Yoga is as relevant to Sikhi as cricket. Or pickle-ball. Or cross country running. Namely, not at all. I do not disapprove of it per say. If you practice honest, traditional yoga, for health reasons, being they physical or mental, more power to you. But it is NOT a Sikhi thing. But, the fact that it is heavily ingrained in Western Sikhi mostly, we only have ourselves to thank for that. Well, not me, because I never supported it from day one of my journey into Sikhi. But, from the moment Yogi Bhajan was let loose on us, as "the representative of Sikhi in the Western World", with the blessing and support of several official Sikh bodies, such as Akal Takhat and SGPC, it was a done deal. He received support for his 100% commercially based Kundalini empire and for his abusive 3HO empire, which is still shooting up from Western Sikhi like cordyceps. Unstoppable and detrimental.
For that same reason, we non Punjabi speaking Sikh, have to work with a less than sub standard English translation of SGGS, from the hands of Sahib Singh, from the same 3HO nest, which also received the blessing of SGPC as "the best translation available". I will be the first to acknowledge that most all translations suck eggs, but his is not even the best of all the bad ones. Far from it.
I stay away from even traditional yoga myself, for the purpose of Naam, like I stay away from Shaheedi deg: not wanting to influence my Naam with anything that may change my physical and mental state artificially. So, no chemicals, no hyperventilating.
All this said, I am a bit stoic and maybe even a bit lethargic. Whole groups of people have taken on this subject, with little to no lasting effect. Victims of the highly abusive Kundalini era and the Ashram and the Miri Piri school. Too many books by victims of the physical and sexual abuse and it is still like they are mopping with the tap open. Followers of Bhajan still condone his behavior and worship him like they should only worship Guru Ji. So, in the end, I think, "Well, this is Kalyug after all and it has to play out and I will trust my Guru that it has to play out like this...." Not always pleasant from where we stand, but if it is Guru's Wish, I gave my head after all.
