No More Dancers Doing Yoga on Youtube
Whenever I watch the latest viral video of a scantily clad babe doing acrobatic yoga in her living room, something in me laments. I realize that these videos serve as inspiration to others and I appreciate the beauty, skill and sense of personal empowerment they represent. But I can’t escape the feeling that these displays are better left to the performing arts than to a yoga mat.
To be clear, some of these clips are undeniably cool. I’m a sucker for good indie rock and, from a creative standpoint, the execution is certainly impressive. My problem is that, regardless of intent, these performances are playing right into prevalent and misconceived notions about yoga. In the same way that the use of abstracted and idealized body imagery in advertising has a diminishing effect on people’s self-esteem, so do these flashy presentations obfuscate the purpose of yoga practice and intimidate the uninitiated.
I remember when it first occurred to me that the display of challenging yoga positions as a means to inspire others is problematic. I had been asked to do a demonstration in class. After completing my handstand press in the middle of the room, my fellow students applauded and the teacher said: “Now that is what we are working towards.” In the moment, I felt pretty good about myself. I was the only person in the room who could do that handstand press. But on the way home from that class, I was wrought with dismay. At the time, I had all kinds of chronic pain in my body and was horribly disillusioned with life. I thought to myself: “If this is what we are working towards then we are really in trouble.”
Nowadays, my focus is almost entirely on the foundational and subtle aspects of yoga practice that were missing back then. Friends are often referred to me with reassurances not to worry, that this yoga class will be different. Still, new students readily come in with a mix of apprehension and fear. Almost always, they’ve been to one or two yoga classes before that were utterly traumatizing or they’ve never been to a yoga class before but they’ve seen some scary videos on youtube.
Even when teachers give lip service to the idea that yoga practice is not about achieving poses, the schedule still says “beginner, intermediate, advanced” or “level I-II-III-IV” and the difference between one and the other is what you can or cannot do physically. Recently, a gentleman came in for his first yoga class ever and, out of curiosity, I asked: “When I say the words ‘advanced yoga’ to you, what is the first thing that comes to mind?” He replied: “Something I’ll never be able to do.”
For someone like myself, who defines “advanced yoga” as feeling healthy and enjoying life, the preconceived notion that advanced yoga means an exaggerated sense of physical prowess is profoundly disheartening. Of course, it’s possible to utilize yoga poses for all sorts of purposes. What is important to note is that just because people are doing the same yoga poses doesn’t mean they are practicing the same thing.
Articulating the differences is where it gets tricky. The best way I’ve ever heard it put was from a friend who had practiced with me for some time before he, with my encouragement, went on to explore other styles and approaches. About two years later, he returned and we had a conversation. I asked him to tell me, in his own words, about the differences he observed. He said: “Some styles are like porno and some are like trying to have a meaningful relationship.”
I maintain that yoga is an intimate and personal affair, meant to appeal to the most caring and nurturing aspects of ourselves and not the least bit concerned with external displays. What makes yoga practice powerful is not its ability to inspire dance choreography but rather its ability to help people work through life’s difficulties and find a way to be well. Good news is that, while it may not always be as easy to find or as enticing, if you search around for long enough then you can find a video about that on youtube too.
This accompanying video blog discusses what it means to be “advanced” in yoga and different rubrics for gauging where we are in our yoga practice:
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Love this post, thanks for sharing!
As a dancer, I myself struggle with my dancer’s desire to move and let my body do “fancy” things (b/c it’s a curious body and it delights in moving in ways it never has before) in the context of yoga and the feeling that I am in that way cheating on the real yoga –the practice of self-care and broader connection that is ultimately what piqued my interest in yoga and put me on the path to becoming a teacher of yoga. I strive to strike a balance between the play I need and the awareness to keep that play in perspective, so I can eventually take it back to the dance studio, bringing yoga in to the dance as much as my little bit of dancing seeps into my yoga practice. That said, I am not disillusioned with the notion that my students want to be dancers (deep in their hearts, most of them do not want to be, or else they would have found their way to it – sure we all say we “wish we could do that,” but why would every one want to do the same thing? probably out of a sense of connection with others who seem to be beyond our reach, but the challenge is not in all learning to do the same things, but in finding ways to connect and communicate within all our glorious differences and awesome uniqueness), and try to teach not to an aspiration I can’t be sure anyone shares, but rather to an exploration that will lead each of them to their own joy and sense of self.
om shanti
I agree with you and still….it feels like you’re commenting on the commentary. Many voices, many approaches and quite frankly, I like the scantily clad women so long as they show a practice that is worth getting hot over
Yoga is a big subject and the mainstream will never appreciate the subtleties. EVER. So what? They are not obliged to. For the curious, these things will never be a problem. For the in curious, these things will present a challenge to learning for a lifetime. So be it.
