This morning I read an anti-government post by the well-known singer Sati Kazanova. She is quite rightly outraged by yet another act of idiocy by the authorities: in St. Petersburg, the police prosecuted a yoga teacher. The guy was giving a lecture about different types of yoga, and right there in the lecture hall he was detained by seven (!!!) plainclothes officers.
The authorities decided the man was a missionary, and "unauthorized missionary activity" is banned under the Yarovaya law.
It is impossible not to agree with Kazanova (well, except for the phrase, "We live in a country that grants its citizens freedom of thought, speech, and above all — belief!!" As we can see, it does not).
I myself went to yoga for a while — it was a very positive experience, unfortunately I quit because I lacked the time — and I can imagine the whole range of feelings I would have had if my instructor had been detained by the anti-extremism squad for teaching me how to properly hum my om namo gurudev namo, accompanied by sweet, harmless stories from Eastern philosophy_._
I even had a meditation music CD where, in a place of honor among all the Indian tracks, there was the theme from At Home Among Strangers, a Stranger Among His Own. Presumably, if they felt like it, they could declare that a sign of a destructive sect too.
But I want to talk about something else. Sati Kazanova's post is a classic example proving the truth of the saying: "If you don't want to engage in politics, then politics will engage with you."
If anyone is pointedly far removed from politics, rallies, and protests against the Yarovaya law, it is yoga teachers.
We have withdrawn from worldly affairs into our cozy nirvana, and we couldn't care less about your empty bustle and fuss. Instead of going to rallies, we'd rather do downward-facing dog.
And what of it? Even into your nirvana came a smirking V. Putin and his loyal I. Yarovaya, declaring that downward-facing dog is a serious attack on the country's "spiritual bonds" (a Russian state-conservative slogan).
They will drag you out of nirvana and haul you to Judicial District No. 211 of the magistrate's court in St. Petersburg, where first they will ask: are you an idiot? And then they will fine you. For starters.
The dog should not be facing downward; it should be standing there with a placard calling for a fight against the fifth column.
And the funniest part? As is well known, Medvedev, the leader of United Russia, is into yoga.
But yoga teacher Dmitry Ugai will most likely still be prosecuted unlawfully in the prime minister's hometown. And not at all because Putin, Yarovaya, Medvedev, or United Russia dislike yoga.
But for another very simple reason: they do not like it when people do as they please. They want to regulate and command. Yoga, qigong, Russian Orthodoxy, atheism, pull-ups on outdoor bars. Any of it can become a reason for police interest, because the authorities want to be in control. And to control effectively, they need to punish someone from time to time for no reason and without guilt.
None of us will be able to isolate ourselves in our own little world. The yarovayas and putins will come everywhere. The only thing that will stop them is if we stand against them together, without thinking, "this won't affect me".
I hope that at the next rally against the Yarovaya law, we will see yoga enthusiasts too.
And it would be right if you helped me, as the only presidential candidate consistently speaking out against the idiotic and harmful Yarovaya law, by adding your signature in support of my nomination.
When we come to power, the Yarovaya law will be repealed immediately, and Yarovaya herself will face criminal prosecution for illicit enrichment if she cannot clearly explain where she got $3 million to buy an apartment in central Moscow.
P.S. If anyone knows Dmitry Ugai, please tell him that if he is convicted after all, I am ready to help him free of charge with an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
P.P.S. Sharing this post on yoga forums is encouraged. Let's defend our nirvana from their Yarovaya!