Posts from ‘media’
Imagining a safe, accessible, ethical world for the future of yoga (image via metrolpolismag.com)
What does the future of yoga hold? Flying yoga mats? Hologram instructors? Geodesic dome studio/community spaces? Yoga vacations to the moon?
A little post on the Huffington Post last week looked into the crystal ball and asked about “The Future of Yoga in America” (I just have to say that nothing irritates me more than references to “yoga in America” – yoga happens in countries besides the USA and at a similar rate).
After sketching “a brief outline of the evolution of yoga” (in three paragraphs!), yoga teacher and therapist Ira Israel looks at the divide that has emerged between “spiritual” and “non-spiritual” yoga, and credits increased property values and rent with the proliferation of yoga teacher trainings. He also uses examples from his experience in becoming a licensed therapist, offering a possible model to ensure that yoga teachers go through the proper channels and can “do no harm.” Continue Reading
Jivamukti Yoga founders, David Life and Sharon Gannon: clothing optional, except when in yoga class?
Apparently Jivamukti Yoga studios in New York City have created a new rule for clothing requirements in yoga classes. According to Well+Good, “Our yogi source said the new rule stated that “people must wear tops in class and that see-through or overly revealing clothing was discouraged.”’
Oh yeah? Interesting that this should happen just weeks after a huge “scandal” about nude yoga advertising swept through the online yoga community. North American yoga practitioners are receiving increasingly mixed messages about the practice. And this is a huge and glaring example of the incongruency.
To add to the confusion, Jivamukti founders Sharon Gannon and David Life have often been photographed close to nude (but reportedly dress modestly when teaching classes). Hmm…
Advertising works. It does more than increase brand awareness and sell products. It also infiltrates our actions and behaviour. If images of half/fully naked bodies are normalized (and, we’re told, are “inspiring” and worth aspiring to), we’ll start seeing more skin in yoga classes. It’s that simple. When leaders in the community pose with minimal clothing, students follow.
Take it a little further, and we run the risk of creating practice spaces that aren’t safe or inclusive. It’s fine line.
Image via yogadawg.blogspot.com
Okay y’all. Last week I declared that I’m starting to feel it’s more effective to withhold comment on viral video yoga “controversies” than to get sucked into a predictable and cyclical conversation which ultimately results in increased brand recognition. Even though I want to advocate silence – for myself at least, as I find the cycle too frustrating and energy-draining – I also have to admit that I find the idea of silence a little unnerving. I value dialogue and believe in the power of conversation.
Luckily, YogaDawg came up with a pointed, yet typically light response with the above graphic. It’s interesting to think of the community as being exploited, rather than the women featured in sexualized yoga advertising – that puts a different spin on things, for me.
Is there a way to stimulate healthy discussion without fueling the fire? I decided to come up with some guidelines for how to contribute to the conversation without participating in it. Check ‘em out:
1) Resist the urge to comment on the video page itself, or watch it repeatedly to “analyze” the content. These show up as pageviews and comments numbers, which reinforce the effectiveness of the ad.
2) When blogging about the latest controversy, link to other blog posts or news articles about the video, rather than embedding the video in your post and driving more traffic towards it. Rather than posting images or screenshots of the video, post positive alternatives (or pictures of kittens! tag them with “nude yoga” and confuse the several thousand people who search that term daily). I learned the hard way that a powerful image can actually detract from the conversation at hand. Continue Reading
Koga: the best of both worlds
In an article for The Guardian last week, Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor/publisher of The Nation, confessed that she is giving up yoga for kickboxing. She wrote:
Now, I have nothing against yoga, but in light of the threat to our country posed by decidedly hawkish GOP wannabes, I find – at least for my purposes as publisher and editor of the Nation – yoga’s emphasis on serenity and pacifism to be frustrating at best, impractical at worst. It’s not that there’s anything objectionable about the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras; like many ancient spiritual texts, they are eminently wise and reasonable…
Quite simply, yoga doesn’t play in politics, which, for Republicans in this day and age, is all about winning, taking and imposing one’s will upon others.
Now, more than ever, Americans need to stand up, to fight for what is rightfully ours; we cannot dispassionately let the right impose its will upon us merely because we believe we’re closer to spiritual enlightenment than they are. (via The Guardian)
Serenity and pacifism? She obviously hasn’t spent any time in the yoga blogosphere! Frustrating and impractical? Okay, yeah, I get that – a quick glance at mainstream yoga culture reveals lithe spandex-clad (or naked) bodies, blissed out smiles and sugar-coated feel good language. Continue Reading
- It’s possible to be strong, sexy and empowered – while fully clothed. (screengrab of Kripalu ad, via poppyonakite.com)
It’s only the third week of January and already we’ve seen two big raging conversations go down in the yoga world: the NYT article (which has come to affectionately be known as “NYT yoga wreck-gate”) and a certain viral Equinox ad. I’ve resisted commenting on the later because I find it disheartening. And repetitive.
I’m starting to think that the best policy is to let my silence speak louder than my words. And more importantly, to not drive any more clicks to the video, to not keep talking about it because this is what the brand wants (this is the intention behind the video: not to show a “powerful” or “empowered” or “beautiful” practice; it’s viral marketing, and its ROI – return on investment – is determined by how many people are talking about it, how many click-throughs they get).
The scenario goes something like this:
- brand creates attractive and stylish ad using partially-clothed (or totally naked), highly-skilled female practitioner in advanced yoga postures
- a flurry of blog posts ensue, followed by raging discussion which breaks down into several camps: art vs beauty vs commercialism vs objectification of women
- the argument dissolves into attacks on the partially-clothed (or totally naked), highly-skilled female practitioner, and defenses of her beauty and dedication to practice
- partially-clothed (or totally naked), highly-skilled female practitioner claims she feels “judged,” feels the need to justify her decision and explain her intention (preferably in vague new agey language) to pose nude for said advertisement
Marketers see increased click-throughs and improved brand recognition. Continue Reading
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