Is Modern Yoga Losing Its Soul? A Personal Take from the Inside

Modern yoga is everywhere. From sleek studios to social media influencers, yoga has become a global phenomenon. And yet, for many of us who’ve practiced for years, something doesn’t feel right anymore. Yoga used to be about inner peace, self-inquiry, and personal transformation. Now, it often feels like another lifestyle trend. The question isn’t whether yoga is popular. It’s whether it has lost its soul.

As a long-time yoga teacher and practitioner, I’ve had a front-row seat to yoga’s evolution. I’ve taught in gyms, studios, ashrams, and even online platforms. I’ve witnessed firsthand how the practice has changed. While some of that change has brought accessibility and growth, much of it has hollowed out the heart of yoga. This article isn’t a takedown; it’s a call to remember what yoga really is. Let’s look at where things have gone astray and how we might bring the essence back.

Yoga as a Commodity: What Are We Really Selling?

It’s impossible to ignore how commercialized yoga has become. Walk into many modern studios, and you’ll be greeted with branded merchandise, aromatherapy products, designer mats, and glossy flyers for $3,000 retreats. There is nothing inherently wrong with these things. But when profit becomes the priority, practice often gets pushed aside. Yoga becomes something to consume, not something to live.

In the traditional sense, yoga was never about outward appearances. There were no designer leggings or studio selfies. It was about turning inward, transcending ego, and learning to sit with yourself. The commodification of yoga has flipped that. Now it’s about appearances, performance, and image. People are often drawn into yoga to get fit or improve flexibility. Those are benefits, not the purpose.

Even teacher trainings have become a business model. Studios depend on them to stay afloat. But this means more emphasis on sales funnels than spiritual growth. The core question we need to ask is: What are we selling, and what are we losing in the process? When yoga is just another commodity, its soul is sacrificed at the altar of branding.

The Rise of Shallow Teacher Trainings

A major symptom of modern yoga’s dilution is the explosion of yoga teacher trainings. Fifteen years ago, teacher training was a serious commitment, often involving years of personal practice and mentorship before you even considered teaching. Today, someone can take a 200-hour course over a few weekends and walk out with a certificate. These programs are often marketed aggressively, promising a transformational experience and a new career path.

But the truth is that many of these trainings offer little more than a surface-level education. They rush through philosophy, skip meditation, and spend more time on cueing flow sequences than exploring the deeper purpose of the practice. Anatomy is taught from a liability perspective rather than a holistic one. There is little emphasis on lineage or inner inquiry.

The result is a generation of teachers who don’t feel confident, and worse, don’t know what they don’t know. They replicate the same patterns they learned, prioritizing poses over presence. And because the industry keeps rewarding surface-level offerings, this cycle continues. It’s not the teachers’ fault—it’s the structure they were handed. But it’s a structure that needs reimagining if yoga is to regain its depth.

The Influence of Social Media: Performance Over Presence

Social media has transformed how we relate to yoga, and not always for the better. While platforms like Instagram have made yoga more visible and accessible, they’ve also turned it into a performance. Scrolling through yoga hashtags, you’ll see extreme backbends on cliffs, handstands on paddle boards, and toned bodies in coordinated outfits. These images are beautiful, but they often send the wrong message.

Yoga becomes something you show, not something you feel. It becomes about perfection, not process. For newer practitioners, this creates unrealistic expectations. They might feel inadequate because they can’t touch their toes or do a headstand. They might assume they need the right look, outfit, or vibe to belong in a yoga space. That’s the opposite of what yoga teaches.

Even teachers fall into this trap. They feel pressure to post content regularly, grow their following, and brand themselves as spiritual authorities. That pressure distorts their relationship with the practice. They may spend more time creating content than doing their own practice. Presence is replaced with performance. The inner work gets skipped.

It’s not about quitting social media. It’s about using it mindfully. Share moments of honesty. Share the breath, the stillness, the struggles. Remind people that yoga is an internal unfolding, not a photoshoot. Reclaim presence as the ultimate power move.

Where Has the Lineage Gone?

One of the most overlooked aspects of modern yoga is the loss of lineage. In traditional practice, students worked with one teacher over many years. That teacher had their own teacher. There was a traceable line of wisdom, accountability, and mutual respect. Today, many teachers operate solo. They have no mentors, no community of elders, and no checks on their growth.

This lack of lineage has consequences. Without guidance, it’s easy to drift into ego-driven teaching. Teachers may speak about trauma without training, offer spiritual advice without experience, or fuse practices from multiple traditions without understanding their roots. That’s not just a dilution of yoga. It’s a risk to students.

Lineage doesn’t mean rigid rules or blind obedience. It means connection to source. It means humility—knowing you’re part of something bigger than your brand. I was fortunate to study under teachers who valued depth, integrity, and inquiry. They reminded me that yoga is a lifelong path, not a weekend workshop. Their presence shaped how I teach, how I learn, and how I live.

If we want yoga to have a future, we need to reweave those threads. Teachers need mentors. Studios need elders. Communities need roots. Without lineage, we risk losing not just technique, but meaning.

Reclaiming the Soul of the Practice

So, where do we go from here? Is it too late to reclaim yoga’s soul? I don’t think so. Beneath the noise, the soul is still there. It waits in the early morning silence, the slow exhale, the meditative gaze. Yoga hasn’t disappeared. We’ve just gotten distracted.

Reclaiming the soul of yoga means returning to the essentials. It means choosing presence over performance. It means practicing for your own growth, not for a reel. It means finding a teacher you trust and letting them challenge you. It means reading the texts, sitting in silence, and asking the hard questions.

For teachers, it means teaching from your own experience. Not what you read in a manual, but what you’ve lived. Teach less. Study more. Embody what you speak. For students, it means seeking out spaces that feel authentic. Not always fancy. Not always trendy. Just real.

Studios can also make changes. They can offer deeper trainings, not just faster ones. They can invite elders to speak. They can prioritize inclusion, not image. They can create rooms that feel sacred again.

Yoga is not just a series of poses. It’s a way of being. It’s a relationship with truth. It’s an unlearning. It’s presence in a world that wants distraction. If we remember that, we can begin again.

Conclusion: Is Modern Yoga Losing Its Soul? 

Yes, modern yoga has lost something. But it hasn’t lost everything. Its soul is not gone. It’s buried beneath layers of branding, busyness, and ego. But it can be uncovered.

As practitioners, we have a choice. We can keep chasing perfection, or we can slow down. We can keep selling images, or we can return to essence. We can ask more of ourselves, our teachers, and our communities.

Yoga was never meant to be easy. It was meant to be real. It still can be. The soul of yoga lives in stillness, breath, and truth. Let’s bring it back to the center.

Let’s reclaim the soul of yoga—one breath, one moment, one honest practice at a time.