Friday, July 27, 2007

The "Right Kind of Yoga"

I thought yoga was supposed to be about openness and acceptance but apparently if you don't do the "right" kind of yoga, then you are some evil pariah infecting the yoga studio upon which you've set foot. This unpleasant experience happened to me recently at 7th Heaven Yoga in Berkeley. The instructor asked if I was new to yoga, which I am not. When I replied that I had done Bikram yoga for two years I was met with thinly-veiled smarminess and a scolding on why this yoga class would be too hard for me. I was told, " obviously this is not yoga in 107 Fahrenheit ... this yoga is about....." No, duh, that is why I was there in the first place. Being told that this yoga would be too hard for me and that "I could rest when the poses got too hard," made me want to outdo all the uppity yoginis. I did fine, thank you very much, although I admit that some of the stuff did kick my ass but I was able to do it all without falling on my ass. Well, except for the headstand. Yoga asanas are yoga asanas wether it's in bikram, ashtanga, or anusura yoga classes. Yes, the asanas are not equivalent, but the very fact that you're doing the asanas in the first place is what counts. It's counter to yogic philosophy to have an "us and them" approach; but rather one is told, "we should let our practice be what it is." what it is indeed.