The Yoga Misfit in the Room: How Modern Yoga Self Sabotages and Promotes Exclusion
When most people think of yoga, they think of a path to lessening their stress, building strength in their body, finding acceptance and easing their suffering. And yes, that’s some of what yoga aims to accomplish as we integrate its methods into our lives.
But as the yoga industry continues to grow, especially in western culture, the benefits of yoga have been granted to a narrowing group of people…getting narrower every day.
If you aren’t skinny, white, blonde, rich, and hypermobile- it can feel like you are really out of place in many yoga studios. And hey- nothing wrong with being the above things, but this archetype of the “yoga girl” has pretty much come to be the accepted representation of who can and should be doing yoga. I mean my husband doesn’t even want to come to yoga classes a lot of the time for fear of being looked like as “a creepy guy.”
Yes-we can easily say, “well yoga is for everyone and people just need to get over it and come to classes. “ No matter what we’re talking about, I am always an advocate of finding the courage to put yourself out there. This goes a bit beyond dealing with discomfort though. The problem is that the culture surrounding yoga permeates past the external outputs of social media and is integrated into the very rooms where we teach. In many studios, it has become almost cult-like. In the majority of highly successful studios- they lean into fitness based classes, shying away from the major philosophical points of yoga, instead choosing the flippantly mispronounce the random sprinkling of Sanskrit while encouraging people to “sweat it out.”
Classes often leave little, if any regard for individuality in people’s bodies, fitness levels, lifestyle, and baggage that they show up to the mat with. Nowadays, a “typical” student praises a yoga class for “calories burned” or the fact that it’s their “escape” from whatever is going on in their life. The communities that form in studios are made of people asking each other about their new “matching set” (yoga clothes) or the current trendy cleanse they are on. So many want to go to yoga because they think it will help with their stress, their anxiety, or their general suffering…and end up getting the opposite.
Instead, many walk into a class feeling immediately unwelcome, unskilled, and out of place. And often they never come back because “yoga must not be for me.” The few that don’t immediately give up, are unable to find regularity or support in the practice because, well, most studios don’t provide it for them.
I’ll never forget walking into a new yoga class and taking my shirt off to practice in my sports bra…and feeling the judging look of the instructor on me immediately. I’ll never forget walking to a new yoga studio and telling the desk person it was my first time in there and being greeted with a chilly demand for my last name and then no other instructions, let alone even an attempt to look up from the computer. I’ll never forget the yoga teacher who pushed me deeper into pigeon without permission after recovering from a knee injury and sending me into spiraling pain and re-injury. I’ll never forget the yoga teacher who called me out by name for being in childs pose telling me to get back up into downward facing dog. I’ll never forget the community party at my yoga studio had where I went to talk to one of the teachers only to have her roll her eyes at me and walk away.
These are REAL experiences that JUST I have had. And these aren’t the only ones I’ve had…imagine how many other people have experienced the same things if not worse. This is modern yoga culture and if you don’t fit in, you get out. And so people are. Of course no yoga studio is going to directly say that. They will all say the same things and boast of their “great community!” “knowledgable teachers!” and “inclusivity!” But actions speak louder than words. And so does social media.
Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash
As a teacher, for years I fell into the trap of, “post only the most impressive poses” in order to “get likes.” Unfortunately, the results usually seal the fate. Fancy poses, beautiful backgrounds, acrobatics, and wearing the least amount of clothing possible- does get you likes. But that’s only because we are continuing, as a culture, to promote not only this imagery of what to expect out of yoga, but what makes you worthy in life. And the cycles perpetuates itself. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people are NOT doing yoga…and perhaps are NOT even considering it.
So what can we do as teachers and studios to change this narrative? Well, we can teach fucking yoga. We can sell the benefits, the ideologies, the philosophy, instead of selling the graceful ballerina dancer chick that represents, well, nothing about yoga. Stop selling fitness and calling it yoga. Stop hiring teachers who don’t have basic communication skills or compassion. Stop taking yourself, as a studio, and as a teacher so seriously that people feel they need to earn a right to be there.
Every teacher and every studio won’t be right for EVERY student. Of course, we should all bring our unique voice to the mix and what we know the most about. But we need to stay in our scope, keep increasing our knowledge, and get better about how we promote ourselves, how we talk about yoga, and I can’t believe it needs to be said, but how we treat other people. If everyone practices yoga, we can all start to bring about more peace, within ourselves, our communities, and eventually in the world. And why wouldn’t we want that?
You deserve a studio where you feel welcome and supported. The Yoga Magick Studio will help you create consistency, build on what you already know, and bring you together with a community of other amazing students seeking the magick yoga provides.