Tags
abundant, anorexia, Asana, BlissChick, cheap shots, Giving, Intimacy, karma yoga, Mark Whitwell, marketing, Meditation, pranayama, Puja, regenerating, Self-esteem, sell out, seva, Slim Calm Sexy Yoga, Swami Satyananda, Tara Stiles, weight loss programs, Yoga, yoga nidra
Here’s the story of a very young girl…
One day, walking home from school this coltish lass felt so good about life and about herself. She thought she was beautiful and felt like a supermodel, convinced that she looked fantastic as she pranced along the sidewalk like it was some kind of fashion runway. It was an excellent ten minutes – the length of her walk home.
Coming in through the back door, she floated to the bathroom mirror to admire her magnificence. And she was heartbroken. There was not a prominent cheekbone or feline feature anywhere in sight. She looked NOTHING like the models in her Dolly and Cleo magazines. NOTHING.
And combined with her blonde and beautiful best friend that all the boys adored, and her brother’s daily taunts about her looks, she spent the rest of her life trying to see herself clearly. Which was difficult, because every time she looked in the mirror the words “not pretty” resonated somewhere in the back of her mind…
This is my story, but it’s also the story of numerous other young girls. From a ridiculously early age our lives are spent being compared to other women – by ourselves, others or both.
Unless we hit the gene-pool jackpot, most women start their lives feeling insecure and “not good enough”. Even then it sometimes isn’t enough! I mean, a girl I went to primary and high school with was pretty, blonde and built like a bird. She was also very good at athletics, competing at a state level. She was very popular, too, and went out with the hottest guy at school. And yet this girl who seemed to have everything STILL didn’t think she was good enough, and ended up with anorexia.
Our culture places so much value on physical appearance, academic or sporting prowess, instead of emotional maturity and openness. As such, many westerners have barely any connection to their bodies. There’s so much living in the head, divorced from the heart. We think too much, we’re reliant on external gratification and live in a highly visual world where beauty is given a very narrow definition.
Finding yoga
It’s no surprise then, that when I found yoga I felt very happy and relieved. Because I discovered yoga wasn’t about how I looked so much as how I felt. How my body and mind connect and who I am when I strip away fleeting things such as labels, my job, and physical appearance. Who am I when I close my eyes to meditate and the visible world melts away? And who are you?
So I practice yoga (including asana, pranayama, meditation, yoga nidra, puja and more) and I feel good about myself, no matter what anyone else thinks. In fact, I find I don’t CARE about what anyone else thinks. Because yoga opens my heart. It connects me to myself and to other people and it’s about LOVE. It doesn’t separate and segregate and it sure as hell isn’t about what size clothes I wear.
Yet still, I struggle on and off with body image/not good enough issues. I did a guest post about such things over on BlissChick’s blog.
Yoga helps me very much with such things, and it gets a little easier every day to look in the mirror and not instantly think I am repulsive looking. Most women have this to contend with in some way or another, no matter how they look.
Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to go to a Mark Whitwell workshop. Fortunate, not just because of the wonderful yoga he has to share, but because he is a dyed in the wool Mother Earth worshipping feminist. He gets it in a way many women never will, and certainly few men.
Mark writes things like this about yoga:
…Yoga is every person’s direct intimacy with reality, an entirely abundant, regenerating, and nurturing power. This is yoga from the heart, for the heart, and it promises health, intimacy, well-being, and joy…
One to one intimacy is as close and as necessary as your breath is to your body. In fact the practice of this inherent union of breath and body allows for the inherent union in all relatedness. It is an utter pleasure and unquestioned continuity with everything. It is Ha tha Yoga, “strength receiving.” Actual and natural, non obsessive practice.
Mark spreads love, positivity, empowerment and damn good yoga around the world. And he gives marvelous hugs. He’s very real and approachable. He makes yoga fun and doable for those who might think it’s not for them.
And then…
Yoga and women get betrayed – by a woman!
There are people out there who call themselves yogis, and take the most external aspects of the practice and market that as a weight loss program like some kind of meal replacement product! Unbelievably, this is being fronted by a woman!
Yes, Tara Stiles, I’m talking about YOU and your Slim Calm Sexy Yoga.
