Yogain’t
By Don Ogata
I’ve been doing yoga for eight or nine years now, and I absolutely love it. From my first class, I knew I had found something that wasn’t going to go away.
This is coming from someone who has practiced everything from Judo to Tae Kwan Do to Kung Fu to Aerobics to Shotokan to Tai Chi—not necessarily in that order. Actually, it was exactly in that order. The thing is, none of them lasted over two years, which at a certain point made me wonder why yoga clicked so solidly with me? As I thought about it, I realized that the spiritual and meditative aspects made for a combination that had me praising Allah, Jesus, and my inner child all at the same time. (Tai Chi came close, but that’s a story for another day.) The physical aspect of yoga was a tool toward the other goals.
As the years went by, I dutifully subscribed to Yoga Journal, amassed a pile of yoga DVDs, bought a neti pot, and even considered opening a yoga studio. Being a financial guy, it didn’t take long for me to realize a yoga studio would never pay the rent, unless you had multiple revenue streams, including teacher trainings, seminars, yoga journeys, and merchandising. As a result of that research, I started looking critically at some of the more mainstream yoga corporations, Yoga Journal, and the lucrative home video market to find the secrets behind their respective success.
This is when my disillusionment with corporate yoga started creeping in like a bad stomach bug.
One 200- hour teacher training runs about $3,500. Another 50-hour teacher training costs $1,200. Not bad for the studios—after all, they have to pay the bills. So this is how the studio chains make their money. But as a student, it occurred to me: could I really expect someone with five weeks of training to be equipped to teach yoga? These inexperienced teachers may be able to pass along the physical aspects of yoga, but certainly not the inner workings that make yoga so rewarding. Yes, there are teachers coming out of these trainings who have the chops to teach substantive classes, but by default they are in the minority of such conveyor-belt teachers.
Disillusioned, I turned my attention toward other yoga-related industries. I picked up the latest copy of Yoga Journal. I noticed that all the models were young and lithe (even the male ones, which doesn’t seem right to me). Looking at the yoga sequences—and being a realist—I can’t help but think that there’s no way my leg is wrapping around my head, no matter how long I warm up in Padmasana. What are they trying to sell me?
There’s an idealism and elitism rampant in this magazine that leaves a majority of yoga practitioners never being able to achieve what they read. I’d at least venture to say that 100% of the 53-year-old male Asian readers are being alienated by this approach.
After all this research through the lens of a critical businessman, I inevitably started watching some of the yoga DVDs in my collection. “Don’t try some of the more advanced poses,” the teacher instructs. Yeah, I’m really going to try and become an inverted U while holding mulabandha… and still remember to breathe. (Although I did fall asleep in saddle pose once, and it took 30 minutes to get my legs out from under me after I woke up.) And another thing about those DVDs—after a yoga practice, I need a little more than 15 seconds of Savasana for my body to absorb what I went through. Speed learning isn’t a technique best applied to yoga, but you’d think it was status quo if you learned yoga through half the stuff marketed in this industry.
Here’s the thing: commercial yoga has become all about the physical, with the spiritual and meditative aspects left on the back burner or outside waiting in the car.
To me, this is the soul and heart of yoga, and without it, all you are left with is a façade of an ancient tradition. In my eyes, that’s better called Pilates. Or, let’s coin a new term: Yogain’t.
About Don Ogata
Don Ogata lives in Southern California and is gainfully employed. He doesn’t have a blog or website and he doesn’t run his own business. His current passions are Yin Yoga and contemplating his next RY sticker placement. He can be found on Facebook or wallowing in self-pity from the Corporate Wasteland.
10 Comments !
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Shawn says:
Hallelujah! Praise Patañjali!
You hit on so many good things here, not the least of which is the lack of diversity in the yoga world. Where are the Toe Sox ads with average people? Where are the teachers who aren’t named Brittney or Sasha or Prana or Melody?
As for the shallow nature of Western yoga, you are right. I think one of the reasons people get disillusioned with yoga is that if you are just doing the physical practice you eventually realize that you can get the same benefits more cheaply and in more enjoyable ways, like going to the gym or running.
