The Politics of Yoga?

The LA Times has a funny piece out that I can't link to but I've copied a part of the article below,

"As if President Bush didn’t have enough trouble, the yoga community of Los Angeles launched its campaign of chakra and awe against him on Sunday.



“Voting is one of the ways society gives us to express our values,” said keynote speaker Robert Rabbin, a writer who has practiced meditation for 35 years. “If we don’t vote, it’s a betrayal of the very yoga and meditation we pursue. There’s no such thing as being apolitical. I hope to get out the vote for the mystic crowd. Twenty million U.S. adults practice yoga and meditate regularly — that’s one hell of a swing bloc.”



At a Hollywood yoga studio called Focus Fish, about 250 people took part in “Yoga for Kerry,” an all-day fund- and consciousness-raiser aimed at regime change in the United States. For donations starting at $50, attendees could take classes with respected teachers, listen to kirtan music and political speakers, and take part in group meditations.

Organizers had hoped the event would draw about 300 people, which it nearly did, and raise as much as $20,000, which it didn’t (early estimates were about $3,600).



Nevertheless, event co-producer Michael Mollura thought the day served its purpose.

“We didn’t think we’d change the balance of the financial competition,” Mollura said. “We felt like we wanted to imbue the election process with love. It’s really an attempt to create something that is positive and loving in something that is otherwise thought of as cynical. I think everybody who came here today felt loved, felt cared for. Usually these things are Bush-bashing and people-bashing, but this was a positive event.”



The crowd seemed generally in agreement that Bush had not obeyed the yamas, or moral tenets, but there was little negative rhetoric. The most pointed barbs came from speaker Rabbin and in private conversations. Most participants who took issue with the Bush administration’s mantra of preemptive war countered with their own Weapons of Meditation and Dharma."

Now this is a perfect example of what happens when liberals are left with too much time on their hands. I happen to enjoy yoga and know plenty of others who do as well. Thankfully, I can say with confidence that you don't have to be a far left nut to practice this very helpful physical discipline. But sadly, it seems that the bulk of yoga practitioners in this country are flaming leftists. At least it seems that the yoga was mellowing the participants out enough as for them to not take part in their usual lunatic left tactics. Maybe someone should start a yoga group for Bush. Then we could have competitors to see which group has the most flexible members.