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Yoga Headlines: Wrecking, Aching, or Bliss?
By Kitty | January 7, 2012
The past three days, I’ve been sent the New York Times magazine article entitled How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body by a number of friends and family members. The article focuses mainly on the thoughts and teachings of a credible yoga teacher, Glenn Black, and I agree with some of what is said. At one point, the article states:
Yoga requires paying attention. The whole time. The article was definitely a good read, but I in no way completed reading it with a changed mindset on the benefits and bliss that can be obtained by a mindful yoga practice. Note the words can and mindful. What the article did reinforce for me is how important it is for anyone who practices yoga to throw out their egos and leave their competitive natures at home. The yoga studio or yoga mat is not the place to attempt the next Ninja Warrior challenge, or try to look like the girl across from you. Yoga is not an image. Yoga is not an exercise routine. Yoga is an internal practice, and in my opinion, the MOST important part is the breath and the awareness of your own body at any given moment. Might you improve your body image through the practice of yoga? Sure. Might you end up a whole lot more physically fit if you regularly (and mindfully) practice yoga? Definitely. But still, there’s so much more to yoga. I feel like the article missed a very large portion of what makes yoga great.
A fellow yoga teacher posted a response to/reflection on this Wreck Your Body article that seems to be spreading through the yoga world like wildfire, and it really resonates with me. I suggest reading the entire thing, called Oh My Aching Yoga. An Important Read, by Debby Kaminsky, a seasoned yoga teacher who founded Newark Yoga Movement, among many other great ventures. Her bio can be found here, at debbyoga.com. Back to her article. One paragraph in particular resonated with me and embodies my feelings about what makes yoga:
“I haven’t heard of someone getting injured from breathing yet.” Right on! Whether I’m teaching ashtanga or beginner vinyasa flow, the emphasis is always on the even rhythm of the breath and the linking of each breath to a smooth and controlled movement. This was the biggest aspect of yoga missing from the New York Times article. Yoga is not just asana (or postures). In fact, it is far far more, and far more complex (and amazing) than just some body movements. Yoga means “union”… Union of the external with internal, linking conscious breath with conscious and mindful movements. It does not mean throwing yourself upside down or tying yourself in knots your first week of class.
So, if you are a yoga practitioner or teacher, I invite you to reflect on this explosive article, as well as Debby’s response. What are you aiming to get from your yoga practice? Is your yoga teacher or teaching methods right for you? I know that if I ever attend a yoga class where I felt the teacher was pushing students beyond their limits, or pressuring people to do more than they thought they could, I would not return to that teacher. Perhaps I’ve just been fortunate to have mindful, gently guiding teachers who encourage their students to listen to their bodies, move gently with their breaths, and do what feels right at that given moment. While I have sustained a few minor injuries from yoga, I know that they were due to my ego and not because of the yoga. Now, after 5+ years of practice, multiple teacher trainings, workshops, and intensives, and a lot of reading and reflecting on all of the limbs of yoga, I know my body’s limits. I honor them. I respect them. And I find great bliss in my yoga.
Honor where you are. Listen to your body. Follow your breath. With those as your focus, I hope that you, too, can find yogic bliss.
Namaste.
Topics: Yoga | 1 Comment »
January 8th, 2012 at 8:34 am
well summarized and stated Kitty! NAMASTE