Why connecting yoga to politics is important to me

This past week, the President of the United States got his wish: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

It’s big, alright. But there’s nothing beautiful about it.

It’s advertised as a bill that will weed out waste, fraud, and abuse in social safety net programs.

It’s really a declaration about whose lives matter, whose histories will be told, who belongs here . . . and who doesn’t.

It’s a refutation of the values of yoga, codified into law.

Some people think that yoga teachers shouldn’t talk about politics, that a teacher should remain neutral and give everyone a safe space to forget politics for an hour.

That might feel right for some yoga teachers.

And sometimes, it’s right for me, too.

But in the bigger picture, there’s a connection between yoga and politics that I can’t ignore and feel compelled to share.

Here’s why connecting yoga to politics is important to me:

• For starters, yoga is political. The most basic proposition of yoga—that we are all eternal spiritual beings, not these temporary material bodies—is as much a political statement as a philosophical one because it challenges fundamental assumptions about reality, and our conception of reality determines our political positions.
• Yoga wisdom’s literary tradition has a lot to say about how to recognize a leader who can be trusted to act in the people’s best interests. Sharing this information is part of my responsibility as a teacher.
• The yamas, the ethical directives that comprise the very first of the eight limbs of yoga, are very specific and described as “universal,” applicable to everyone who practices yoga in all places at all times. Each one—non-violence, truthfulness, control of sexual energy, non-stealing, and non-hoarding—has significant political implications.

I also have another, more personal reason for teaching about the political implications of yoga philosophy.

It’s not because I’m being directly affected by the Big Ugly Bill.

It’s because everything about this bill—and this administration—is contrary to dharma: the universal principles of righteousness described in yoga’s wisdom literature.

And in the Bhagavad-gītā, the foremost book of yoga wisdom, Krishna tells us that when adharma—all that is contrary to dharma— is in ascendence, he appears to re-establish the principles of dharma.

Krishna’s mission—his reason for appearing in the world—is to re-establish dharma.

I am a bhakti-yogi. Krishna is my iṣṭa-devata, the form of divinity upon whom I meditate, whose teachings I study, and whose example I follow.

If Krishna cares so much about the world that he personally shows up to re-establish dharma when things go haywire, then what kind of devotee would I be if I didn’t take up his mission?

So if I wasn’t doing something to push back against what I see—and what yoga wisdom also sees—as a demonic betrayal of the values of dharma—values that I was taught made America great—I wouldn’t be able to find anything resembling inner peace.

Yoga obviously has an inward-turning component that we absolutely need for the sake of our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

Yoga also has an outward-facing component—ethical principles that guide moral decision-making, which, in turn, can—and should—inform public policy.

Krishna’s instruction to Arjuna was to step up and fight the good fight with discernment, compassionate detachment, and unwavering devotion to the truth.

I’m going to try to do the same thing.

And so can you. There are many ways to defend dharma. Each of us can answer the call in our own way.

We don’t need to agree on everything. But we can all agree that yoga wisdom gives us guidance on how to exemplify and advocate for a kinder, more generous, more inclusive, more truthful, and more beautiful kind of politics than what we’re living with right now.

And we can make it happen if we think of every obstacle as an opportunity to be of service.

Wishing you all good fortune,

– Hari-k