Over-stretching? Yoga
① Half a century after the Beatles meditated in Rishikesh, in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas, a new wave of spirituality tourists have arrived for this week's International Yoga Festival.
② Some 300m people now practise yoga around the world, according to the International Yoga Federation.
③ Since it became popular in the West in the 1980s it has moved beyond mere activity; in the ghastly lingo it has become a "lifestyle"—on which Americans spent $16bn in 2016.
④ The yoga-mat market is growing by 7% a year, while novelty yoga proliferates: hot yoga, beer yoga, naked yoga, goat yoga.
⑤ Some worry the practice is losing its spirituality; that the Instagram generation has made it about posing not poses.
⑥ Others think it fills a spiritual vacuum in the irreligious West, where navel-gazing is not a tricky yoga move.
⑦ Devotees champion its health benefits and positive messages of love, compassion and serenity.
⑧ A noble position to take.
▍生词好句
overstretch/over-stretch /əʊvəˈstrɛtʃ/: vt. 过度拉伸；过度消耗
meditate /ˈmɛdɪteɪt/: vi. 冥想；沉思
foothill /ˈfʊthɪl/: n. 山麓丘陵
Himalayas /hɪˈmɑːljəz, ˌhɪməˈleɪəz/: n. 喜马拉雅山脉
ghastly /ˈɡɑːs(t)li/: adj. 粗劣的；令人触目惊心的
lingo /ˈlɪŋɡəʊ/: n. 外语；行话
novelty /ˈnɒv(ə)lti/: n. 新奇；新奇的事物
proliferate /prəˈlɪfəreɪt/: vi. 增加；增长
navel-gazing: n. 过度的自我反省
devotee /ˌdɛvə(ʊ)ˈtiː/: n. 虔诚/热衷的爱好者
champion /ˈtʃampɪən/: vt. 支持
serenity /sɪˈrɛnɪti/: n. 宁静
serene /sɪˈriːn/: adj. 宁静的
