Why are yoga teachers so annoying???!!
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Anonymous
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Alignment is CRITICAL to yoga. You might not want to be touched, but you're going to be in a lot of pain when you're older if you keep practicing moves out of alignment. There is simply no point to doing yoga if your backbone isn't perfectly aligned, your hips aren't as symmetrical as you can get them, your shoulders too, etc. You're hurting yourself long-term, that's all you're doing. |
Anonymous
| My hips will never be symmetrical yet I keep going |
Anonymous
Current research shows that alignment isn’t as important as we think it is. |
Anonymous
no, alignment is not critical. I don't think you have any clue what you're talking about. plus, you don't need to touch and shove people to get them in alignment. you can use words. and yoga teachers inevitably try to push me out of my range of motion - not good! |
Anonymous
For the vast majority of Westerners, Eastern religious belief is a fad. I know some people who studied with great Eastern religious scholars for decades. I know a whole lot more who read a couple websites, maybe a book, and start spouting it off in classes to people who don’t care. Yoga is not meant to be practiced in conjunction with any particular religion, it is meant to be practiced with any. Or none. Or multiple ones. If people don’t want to hear Sanskrit chants or Hindu philosophy, that’s fine. The sutra-s themselves literally say you can do whatever works for you. I’ve known people who have had great success incorporating Bible verses into their practice. There are also many people like me, who don’t subscribe to any particular religion but still get a lot of value. And there are TONS of people who came to yoga just for the physical aspect, which is exactly what they needed at the time. Not sure if you subscribe to the reincarnation thing, but if the idea is that we make a little bit of progress each time we come back, perhaps just taking vinyasa flow classes in this life is enough to propel them to more spiritual practices in the next life. |
Anonymous
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I highly recommend Ashtanga Yoga for anyone who wants the physicality and the meditative benefits without the endless prattling of a mass-produced instructor.
As traditionally practiced, Mysore-style, everyone learns the set sequence at their own speed and does their own practice in a room full of people also doing their own practice, in silence, while the teacher moves around and provides one-on-one assistance as needed. It's physically demanding ("power yoga" and similar all have their roots in Ashtanga), but as you progress, you'll be asked to focus on the other limbs of yoga to deepen your practice. Breathing, meditation, non-attachment, non-harm, etc. The teacher is there to help, but it's really your own responsibility to learn what you need. No preaching. Even in a led class, the teacher traditionally just calls out the asanas and counts the breaths, with no editorializing. A true Ashtanga shala can be hard to find in most places, but DC is lucky in that there are several in the city. There are also several very experienced teachers who operator their Mysore programs out of general studios or other spaces. Fair warning, once you commit to Ashtanga, you'll find generic studio classes to be really unfulfilling and a total waste of money. |
Anonymous
Yoga has an affiliation with a particular religious tradition; not sure why you think it doesn’t. It can be compatible with other religions, but it’s simply inaccurate to pretend it originated outside the purview of any religion. My issue is you assume I’m a dilettante. I’m not. I have been learning about Buddhism and Hinduism for at least half my life and take it pretty seriously. I do believe in reincarnation, of course. I’m not sure that going to yoga classes and resenting mindfulness will do much for these people spiritually in the next life, but if it does, then that’s great. |
Anonymous
The fact that you combine Buddhism and Hinduism into apparently one religion says all I need to know. |
Anonymous
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The yoga teacher I had years ago farted in the middle of the class. At first I thought it was an accident but I later realized it was not. The plop sound happened once at each of the following classes.
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Anonymous
I haven’t assumed anything about you. I stated the vast majority of yoga teachers don’t have much of a background in Eastern religions and aren’t really in a position to educate students on religion, especially when most students don’t want to hear it. Have you ever had a friend who suddenly discovers Jesus and talks about it non-stop? It’s like that. Annoying, no real depth to what they are saying, they are just parroting things they have heard from others, and most of what they say is wrong. The reality is that most people just want asana, and that’s fine. A good teacher recognizes what the student needs and gives it to them, rather than pushing what they think students should learn. If students want to learn Hinduism, also fine, although they may be better served finding a lifelong Hindu practitioner and scholar- or even taking a college course- rather than a yoga teacher. |
Anonymous
What?? I said I learned about both — I never said it’s one religion. What’s wrong with you? Why are you so intent on proving I don’t know what I’m talking about? |
Anonymous
dp It sounds like you need to get a video and do yoga by yourself. Many people don't find what the yoga teachers do annoying and if you do ( no judgement) instead of saying what is wrong with them why not say It isn't for me? |
Anonymous
Because you clearly just have superficial -- yes fad -- level knowledge. The premise here is that yoga is some kind of religious act in the US, when clearly it's not. It's a WESTERN exercise, with people who have a superficial level knowledge of "Hinduism-slash-Buddhism" who think that the fact that they can talk about "releasing the fruits of your labor" means they are conducting some kind of authentic religious ritual. I'm actually not a stickler about "authenticity" and religion, so I will grant (if you want) that yoga can be a religious exercise. But to claim that yoga in the US is a Hindu or Buddhist religious rite is just wrong. It's a syncretic, appropriative European calesthenic exercise class mixed with some Hindu and Buddhist concepts. |
Anonymous
I never said Hinduism/Buddhism, first of all. Stop making things up. Yoga absolutely originated as a religious practice. I never said the way it’s practiced in the US is 100% authentic. I’m simply talking about its origins. You are a nasty, mean person who is intent on making assumptions about me and I’m sick of it. Have a nice day and try to show some kindness. |
Anonymous
lol, ok read some history. There is absolutely nothing historical at all about yoga as practiced in the US today. There may be something spiritual or religious about it, but it's not Hindu or Buddhist. "Today most people associate modern yoga with modern postural yoga, a fitness regimen made up of sequences of bodily postures, which are often synchronized with the breath. The emphasis on posture practice that characterizes modern postural yoga departs not just from the early history of modern yoga, but also from the history of yoga in general. In other words, posture practice was not central to any yoga tradition prior to the 20th century." https://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-163 |