Monday, July 21, 2008

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE CLICHES
Sung to the tune of the Coltrane jam.

In no particular order, a few of my favorite cliches about yoga. Feel free to contribute your own! Remember, just because something is a cliche doesn't mean it isn't true or accurate. Though wouldn't it be more fun and rewarding to acknowledge that they are, in fact, cliches, so that we can move on to see how they originated, if they're true and accurate, and what sort of transformation they might undergo over time?

— A conflation, signaling greater confusion, of yoga asana with all yoga practices; or, in the case of ashtanga vinyasa, confusing a branch for the tree, as it were.

— All yoginis are ...
White; upper-middle class or upper class; thin; "cut" or toned; vegetarian; female; twenty-something; eco-conscious or green; liberal; partial to organic food and clothing; single; ascetic; non-smoking; non-drinking; non-synthetic drug taking; rapturously in love with India; have a guru; value bliss and happiness.

— Yoga is a lifestyle, with accordingly appropriate books, movies, clothes, accessories, services, and holidays to be purchased and consumed.

From (oV0), whose handle looks to me unabashedly like a pair of breasts:

— The knees are the ego. Kapotasana will open your heart. Emotions are in the hips. Stiff people have issues.