As usual, I am late getting into the discussion. But I thought I would weigh in with my two cents on the latest hot button controversy rocking the yoga world.
When I got in to yoga, it was by accident. I wasn’t looking for a quick weight loss trick or even a way to get fit. I honestly don’t remember what the exact reason I decided to get in on my office’s weekly yoga class was, but I think it had something to do with fun. All the ladies said, “you’ll love it, it’s so fun!” The next day, it was obvious that it was a work out because I was sore in places I didn’t know existed. I never stopped going, but the way my body started to look was a bonus, not the reason I continued or even began practicing.
I don’t pretend to be a guru or a master or even a insider when it comes to yoga. But I do know that there is something different about yoga that one doesn’t get from a elliptical or treadmill. When people ask me why I do yoga, I tell them that it balances me through and through. I can tell a difference when I don’t practice; anxiety runs higher and my body and mind feel less prepared to handle life.
I feel very removed from all of the yoga teacher celebrities and the glitz and glamour that surrounds an historically simplistic form of movement. I like it that way. Yes I could probably recognize one or two of the teachers who come out with videos set on a beach or in some exotic temple somewhere, but I really can’t relate to that and I have no desire to channel that form of yoga in my own practice or my studio.
My point is, I didn’t know who Tara Stiles was until three days ago. But now I do and truth be told, if it wasn’t her it would be someone else stirring up this kind of revulsion, as one dork puts it, or inspiration as some others claim. I’m not sure about you, but when I am practicing and working up a sweat doing chaturangas to upward dog, slim and sexy I am not.
I do not support exploiting something that I and millions others hold very dear, but I do know it’s a free country and capitalism is our middle name. Don’t get me wrong, I disapprove of this watered down yoga and wish that more students were drawn to yoga for the feeling of euphoria associated with breathing and shutting off your brain for an hour and a half. So yes, it is disappointing when a supposed champion of feeling yoga from the inside out trades all that in for a quick buck on a photo op on national TV.
Does it suck that someone that she would let herself be used as a marketing tool? Yes. But that’s all she is, a pretty face on a product that some suit in an office wants to make millions on. Does it suck for those who really do care more about the visceral and intangible effects of yoga? Yes. It means for the rest of us that we have to work harder in our classes to encourage our students that they are great the way they are that we really do mean it when we say no judgement!
After all, that is one goal as a teacher, right? Getting students to drop their ego at the door, not compare themselves to others, and quit competing with themselves is one of the most important takeaways a student can get! It really isn’t about the way you look, it’s how you feel that I care about. When students come in to my classroom, I want them to feel safe and peaceful. A yoga studio should be a place where people can escape from all of the pressures of outward beauty. Because honestly, that’s bullshit anyway. No offense to Swami BKS Iyengar, one of the greatest yogis of all time, but I doubt he would have won any modeling contracts.
