Yoga No-Nos

What a week it's been in the world of yoga. First, a yoga student sues a Boulder, CO yoga studio owner over an unwanted adjustment during yoga class. Then the financially-strapped state of Missouri taxes yoga. Hmmmm...I'm thinking Patanjali would be shaking his head (or is that hood) over these two happenings, reminding us of ahimsa and asteya. My comments on these two events -- always ask first then proceed with caution and is it really necessary or is greed driving the bus?

The other recent what the h@#$ item in the news regarding yoga lately is one near and dear to my heart (WARNING: the yoga blogger in residence is about to jump on her soapbox) -- yoga as a competitive sport. Check out this poll (and feel free to vote) about making yoga an Olympic sport and the accompanying video. Personally, I find the video disturbing. Call me a yoga purist/elitist/whatever but I don't like to hear the following phrases ass0ciated with yoga: "suck it," "judging asanas," "vicious yogi and yoginis," "maximum flexibility and balance."

If you've been reading my blog you know how I feel about yoga as sport (I don't). At the risk of repeating myself, I'll say this -- in regards to asana, it's about the function NOT the form. Yet, competitions like the one depicted in the video focus on "the full expression" of the pose. Perhaps these folks need to re-read Patanjali's sutras. I don't believe that Patanjali discusses yoga practitioners desiring a high number on a scale of 1-10 regarding "beauty, balance, strength, and flexibility" in a pose. Or perhaps it's just a ticked-off yoga practitioner like me who is reading the wrong translation of the sutras. Pardon me.

What is it that all of this nasty yoga news have in common? EGO. The teacher who thinks that he/she knows a student's physical limitations and adjusts according to what he/she thinks the pose should look like, a bureaucrat who thinks that he/she can line the coffers by taxing something that shouldn't be taxed, a movement that cares about a yoga practitioner's outer state than his/her inner state. Last time I checked, yoga wasn't about injuries, money, or a gold medal. If I thought that it was, I wouldn't have started practicing nor would I have continued my practice for well over a decade. 

Okay, end of rant. Whew -- I feel better.

After all of that bad news, I like to focus on the good. The good news is that you don't have to get caught up in all of this nonsense -- you can simply practice yoga. You can practice imperfectly, without worrying that some judge is grading you on your form in Virabhadrasana. You can practice as yoga was meant to be practiced -- with sthira and sukha. You can practice knowing that yoga is more about changing the quality of your mind and releasing the knots from your body and mind and less about your yoga wardrobe, the depth of your back arch in Wheel, which "guru" you've studied with, and  whether or not you're practicing in a hip studio with the latest big name grunting on the mat next to yours. Yoga is more than all of this. And someday it just might save the world -- or at the very least, your little corner of it. 

See, it's not all bad news.

Namaste!

Comments

[Kelley]

I'm glad you feel better after your rant. ;-)

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http://www.bikramyogaseacliff.com/

Keep up your amazing blog!

[Entertainment]

Great Work....Really appreciable. Thanks for sharing.

[r4 card]

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[Desiree]

I couldn't agree with you more. Yes, yoga has been a competition of sorts in India for generations but we Westerners have put a much more 'vicious' spin on it and because of that we should focus more on the inner aspects of the practice. Basically, let the 'pros' (Indians) compete, and leave us novices (Westerners) to focus on the fundamentals of the practice.

I went to an asana competition and it was such a surreal experience. When a competitor fell out of the pose, I just wanted to shout out to them, "It's okay, it's about the breath not the pose! You're fine, back off if you need to!"

Very surreal indeed.

[EcoYogini]

yep totally voted "no".

what a fantastic article :)

[Rick Romig]

What attracted me to yoga in the first place was its non-competitive nature and its holistic approach to the union of mind, spirit and body. Competiton seems to be counter to the spirit of yoga but I guess these days some people feel everything has to be a competition. I'll continue to practice for myself.

State and local governments will try to tax anything they can. They'd tax the air that we breathe if they could.

[twitter.com/bloghologyORG]

great article.

also i came across http://thefitnesssecrets.com/the-basic-yoga-positions-for-beginners check it out

[Lisa]

If nothing else this is opening the door to conversation over the ever-expanding field of yoga...hopefully addressing the kinks to find the harmony.

For my two cents, I agree - I think introducing yoga as a sport (i.e. focusing on the ego) can be quite harmful to the actual purpose...to self-growth, unity, etc.

Thanks for the wonderful blog.

[Blisschick]

My comment seems to have disappeared.

But here's a piece about the TRADITION of asana competition in India:

http://www.asianjournal.com/component/content/article/94-wellness/555-can-yoga-and-competition-go-together-.html

[Blisschick]

Devil's advocate here...

But yoga has been a competitive thing in India for how long!?

There are all those videos of CHILDREN competing in India -- and it's all about the asana and who can do the hardest one.

[yoga menstruation]

Have a productive, happy day! I think it's time for one of your lovely Autumn photos for your blog banner...

[yoga for women]

This is really good article.I liked your tips for helth...........

[Bob Weisenberg]

Good blog, Diane. Great summary of what's been going on here in our beloved Yoga blogosphere.

In this case I have actually been following and/or participating in all these discussions.

Regarding what is and what isn't Yoga, I eventually decided to try and write the blog to end all blogs, inspired, by the way, by your illustrious previous commentator, Linda-Sama. For the benefit of your readers who didn't see it:

"First It Was Yobo, Now There is Ratra (Radical Traditional) Yoga" http://bit.ly/3JZeWY

It didn't work, of course. It just generated more discussion, some of it quite humorous as Linda-Sama threatened to sue me and YogaDawg for stealing her idea of Radical Traditional Yoga.

I'm sure your readers who didn't see it the first time around will enjoy it. (There are links there to all the other recent hot debates on what is and what isn't Yoga.)

Thanks for your blog.

Bob Weisenberg
http://YogaDemystified.com

[Alison Kelly]

I'm not really bothered by the whole yoga as a sport thing. Some practice yoga for the exercise, some do it for health reasons while others do it for spirituality. If doing it as a sport brings awareness to the practice on whole, then great.

[Linda-Sama]

you're preaching to the choir, honey.

the sad thing is, tho, I USED to be the type of teacher who thought yoga could save the world. but with the corporatization of American yoga, I don't care anymore. I. don't. care.

because when I talk about what I think "real" yoga is, people say, "well, so what if so and so only does it for the physical part of it?"

I had this conversation two days ago with another teacher. she felt the same way. she said, "I'm through talking about yoga to people who don't get it." "it" being what the real purpose of yoga is -- and it's not about getting the yoga butt.

like I said in a blog post, you do your yoga, I'll do mine.