Jane Henry
Student-Blog by Block 1 Track B Student
Ayurveda is becoming more recognized in the United States, but it will not experience the same mainstream popularity that Yoga has experienced.
1. Yoga is big business.
Yoga has experienced mainstream success thanks to the commercialization of it. From busy city corners to quiet main streets, Yoga studios have popped up all over. Yoga mats can be found from stores like Whole Foods to TJMaxx. Yoga clothing maintained popularity with the fashion trend, Athleisure. Yoga is lucrative. A hashtag search on Instagram shows #Yoga with 23,865,442 tags. #Ayurveda has 244,359 tags.
In order for Ayurveda to experience mainstream success, it needs to be incorporated into business models that are both profitable and scalable.
2. Ayurveda is complex.
Without a trusted practitioner or expert of Ayurveda guiding the way, navigating Ayurveda as a novice is confusing.
Information online is copious. It is difficult to wade through the sea of website documentation, while verifying authenticity and understanding enough of the subject matter in order to confidently apply it to one’s own medical condition. Medical-related inquires and online search do not yield helpful results.
On Twitter, Comedian Bill Murray said it best.
Me: “My elbow hurts.”
Doctor website: “Elbow cancer.”
Ayurvedic herbs or beauty rituals may experience short term popularity because they are easy to understand and to apply to one’s lifestyle, but the importance of Ayurveda as a holistic health modality is much more multifaceted.
3. Western Medicine vs. Ayurveda
If western medicine were to challenge Ayurveda to a boxing match, western medicine would deliver a knockout punch in the first round. The public trusts western medicine’s ability to deliver immediate results. Side effects of “get-healed- fast” are downplayed or prescribed with additional pills. Deepak Chopra and others have taken great steps in communicating the health benefits of Ayurveda in the US, but only the tip of this iceberg is showing.
There is a seismic shift toward whole body health with more focus on traditional ways of healing in the US. NAMA (The National Ayurvedic Medical Association) is focused on enforcing stricter regulations for those who wish to practice Ayurveda, with board examinations and license examination beginning December 1st, 2016.
While Ayurveda will not experience the same mainstream popularity that Yoga has experienced, I believe Ayurveda will enjoy a slow and thoughtful growth, where the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda is respected, learned, shared, and practiced in today’s modern world.
References:
Instagram Hashtag Search, 08/08/16
