Episode 8: Yoga(t) A Friend In Me
When the road looks rough ahead, and you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed, you just remember what your old pal said boy, you've got a friend in me
At a virtual networking event recently, more or less every other person had listed yoga as one of their hobbies while introducing themselves. If I see one more person (outside of this article) mention yoga as a hobby in the next week, I will scream bloody murder all the way to Helsinki and back.
With fitness studios finally opening up again in Ontario tomorrow, I wanted to share my thoughts on perhaps my favourite type of movement (apart from the weird dances I do to 80s music in my living room) — yoga. I talk about what it means to me, and where I stand on a few controversies surrounding it.
3 Benefits and 1 Annoyance
1. Benefit - You Understand the Importance of the World Around You
Half moon pose, crocodile pose, pigeon pose — despite not being a huge fan of pigeons, I still love that yoga asanas (poses) are for the most part, inspired by nature. I don’t have to like pigeons, but I acknowledge that they play a part in this world and they have influenced our world in one way or another, including the creation of a yoga pose, that in turn has benefitted me several times. Moreover, it’s a sign of respect and tolerance. We accept what a crocodile does, we accept what a cobra does, we accept what a half - moon looks like, and we appreciate these entities for who/what they are and how they show up in the world. Thinking about this every time I practice yoga also reminds me to extend the same level of respect to us humans, and to respect the differences we bring and how we show up to the world we live in. Instead of trying to change who everyone is, it reminds me to accept everyone for who they truly are, and use this diversity to make the world a better place for everyone.
2. Benefit - You Listen to Your Body
Not sure if I’m the only person who feels this way - but in every workout I do, I feel this pressure to push myself. Run faster, stretch deeper, reach further, do x more lunges, sit ups, squats. And if I didn’t push myself, I’d feel like I was giving up. After much deliberation, I’ve decided. I really don’t like this pressure. I understand constantly pushing ourselves so that we keep growing, however, when it comes to our bodies, I am now a bigger advocate of listening to it. If I can reach my toes, but it’s coming at the expense of me putting too much pressure on my knees or aggressively stretching out my hamstrings, I now choose not to. I feel like our world has gotten so used to categorizing things into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ actions. ‘Pushing yourself in a workout’ = ‘good’, ‘giving up midway through a workout’ = ‘bad’, that we forget to question these categorizations. What if giving up midway through a workout is actually a good thing, because you’re respecting your body enough to understand it’s limits, and are being kind to yourself? Yoga is all about listening to your body and giving it what it needs. If today’s the day I need to just focus on deep breathing to calm down my nervous system - then so be it. If I can’t stay in this plank pose and need to rest a little - I go for it. A yoga practice is about being kind with yourself, and giving your mind and body the care they need.
3. Benefit - ‘Tis for everyone
I did mention that ‘doing yoga’ is a bit of an identity today. However, a lack of representation in those who teach yoga (at least in the Americas and Western Europe), yoga being associated exclusively with skinny, white women (which leaves the rest to feel like outsiders), yoga wear brands like Lululemon not being diverse in the clothing sizes they offer, and more, all leave a huge community of people to feel ‘othered’. As someone who has been practicing yoga since I was a child, this exclusive ethos that surrounds yoga, isn’t the yoga I grew up with. To me, yoga inspires and is inspired by nature. It accepts and meets people where they are, rather than telling them where they need to be. And it’s not just to workout your arms or your abs, but also to workout your mind, or your nervous system. Furthermore, it has countless variations available to everyone, so they can practice yoga regardless of their abilities.
4. Annoyance - Cultural Appreciation vs. Cultural Appropriation
This is a nuanced topic, but one that I think is super important. Countries across the globe are more interconnected than ever before, and as a result, we’re more likely to experience a new culture, new custom, or something that we aren’t necessarily familiar with. And this lack of familiarity can lead to insensitive or ignorant behaviour, sometimes intentional and sometimes not, which is why I find this distinction to be extremely important. To me, cultural appreciation is advocating/practicing a custom from a different culture, while crediting the original culture/creator, and practicing the culture the way it is meant to be practiced, to the best of your intentions. I find the YouTube channel ‘Yoga with Adriene’ to be a perfect example of cultural appreciation. Adriene is indeed a tall, white, skinny woman, but she preserves the integrity of what a yoga practice ought to be in every single one of her videos. She uses the Sanskrit names for the asanas alongside the English names to preserve the cultural roots of yoga. She always makes people feel welcome, advocates for you to listen to your body, and gives you options to choose from so you can practice yoga regardless of your abilities.
On the flip side, cultural appropriation for yoga is more or less being extreme in how the eastern roots for yoga are handled. On one hand, this could take the form of sterilization - where all eastern roots of yoga are removed, so as to not make it uncomfortable for a western audience. An example is an instructor choosing not to use chants like ‘Om’, or the Sanskrit names for asanas, instead sticking with only English names. On the other hand, this could take the form of exaggeration — we’ve all seen t-shirts with ‘Om’ written in big letters, or even giving yoga apparel, like a sports bra, a Sanskrit or Sanskrit-originating product name, despite paying no other homage to the eastern roots of yoga. Essentially, cultural appropriation is editing a culture according to what benefits one particular group, and using this edited version for personal gain, convenience, or status, while completing ignoring other parts of the culture. Not only is cultural appropriation hurtful, it’s also a missed opportunity into learning something new, and becoming more culturally aware.
Uh.. so now what?
Yoga is such a big topic to discuss, and my opinions may differ from those of others. As an Indian however, I did want to share how I felt about a practice that has gone through so many evolutions in our society today. So.. those are my thoughts. It’s your turn now.
NOW YOU TELL ME - what do you think about yoga? What have your experiences with it been like?
About Bala Blabs
Bala Blabs is how I stay accountable to writing regularly. Writing is something I have loved doing since a very young age. One of the first things I got praised for was a horror poem that I modelled after Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Raven' at the age of 7.
I've been on the journey of creating a more fulfilling life for myself. And that includes creating, and a part of creating is writing and being able to express my ideas and thought.
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