I don't hate yoga, but I don't go to yoga centers either. It's too much. Once, my best friend and I did one of those at-home yoga instruction videos, and the sounds our bodies made . . . we just couldn't handle it.
Now, in my late 30s, I stretch every day. I guess I do yoga every day but it's without the meditation and it's intentionally for gains. I want to be able to do a full split, have wanted to do it since I was a kiddo figure skating and wanting to be Nancy Kerrigan. Through daily stretching and focus, I've gained something like 8 inches of stretch and am getting ever closer to that dream split.
Glad to see the Yoga people fighting for yoga. Kinda the point of your piece! Take a stand, work hard, and be willing to fight. Even for Yoga if that is your passion and you work and make sacrifices and choices to do it well.
Or not. But fight and choose and work for whatever, to try to be the best, at least the best you sincerely can.
Love the xx-xy ad btw. Fantastic, passionate, and I wish there were a way to crowdsource the money for an ad buy on the superbowl parade of fake virtue.
I confess that I secretly hate yoga too ! It is so boring and repetitive— but I always feel guilty for not loving it and being cool with the repetition and boringness and breathwork. I love that you articulated here why I don’t need to love it! I like to lift really heavy weights and push myself really hard at the gym with my lifting and I am in constant competition with myself to get to the next level. I suppose some people practice yoga that way with some complex poses but it’s just not my cup of tea. I am currently working on building up to doing 100 pushups in one set — that’s more interesting to me than a 70 min yoga class. But I also get that yoga is really meaningful to those who love and practice it and by all means, I support that (I know you do too, Jen!).
I’m a yoga teacher, and a supporter of your efforts on behalf of women’s sports. Yoga and competitive sports are not incompatible. Yoga provides many benefits for the body (strength, flexibility and balance) and mind (focus, clear thinking, calm). Professional teams have had yoga teachers work with players as part of conditioning. You may have seen players meditating on the sidelines before games. Being competitive and being a yogi is not an “either-or”, it’s a “both-and”.
It's unfortunate that this unscientifically based movement religion is recommended by coaches. Yoga often involves many muscle groups and is not a passive stretching system. Feldenkrais or Alexander work is more anatomically based. Former dancer here. Also not a yoga fan.
I don't really think this post is about hating yoga. I believe it's about a certain mind set promoted by society. All my working life I strived to do the best job I possibly could. It earned me the nick name Competitive Pete. There is nothing wrong with honest ambition. My oldest grandson was having some problems and came to live with us for the summer. We taught him the value of work for recognition and reward. You want a bike? Go dig that drainage ditch and install the culvert. You want a berry pie? Come and help us pick berries. Today he is a very successful young man of 21 who is well on the way to owning his own home. By contrast his brother sits at home living off of mom and dad while he waits for a "good" job to come along. His brother offered to get him a job working along side him but he says he doesn't want to work that hard. (roughnecking). My other son's three children are no different. I see no future for them. I've tried telling them there is no shame in failure as long as you try your hardest. I suspect they think I am a crazy old man. Meanwhile the oldest is telling them if they want to get ahead listen to what grandma and grandpa are saying and they will succeed like he is. It's all to no avail. This I believe is the point Jen is trying to make.
Thank goodness there’s other people who hate yoga. It’s like exercising in slow motion. I don’t see the point. If I don’t feel sweaty and exhausted after exercise I don’t feel like I’ve done anything.
Hi Jennifer, I have to agree to disagree. I love yoga! Power and flow. It's intense, hot, super sweaty, and ridiculously challenging - involves learning more advanced poses, being able to get into them, hold them, then move on to more difficult progressions of them. You may be going to the wrong kind of yoga. Yin is restorative and what I call sleepy yoga. But we can agree to disagree. I finish up with a yin class - another 60 mins - after my 60-75 minutes power and flow classes for intermediate yogis when I have had a long week. Thanks for always being honest and being yourself! Truth matters.
I wish you wouldn’t repeat this tired narrative about San Francisco. It was true maybe 4 years ago, but the political winds have clearly shifted. You never hear about harm reduction anymore. The new mayor is all about cleaning up the tenderloin and using the levers of government to force a change. I am looking out my window in the financial district and see a bustling Ferry Building again.
