Posts from ‘yoga’
Gulf War vet Arthur Boorman, before and after yoga.
Even though there’s a lukewarm anti-yoga revolution brewing, let us remember the power of yoga to transform lives. This video is hot on Reddit and has received almost 100,000 views since it was posted on YouTube on April 30. From the description:
Arthur Boorman was a disabled veteran of the Gulf War for 15 years, and was told by his doctors that he would never be able to walk on his own, ever again.
He stumbled upon an article about Diamond Dallas Page doing Yoga and decided to give it a try — he couldn’t do traditional, higher impact exercise, so he tried DDP YOGA and sent an email to Dallas telling him his story.
Dallas was so moved by his story, he began emailing and speaking on the phone with Arthur throughout his journey – he encouraged Arthur to keep going and to believe that anything was possible. Even though doctors told him walking would never happen, Arthur was persistent. He fell many times, but kept going.
Diamond Dallas Page is a former wrestler turned yoga machine who eschews “namaste” for “T & A.” It’s easy to find fault with his testerone-fuelled and spiritually-deprived approach to yoga, but there’s something to his Yoga for Regular Guys schtick. Watch the video below and be sure to have tissues handy – it’s a little sentimental but ultimately inspiring.
While not officially aligned with The Anti-Yoga Revolution, this Vancouver shop expresses an anti-yoga sentiment felt by many.
Yoga has gotten some bad press this year, with near-hysterical hype about injuries, salacious viral video advertising, banned yoga pants, and the John Friend/Anusara scandal. But did you know there’s an actual revolution brewing? And it’s called The Anti-Yoga Revolution (AYR).
According to their website, The Anti-Yoga Revolution’s mission is to “promote the education of the general public as to the uselessness and in some cases harmfulness of yoga and the many better alternatives available.” The anonymous organizers behind the AYR claim:
Yoga has no practical benefits, it gives people a self-esteem boost by setting them very easy tasks so once they’ve done them, they get a sense of having actually exercised when they’ve in actual fact achieved little to nothing. These people then think they feel better because of a placebo effect. Once people have been tricked into thinking that yoga has all sorts of benefits, they go out and buy the DVDs and equipment; it’s a scam people.
But fear not, lovers of yoga! This revolution doesn’t seem to be a threat to the mega-force that we know and love. Besides a poorly conceived anti-yoga campaign and a graveyard of a forum, the AYR isn’t even on Twitter. As we all know, you can’t have a 21st century revolution without a Twitter account.
Are these Occupy Yogis meditating for a better world? Or for better working conditions for yoga teachers? (image via Occupy Yoga NYC Facebook page)
It’s appropriate that on May Day, as hundreds of thousands of people across the world filled the streets, demanding better working conditions, greater job security and improved quality of life, GOOD should publish a post about the cold, hard reality of teaching yoga.
In the article, Making It As a Yoga Teacher: Not As Zen As You Think, actor and writer Sue Smith details her short-lived career as a yoga teacher. She explained that after seven years of practice, she decided to teach yoga to get out of the restaurant industry. She wanted to teach yoga because:
I envied my yoga teachers, who seemed to be these rich, serene deities who lived in pajamas and had legions of followers. I wanted that life. I mean, sweatpants to work? (I’d sworn off khakis and blazers my first year out of college.) My childhood goal was to become a known philosopher. To me, yoga seemed like a perfect, zen way out of my grueling server lifestyle.
I was wrong. Turns out teaching yoga is just another service job. Continue Reading
image via huffingtonpost.ca
It’s May Day, and the people are calling for a General Strike, a day without the 99%.
After a winter of dormancy, the Occupy movement has been slowly awakening over the past weeks, and today there are actions planned around North America. Continue Reading
Before: Udemy ad copy for Sadie Nardini's course, April 19 ~ allegedly posted without approval from Nardini
After: Udemy ad copy for Sadie Nardini's course, April 21 ~ rewritten to reflect "the full spectrum of the course"
Last week, a Facebook ad for Sadie Nardini’s “summer yoga body” online course caught my attention and warranted a blog post questioning the integrity of using weight loss as a yoga marketing tactic. A hot conversation ensued and Nardini herself jumped in to express her dismay over ad copy that allegedly hadn’t been approved by her. By the end of the day, the text on the Udemy website had been changed (see images above).
This morning, Nardini commented again with another update:
I wanted to report back and let you know that I have had a great discussion about the course advertisements with Pedro from Udemy.
I have to say, he was immediately very open to changing the ads, on his dime, and was upset himself that they were upsetting people. Apparently, they extracted the weight loss and anti-aging benefits of my (and many) yoga styles, and failed to give a broader, more mind-body-spirit view of the 14-day program. Continue Reading
