The Hindu Business Line : Yoganomics: The art of business

The growing awareness about lifestyle values has made yoga a global industry. Besides, diseases and the high cost of medical expenditure also force people to take recourse to the ancient art of yoga.

THE GROWING awareness about lifestyle values has made yoga a global industry. — K Murali Kumar

The aggressive pursuit of high growth leads to lifestyle changes. Stress becomes part of life and strains the happiness quotient of people who then discover that wealth by itself will not allow them to enjoy life. Enjoying life demands that body and mind are in proper condition, and this can be best achieved by practice of yoga. This is why millions of people across the world want to follow this ancient way of life. Rather than economic models, yoga postures can increase the happiness levels of people.

Over the years, yoga has become a key spiritual commodity that competes with other products in the global market. Yoga is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world. Today, around 70,000 teachers in North America instruct yoga to an estimated 30 million people. The demand for yoga studios is so high that it has become the hot pursuit of commercial real-estate giants. In corporate world, yoga has come to be recognised as a stress management tool and theelixir for raising productivity.

In the US, corporate yoga practice is growing faster than shopping malls. Government organisations, police departments, military bases, therapists both mental and physical, schoolteachers and media people are the main target groups. The yoga instructor is as expensive as a management graduate, earning $80 to $125 per class (usually of one hour) per person. The income increases manifold in the corporate environment.

S30-billion business

According to a market survey by a yoga journal, it is a $30-billion business in the US, including accessories and equipment and instructional books and DVDs. The average yoga practitioner in the US spends $1,500 every year. Americans spend $2.95 billion a year on yoga classes and products. According to the study, 7.5 per cent of American adults practice yoga every year. Further, according to the survey, one in seven non-practitioners in the US is interested in practising yoga within next 12 months. The number of yoga practitioners increased by 43 per cent from 2002 to 2005 in the US.

In Asia, yoga has become a booming business in at least 20 countries and is a $500-million business. It has become a national craze in Singapore. According to a survey by the Singapore Sport Council, in 2005, some 55,000 people practised yoga out of the island-nation's four million population. The growing pollution levels in urban centres in Asian countries make people take to yoga for healthy life. European countries take special interest in yoga to increase productivity. Today, every small urban centre in Germany has a yoga school.

This is all a good sign that people world over are striving to counter the robotisation of human life. The pleasant journey for unification of mind and body will be the chief pursuit of the smart and educated who have the ability to see reason in their action. The growing awareness about lifestyle values has made yoga a global industry. Besides, diseases and the high cost of medical expenditure also force people to take recourse to the art of yoga.

Missed Opportunity

Swami Vivekananda first recognised yoga as a spiritual commodity when he delivered his famous lecture at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago in 1893. He was sure that India can cash in on the opportunity of marketing yoga. Yet, India sits on the sidelines watching the game but not playing it, even as the developed world is going all out to market this 5,000-year-old Indian spiritual commodity. The only work of significance that India has done is creating a digitised database of 1,500 yoga postures and their therapeutic properties. But not taking it more seriously could cost the Indian economy dear — over $700 million per year as global players are all set to market yoga and products.

India still has time, resources and skill to make yoga a thriving economy. Perhaps, there should be a National Yoga Policy for a better focus on this sector. India can undoubtedly be the outsourcing hub of yoga products. Cottage industries can produce a wide range of organic yoga mats and apparels to meet the global demand. Yoga can easily be a worthwhile business proposition for bankers. The banking community must think of including yoga in its business plan. While taking care of health and employment of the country, yoga can bring both emotional integration among world community which will humanise globalisation. It is high time India played the lead role to complete the integration process and visualise a happier world with all its diversity.

(The author is a Pune-based freelance writer.)