Kerry-
I’m not sure what you mean by “commenting on the commentary” and strongly disagree that the mainstream will never appreciate the subtleties of yoga. In fact, there are many mainstream outlets that already do.
Of course, no one is obliged to consider yoga as a simple and practical means to feeling well. And I’m sure that yoga will continue to be utilized as an effective marketing demographic and be capitalized on by people who don’t care much about yoga.
But can you a fault a guy for trying to push back just a bit?
Thank you for your dissenting opinion.
Much appreciated.
Sing it, brother!!!! Thank you so much for writing this article. What you are (so eloquently) expressing is the most important yoga teaching there is.
As a former elite gymnast, asana came easily to me. Turned on by the “hardcore” aspects of Ashtanga, I sailed through the first and second series in a couple years, and was well into third, when I realized that something was amiss. I dabbled in Anusara and cringed when I was invited to the front of the room to demonstrate an arm balance, which was met with applause and praise.
“This type of ego-inflating is precisely what I DON’T need,” I thought to myself, knowing that – for me – yoga was inviting a gentler path and approach that had nothing to do with tying myself into knots or impressing onlookers.
I sustained a massive spine injury spurred by several years of back-bending incorrectly (though impressively). My recovery involved beginner’s classes, heavily modified everything, and a humbling new approach to moving my body.
This was when I STARTED to learn what yoga really was – eight years into my otherwise photogenic and “advanced” practice.
Four years later, I still practice only basic postures – slowly, consciously, with curiosity and compassion. For me, this is yoga. Finally.
This story made me cry. We can never know what experience another person is having by looking only at the outer form. Thank you for sharing this.
Dani,
Thank you for your story. It confims my intention as a yoga teacher. I did not begin my yoga practice until I was 40 and ill. As my asana has strengthened I have noted that I do not feel “advanced” eventhough I am physically dramatically deeper in the pose… ie the sensations are the same!..but there is a tendancy for the ego to be inflated if not checked. I must remind myself regularly during practice breath, observe, let go of striving and just be IN the pose. Also at age 50, pranayama and meditation have taken to the forefront of my daily practice..This is truly the advanced practice!
As a yoga teacher, I have occasionally commented to someone in my class that they “have a beautiful practice.” Almost without exception, they look surprised, because it is rarely the student that is doing advanced asana, but rather the student who comes to their mat just as they are, stays present and in their practice, and allows the yoga to come to them. Their practice exudes that coveted balance of sukha/sthira. To me, that is pure beauty.
hi. great article. i teach ashtanga yoga, and i’ve come up with a formulation that i think is appropriate here. it’s an analogy, like from the sat or the gre– jump backs/throughs and handstands (or whatever fancy thing) are to ashtanga yoga as wealth is to happiness. if you have neither it’s common to have the incorrect notion that one is essential to the other. for one who has neither it’s that much more frustrating to hear someone with both say that the two are not necessarily related.
As a yoga teacher I feel a part of myself which agrees with your feelings about the importance of emphasizing the more subtle and traditional practices of yoga.
However, I actually feel that you are contradicting yourself. I hear a strong underlying attitude of disconnectedness and separation in your thoughts, and as far as my knowledge of yogic philosophy goes, aren’t seeing interconnectedness and trusting the wisdom of the universe key underlying principles? My question is, how do you know what is right as a practice for others? How do you know the benefits they are gaining from their practices?
I know yogic practice calls for renunciation of the ego, but it also calls for non-violence. Non-violence to me means non-judgment of self OR of others. Manipulating oneself or others into feeling we have to have a ‘good’ practice, using guilt and the fear of rejection and abandonment as tools, is surely a violent act.
Acceptance and love for every human being is what I strive for, and fail at every day, but can I love myself even in that ‘failure’? I can at least try.
Sawubona
I come from a yogic background of non-dual tantrism. In this instance I would apply it like such: we live in our physical bodies, and so the idea that we can do a physical asana practice that blends with an Eastern philosophy of non-attachment ignores the overwhelming reality that we are embodied. Of course people are frustrated when they watch magnificent dancers in their yoga classes do spectacular physical feats, while they are likely being told to put aside their ego and accept themselves and the level of their own practice and just “be.” The dichotomy of this is quite obvious. Here’s where the non-dual tantrism comes in: we are human, so therefore we are both physical and spiritual beings on Earth. Acknowledging that what often happens in a lot of yoga classess is a sport of sorts is important, and it’s okay. To deny it is insulting and unfair to the yoga student who comes to learn both the spiritual and physical aspects of the practice. I like the wealth and happiness analogy; I would take it a step further and akin it to wealth and beauty. Both are empty without happiness, and each is an aspect of desire on the yin and yang scope of the physical plane.
