2018-03-07

Over-stretching? Yoga

① Half a century after the Beatles meditated in Rishikesh, in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas, a new wave of spirituality tourists have arrived for this week's International Yoga Festival.

② Some 300m people now practise yoga around the world, according to the International Yoga Federation.

③ Since it became popular in the West in the 1980s it has moved beyond mere activity; in the ghastly lingo it has become a "lifestyle"—on which Americans spent $16bn in 2016.

④ The yoga-mat market is growing by 7% a year, while novelty yoga proliferates: hot yoga, beer yoga, naked yoga, goat yoga.

⑤ Some worry the practice is losing its spirituality; that the Instagram generation has made it about posing not poses.

⑥ Others think it fills a spiritual vacuum in the irreligious West, where navel-gazing is not a tricky yoga move.

⑦ Devotees champion its health benefits and positive messages of love, compassion and serenity.

⑧ A noble position to take.

▍生词好句

overstretch/over-stretch /əʊvəˈstrɛtʃ/: vt. 过度拉伸；过度消耗

meditate /ˈmɛdɪteɪt/: vi. 冥想；沉思

foothill /ˈfʊthɪl/: n. 山麓丘陵

Himalayas /hɪˈmɑːljəz, ˌhɪməˈleɪəz/: n. 喜马拉雅山脉

ghastly /ˈɡɑːs(t)li/: adj. 粗劣的；令人触目惊心的

lingo /ˈlɪŋɡəʊ/: n. 外语；行话

novelty /ˈnɒv(ə)lti/: n. 新奇；新奇的事物

proliferate /prəˈlɪfəreɪt/: vi. 增加；增长

navel-gazing: n. 过度的自我反省

devotee /ˌdɛvə(ʊ)ˈtiː/: n. 虔诚/热衷的爱好者

champion /ˈtʃampɪən/: vt. 支持

serenity /sɪˈrɛnɪti/: n. 宁静

serene /sɪˈriːn/: adj. 宁静的