Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
We’re kicking off a 40-day countdown to our big anniversary with a look back at the best of our archives, the transformation of the practice, a sneak peek at our special September issue, and so much more. Come celebrate yoga and the history of YJ with us this summer.
In 1975, President Gerald Ford had been in office less than a year, Captain and Tennille were topping the Billboard charts with “Love Will Keep Us Together,” The Godfather Part II was sweeping the Oscars, Muhammad Ali was facing off with Joe Frazier in “the Thrilla in Manila,” and Lorne Michaels was launching a groundbreaking new sketch-comedy show called … Saturday Night Live.
But that wasn’t the only big launch in 1975. It was also the year that Yoga Journal—all 10 black-and-white pages of it—made its debut in California. It was a rich time for yoga in America: That same year, K. Pattabhi Jois made his first trip to the United States, and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, The Beatles’ guru, made his first appearance on American TV (on The Merv Griffin Show, no less), where he touted “the dawn of the age of enlightenment.”
Since then, and especially in the past few years, yoga has exploded in America. Today, almost 10 percent of American adults (21 million people) practice yoga, according to the Department of Health & Human Services. We at Yoga Journal feel honored to have been along for the ride. In our 40 years, we’ve had the privilege to talk about the Sutras with B.K.S. Iyengar, sit down with cover girl Lilias Folan (who confessed that “yoga has helped me to grow up”), and interview the Dalai Lama soon after he won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Four decades of anything is worth cheering about—and that’s what we’re doing in this special 40th anniversary section. We’re looking back at some big events in yoga during the last 40 years and tracking how the practice has morphed from then to now. Most importantly, we will be celebrating 40 people we believe have most positively influenced the face of yoga in America in our Good Karma Awards. Raise a glass with us, won’t you?
Here’s to 4o more years!
Carin Gorrell
Editor in Chief
EXPLORE MORE40th Anniversary Archives