Response

I can’t stop thinking about this elephant journal article I read this morning.  It was this woman saying she’s “broken up with yoga”.  I’m sure she thought she was being real funny, but the article made me angry.  Now some of that is my own ego crap; what do you mean you don’t like this thing that I like?  what’s wrong with you stupid?  At first I just chalked my reaction up to that.  But the more I thought about it the more I realized that this woman- who says she had a 10 year yoga practice, but has broken up with yoga for a mindfulness meditation practice- has never actually practiced yoga. And here she is telling anyone who will listen how yoga isn’t right for her.  First of all, yoga and mindfulness mediation= same thing!  You can’t practice yoga without meditating.  You can put your body into yoga asanas, get yourself a hot yoga butt and maybe even grab a little peace and calm without meditating, but you cannot practice yoga.  The reason I’m so mad at this lady is her article will turn some people off yoga.  There will be people thinking of trying it out who read the article and then decide not to!  We need more people to practice yoga, not less!!!  Aaarrrggg @#$%@$^%#!!!!!!!!! 

Deep ujjayi breath, I’m better now.

See kids, yoga is for everyone.  Here’s the problem, what do you think of when I say yoga?  If you don’t practice, you might have vague pictures of hippies in tight pants chanting and breathing at each other.  If you do practice you might have vague pictures of hippies in tight pants chanting and breathing at each other, or you might think of getting your ass kicked so hard you have no choice but to meditate, you might think of lifting off into a high-flying inversion, you might think of post savasana bliss.  But none of these things are Yoga.  They are things that might help you achieve yoga, but that’s not it.   Yoga is the calming of the whirlpools of the mind, the removal of all false identity to arrive at the realization of the true self.  The true self is the light the created the entire universe.  and this bitch is telling me she quit yoga?  Go fuck yourself. 

Man I’m feeling all that yoga love right now I tell you what.  Seriously though friends, I can’t tell you that you have to practice my kind of vinyasa yoga. Or practice Ashtanga or Iyengar, gentle practice, crazy practice, practice at home, in the studio, on the street, there’s no one right way for everyone.  You don’t like my classes? That’s cool.  I’m kind of sarcastic and I like loud music with lots of guitars, that’s not everybody’s bag.  You don’t like it then don’t come.  But practice somewhere. Somehow.  I don’t know why I have to move my body in a hundred crazy poses and listen to loud rock music to remember the Truth,  but that’s what works, so that’s what I do.  Find what works for you and practice. Please.