I recommend reading Linda-Sama’s post about Tara’s latest efforts. I agree with Linda whole-heartedly and I find myself enraged by Tara Stiles.
So much so that I wrote this tweet:
Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to discover that Tara had replied to that message with this piece of nonsense:
Wow. Just WOW. My reply to Tara was this (and then a whole lot more!)
I cannot tell you how frightening I find this approach to marketing yoga. Or rather, yoga-like movements that have been called yoga, but have nothing to do with the practice in any way…
Cheap shots. We’re talking cheap shots to the already fragile self-esteem most women have (and let’s face it, this is not being marketed to men!). Fired off by a so-called yogi to get people to buy her book. It makes me sick to my stomach.
I know a BUNCH of accomplished and deeply realised yogis who do NOT have a perfect body. They are not a size 00, and probably never were. You could not call them slim per se, and yet they are happy, wonderful, calm and sexy people. They are yogis with big, huge, juicy hearts and so much wisdom and compassion that you can’t help but feel better from spending time around them.
And we have wonderful men like Mark Whitwell teaching yoga in a way that’s accessible and beautiful, and more than anything, authentic and genuine.
Or brilliant yogis like Swami Satyananda who couldn’t give a flying f#ck about “Slim Calm Sexy Yoga”. Yeah, he was perfectly healthy right up until his death and look at that body! No ripped abs. No bulging biceps!
Then Tara Stiles decides to take advantage of the current fanaticism about weight loss using the name of yoga (but certainly not its philosophies) to line her pockets on the back of other women who already feel crappy about themselves. Nice way to align yourself with the sisterhood, Tara!
And nice way to sell out yoga and degrade its real benefits to those who don’t know any better.
Yoga = love = self-acceptance = giving
Just for once, I’d like to see famous yogis who are right into all this marketing business, using yoga to HELP this world. Help the planet and people in need.
I have no idea why there isn’t already an outpouring of yoga events put on purely as a benefit. I see it at a grassroots level, but not as big as something like Wanderlust for example. Imagine getting lots of wisdom masters to do dharma talks, meditation and asana practice FOR FREE. Yes, free! Anyone heard of a little thing called karma yoga or seva? Let the people pay to come and get the good stuff, and all of the profits GO DIRECTLY TO PEOPLE IN NEED.
Like the communities that lost their livelihood as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Or the Haiti disaster. Or the floods in Pakistan. Or just people who live in your community and are about to be evicted. Or whatever!
Imagine that, can you? I can. Those who came along would benefit from real teachings that aren’t in any way about physical appearance. And the money would go to people who need it. Why? Simply because they are human beings, like everyone else.
Yoga is about GIVING. Not taking. That’s how I get my calm and my sexy. I don’t need no special book and unrealistic promises to deliver that…
**More on this topic by me**
A little less ranty, and a little more rational… 😉
- Samskaras in samsara – part 1
- Samskaras in samsara – part 2
- News from the anti-Slim, Calm, Sexy “Yoga” trenches
- it’s all yoga, baby’s top 15 yoga posts of 2010
~Svasti
**UPDATE 3rd August 2011** To all the people still reading this topic and leaving indignant comments:
Please look at the date of this post. It was a year ago. My anger about this is long gone, but I still disagree with Tara Stiles’ approach to yoga very much. So do a lot of other people, both yoga teachers and non-yoga teachers. Now, if you wanna call me rude, go ahead. I consider this a highly passionate post, fueled by anger for sure. But not rude. Or unyogic. Of course you’re welcome to your opinions as I am to mine, but no matter what you write in the comments I ain’t gonna change my mind. I’d never do a Tara Stiles yoga class. This woman also runs a highly questionable yoga teacher training program that I’d never do either. So there it is. Go ahead, be a Tara apologist. I won’t stop you. But do remember this topic is over a year old and all of the main players have moved on…
Svasti: A Journey From Assault To Wholeness 
you’re on fire and preaching to the choir! awesome post….
“Anyone heard of a little thing called karma yoga or seva? Let the people pay to come and get the good stuff, and all of the profits GO DIRECTLY TO PEOPLE IN NEED.”
but that’s not sexy….;)
a post I was working on before the TS book was about how seva is yoga love….
p.s. and you are so right about Mark…he gets it, totally.