And the 200-hour programs are CRAP!!!!! Crap, I tell you! (Did I mention they are CRAP?). When I finished mine, I quickly realized that all I knew was how to teach someone exactly like me (yes, a scary thought). So I found a studio that teaches more in-depth, with most of the teachers working through a lineage of rather than a corporate bottom line.
Good luck with your RY sticker placements. I’m carefully mapping out my options. With ultimate sticker power comes ultimate responsibility.
Don says:
Thanks Shawn, I can tell you’re a good yoga teacher and would definitely take your class. Taking a look at what you’ve learned and then going to the next level with it means you are always willing to expand your knowledge and ultimately pass that on to your class.
The RY stickers are a great way for me to satisfy the Johnny Appleseed in me. Plant a seed and watch it grow!
Thais says:
YES YES AND YES!! i could not agree more. as much as i love yoga for everything it has taught me – i cannot help but resent the media that turns the beautiful art into a simple revenue stream. its seriously so sad.
Don says:
Thais, I always thought that the media could be a gateway drug for expanding yoga. Use the glitz to get people into class and start interjecting the spirituality along the way. Unfortunately, the second half of the plan gets dropped off and all you are left with are the class sizes and the bottom line.
Joslyn Hamilton says:
I used to manage a big beautiful corporate yoga studio in San Francisco. While I was there, we were all about trying to prove to Major Yoga Corporation (who was on the cusp of buying the studio — and eventually did) that we could be profitable. While I don’t think there is anything wrong with a yoga studio seeking to be profitable (we live in a capitalist culture, for God’s sake), I eventually left the studio because of “creative differences” with my higher-ups about what really mattered in a yoga business.
My opinion? Offer good yoga and they will come. Their tactic? Hold daylong manager retreats to dream up new and better promotions, special offers, and marketing tactics to entice people in the door and get them to commit to lifelong memberships that they would (hopefully) never use. Those of you with any business acumen at all can do the math to figure out why that would be the ideal situation in a structure where teachers get paid by-the-head.
The studio was a beautiful space with gorgeous custom lighting fixtures and a hip boutique and expensive incense wafting throughout the air. But the class numbers were terrible and the plan didn’t really work. My own yoga-savvy friends (and, truth be told, myself) preferred to practice elsewhere — at a studio with soul.
Don says:
You’re the best, Joslyn! Of all the places I’ve taken yoga classes, without a doubt my favorite place is through the local Parks and Recreation program. Why, because my yoga teacher there, Shawn Abtahi, is the best! Her goal is yoga, her joy is yoga and I get the most out of her classes. There may not be any mirrors or a juice bar for after class, but nothing beats the serenity and calm I experience when her class is over. Did I mention you’re the best, Joslyn? And right there with you are Vanessa and Leslie.
Chrissy says:
This is great…I could not agree more on so many points. While I get that we all have to make a living, I like a place where I can relax and practice..where I don’t have to listen to the litany of “studio news” that is force fed after Savasana. IT is SO hard to find studios that are small and full of heart…so many people have to blow everything up, houses, yoga studios, their bottom line..whatever…which is why I stick with my few favorite teachers who know what they are talking about:)
Don says:
So true Chrissy, thanks for your comments!
Chrissy says:
Thank you for a great read!
Thursdayyoga.com says:
Hey; thanks for sharing.
In regards to the foot behind the head i.e. in Durvasasana, which I didn’t even know about until I was writing this post about external rotation
http://thursdayyoga.com/blog/pop-yoga/
There are bone on bone limitations, and I agree the pictures make us wonder? right? I wonder because it all influences, meaning Yoga Journal influences the instructors and also is a reflection. It takes a humble and a spiritual teacher to teach a pose as a way to “discovery” rather than another American test; if the test is who can get into Harvard, I’d acknowledge certain “class” advantages. If the test is who can get their foot behind their head, I’d acknowledge bone on bone limitations. I don’t know as much as I’d like, but Paul Grilley…is pretty amazing at explaining anatomical differences.
Thanks for sharing.
Keep yoga-ing, I’m looking and putting prayers for more meditation and more breath by breath connection in classes.
Renee