Apparently it can, according to India’s famous yoga-promoting swami Baba Ramdev. Baba Ramdev might not be a household name among yoga practitioners in the U.S., but in India he’s quite an influential figure. The 44-year-old guru is famous for helping to popularize yoga, pranayama, and Ayurveda in his home country. Through his television programs and what he refers to as “yoga camps” (we’re thinking that yoga camps might be similar to the yoga “retreats” or “workshops” that we know so well in the U.S.), his teachings purportedly reach tens of millions of people.
Baba Ramdev first came across our radar in July of this year, when he very vocally denounced India’s historic move to decriminalize homosexuality. In response to the abolishment of this outdated, highly descriminatory law, Ramdev was quoted as saying:
This kind of thing is shameful and insulting. We are blindly following the West in everything. This is breaking the family system in India. Homosexuals are sick people, they should be sent to hospitals for treatment. If the government brings this law, I will take to the streets of Delhi in protest. [source]
Frankly, as yoga practitioners in the U.S., we find this anti-gay attitude appalling. You certainly won’t be finding anyone from Drishti attending one of Ramdev’s “yoga camps”, and we suspect that all of our regular blog readers would share this sentiment!
Now that Ramdev is on our radar, however, we couldn’t help but notice a claim he made yesterday about yoga and swine flu. In response to several swine flu deaths which have occurred in India in recent days, Ramdev apparently announced at a press conference that yoga can cure swine flu. Hmmmm… We’re all for the spread of yoga throughout our modern world, but attempting to popularize something by making scientifically false assertions about its benefits is neither helpful nor responsible. ‘Nuff said!
