Commentary: Yoga controversy — being healthy is more important

Primastuti Handayani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 01/30/2009 8:00 AM  

There’s always enthusiasm when you do things for the first time. That included my first experience joining a yoga club three months ago. The reason for giving a nod to a friend’s persuasion to do yoga was because I realized I had to exercise.

Why yoga? Honestly, I’m too lazy to jog along the streets in my housing complex. Join a gym? 

A big no-no for me. Play soccer? I broke my left hand playing soccer when I was a second-grader. Martial arts? Leave that to my husband. Yoga became an alternative, because for sure it does not require me to do all those high-impact exercises à la Jane Fonda.

The first try was not easy at all. Some moves were already familiar for me but there were others that were difficult for a newbie. I tried hard to do all the movements as instructed by my yoga teacher. But after the end of the first session and a sip of bottled tea, I realized that my joints were aching. I could barely walk straight. It had been years since I had moved my body for physical exercise.

That night, I wrote in my Facebook profile, “I just had my first yoga class and… my body felt like a wreck.” A friend of mine responded, “I thought yoga should be invigorating.” Indeed… but it will invigorate later when your body is already used to the different poses that need agility and flexibility. For a 30-something person, whose annual exercise sessions can be counted on one hand, doing yoga was not as easy as I had previously thought.

For me and some other Muslim friends in the club, we do yoga for one purpose: our health. 

Because our work requires us to sit in front of the computer for nearly eight hours a day, sometimes more, our backbones definitely need some workout. We didn’t chant Hindu mantras during our practice sessions. There was a session where we were required to lie down, breathe in a certain way and feel the energy within our body. Most of the time, I fell asleep during this relaxation — even if only for a minute. 

When my enthusiasm with my new activity was high, the news from Kuala Lumpur came like a lightning strike in broad daylight. Late last year, ulema in the neighboring country said they would ban yoga because of the chanting of Hindu mantras that could corrupt Islamic values among Muslims in Malaysia.

Debates quickly popped up on Facebook, mailing lists and other interactive media. A Malaysian fellow journalist snubbed the idea, saying it was “an unnecessary thing to do” and that “Indonesians should not follow suit”.

The issue of the possible ban on yoga died down slightly after the New Year, covered by the celebration of Barack Obama’s inauguration as US president and the bleak forecast for the country’s economy.

Apparently, our ulema did not forget their agenda. Gathering in West Sumatra, they issued some edicts that deemed as haram (sinful): vote abstention, smoking in public places and for children and pregnant women, and doing yoga if there are “aspects that contain Hindu elements” — meaning chanting and meditation.

The issuance of the edicts immediately sparked criticism as they were deemed pointless. The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) had said last year they would visit yoga clubs to see if participants actually performed Hindu mantras. I don’t know if they already did that. The ulema should see how stretching our muscles to obtain flexibility tests our balance — not only our body but also our mind — and gives us better posture after frequent exercises. They must learn how breathing properly helps our respiration process work better.

I have a question about that particular edict, though. How on earth can they measure if one’s Islamic values are already corrupted from doing yoga?

The ulema’s edict on smoking is even more hilarious. Why didn’t they ban smoking at all? Is it because the ulema are all smokers, that they are not ready to give up their habits? I personally think that smoking is more harmful to others — especially for passive smokers in their surroundings.

But another friend told me that there’s always a bright side — even in pointless edicts. “In villages and rural areas, ulema are prominent figures in our country. Maybe the edict on yoga has less impact. But imagine the impact for smokers and the golput (vote abstainers). I believe they will follow the edicts and hopefully we’ll see fewer smokers in public places and higher voter turnout.”

I was amazed by my friend’s thought. I hadn’t thought that far. I believe the edicts — especially the yoga part — will not curb people’s enthusiasm to practice yoga. I believe taking care of our health — that includes measures to prevent illness through exercising — will meet all religious values, which are to respect God’s blessings of our health.