Yoga is also a religion. As well, some of the standard poses are a risk for damage to the veins in your neck, and often the instructor demonstrates over-flexibility to beginners, who risk joint injuries. When I taught Kindergarten in Park Slope, Brooklyn, the PTA moms at PS 107 had a scheme to get the PTA to pay for us teachers to have yoga at their favorite local place. I was the teacher who figured out these moms got comps for their classes from bringing in this "business." The yoga instructor was insulting to the teachers who said they have bad knees and sat at the side. We were not allowed by the adminstrators to do an alternative activity, like a walk around the park. We had to sit there and watch if we did not participate. As a former professional dancer, I'm more flexible than most of the other teachers. I gave it a try, so as to make my own critiques based on actual anatomy credits I earned in pursuit of my BFA in dance. The instructor went into the religious philosophy while we hung out in uncomfortable poses in a static stillness that was just maddening. This was the best example of bad teaching I'd witnessed in many years. Then, at the end, with a pose arching my back, the teacher came over and, without my permission, moved my head such that my cervical bones cracked. I took the next day off to recover. Yoga is not based on any medical or anatomical training. It is a religious practice. I choreographed my own, anatomy-based floor movement workout for relaxation, flexibility and secure mind/body connection. The frequency that therapists and psychologists recommend yoga for those of us with PTSD and anxiety problems represents the gross ignorance the mental health field promulgates as it ignores the mind/body connection in counseling. I'm with you all the way about yoga, Jennifer! Here's one of mine:
Jen, one lesson for me from more than 25 years of personal yoga practice is the need to embrace discomfort and to recognize the difference between discomfort and pain. My teachers were way outside the popular mainstream “brands” of yoga that were commercially successful. Often my teachers were ridiculed as being old fashioned and not hip. But through their guidance I was able to develop a personal practice that has helped me become stronger, more resilient and I hope kinder.
go do some Ashtanga yoga. btw, I did appreciate your piece. Seems many of our kids want the reward with no work! I have a grand kid who just began competing in swimming. She still is honing and developing her competitive nature.
I don't hate yoga, but I don't go to yoga centers either. It's too much. Once, my best friend and I did one of those at-home yoga instruction videos, and the sounds our bodies made . . . we just couldn't handle it.
Now, in my late 30s, I stretch every day. I guess I do yoga every day but it's without the meditation and it's intentionally for gains. I want to be able to do a full split, have wanted to do it since I was a kiddo figure skating and wanting to be Nancy Kerrigan. Through daily stretching and focus, I've gained something like 8 inches of stretch and am getting ever closer to that dream split.
Glad to see the Yoga people fighting for yoga. Kinda the point of your piece! Take a stand, work hard, and be willing to fight. Even for Yoga if that is your passion and you work and make sacrifices and choices to do it well.
Or not. But fight and choose and work for whatever, to try to be the best, at least the best you sincerely can.
Love the xx-xy ad btw. Fantastic, passionate, and I wish there were a way to crowdsource the money for an ad buy on the superbowl parade of fake virtue.
I confess that I secretly hate yoga too ! It is so boring and repetitive— but I always feel guilty for not loving it and being cool with the repetition and boringness and breathwork. I love that you articulated here why I don’t need to love it! I like to lift really heavy weights and push myself really hard at the gym with my lifting and I am in constant competition with myself to get to the next level. I suppose some people practice yoga that way with some complex poses but it’s just not my cup of tea. I am currently working on building up to doing 100 pushups in one set — that’s more interesting to me than a 70 min yoga class. But I also get that yoga is really meaningful to those who love and practice it and by all means, I support that (I know you do too, Jen!).
My husband is a loyal yogi. I'm glad he loves it!
OMG, brilliant piece. I just read it out loud to my husband.
(And I don't think hating yoga per se is at all the point of this piece.)
Exactly it's not. Plus it was supposed to a little funny. It's like how can you hate something so wholesome?
I totally forgot about your past life as a professional gymnast 🤦♀️- from that place, yeah, yoga could be a snooze fest. I get it. 😉
I’m a yoga teacher, and a supporter of your efforts on behalf of women’s sports. Yoga and competitive sports are not incompatible. Yoga provides many benefits for the body (strength, flexibility and balance) and mind (focus, clear thinking, calm). Professional teams have had yoga teachers work with players as part of conditioning. You may have seen players meditating on the sidelines before games. Being competitive and being a yogi is not an “either-or”, it’s a “both-and”.
I know. I was obviously being a little provocative. Its not my cup of tea but I totally get the benefit.
It's unfortunate that this unscientifically based movement religion is recommended by coaches. Yoga often involves many muscle groups and is not a passive stretching system. Feldenkrais or Alexander work is more anatomically based. Former dancer here. Also not a yoga fan.
