Dear Yoga, You are not a Sport.
March 3, 2012 at 8:01 AM | Posted in Yoga | 3 CommentsTags: J. Michael Taylor, NY Times, Sara Beck, Yoga, Yoga Among Friends
The articles on yoga as a sport are arriving and just yesterday, Binding Body, Mind and Title, with the sub-title, Competitive Yoga is both Embraced and Found Puzzling in the NY Times by Sara Beck.
Yoga is traditionally characterized as the union of mind and body and after 11 years of continuous practice, this feels right to me. Perhaps it’s because I swim in the waters of competitive sales, but the single greatest attraction of yoga for me is its lack of judgemental competition. I don’t even feel internal competition within myself to somehow get better at it. I didn’t discover this at first but this, I think, profound thought has led me to the conviction that I will always do yoga, even if strapped to a bed.
In our classes at Yoga Among Friends, J. Michael Taylor, my teacher, does not give out gold stars after class and we have no colored belts. There are several levels but this is just to aid in the teaching and anyone can go to any class. HIs classes are characterized by the search for form, alignment and joking.
If yoga is the union of mind and body, how can anyone judge that?
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The idea that something like Yoga can become competitive saddens me beyond anything I’ve seen on Toddlers and Tiaras. Why does our culture need to judge everything and everyone? What’s next? Competitive Enlightenment?
Mike Smith
Comment by Anonymous— March 5, 2012 #
It is so silly … perhaps just a passing fancy?
Comment by tommackey— March 5, 2012 #
Sad indeed, the idea of competitive yoga.
Comment by Vermeer Brown— March 7, 2012 #