer) takes away acknowledgment of the culture of where yoga originated.

Lucia also points out the fact each of these “transformative festivals” are not held in average locations for a very good reason. For a festival to promise transformation the surroundings need to be awe inspiring. Doing a morning yoga flow out in the desert while the sun is just beginning to rise above the horizon is more “magical” than rolling out of your own bed to do morning yoga on the carpet of your cramped apartment. I found a sadness in me as I realized there are people who go from festival to festival to achieve that “transformative high” they think can only happen at a festival or retreat.

The book also covers how these events can not possibly teach how to build a community of support for personal growth and genuine care outside of the festival boundaries. These events want as many people to come year after year because that is what capitalism does. Instead of making do with what you have in your home, around your community, these festivals sell the belief that you have to spend money on that attendance ticket, special crystal or branded yoga apparel from the location all in order to be “transformed”.

Through out the book I did not get a sense that Lucia was trying to portray these events as bad or wrong. The author herself had been to Burning Man and interviewed many participants. She just exposes the rampant white privilege, focus on white, muscular or thin “sexy” bodies and using yoga for capitalistic means that these festivals perpetuate. Yoga is used to draw people in then adapted for each style of festival to suit the capitalistic needs.

“…because in yogic fields the focus on self-cultivation has produced a nearly unattainable image of spiritual & bodily perfection that reveals the extent to which yoga has become one more facet in the endearment of the neoliberal subject.”

If you are a white yoga student or yoga teacher and serious about facing cultural apportion in yoga I highly recommend this book.