In this initial phase the spread would have been fairly slow and restricted to the urban middle classes – the cultural intermediaries – mainly in the US: fashion models and writers, dancers, TV presenters, actresses and other entertainers. But this did not guarantee any epidemic spread. It is important to realise that other processes and conditions have also to be in place. However the seed of yoga was planted in an important garden – the Hollywood milieu of especially movie celebrities inhabiting the upper echelon of the cultural intermediaries. In a society daily awash with celebrity gossip and images it is of course significant when such media celebrities take up new interests. As they are role models for the masses they can trigger a rapid spread. However as we were still on the early phase of the diffusion curve and as other social factors did not encourage the spread, asana yoga still was for the relatively few but most people began to hear about yoga from the celebrity industry. Had it not been for the interplay and conflation of a range of other factors the spread of yoga would most probably have stabilised here.
Greta Garbo in yoga pose
In the 60s and 70s yoga in parallel moved into the counterculture^Wikipedia link). Many young people travelled to India and encountered yoga there. They brought it home with them and from them it slowly spread into New Age groups and adult education evening classes. Yoga was slowly finding its feet among housewives and female professionals of the middle class. We have seen how they informed yoga practice with romanticist, holistic and a bit of spiritual discourses. Then significantly asana yoga reached television in the USA and the UK where it was demonstrated by Western early adopters’ using beautiful female models (Syman 2010). Yoga moved into the general beauty discourse. The target group turned out still to be mainly middle class housewives. The emergence of yoga on TV is however a significant sign, as it indicates that the epidemic of yoga was on its way, moving out of its entrenched position among the early adopters. Even if we can trace increasing momentum in the diffusion process, we are still in the late phase of early adopters bordering on becoming the early majority phase’. This is where many epidemics grind to a halt.
Purpose: To stretch the neck extensors while keeping the shoulders Cow Face Pose Yoga back. Contraindications: Herniated cervical disc, rotator cuff syndrome. Prop: A belt. Cow Face Pose YogaAvoiding pitfalls: Keep your upper back erect but not rigid. Cow Face Pose Yoga Avoid overly tightening your front neck muscles. Avoid overarching your lower back. Stand with the Cow Face Pose Yoga belt looped around your wrists with your arms behind you. Inhale and lift your inner body up, making the sides of your body very long.
