A meandrous journey, yoga has seen many obstacles, faced numerous doubts and had to pass many tests, before it emerged as main stream art form both accepted and practiced by us. Wrapped in the cocoon of religion, culture, region, beliefs and much more, many people could hardly tell the difference between yoga and yogurt. Many even refused to take it up just as a means to a better health, because of the religious connotations attached to it. Some even condemned it, but Yoga has been able to establish itself globally at the hands of leading yoga gurus like B.K.S. Iyenger, Pattabhi jois, Swami Rama, and many more. Here is a look at the statistics to make you aware on the wide reach of this spectacular art form.
The ancient science has stepped out of the gates of the ashram and entered into a multimillion dollar company as www.statisticbrain.com states that as much as $10,300,000,000 are spent annually by only the U.S. on yoga products. There is an 87% increase in spending on the yoga products in the last five years whereas in comparison to this, only 20% increase in practicing population of yoga in U.S. When compared to other indoor sports or activities, yoga met no equal rather it was capable of dwarfing the competition all together.
As per goggle trends report, Canada tops the list of the countries when it comes to listing the countries who practice of yoga the most, followed by Singapore and U.S. whereas India, the motherland of yoga, falls on the 5th position after Australia. Made in India but taken to other countries and continents, many new people are approaching the art form to become teachers. The reason for the increase in the number of yoga teachers is not only because of the monetary benefits but also that it has become more relatable. The most sought after forms of yoga in yoga teacher training would be Bikram yoga, Ashtanga yoga and Power Yoga. Training under these forms would lead the students to become a specialized teacher in the form in question.
The yoga instructor’s job has become one of the most sought after career and CNN has ranked Yoga instructor to be one of the top 100 careers and also says it is, ‘Big growth great pay’. It also states that a yoga instructor if established well, can earn as much as $62,400. The fact of the matter is still contested and there has always been a debate on how much does a yogi earn in an year but the lucrativeness of the job cannot be doubted. Statisticrbrain.com mentions that there are 44% who earn more than $75,000 annually by working as a yoga instructor and 24% who earn $100,000 annually.
The reason why many are turning towards it might be because yoga makes space for one and all. Statisticrbrain.com says 40.6% Americans from age 18-34 practice yoga followed by 41% Americans from age group of 35-54 and 18.4% of Americans over 55 years of age practice yoga. Whether it is the easiness of the form, large range of poses to choose from, affect on mental level or ability to balance life, yoga is and will be held dearly by different people for different reasons.