@Linda-Sama – Seva is one of the sexiest things I know! 🙂
Pingback: Tweets that mention Body image issues, yoga & Tara Stiles is a sell-out « Svasti: A Journey From Assault To Wholeness -- Topsy.com
This is a fantastic post, and so totally in tune with the reality that we should be living. I to have been fortunate enough to spend a few sessions with Mark, You, as all of us, are miracles already,whatever our shape, size etc. Yoga is our direct participation in the source.
Thank you again for your post, and I love your tweets!!
Have an amazing day!
@Neil – So nice to have a guy weighing in here (no pun intended!). Thanks for your message and you have an amazing day, too!
When I saw Linda’s post on this earlier today, one of my first thoughts was: Has this Tara woman ever seen an Indian yogi?
So I’m glad you made that point… and supplied a picture!
The other thing I am ever incredulous about is that there is only ever one legitimate female form to which we must aspire (let’s call it the Carrie Bradshaw look, minus the horse’s head).
Why do women -as a collective- keep buying into a lie? A miniscule number of us match this ideal. For goodness sakes, we’re human beings!! Our success as a species lies in our diversity – not in conformity to a pathetically weak ideal.
Yet we continue to keep buying the fashion mags, the clothes, getting our pubes ripped out (sorry, I’m on the soapbox here), dissecting celebrities who have one cellulite dimple, wrinkle or sweatpatch. We end up thinking we should be like X supermodel and spend our lives endlessly dissatisfied and consuming (because that’s what it’s about).
When will we (not you personally, Svasti, but women as a collective) give up these lives and live with the truth and courage to be ourselves, in all our diverse shapes and sizes.
Ok. Off the soapbox and back to Sherlock Holmes….
@Amanda – It’s so sad that while most women don’t look like the models that are photographed, the only women who are in those photographs are the ones who look a certain way! And as such, ALL WOMEN are conditioned to believe that if they don’t look like that or at least something resembling that, then they aren’t attractive or beautiful in any way.
It’s infuriating. And it’s especially infuriating when someone who has probably never been anything other than stick thin her whole life fronts a weight loss campaign that inherently criticises women and takes advantage of the warped sense of what’s okay and what’s not, in order to sell a book.
Your soapbox is well warranted, my friend!
“Why do women -as a collective- keep buying into a lie?”
Bravo!
there’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to look good — and healthy and sexy — and I will admit to my own vanities. but when these images are the be-all of end-alls of women’s lives, then there is something drastically wrong.
@Linda-Sama – I think we buy into it because it’s deeply embedded in our collective sub-concious. We don’t mean to. We rail against it, but still, we want and wish and desire for something we can never be: someone else, another person’s body or face. Someone else’s life, because our own is so clearly not what it should be. According of course, to everyone who’s ever read one of those horrible women’s magazines. The people who run them are mostly women. And so the cycle continues.
that’s just it. nothing wrong with wanting; it’s how you deal with not getting it is the question.
you are beautiful! thank you 🙂
@Emma – and so are you!
Amen, Svasti.
The part of this that is still leaving me breathless is her use of the “size 8 to double zero.”
There IS legitimacy in her statement about mindfulness being the ultimate path to health and then she does that SHIT PIECE OF ADVERTISING!?!?!
Which only undermines anything good she may have ever had to contribute to the larger discussion.
That one piece of advertising just demolished any credibility she may have had. If she had any. I’d never heard of her until the car ad thing.
@Christine (Blisschick) Reed – There’s legitimacy in saying that mindfulness = well-being. BUT NOT in saying mindfulness = weight loss.
I mean, I do lots of yoga but I’m still not a size 00 or even a size 8. I never will be. Tara’s advertising uses sly messages that are meant to tap into the self-criticism we all live with because of the things we are not. That this is done in the name of yoga makes me so very angry.
The first time I heard of her was the American Apparel ads (thanks to Yoga Dork) – where she was supposedly promoting their yoga clothing. Only she wasn’t doing any asana and she was wearing a WHITE LEOTARD. And she even tried to justify that by saying that she didn’t have a choice. Really? What about the choice to NOT be a part of an ad like that?
I know she’s not the only one but she is not doing women any favours at all!
I agree 100% with you.
