Friday, May 17, 2013

Bad Yogi?

I recently came across a somewhat disturbing article.

It details 8 signs that you are a bad yogi.

I can't seem to have any positive opinion about the article. I tried, but in the end I think the angst displayed by the author itself is... unyogic.

The article was very judgmental. Not something I would expect from a yoga related article at all.

Sure we want our articles to be fun and quirky, but the article is just downright... wrong.

What constitutes a bad yogi is much more than mentally cursing the teacher for having us holding our poses a a breath or two longer than 5.

I was horrified when an acquaintance told me about a yoga instructor in one of the gym yoga sessions he went to who told a student that she should be able to strike the pose better if she lost a bit more weight.

Now 'THAT'S' a bad yogi. All of us know that weight has nothing to do with your ability to lift yourself. And hurting the feelings of a student is a no-no to me.

My Guruji will never give up on any of his students. He never said anything about any of his students, of any size, to not be able to work on any pose. He pushes them, and works with them to help them.

A lighthearted article is fine by me, but defining a practitioner as a bad yogi based on some tongue in cheek very human errors is just an unfair assessment of a bad yogi.

I feel that yoga is supposed to enhance your humanity and your connection to yourself physically, mentally and spiritually. That, and with everyone around you. So if being a human means being a bad yogi, if you are a practitioner, will that not dampen your spirits and deter you from the practice completely?.

Now I understand why non-yoga practitioners look at us differently. Sadly, we only have ourselves to blame for that inaccurate evaluation.

I can be wrong. I stand corrected all the time. But this is what I feel. And I have to get it off my chest.

With Love, Namaste.

Ayu






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