Dualism Rampant in Modern Yoga

     It is ironic that a practice such as yoga posture practice which was initially intended as way to unveil the unity underlying all phenomena so often derails into a practice that reinforces ones ego and sense of separation.  Though often well intentioned and sometimes not, the modern application of yoga posture principles has devolved away from the recognition of unity.  There are probably many reasons for this.  Perhaps the most influential one is our unfamiliarity with unity.  Because by far most of us live in a dualistic framework, we are unaccustomed to knowing and often unable to know the difference between unity and duality.  Speaking about or knowing intellectually, as with many subjects, comes easily in yoga.  Embodying and living the subject matter is quite different.
     Most Yoga instructors today will recognize Patanjali as a foundational source for what is now known about yoga posture practice.  However, it is clear from the commentaries written since the time of Patanjali that interpretation quickly moved away from the unity pointed to by Patanjali towards duality instead.  The grasping tendency so common to us in modern times was quickly imposed on top of Patanjali's pure invitation to oneness.  Yoga Posture Practice became a sequence of steps which if followed by the severely disciplined would grant the grand prize of Samadhi.  Hints of patriarchal exclusionism can be found in texts on yoga up to the present day.  Big movers in the modern yoga world like Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois & many others fueled the fire of this dogmatic approach.  An American culture immersed in "more is better" mentality and a blind extremism took this line and has been pushing it hard.  Sprinkle in Madison Avenue's commercialism juggernaut and voila you have the perfect lie of an approach to yoga posture practice completely infused with dualism while being packaged as a product that can deliver oneness.
     A simple way to discern your own relationship to this phenomena is to ask yourself;  "Does yoga posture practice invite an honestly deepened experience and expression of unity or does it in fact subtly identify "me" with "my" body/mind and invite a never ending carrot and stick game where yoga is something that is pretended and never experienced?"   Body image, physical ability, intellectual prowess and the accumulation of knowledge are all fertile ground for the ego to root in and grow quite nicely.  Clarify why you are practicing yoga.  If it be for dualistic reasons, fine, but acknowledge it and be honest about it.  If, on the other hand, you're serious about settling into unity, make sure that your practice is inviting just that.