Yoga tourism is travel with the specific purpose of experiencing some form ofyoga, whetherspiritual orpostural. The former is a type ofspiritual tourism; the latter is related both to spiritual and towellness tourism. Yoga tourists often visitashrams in India to study yoga or to betrained and certified as yoga teachers. Major centres for yoga tourism includeRishikesh andMysore.
While the Himalayas is the birthplace of yoga and a major yoga tourism destination, yoga retreats and holidays are provided in many countries, varying from simple stays in guesthouses and ashrams to 5-star comfort in luxury resorts.
Yoga is an ancientspiritual practice. From this perspective, yoga tourism can be seen as a form ofspiritual tourism, involving the embracing and commodification of that practice by the Western world. There is a tension between the purely spiritual andtransformational goals of yoga, meaning union with an entity higher than the self, and the commercialisation inherent in masstourism,[1] and in the yoga industry more generally.[2]
Especially when consideringyoga as exercise, yoga tourism is seen by some scholars of tourism as a form ofwellness tourism, in which people choose to go on a journey to further their health and well-being. In this context, yoga is taken to deliver physical benefits such as strength, flexibility, and relief from back pain, and mental benefits such as reduction of stress.[3][4] More specifically, when seen as a form of wellness tourism, it is defined as "tourism which focuses on the union of body, mind and spirit, but which is essentially areligious".[5]
A study of the global yoga tourism market estimated its value at $181 billion in 2022, and projected that this would grow to $319 billion by 2032.[6]
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India has become a major destination for yoga tourism.[7] In 1968, the English rock bandthe Beatles travelled to Rishikesh to take part in aTranscendental Meditation training course atMaharishi Mahesh Yogi'sashram, a Hindu monastery. The visit sparked widespread Western interest in Indian spirituality,[7] and has led many Westerners to travel to India hoping to find "authentic"[8] yoga inashrams in places such asRishikesh.[9] That movement led in turn to the creation of many yoga schools offeringteacher training and promotion of India as a "yoga tourism hub"[10] by the Indian Ministry of Tourism and theMinistry of AYUSH.[8][11][10] In 2014, India's Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, addressing theUnited Nations, announced an annual Day of Yoga on 21 June.[12] This was adopted as theInternational Day of Yoga by the United Nations.[13]
Yoga tourism does not necessarily mean travel to an ashram, nor necessarily to India, though as the birthplace of yoga it is the activity'slocus classicus. Ashrams offering yoga exist, for example, in Canada.[14] Other types of venue describe themselves as "holistic centres" and "yoga holidays", including holidays at "a 5-star resort with a celebrity Yoga Teacher".[14] Yoga holidays are provided in countries including Greece, Sri Lanka, Japan, Thailand, Scotland, France, Morocco, England, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the Maldives and Wales.[15][16] Yoga retreats, intended for more serious practice, can be found in many countries, including for instance Costa Rica and Italy.[14] Hotels and guesthouses around the world similarly offer yoga holidays in countries such as Bulgaria and Turkey; "pastoral yoga" in a rural setting can be found in countries including France.[14]
Young Westerners sometimes make spiritual quests to India, and the multiple varieties of ashram and yoga on offer to them are gently[17] satirised in theMindful Yoga instructorAnne Cushman's novelEnlightenment for Idiots.[18][17]
Elizabeth Gilbert's 2006 memoirEat, Pray, Love, now alsoa romantic Hollywood film, describes her experiences in an Indian ashram on her journey ofself-discovery.[14] Gilbert is thought[19] to have stayed in theSiddha Yoga ashramGurudev Siddha Peeth inMaharashtra; the film's "Pray" section was set in Ashram Hari Mandir atPataudi, near Delhi.[19]
Each character is ripe for a little satire, which makes the novel a fun read, especially if you're in on the joke... Cushman also manages to capture the heart of their teachings, which gives the book another level of meaning.
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