Sadly, Tara isn’t alone with the marketing of yoga by capitalizing on insecurities. Lululemon (ahem, camel toe ad?), Yoga Journal with their “yoga vitamin” ads, “hot yoga” being touted as the best way to weight loss…
Tara is just an example of a collective issue- this is where the traditional “feminists are only women, men=bad guys” rhetoric doesn’t work. The underlying issue is more subversive, because it’s cultural and social.
this post is part of the taking a stand we all must do together. Much Light to you svasti 🙂
@EcoYogini – I know she isn’t the only one. I rolled my eyes at the camel toe thing. And even ToeSox-gate. But this one is a sucker punch right to the kidneys for most women. A stick thin woman who has probably never been overweight in her life and she is perfectly okay with marketing messages that make other women feel inadequate. There’s nothing positive or affirming about any of it. It’s just horrible.
And yes, there are men out there who are feminists, and who don’t play by the rules. But there aren’t enough of them yet. There aren’t even enough of us women who’ve woken up and said ENOUGH ALREADY.
“There aren’t even enough of us women who’ve woken up and said ENOUGH ALREADY”
like many at another, ahem, “yoga inspired” site. during ToeSox-gate, a woman made a comment to my comment about how I should relax, it’s only an ad, move on, it will soon be forgotten about. I said, yeah, that’s the problem.
I’m a feminist and I don’t think men are bad guys. I love men but I love me more. When did “feminist” become a dirty word to younger women?
this post is for you, svasti….
http://lindasyoga.blogspot.com/2010/08/seva-is-sexy.html
Feminism became a dirty word when a backlash was created- beginning as soon as the second wave began. Sadly, the last little bit of backlash was quite the doozy- propagating this idea that all feminists hate men. Which is ridiculous, but pretty effective. I’ve met many a “feminist” who reject the label simply to avoid this misconception.
But then, the 20’s generation of right now have been stereotyped (ahem “labeled”) as an anti-label generation. so of course that may have played a part.
regardless, we’re on the same page 🙂
@EcoYogini – We are all on the same page. And we need to get over our labels and say what needs to be said. Sheesh. Enough with the horrible marketing and commodifying of women and their bodies!
@Linda-Sama – GREAT post Linda. And I’ve never been afraid to call myself a feminist. Seems these days though, women need to stand up against other women on feminist issues. And that’s such a sad thing!
“Seems these days though, women need to stand up against other women on feminist issues”
I think that’s been happening for quite some time now and as one who marched back in the day, it’s maddening!
A really well expressed post svasti!! I wholeheartedly support and believe in your message. I hope there are more like you and Linda out there redirecting the focus of those in need of healing and self love, taking us deeper, speaking truth rather than distracting us with the meaningless chatter that can only lead to suffering – while picking our pockets.
thank you for the giving of your beautiful, sexy self 🙂
xox K
@Karin – It’s such a difficult message to really get across, because the conditioning starts at such a very young age. Thank you for caring and supporting the good fight!
*cries quietly no longer knowing what to do or say to stop this lunacy and thanking all her gods for the gift of being british where bad teeth and belly fat ain’t quite such a “sin”*
@Rachel @ Suburban Yogini – It’s a little more of a sin here in Australia. But nowhere near as bad as the US. Thank goodness!
That said, even here I have had to deal with anorexic girls using the “don’t eat for two hours before yoga” rule to read “don’t eat”. I no longer mention this “rule” either in class or on my website.
The thing that upsets me the most is just how incredibly triggering this kind of thing is for people who do suffer from eating disorders. It just validates the negative thinking and mindset. Which is just like a kind of anti-yoga surely?
that is a very interesting point Rachel…
Indeed it is!
lunacy, indeed!
Great post, Svasti!!!! As the husband of a wonderful, far from size 00 woman, I find the shite Tara Stiles is propagating utter trash. As a yoga/dharma teacher, I know all too well the suffering that has been and continues to be caused by such crap! My heart weeps when a beautiful, strong, vibrant woman shares with me the self-loathing she feels when she considers her body.
And as a prospective dad (my wife is expecting any day now!) whether we have a boy or girl, s/he will grow up in a home where such sexist excretia will have no place!
SO, thanks, and keep dishin’ the truth of yoga as a spiritual practice!
metta
frank jude
@frank jude – THANK YOU for being the second male to weigh in here. I know Linda speaks very highly of you, and your opinion is most welcome and valued. I have more to say about the collective samaskaras of our culture, and these body image ones of women. In a post coming soon!
