Let's put this one out in the open. Some people don't LOOK like they DO yoga. Apparently they do yoga... I've even seen them do it, but they sure don't look like they DO yoga.
Do we all feel better now? I don't. I feel worse. But, I've thought that darn thought - what it looks like to do yoga. I've thought it a lot. I've met studio owners, teachers, advance practitioners, even one of my favorite "guru-types" and thought - "huh - they don't look like they do yoga."
Do we all feel better now? I don't. I feel worse. But, I've thought that darn thought - what it looks like to do yoga. I've thought it a lot. I've met studio owners, teachers, advance practitioners, even one of my favorite "guru-types" and thought - "huh - they don't look like they do yoga."
What does that mean? It means one thing about me - that's that I am already "listening" with my eyes before I'm being open. I told Baron Baptiste that I "hated" this about myself and he told me to (I'm pretty much quoting) "Quit doing that! That's stupid. Don't give it power by hating it. Just don't do it." It's actually great advice. Why waste more energy on something that isn't helping me or others? Just stop. Got it. Good call Baron.
So, now, properly chastised for my judgmental eyes and educated on moving forward - seriously, why do some people who do so much yoga, well... not look like they DO yoga? I think what people are trying to say when they say this is, well... those people aren't as lean and bendy as one was expecting yogis to be.
I personally believe that yoga is a piece of my fitness puzzle. For me, it compliments running and weight lifting. Yes, chataraungas are nice for my arms and shoulders and my abs have never looked quite as lean as they have since my yoga practice became regular, but yoga is still only gets credit for about 1/4 (or less) of my body shape. I eat (pretty) well, and I (slowly) run about 18 miles a week, and I lift weights (or box) about 4 hours a week. In my body, yoga is the glue. It gives me stability and centeredness, mindfulness and flexibility that keeps my physical body not only healthy, but also ready for all the other stuff I like to throw at myself.
This isn't to say that everyone who DOES yoga wants to be lean, or even cares. So, those of us (myself included) who ever think "they don't look like they DO yoga" have already come to the table assuming that people want to look a certain way, and that's all in our heads - our story, our set-up. But, suppose someone DOES want to be lean and their only approach is by doing yoga. It won't work. It just won't. Even power yoga, with the 500 calorie burn, can't bear the full responsibility for shaping a body to be lean and fit.
I was speaking with a very fit man recently - who is a extremely successful executive, and who has a regular yoga practice. He LOVES yoga (and not just because of yoga pants) - because it compliments his other fitness routines (I saw him regularly lifting weights) and it quiets his mind in a form of meditation. He asked me about this phenomenon - doing yoga and not looking like one does yoga. Honestly, I could hear a form of disgust in his tone as he described the teacher who has a pot belly (at this point in the conversation, I ordered my next coffee black rather than with the skim milk foam... and I sucked in my belly a little). Without feeling the need to therapize or yogini-houdini him, I was open to what he was saying.
When the layers of outside-in thinking were peeled back - his point was solid. It was this: We cannot approach any one thing in life expecting it to solve everything (even yoga). We must instead choose those things which we feel can help us to be better, to grow, and to improve and purposefully (as in doing, not just saying) do them. We must weed out that which doesn't work (hating things, judging, perhaps some version of cardio where we've plateaued) and commit our time and energy to that which does (breath, yoga and perhaps some weight lifting). It is then when we will LOOK like we most WANT to look (and not how someone else thinks we SHOULD).
So, now, properly chastised for my judgmental eyes and educated on moving forward - seriously, why do some people who do so much yoga, well... not look like they DO yoga? I think what people are trying to say when they say this is, well... those people aren't as lean and bendy as one was expecting yogis to be.
I personally believe that yoga is a piece of my fitness puzzle. For me, it compliments running and weight lifting. Yes, chataraungas are nice for my arms and shoulders and my abs have never looked quite as lean as they have since my yoga practice became regular, but yoga is still only gets credit for about 1/4 (or less) of my body shape. I eat (pretty) well, and I (slowly) run about 18 miles a week, and I lift weights (or box) about 4 hours a week. In my body, yoga is the glue. It gives me stability and centeredness, mindfulness and flexibility that keeps my physical body not only healthy, but also ready for all the other stuff I like to throw at myself.
This isn't to say that everyone who DOES yoga wants to be lean, or even cares. So, those of us (myself included) who ever think "they don't look like they DO yoga" have already come to the table assuming that people want to look a certain way, and that's all in our heads - our story, our set-up. But, suppose someone DOES want to be lean and their only approach is by doing yoga. It won't work. It just won't. Even power yoga, with the 500 calorie burn, can't bear the full responsibility for shaping a body to be lean and fit.
I was speaking with a very fit man recently - who is a extremely successful executive, and who has a regular yoga practice. He LOVES yoga (and not just because of yoga pants) - because it compliments his other fitness routines (I saw him regularly lifting weights) and it quiets his mind in a form of meditation. He asked me about this phenomenon - doing yoga and not looking like one does yoga. Honestly, I could hear a form of disgust in his tone as he described the teacher who has a pot belly (at this point in the conversation, I ordered my next coffee black rather than with the skim milk foam... and I sucked in my belly a little). Without feeling the need to therapize or yogini-houdini him, I was open to what he was saying.
When the layers of outside-in thinking were peeled back - his point was solid. It was this: We cannot approach any one thing in life expecting it to solve everything (even yoga). We must instead choose those things which we feel can help us to be better, to grow, and to improve and purposefully (as in doing, not just saying) do them. We must weed out that which doesn't work (hating things, judging, perhaps some version of cardio where we've plateaued) and commit our time and energy to that which does (breath, yoga and perhaps some weight lifting). It is then when we will LOOK like we most WANT to look (and not how someone else thinks we SHOULD).
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