Yoga Activism

343. “Luna” - Green Yoga Activism (23 November 2015)

In one of his last books, the late Georg Feuerstein presented his views about how to become an active yoga participant in the discussions about the environment. Green Yoga is a book that he wrote with his wife Brenda; it was published when the two authors launched the Green Yoga Initiative, a proposal to create awareness about environmental issues from a yoga perspective. ¹ In the last chapter the authors call on yoga practitioners to incorporate “Green Yoga Activism” in their practice. In the last pages of their book, they say: “We are calling upon all Yoga practitioners to intensify their practice by becoming viras, or ‘heroes,’ in the old sense of the word, who put the common weal before their own consumerist comfort and uninspected predilections. The time has come to live Yoga with as much heartiness and genuineness as we can possibly muster” (page 154). The subtitle of the first chapter of Green Yoga is “Our Planet is Dying – What Will YOU do?” and the one of the last chapter, “What You Can Do.” This last section has a concise list of practical things that we can do, such as to simplify life as much possible, to think twice before purchasing a new item, to practice the well-known 3Rs: Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, do not use plastic bottles, to use environmentally friendly cleaning products, and many others.

The environmental field has some notable “heroes” (‘viras’) as represented by some notable and zealous activists. One of the most noteworthy examples is the case of Julia Butterfly Hill, a California artist, poet, and activist, who in 1997, climbed the branches of a threatened redwood called Luna, which was scheduled to be cut by the Pacific Lumber Company. Julia spent 738 days on a 180 feet high platform that she built on Luna. After an arduous negotiation, the Company agreed to protect Luna, which stands on a ridge above the town of Stafford, California, and demarcated a 200-foot buffer zone of forest around Luna. Subsequently, Julia founded the Circle of Life Foundation, which was a project of the parent association, the Earth Island Institute; early in November 2002, the Circle of Life became an independent nonprofit organization.  ²

Julia wrote a national bestseller book called The Legacy of Luna, which recounts her experience in defending the redwood trees. ³

The example of Luna and the actions suggested in Green Yoga and many environmental organizations illustrate many ways to practice “Green Yoga Activism” as a firm stand on environmental issues.

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¹ Georg Feuerstein and Brenda Feuerstein, Green Yoga (Saskatchewan, Canada: Traditional Yoga Studies, 2007), 164 pages.