I first experienced Yoga probably about twenty years ago now. There was a Hatha class in my gym in London and I would do it to relax after a week of step and body pump classes. In my circles Yoga was never really talked about much back then, I don’t actually remember any Yoga studios (but then I never looked for any) and none of my friends were doing it.
I remember going to see Madonna on tour and my seat was positioned so I could see just backstage, she was doing a headstand before coming on to perform. I can’t remember the exact dates but Madonna and Geri Halliwell promoted yoga for miraculous weight loss and having lean sculpted bodies. This seemed to cause a rise in popularity and awareness.
A Bikram studio opened up in Balham, this new hot Yoga was the talk of the town and apparently the way to shed the pounds. I was a runner at the time and super stiff, so I signed up for a 10 day trial and was hooked. I was used to gym classes and intense workouts so it just felt like another challenge. There was one teacher there who was different to all the others, Raj Sharma, who would bring a light heartedness and spiritual aspect to it. I loved how completely present I felt after each class, nothing else mattered. That was something new to me, and I liked it.
Over the years these are the teachers I have been drawn to; the ones that are friendly, down to earth, kind and bring the whole path of Yoga to the practice they teach, Each class an opportunity for self enquiry and discovery.
In 2012 I went off to India and took my first 200 hour teacher training. After 6 months of travel and study out there I returned to move to Brighton. Over these 9 years of being a teacher I have seen the growth of the Yoga “industry”, the rise of the “Instagram celebrity” , the increase of a price of yoga leggings (!), and the downfall of many “Guru’s”.
I feel like Yoga is in a bit of a state of crisis right now. Well not Yoga itself, Yoga is a way of living, a beautiful practice to live a compassionate, healthy and authentic life. Yoga as an industry, it’s got caught up with the white skinny girl on a beach in a bikini stereotype, that ends up putting many people off especially the Indian culture from which it actually originated from and many others that could be benefitting from it to. Now there is much discussion about the cultural appropriation of Yoga, the cherry picking of traditions and blending them with what suits us, the lack of honouring the roots of this practice we love so much.
As a teacher I feel so concerned to be making sure the Yoga I teach is inclusive of all races, genders, body types, sexuality….there is a fear of getting it wrong and offending with out realising. As a straight white woman myself I am sure I am naturally going to put some people coming off to my classes, that’s ok we are not going to appeal to everyone, but I would never ever want to offend or upset anyone. I have always wanted to welcome anyone who comes to my class with open arms. Soon after becoming a teacher I trained in being able to run a trauma informed class to make sure people felt safe in the space I teach in. All of this is the kind of thing we have to be really aware of in Yoga, I don’t think was considered so much before and so this is a important progression for all of us teachers.
The first time I went to Sivanada ashram, Kerala, in 2011 it was a challenging but beautiful experience. We had to hand in our phones into reception and could not get them until we left. There was no contact with the outside world, my first digital detox experience. There were people there earnestly practicing and learning traditional yoga and the way of the yogic life.
I last went there in 2018, it was very different. For a start we were allowed to keep our phones with us and there was Wi-Fi in one of the meditation/ practice halls. Not that it ever worked but it was constantly full of people wandering around desperately trying to get a connection. This beautiful hall that once had such amazing energy from all the practice that happened into it felt tainted by this obsession with Wi-Fi.
There was a 200 hour teacher training happening, it was packed with Europeans and Indians. On the first night everyone had to stand up and tell people why they were doing the training, quite a few Indian women stood up explaining they hadn’t actually done Yoga before but had heard it was a way of loosing weight or that their husbands had sent them on it as becoming a Yoga teacher was a way to make money. Through the evening meditations peoples phones were buzzing with texts even though they were not allowed in that hall. I noticed a poster in the reception area from the India Government saying how becoming a Yoga teacher was a good job prospective.
An Indian man later told me that it was thanks to us Westerners getting into Yoga so much that had changed the mindset of Indians, they now saw it as a way to make money. I don’t think this really was the original intention of Yoga that was passed down through the traditions in India for 100s of years. This shows a sign of the impact of capitalism of Yoga from the West.
Of course if you choose to be a Yoga teacher though you still need to pay the bills, but are many people actually earning good money from this “industry” ? Yes there are people who are doing very well. There are “super star Yoga teachers” that travel the world running retreats and trainings. I do wonder how this will change now with the climate crisis and COVID. Perhaps it will continue on line but will there be so much demand for Yoga teacher trainings now that people are gradually starting to realise, actually making an earning to actually live on decently is hard! Most people have second jobs.
To conclude I think this “crisis” or “shake up” of Yoga can only be a good thing to make people stop and think about the roots and purpose of Yoga. The bad behaviour of many Guru’s/ top teachers has made people realise, myself included, how it’s important to question everything and not just believe blindly all we are told. People can make out they are experts and highly evolved spiritually, and maybe they are but we are all still human. We make mistakes.
With everything I always come back to, what feels right in my heart. Our body often gives us signs when something is off, like a tension or a inner sense to move away. This is where our own regular practice can help tune into that, and the wisdom we have within. We can check in with Yama’s of Patanjali, am I being kind, compassionate and honest with myself and others? Am I content with what I have and not grasping or feeling jealous for what others do, do I trust that I will receive all that I need? Am I taking care of my own energy and those around me? The Niyamas encourage regular practice, letting go of habits that do not serve and continual self study and reflection. Sometimes this means facing up to where we haven’t behaved so well , when we haven’t even realised we have hurt others by our actions and this is where listening to and learning from others comes in. The willingness to accept where we have done wrong and do what we can to make ammends.
This feels like a lengthy piece with many parts, I would never have thought Yoga would be so complicated when I first stepped in to a class all those years ago. If you see Yoga as a way of living, with ourselves and each other, it takes in all aspects of life, the good, the bad and the ugly. And I think this is what has been coming to light over the past couple of years, we are all waking up to where it has gone wrong and how now we have an opportunity to fix this.