I don't really think this post is about hating yoga. I believe it's about a certain mind set promoted by society. All my working life I strived to do the best job I possibly could. It earned me the nick name Competitive Pete. There is nothing wrong with honest ambition. My oldest grandson was having some problems and came to live with us for the summer. We taught him the value of work for recognition and reward. You want a bike? Go dig that drainage ditch and install the culvert. You want a berry pie? Come and help us pick berries. Today he is a very successful young man of 21 who is well on the way to owning his own home. By contrast his brother sits at home living off of mom and dad while he waits for a "good" job to come along. His brother offered to get him a job working along side him but he says he doesn't want to work that hard. (roughnecking). My other son's three children are no different. I see no future for them. I've tried telling them there is no shame in failure as long as you try your hardest. I suspect they think I am a crazy old man. Meanwhile the oldest is telling them if they want to get ahead listen to what grandma and grandpa are saying and they will succeed like he is. It's all to no avail. This I believe is the point Jen is trying to make.
So on point... Thank you.
Thank goodness there’s other people who hate yoga. It’s like exercising in slow motion. I don’t see the point. If I don’t feel sweaty and exhausted after exercise I don’t feel like I’ve done anything.
I hate yoga too.
Hi Jennifer, I have to agree to disagree. I love yoga! Power and flow. It's intense, hot, super sweaty, and ridiculously challenging - involves learning more advanced poses, being able to get into them, hold them, then move on to more difficult progressions of them. You may be going to the wrong kind of yoga. Yin is restorative and what I call sleepy yoga. But we can agree to disagree. I finish up with a yin class - another 60 mins - after my 60-75 minutes power and flow classes for intermediate yogis when I have had a long week. Thanks for always being honest and being yourself! Truth matters.
I wish you wouldn’t repeat this tired narrative about San Francisco. It was true maybe 4 years ago, but the political winds have clearly shifted. You never hear about harm reduction anymore. The new mayor is all about cleaning up the tenderloin and using the levers of government to force a change. I am looking out my window in the financial district and see a bustling Ferry Building again.
I am very familiar with the mayor. I have known him and his wife for years.
Do you think he will manage to fix anything? He's really starting off slowly.
Good. I hope he can keep the momentum going in the right direction.
Yoga is also a religion. As well, some of the standard poses are a risk for damage to the veins in your neck, and often the instructor demonstrates over-flexibility to beginners, who risk joint injuries. When I taught Kindergarten in Park Slope, Brooklyn, the PTA moms at PS 107 had a scheme to get the PTA to pay for us teachers to have yoga at their favorite local place. I was the teacher who figured out these moms got comps for their classes from bringing in this "business." The yoga instructor was insulting to the teachers who said they have bad knees and sat at the side. We were not allowed by the adminstrators to do an alternative activity, like a walk around the park. We had to sit there and watch if we did not participate. As a former professional dancer, I'm more flexible than most of the other teachers. I gave it a try, so as to make my own critiques based on actual anatomy credits I earned in pursuit of my BFA in dance. The instructor went into the religious philosophy while we hung out in uncomfortable poses in a static stillness that was just maddening. This was the best example of bad teaching I'd witnessed in many years. Then, at the end, with a pose arching my back, the teacher came over and, without my permission, moved my head such that my cervical bones cracked. I took the next day off to recover. Yoga is not based on any medical or anatomical training. It is a religious practice. I choreographed my own, anatomy-based floor movement workout for relaxation, flexibility and secure mind/body connection. The frequency that therapists and psychologists recommend yoga for those of us with PTSD and anxiety problems represents the gross ignorance the mental health field promulgates as it ignores the mind/body connection in counseling. I'm with you all the way about yoga, Jennifer! Here's one of mine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kVje8nzf6I&list=PLOFlPPQm71Ii-l-xoAlBZc5Iy9xZyfbUY&index=18
Jen, one lesson for me from more than 25 years of personal yoga practice is the need to embrace discomfort and to recognize the difference between discomfort and pain. My teachers were way outside the popular mainstream “brands” of yoga that were commercially successful. Often my teachers were ridiculed as being old fashioned and not hip. But through their guidance I was able to develop a personal practice that has helped me become stronger, more resilient and I hope kinder.
The hardest thing about "moving forward" for me is that I don't know which direction forward is in.
Back in our gym days - if we were laying on a mat, we landed wrong.
go do some Ashtanga yoga. btw, I did appreciate your piece. Seems many of our kids want the reward with no work! I have a grand kid who just began competing in swimming. She still is honing and developing her competitive nature.