OAKLAND, Calif. — If you are a white American who used the Internet between 2008 and 2010, you probably remember “Stuff White People Like,” a satirical but painfully accurate blog about the clichés of the Caucasian, NPR-listening set. Among the things white people liked, according to the blog: “picking their own fruit,” “hummus,” and “appearing to enjoy classical music.” And then, at No. 15: “yoga.”

As practitioners of Asian spirituality are the first to admit, the stereotype is more than a laughing matter — it contains a painful amount of truth. In the 1970s, white (and often Jewish) teachers helped popularize Asian practices like yoga, Buddhist meditation and, later, a Western permutation that came to be called “mindfulness.” The popularity of these practices has boomed through retreats, meditation centers and books by teachers like Jack Kornfield and Jon Kabat-Zinn. But the audience has remained largely white, and middle class and above, the Volvo-and-vino set.

Emily Sigalow, a sociologist who studies American Buddhism, said that it can be a challenge to attract minorities to traditions that are often seen in the United States as therapeutic and self-help-y.

“The Jewish community, for example, is particularly accepting of various forms of self-help, counseling and therapy,” Dr. Sigalow said, “while the African-American community has historically viewed those things less favorably.”