Fox Charlotte posed this question today about politicians which made me wonder do people care about their yoga teacher's personal life? If the teacher presents a kick ass class, would you care if you found out they don't practice yoga or live by its principals? What if they do practice yoga but their lifestyle was questionable? Or maybe the other way around where they are spiritually strong but their practice is weak? Would you leave them for a class that was not as fulfilling but where the teacher practiced what they preached? Tell the truth. You can be anonymous. There is no right answer anyway.
Happy Thanksgiving! Many people travel "home" for the holidays but what is home? This picture from the blog, Hearts Expanding, says it best.
The search for the elusive Guru, teacher or "home" studio is a long standing epic in yoga culture. Indeed I myself have been on that search before as well. This picture really just sums it up. It is that place where you can totally express yourself and grow in your practice not just by your will alone but through the loving support of the students and teachers of your yoga community.
You would think that with yoga studios popping up on every corner that "home" would be easy to find but not necessarily. Let me go ahead and switch this blog post over to talking about myself. You will probably find a bit of yourself in my story.
I started practicing Ashtanga back in 1956 (okay that is an exaggeration but that is what it feels like), in a little studio in Atlanta and I absolutely fell in love with it. It was my only practice for years and that studio was my home. When I was not there, I was missed. I had friends there. They totally understood me and my practice grew in leaps and bounds.
Then I moved to Charlotte roughly 4 or 5 years ago where hot power yoga is king with just a few pockets of revolutionaries teaching Ashtanga, Iyengar, Anusara and Vinyasa yoga in non heated rooms. Talk about culture shock. I mourned the loss of my studio "home" for years and spent a good while as a yoga recluse primarily practicing at home. This worked for a bit but my asana practice started to suffer. I was at a point where basic yoga poses were not enough. I had the strength & flexibility to go deeper but didn't know how to. Thus began my search for a yoga home in Charlotte and not to mention thousands of dollars spent on traveling to practice with authorized and certified Ashtanga teachers.
I discovered that I actually enjoyed Power as well as other forms of yoga but that Ashtanga is still my heart. Where does that leave me now? Still homeless LOL. Why? Because as I grow in my practice, I have realized that I cannot be put in a box. My practice is the best of all styles and most studios focus on just one or two. I don't need to practice in the heat all the time but I don't need to practice without heat all the time either. Most yoga classes are "all levels" but most people don't teach a true "all levels" class. What they really mean is "average level". And since I have been practicing since Lincoln was president, this does not work for me. Even if someone were to open an all Ashtanga Yoga studio in Charlotte, it wouldn't work because I now practice vinyasa as well. Also I don't need yoga aerobics . I don't necessarily need to do 20 poses on one leg super fast but I do like a challenge.
As you advance in your yoga, the need for a home practice and a firm basis in sequencing and alignment becomes more and more important. You will realize that one person or one place cannot be everything for you because you are too unique and special to be boxed in.
Do I still wish I had a "home" studio? I do. As I practice around Charlotte though and come into contact with amazing yogis, I manage to find a little bit of home in all of them and that will have to be enough for now.
Tell Me About Your Yoga Home or Your Seach For One.
Please stop blaming your injuries on yoga poses. It is you doing yoga poses wrong or doing poses that you have no business doing that is the problem. The statement is not, "Chatarunga hurt my shoulder" or "I hurt myself doing Lotus, Power Yoga, Ashtanga etc". The statement is, "I was doing chatarunga wrong, so I hurt myself". "My body was not open enough for Lotus, so I hurt myself". Lets stop demonizing yoga poses and styles.
Yoga is Therapy. There are absolutely injuries that call for abstinence from practice to heal properly. However, that is not the case for everything. Doctors often assign physical therapy for their patients. Yoga is a form of physical therapy. Talk to your yoga teacher about what is going on. No, we are not doctors and you take the advice at your own risk(I have to legally say this. However, Doctors know alot about diagnosis, symptom management and surgery but little about true healing. Just my opinion).
Let Your Frick'n Ego Go and Modify Your Practice. People really hate to modify their practice. Most would rather stop practicing all together then to not be able to do everything. That is all ego. I know this personally. As a long time practitioner, I struggle with having to pull back sometimes when I have tweaked something. I feel that I have to be an example or that people will think that I don't practice. I feel that others may think that I can't take the heat because I have to stop or that I really cannot do the pose. And you know what, everyone may be thinking these things, but it is not my problem. None of them will pay my medical bills or take care of me if my body breaks down completely. I have a bigger picture that I am working toward and the set back is temporary. I remind myself of that and I keep practicing.
Video of the Day: More Iyengar(name spelled wrong on video)
The reality is that this is nothing new. People have been changing their minds since the beginning of time. The reason it seems to be such a big deal is branding and the proliferation of yoga in popular culture.
Even before the westernization of yoga,there were different schools and approaches. However, as yoga gets more popular, there is a bigger push to define a style and set boundaries and rules for it it. When a person becomes a teacher, they usually choose a style to study. When a studio opens,the owner choose a philosophy and a style so that people know what they are getting when they get there. They then hire teachers that fit this style or mandate that all teachers teach a certain way.
I am not against branding. It make sense for consumers and businesses. If I want to learn Ashtanga, I like the fact that their is a list of teachers that specialize in it and I can get exactly what I want. It is good for the Ashtanga teacher because they won't get anyone coming to their classes and workshops that are not interested in what they are trying to convey.
If something is not growing it is dead. As a yoga teacher learns and grows, change is inevitable. For some it is just a deeper awakening into their current style and for others, it is abandoning that style all together.
Since yoga is is all over the place these days, teachers growing into different styles will just be more public. It doesn't mean there is something wrong with the teacher or the style. It just a sign of change which is constant.
Video of the Day: Name spelled wrong but video still rocks