I’ve gone full circle with this myself. Before my asana practice I was all about “Western fitness”. I had a meditation practice outside of that. In addition to accidents, abuses in my regimen lead me to Yoga postures and then formal training some three decades ago, traditional Yoga before it was 21st Century chic. After some time I was asked to lead classes and did so at many fitness centers. Vinyasa fueled by Led Zep’s Kashmir. What was I thinking?
My further studies have brought me to the conclusion that there is no room for excess in a Yoga lifestyle save the passion for Yoga itself and by that I mean Union. Yoga is a path of Moderation in lifestyle. That includes our life on the mat. Of this I am confident. It can be argued safely that what is moderate to one may be excessive to another. Ayurveda may blend to give a glimpse of what is appropriate to the individual. I like the notion that Vasant Lad of the Ayurvedic Institute offers and that is that exercise that makes it difficult to breath or produces excessive sweat is in effect, harmful. An advanced posture can be as simple as sitting up tall with a quiet mind.
I hope the “industry” goes full circle as well and comes back to a more humble yet well informed science and philosophy. There may be a need for a cooling down of it’s current use and popularity.
Peace!
I enjoy the “advanced” videos regardless of what they wear. Am I working towards all of the poses? I also do a bit of mountain biking. I’ll watch a video guys riding along a ledge on a cliff somewhere. I’m about as likely to do some of the poses as I am to ride along a cliff.
Whenever I travel I sample yoga teachers. Some stay on their mats, some move around. It is about 50/50. The best instructors I have found do not rank their classes. They start with a basic asana, then show variations “If you like”.
As far as the modern popularity of yoga, I came into it because someone dragged me to a class (literally) to help me with a degenerated disk in my lower back. I could hardly walk, sit, etc., and was qualified for a fusion. I’m not pain free, but I have my life back. Do I care if yoga is “popular”?
I do want to progress to more challenging asanas. However, I am not going to jeopardize my therapy for some fancy moves the same as I’m not going to ride along any cliffs.
Yes! Celebrate the power of yoga to cultivate wellbeing and love of life.
And, that doesn’t have to be opposed to anything.
When we see a yogi doing something physically advanced, we can celebrate their physical prowess.
When we see a yogini artfully displaying her yoga-toned body, we can celebrate her beauty.
When we see a dancer-yogi bringing fluidity and emotion to the practice, we can celebrate their creativity.
It’s OK to feel rock-star about your handstand press. It’s OK to feel proud of your beautiful physique. It’s OK to feel delight in dancing when you should be sun-saluting. It’s OK to encounter happiness for no reason and reflect, “Ah! Yoga is amazing, yoga is amazing.”
Life is varied, yoga is varied. Share what moves you. It will move others.
Thanks for your blog, very thought-provoking!!
~Daniel
Thanks Daniel!
Excellent post, J!
“Advanced” is such a loaded word — to some, it’s a lure; for others, it’s a roadblock. As teachers, we have to be clear about how we translate that word with respect to asana and the other limbs of yoga. It’s a label that, for practical purposes, only roughly relates to a student’s physical agility, not their maturity level, intelligence, or ego awareness.
Consequently, many of us teachers must become skillful jugglers — balancing the typical student’s notion of what they want, with what they actually need — which is to shift their focus internally, eventually creating some meditative clarity. Once I notice that shift occurring, I know that those students are truly “advancing,” and they can be found in any class, no matter what the “level.”
Peace
I dunno, Yogi, Yogini? Because they are “advanced” in postures.
I have a definite problem with this. I think it a typical American re defining.
Go to the ancient texts for meaning of these words. You will read about a lifestyle and state of mind that few will attain.
I am reading this article lying on the couch with a pinched nerve that is making it difficult to walk. My four day a week practice suddenly halted. Yoga was such an integral part of my week and I didn’t want to lose that. And so I find myself reading about yoga, and learning more about the practice beyond asana. I look forward to the day I get to physically practice again, and will be grateful and relish even the easiest poses, which at the moment all seem out of reach. Because I think I took some things for granted. Yoga taught me that.
Great article…thank you!
Fabulous article and so well said. I’ve been teaching for 20 yrs now. When I was younger I loved the challenging asana. What that approach doesn’t take into account is you get older and your body begins to say no to some things you could once do with ease. Yoga is supposed to be for everyone not just an athletic elite. It’s great to see a super flex body doing some moves, but when does that become gymnastics and no longer yoga? And its sad that becomes yoga in the public eye, because yoga is also so personal, beautiful and tender and that gets so lost. For me, the ability to be still is advanced. When someone has learned the discipline of Dhyana and can sit comfortably for a good hour or so, then to me, they are advanced. The division that has grown between asana and meditation is entirely artificial, they are not 2 separate entities. They are all yoga, and asana is back at the start of the 8 limbs and meditation is really the perfection of yoga.
Wow, that is some beautiful yoga right there. Thank you J.