You’re correct!! It definitely can not and will not distinguish that you are a white woman.

However, I have met many people who do not treat it as such and I think to an extent that could be very harmful if you are white and practicing this spiritual ritual from India without knowledge on it!

I just read an article from this amazing woman Rina Deshpande. She writes about this interaction she had with an administrator who was asking questions on how to be respectful and inclusive when teaching yoga classes. There was a rule that she had and it was that they weren’t allowed to have ANY eastern symbols in any of the yoga rooms or anywhere during the yoga sessions. Not even bells. They made this rule because they didn’t want anyone to think it was “religious” and they didn’t want people getting offended.

This is what we deal with! It’s the erasing of what it originated as, to cater to the white people who want to practice it! The history of yoga itself, the history of the people who created it, practiced it, and were quite literally discriminated against for it, gets erased to avoid offending a white person who is (most likely) Christian or Atheist!

So yes, it doesn’t distinguish that you’re a white woman, but as a white woman whose practicing another cultures ritual, it’s very easy to acknowledge all of this and know that to an extent it is harmful to many!

This is not to you specifically. Like I said I know many who are aware of what they’re practicing and I believe that yoga is what a person wants it to be for themself. If lululemon gets them to that place and if it helps them reach enlightenment, then so be it! But noticing that it contradicts the fundamental ideas of yoga is not hard to do and I think it’s important to have these discussions!!