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Friday, December 3, 2010

Fuck Yoga

Yeah, I said it. FUCK YOGA.

Actually this was a website I saw the other day. This made me laugh out loud! This guy, angry at his ex-wife's obsession with Yoga, started making t-shirts and other items that just say 'Fuck Yoga'. He's making tons of money off of this.

Part of me, when reading his story said, "Fuck YOU!". I thought to myself that his wife was most likely obsessed with Yoga because this guy is probably a total ass. But then part of me said, "Yeah! Fuck Yoga!" At least, "Fuck what we have done to Yoga in the West."

We were in New York City on Thanksgiving morning and as we were driving towards the Lincoln Tunnel we passed several swanky, modern Yoga studios. They looked so amazing from the outside. Sleek. Provocative. The posters of contorted yoginis in expensive Yoga clothes adorning the walls, both inside and out. Part of me wants so badly to go into one of these places one day. Take some classes and really see what it is all about. Part of me is so curious: Do I have the chops to teach in a place like this?

But then again, would I really want to?

My students are primarily average sized, middle-aged and show up in exercise clothes they bought at WalMart. I love them. They are real. They don't expect Yoga to turn them into something they are not. Most of them know that enlightenment hardly ever comes without the work. They know that any class, even in the basement of the library or the community room at a church, can be just as good as an over-priced, pimped out studio in Manhattan.

But my fears of inadequacy remain... Am I good enough to hold my own in one of these places?

My practice has changed so much since I began teaching 5 and a half years ago. I've slowed down with injury, illness and basic fatigue. I was told by a local, haughty teacher that my teaching style is rudimentary. Well, considering the fact that the most increasing number of chiropractic patients are Yoga students, maybe we need more rudimentary teachers and classes. You can't stand on your head before you can stand up.

There are even 'Yoga Competitions' now. I mean, really? Fuck that! Yoga is about being in your body and learning to not compete with the person next to you. "Eyes on your own mat, students."

I like to think that if I ever had the chance to teach in one of these places that the same kind of students that come to my class now would come then. The real folks in real bodies. The ones who can laugh at me when I don't know my right foot from my left hand. The ones who can cry in class and we all cry along with them. The ones who come for themselves not to compete with the person next to them.

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If you want to go for the exercise and need to wear pants that cost $100 with a $200 mat, then head into a big city. But just know that if you're not sure how to line up your feet parallel to each other then you probably just wasted $300.....

4 comments:

  1. LOVE this post!!! wishing you well :)

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  2. Awesome post! First off, you have DO have the chops to teach ANYwhere you want, right now you are called to the church basement. Who knows, you may be called to show them a thing or two about the importance of the basics in the big apple- I bet they could use someone authentic like you. I myself have always been a bit overwhelmed by Yoga, so you're class would be perfect for me. Sometimes we just need a gentle ease, a gentle push to get the flow started. Love your, voice, girl-glad you are using it!

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  3. Those are the "just folks". Same type of people I swim with. Some wear the same bathing suit every class. We've had the women who think this is the place to wear every single piece of jewelry. Maybe they think that they won't float away weighted down like that. They don't seem to last very long. But the just folks, we knit for the homeless, soldiers, kids in Haiti, new un-wed mothers........I'll spend my time with the Just Folks.

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  4. My friend you can teach any where and have!! Are you forgetting about the rich and famous , that you have taught........You have the ability to get people to look within, not over at with there eyes on others mats. You keep doing what you always have , you changed my life a few years ago. THANK YOU .....

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