130 Spirituality Studies 5.1 Making Sense of the Proliferation and Naming of Yoga Styles In response to RQ1, participants discussed how they navigate the proliferation of yoga styles. Through abstraction, it emerged that style categorization often functions less as a clear methodological distinction and more as a communicative or marketing tool. The participants agreed that categorizing yoga classes into a wide variety of styles does not functionally correlate with the content of those classes. As P1 stated: “Sometimes it’s called core yoga, sometimes it’s yoga against back pain, and sometimes cakra yoga. But I think it’s all simply Haṭha Yoga.” This lack of functional correlation was a recurring emergent theme; The group agreed that any specific class does not always have the same content and approach, even with the same instructor. With different yoga instructors, the variations are even more pronounced. On this account, P2 said: “Sometimes, basic power yoga is slower, and other times it’s more action-heavy. It depends a lot on how I feel about it at the given moment.” P1 added: “Today, you have completely different power yoga classes, instructor by instructor.” By contrast, there are cases in which two different classes can have very similar or even identical content. P1 shared an experience from her own instructor practice: “We have restorative yoga and yin yoga, which in reality are very similar classes.” Participants view the reasons and purposes for performing poses as essential for differentiating among yoga styles. Nevertheless, these objectives vary significantly across different traditions. As P1 commented: “You can teach it any way you like, but there must be a point to it. Some teach the warrior based on heel placement. It has a point whether you do a wider warrior or a narrower one. But you must know why you do it the way you do, and what point it has.” P3 added: “Or you go for the experience of the pose and look for the inflation and deflation [of the body with breathing]. There is a point to it, but perhaps a completely different one.” All the participants also agreed on the need to reduce the categorization of yoga styles. As P1 said: “The classification should be more high-level.” P2 suggested: “Faster and slower, it should be categorized at least like that.” This manner of distinction would make it easier for clients to find their bearings among what is on offer and would also help the instructors themselves, who often do not know what to expect from a yoga class name. P2 illustrated this fittingly: “Yin-yang yoga? What is that?” P1 was similarly confused: “I’ve probably never seen it [beer yoga], and don’t know what it looks like. I have no idea what it’s about.” This stage of analysis highlighted a tension between professional authenticity and market demands. Based on the classes offered by some yoga studios, yoga class attendees often do not care much about the class style but are after a class taught by a specific instructor. As P1 described: “Some yoga studios are abandoning it [specifying class style] a little, and many classes are just called yoga with the instructor’s name. What you go for there is the instructor.” However, these are still exceptions, and the entire group again agreed that instructors and sports centers mostly choose class names and styles to attract new clients and thrive in the market. P2 outlined it as follows: “Currently, I teach a gentler style of yoga, but also a more dynamic kind, like basic power yoga. That one is just more engaging for people… People [instructors] often start like that; they want to be original, interesting, and unique. Those ideas [yoga style names] come from them.” P3 added: “It’s because the client will read the names, and has to decide which one to go to.” According to the respondents, this trend has led to almost absurd names for yoga styles (such as the mentioned beer yoga), which are primarily focused on an enjoyable experience for the client, combined with physical activity. P1 brought up the term “experiential yoga” in this context: “Those are more like experiential events for team-building, right? Not really something you attend regularly.” Still, for specific groups of people, similar experiential events can serve as a gateway to their first contact with yoga, which would not have happened under normal circumstances. As P2 noted: “For some, it can be an easier way to get acquainted with yoga than if they went to a pure yoga class.” Simply put, the word yoga resonates well with a wide audience, and as P1 commented: “Maybe yoga [as a word] has this disadvantage – that it is short, punchy, and has a sort of pleasant vibe to it.” In addition, the word can be used in virtually any way, because, as P1 pointed out: “The word yoga is not protected by any trademark.” Some founders of specific yoga styles do obtain trademarks, nevertheless, to protect the system that they created. According to RQ1 participants, the quality of classes in such styles can be higher than that of the widely available training in the basic requal-
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