Also, thank you for your assertion that you plan to bring your child into this world with a more open and free mindset around such limiting issues. No matter your child’s gender, that will be a great service to the next generation. xo
Hey Svasti,
great post! Beautifully put in words, especially the ‘wolf in sheep clothes’ part. Maybe it’s an idea to send your post (and the responses?) to Tara? It will give her a chance to reconsider her marketing tactics and the usage of the word ‘yoga’ for her weight loss program.
You’ll never know:)
@Medea – Oh, Tara is fully aware of this post, and Linda’s. She’s just blithely ignored them 🙂
You’re Yoga Chicky!! I deleted my twitter account and then realised I forgot to ask you for your blog address. Glad I found you again….and linked the two.
@Mary, Rand(Om) Bites – I wondered what happened to you! Well, glad you’ve found me here. Yay! 🙂
Very passionate post. I find it unfortunate and sad that yoga is marketed to make you sexy and for weight loss. But, it is my sincere hope that for whomever the ad catches, that they will get into yoga and find that liberation from a negative body image. I started doing yoga in a gym, to lose weight and to get into shape. Eventually it led to entire way of living. I now teach yoga in gyms (gasp!) so that I can introduce people to yoga who might never, ever step foot into a studio or sign up for a private lesson. I whole heartedly believe in the power of yoga. It is a sincere belief. So, if someone comes to yoga so that they can lose weight, I believe that they will find something more. It will take time. But, would they come to yoga otherwise? Anyway…like I said, it is my most sincere, heart felt hope that whoever practices with Tara will find the beautiful gifts that yoga has to give.
@babs – You know, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight. But it’s another thing entirely when a trained, experienced yoga teacher markets “her brand” of yoga as “Slim, Calm, Sexy”.
This is just so manipulative! I’ll be writing up a post about such things very soon… 🙂
Of course, I want people to come to yoga. And I don’t mind if it’s their decision to come as a way to lose weight. But in my humble opinion, no yoga teacher worth their salt should be talking about asana as “fat burning techniques”. Ever.
Awesome rant Svasti!
I echo Babs – no matter what reason people start yoga, I hope they can move through all the crap out there and let Yoga work it’s magic. My heart goes out to all those women and men who are in that place now… ((()))
Have you checked out Marianne’s blog over at Zen Peacekeeper? (there is a link from my blog) She is the Aus and NZ rep for Off the Mat, Into the World, an organization that helps yogis get in touch with just the type of Karma Yoga project you are talking about.
Xx
@Lagitane – I haven’t checked out her blog. Thanks for the tip!! 😀
Hey Svasti–
I so agree with you on Tara Stiles–and it really does bother (and sicken) me that everything has to be spun as a means for women to measure themselves in some way. Why not do yoga for personal happiness and fulfillment? Why does it need to be wrapped around body image? Arent’ women beaten up quite enough by EVERY (damn) aspect of the media.
I’m glad you called her on that–and truly, more women need to. Bravo for you, my friend–
Melinda
@Melinda – of course, I fully expected you to agree! 🙂
Yoga has more to do with seeing yourself as not just your external physical form than it has to do with measuring yourself in any way. Bra fat indeed! More to come soon xx
Pingback: Tara Stiles Launches ‘Slim, Calm, Sexy’ Yoga to Acclaim, Insult, Revolt (see marketing)
I have no idea what size you are, Svasti, but I think you’re smaller than me (U.S. Size 12) I have been in an actual yoga class, with actual lineages, and subscribing to the 8-fold path in New York City (Tara’s home city, btw) and have been made to feel ‘less than’ due to my size. Unsolicited remarks on what I must be eating, etc.
On the surface, there was talk about how being on your mat isn’t about how you look, etc., but it is a matter of time before the cancer totally spreads to that place, because I knew at least one who ran it. (They were promoting cleanses as possible weight loss strategies to normal weight people, etc.) I am glad I left that studio when the getting was good ..
@Yogini# – Your story, I’m sure, isn’t an isolated incident. But it makes me feel so sad. Not just for those who are subjected to such beliefs and made to feel ‘less than’. But for those who truly believe these stories about women and our bodies. I’m glad you left that studio!! Normal people? What is normal exactly!!
Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Pingback: Slim Sexy Savvy and Yoga-sex | elephant journal
Pingback: Yoga’s Feminist Awakening : Ms Magazine Blog
This post started off so well and really inspired me…and then it was all downhill from there. You just sound jealous and spiteful. Why are you so focused on creating this negative energy toward your fellow woman? Perhaps you need to do more yoga to find that inner peace you are obviously lacking.
I feel so very sad for you – that your interpretation of someone being angry about something like this means you think they must be spiteful and jealous, and lack inner peace.
Unfortunately, our image obsessed culture creates conditioned thinking exactly like yours! There are certain images that are projected as standards of beauty and we are supposed to admire and want to be like those people. If we get angry about anything presented, then we *MUST* be jealous, because we aren’t as gorgeous as them or something like that.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I am none of the personal slurs you’ve suggested in your very shallow judgement of me based on this post.
I wish you well, and I hope one day you learn to see yourself and others more clearly.
And I thank you for your comment, because it’s helped to inspire another post, coming soon.
I agree with Michelle in the most respectful way I can. I know our culture is obssessed with bodyimage. But does this mean you need to be so critical of another being ? How does this represent your “inner peace” in any way ? Tara Stiles is a yogi . She stretches, breathes and does the poses, no ommming. Deal with it. It’s her way, let her be her own person ! She is incredibly successfuland isn’t in it fully for the money. Why would she post videos on youtube for free ? ? ? For advertising ? I doubt it.
Pingback: top 15 yoga blog posts of 2010! « it's all yoga, baby
Pingback: Top 15 Yoga Blog Posts of 2010. ~ Roseanne Harvey | elephant journal
I have to disagree with you on Tara Stiles, I happen to enjoy her yoga. However I respect that your opinion is different then mine. I find the non-religious approach to Tara’s yoga is a way that works for me. I am not a spiritual or religious person at all and yoga is portrayed as a very religious spiritual practice and some people really enjoy that and others don’t. I have always loved the style of yoga and the way my body feels afterward as well as the long term effects it provides, but for a very long time I didn’t do yoga because I thought it was all spiritual/ religious. There are plenty of other women who sell Yoga for weight loss so to just pin point one was a little biased of you. Tara teaches yoga in a way that works for some people and doesn’t for others. It’s a workout, a stretch, it’s calming, and it honestly does make you feel better. I haven’t read the book but I follow her podcast and not all of her yoga is dedicated to weight-loss actually most of it isn’t about weight loss; most of her yoga routines there are about de-stressing and relaxing. So what if she has a few weight-loss dedicated things or strength building moves, some people want that in their yoga because to them it provides the same affect a spiritual or religious yoga session does for someone else. Everyone is different and everyone views things differently and I think that’s all this really is a difference of opinions and views on a specific type of exercise.
Here’s some examples of others claiming weight-loss through yoga.
Ana Brett and Ravi Singh : Fat Free Yoga DVD Lose Weight & Feel Great
Most places that do Bikram yoga are now dedicated to weight loss as well as traditional gym yoga. A lot of people have changed yoga to meet their needs and make them happy and at peace. Everybody’s definition of internal peace and what will provide that is different. So everyone should be allowed to enjoy their own kind of routine when it comes to yoga.
So you can enjoy your type of yoga and I can enjoy mine. Personally I feel like for someone with so much inner peace and happiness that your comments to Tara Stiles were very harsh, you’re preaching about not bringing others down and how her yoga hurts confidence and then turning around and telling her that her way is wrong because you don’t agree with it and it doesn’t meet your needs, I feel like that was very hypocritical of you and you might want to re-examine your thought of that. i don’t mean that to be rude but your saying not to bring others down and criticizing someone at the same time. I hope maybe this changes your prospective a little. If not that’s okay to like I said we differ in opinion and i respect that.
Kelsey, that was a beautifully diplomatic and well thought out response. I am a yoga teacher. I would be very sad to know if someone who had taken one of my classes reacted like this.
