Spirituality Studies 123 Lucie Chocholová the United States of America has any laws that regulate the practice of teaching yoga or its professional qualifications. In this study, the distinction between “traditional” and “modern” yoga functions as an analytical framework rather than a normative hierarchy. It illustrates how contemporary practice reflects historical reinterpretations, institutional reforms, and shifting cultural expectations. Scholars have documented a significant transformation of yoga during the twentieth century, particularly in Western contexts, where it became increasingly associated with bodily discipline, health, and fitness rather than spiritual realization (Singleton 2010, 15–19). This shift gave rise to what is commonly termed modern āsana-based yoga, characterized by an emphasis on āsana practice, physical alignment, and bodily performance (Schubert et al. 2018, 195–199). Within this framework, spirituality is often reinterpreted as a subjective or optional dimension rather than a constitutive element of yoga practice (Dawson 2013, 133–136). This study defines spirituality as a dimension of lived experience related to meaning-making, self-understanding, ethical orientation, and a perceived connection to realities that transcend purely physical concerns. This approach reflects contemporary scholarship that distinguishes spirituality from institutional religion while recognizing its embeddedness in historical and cultural contexts (Schneiders 2003, 166–167). For analytical purposes, the study approaches spirituality in contemporary yoga practice through three overlapping dimensions: • Philosophical-traditional – references to classical yoga texts, lineage, metaphysical concepts, or preservation of traditional teachings. • Experiential-reflective – emphasis on inner awareness, mindfulness, personal growth, and self-development, without necessarily invoking formal doctrine. • Ethical-relational – attention to responsibility toward students, ethical conduct, and cultivation of a respectful and supportive teaching environment. These dimensions are not treated as fixed categories but as heuristic tools developed during the analytical process to clarify how participants articulated and negotiated spiritual aspects of their professional practice. Anthropological and sociological studies further highlight the role of globalization and consumer culture in shaping contemporary yoga. Yoga has increasingly been commodified, marketed, and diversified into a wide array of styles and formats designed to appeal to specific target groups (Puustinen and Rautaniemi 2015, 46–49; Jain 2014, 65–72). This process has led to the proliferation of hybrid forms of yoga that combine traditional yogic elements with fitness, psychotherapy, or experiential leisure activities, sometimes provoking controversy regarding their legitimacy and authenticity (Hamed 2021, 375–378). The contemporary yoga community is increasingly fragmented, reflecting the growing recognition that a centuries-old ascetic tradition cannot be applied to modern practitioners in its original form (Bevilacqua 2018, 200–203). At the same time, the integration of modern variations and external influences has contributed to a redefinition of yoga as a predominantly physical practice, oriented toward bodily performance and health rather than spiritual discipline (Schubert et al. 2018, 195–199). As a result, the term “yoga” has undergone significant semantic expansion and is now used to designate a wide range of activities, including hybrid forms that combine yoga with fitness training, acrobatics, or leisure sports, such as aerial or paddleboard-based practices. In this context, “yoga” may function less as a marker of a specific spiritual tradition and more as a flexible label for fitness-oriented activities with an aesthetic or symbolic association to the East. Research on yoga instructors indicates that they play a central role in shaping participants’ experiences and motivations for attending yoga classes (Cox et al. 2022, 463–465). At the same time, comparative studies of yoga styles suggest that no single style demonstrates superior health benefits, reinforcing the idea that distinctions between styles are often symbolic rather than functional (Cramer et al. 2016, 178). Despite the growing body of research on yoga as a global phenomenon, relatively little attention has been paid to how yoga instructors themselves interpret the boundaries between traditional yoga, modern āsana-based practice, and spirituality, particularly within specific national and institutional contexts.
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