...this is the 216th Yoga for Cynics post...making it...kinda, sorta...like finishing a second set of the 108 sun salutations that make up a yoga mala.....which means...yeah...some o’ that esoteric yogacentric kinda content...which, no doubt, is utterly baffling, irritating, anachronistic, alienating, stupid-seeming, and/or simply boring to the 47.3 %* of readers who know eka pada rajakapotasana only as that curried cauliflower and potato stuff at the local Indian buffet place...
...then, I can relate...it was twenty or so years ago when I first met people who talked about yoga...along with positive attitudes, compassionate lifestyles and related topics...and was massively turned off by all of it...particularly as this more enlightened consciousness tended to be expressed through passive aggressive rage and harsh judgments toward anybody whose lifestyle was deemed less compassionate...which, as it turned out, was just about everybody...
...it’s only recently, though, having met lotsa people who do a bit better with that living your yoga thing...including my very nice blog friends**....that I’ve starting to see that all my grousing...see above...about granola nazis isn’t exactly dripping with compassion, openness, or positivity, either...
...yoga studios tend to have special deals for new students...so, I’ve tried pointing out that, thanks to my Zen-like cultivation of beginner’s mind, I’m always a new student...dying as an old student with every out-breath and reborn as a new student with every in-breath... which gets laughs...but has yet to garner me an actual discount...
* statistics are made up
** such as Brooks, on whose blog much of this post started out as a comment...
10 comments:
I tried to come up with a meaningful insightful response but all I came up with sounded to cyncial.
poop, cuz that would totally work with me. you should get points for being clever.
Brooks post was great- and I also loved your comment there. :)
out of the many blogs, I always felt yours was the most honest. which is why I love reading your posts.
buenos días Dr. Jay
hey! i am a new student myself, the yoga studio around my house put a deal for $25 plus a meal at the Vegetarian place for 2 weeks, i usually do my yoga at the YMCA, but couldn't resist this deal
and hey! i do find sun salutations wonderful not boring, and also that curried cauliflower with potatoes delicious!! but sure i am a plain mexican who has always settled with little, ahhh so i am easily happy :)
and to complete today's happiness, i am seeing Sonic Youth live here in San Diego, namaste Lee Ranaldo, huh?
I have had the same yoga instructor for 8 years. She keeps the classes small (8 and under) so she can give us each specialized attention. I've peeked into some of these new yoga studios where 20 or more students are struggling with the simplest of poses...what a mess.
Congratulations on your 216th post!
Thanks, y'all!
Congratulations, Dr. Jay! May you do many, many more sets of Sun Salutations on this Fine Blog of Yours!
And, along the lines of this post: With every out-breath an old and moldy attitude can die, and with every in-breath a fresh and new perspective or mindset can spring forth from the heavenly bed of consciousenss...
Thanks, Jay!
I've never minded the yoga speak, drjay. Actually, I find it inspiring. *she says, tucked in the sofa eating banana bread* And I'm sorry to say that if I had recognized eka pada rajakapotasanafamiliar, I would've asked you for the recipe. Any yoga poses a la vendaloo?
Congratulations on your 216th...I hope we see you finish a third set. And keep tryin' on that discount...they can only say no!
Ungrounded compassion scares me. I'm not sure if that makes sense to you, but reading the first part of this post (the whole meeting granola nazis 20 years ago thing) is what prompted me say that. So hard not to judge the things/people/situations that scare us...and of course that's when compassion, rooted in actual honest to goodness loving kindness is most needed!!!
I love your beginner mind, beginner student (every class should be free) logic. Now that would be grounded compassion, toward earnest students wouldn't it? Hope you are feeling better. Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Still struggling with a knee-jerk "cheese" reaction to yogaspeak (formerly known as hippyspeak), and resistant of the day when it all begins to make sense.
I'd love to hear you make your case for the "perpetual beginner" rate at the studio.
Congrats on the long run, and keep the cynical insights coming.
i would give you the discount.
Granola nazis... I've met them! They live next door to the axe murderers, who are just down the road from the people who play Metallica until their ears bleed. I also met the Breast Feeding Nazis, too, but that's a totally different story, in a totally different life. :)
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