I understand if you disagree with Tara’s marketing of yoga as a “slim, calm, sexy” lifestyle, but after taking her classes and reading her articles, I must say that nowhere have I seen her claim that this is purely a weight loss tool. Her classes are filled with reminders that, if you are not ready to do a pose, there is no need to push yourself too hard. These reminders are important to our beloved students who may be overweight and need gentle reminders that, it is okay if you can’t do a handstand or some of the other crazy yoga moves.
Well, now that that I have made my personal thoughts clear, I need to say that I don’t expect everyone to love my classes and come back for a second try. Finding a yoga teacher with whom one truly connects is rare, and a true blessing. I encourage everyone who does not resonate with Tara Stiles to take a moment to put negative comments to rest and go within, try to embrace compassion and see the good that someone has done for many people…while continuing on your own journey with yoga. It’s a beautiful journey! Responding to something with which you disagree with such hubris (from these comments I have seen anger, defensiveness, and attacking) is the opposite of yoga. Taking a class you deem as “bad” in stride, and searching for something you enjoy will help yoga teachers of all shapes, sizes, colors and creeds make a living for themselves!
Don’t you think that the softness and middle-pathness and meeting the student where they are could have been influence from Michael Taylor, her adorably conscious and metta-driven husband?
Even Tara Stiles knows she has to draw the line. There should be a parody made of her book (Linda, please do it), but unfortunately the generation coming up behind me–particulary the yoga-involved— has a sense of humor that doesn’t respond too well to parodies …
I’ve got just the title, too:
“Kind, Activist, Sensuous Yoga – ‘We’re not in it to show off our butts!’ ”
targeted to both men and women.
The yoga instruction book genre needs its parodies, too (and not necessarily straight parody, but lesson-teaching – and I don’t mean asana – ones).
Pingback: seva is sexy « linda's yoga journey
Up untill about a month ago, I never did yoga. It was so intimidating, watching people talk about yoga the same way people talk about church. Yes, yoga is great for your mind and is “spiritual”, but it is also great for your body. Practicing yoga can give you better balance, flexibility, strength, and yes, it can promote weightloss. I love watching tara’s videos on youtube and following along, as she gives little reminders that we don’t have to push to hard, to breathe and be self aware. People can do yoga for whatever reason they want to, and in the most respectable way I can, I say that you have no right to be rude. Yoga is about peace, and certainly not about being critical of the way someone does it. Yes, maybe “Slim Calm Sexy Yoga” isn’t the best choice for a name, but you can’t control anyone but yourself. I love doing yoga folllowing Tara, and to me, that’s what truly matters !
I think yoga is for everybody and nobody and everyone can modify it as they please. Anything goes. To get people to move, to leave their couch is a good enough starting point.
Yoga IS for everyone, but making people feel bad about their bodies as a way to sell what you teach as yoga IS NOT yoga. It’s commerce at the expense of people’s self esteem.
It sounds to me like you have used yoga as a way to deal with your insecurities. You felt that you may not have hit the ‘genetic lottery’ but that you could be superior in another way … by practicing yoga. Well there are many that would argue that using yoga to feel superior or accomplished is also an insult to yoga! I actually do not take this view …. I think it’s great that yoga helped you to deal with your issues and insecurities and helped you to develop more self esteem just the same way that I agree with Tara Stiles that yoga can help people to calm their minds, get in touch with and honour their bodies … a result of which may very well be weight loss .. or clear skin or a wider smile etc.
Yoga has many many benefits and while one person may practice it for mindfulness I don’t see why another cannot feel free to practice it for weight loss! Tara Stiles is not harming you and she is not interfering with your enjoyment of yoga … it seems to me that she has simply stirred up some past childhood body issues that you have and you should let those go and wish Tara well because that is what a true yogi would do.
It’s only too bad when teachers who practice yoga for spiritual reasons (and try to teach it for those same reasons) start to lay their own eating disorder trip on someone in recovery from compulsive overeating or anything else non-anorexia-related.
Not that recovering anorexics appreciate that approach, either.
Tara may not have a weight issue (except possibly underweight, though healthy) and no eating disorder but many yoga teachers look up to her and her body-style and pass their sickness on.
It’s too bad that you’ve decided what I was thinking and feeling and proceeded to leave a judgemental comment based on your assumptions. Respectfully, I request that you go and get a life. Because you DON’T know me, or what I was thinking or you’d never suggest I was trying to be “superior” in writing this post.