What is “yoga”? (And why I’m ready to break up with asana)
What is yoga? The Sanskrit word is rooted in the meaning, ‘to yoke’ or ‘to join’. For me the implications here are endless - to join mind to body, soul to body, soul to other souls, to bring together the body for wholeness & healing. Yoga, in its entirety, is an 8-limbed path, where the asana (physical postures) are just one of those, albeit the one that has become synonymous with Yoga in the Western world.
Despite some female involvement in the other limbs of yoga, physical asana as we know it today was created by and for men in India - that means the postures, as we know them, take nothing into account about health and longevity for the female body, which has entirely different needs and functions than men’s bodies do. I always wondered if we’d see the implications of this after Yoga became such a ubiquitous practice in the U.S., and I believe we are. I speak to several women on the daily who have been practicing yoga on and off for years, whose bodies just don’t feel very good. I can relate.
Ive been teaching yoga since 15 years old.
At that time, I believed it saved my life - and it did - but I realize now how little that had to to do with the postures themselves. It was the nervous system regulation, integration of emotional experience into my body, somatic release, community support, and breath work that truly changed the trajectory of my life.
I am aware of many teachers and many yoga teacher trainings that are doing their best to “modernize” the approach to yoga so that it integrates what we know now about anatomy - to adapt the postures to women’s bodies or to better suit all bodies (including any differing abilities or body shapes & sizes) - and I do that in my own classes as well. The other day, I realized … why are we holding on to the asana at all?
It hit me. If “yoga” is not really about postures, and if the postures aren’t even the aspect of yoga that effected my healing on a mental and physical level, and if it is so dang challenging to take a movement that was at its inception NOT designed for all beings to do and try to make it accessible, then why are we doing these postures at all? (It requires that “good” yoga teachers basically have a PhD in Anatomy & Physiology just to adapt the practice intelligently for all bodies. Pretty high expectations for yoga teachers!)
I realized that in my classes I have started to teach less and less of the yoga asana and more and more of the primal, functional, dance-like movements because they create the same healing experience as yoga “asana” without the exclusionary nature of Asana. It’s a different movement style that creates the same experience of integrated being as “yoga” - with the added benefits of stronger cores, stronger glutes, and healthier pelvic floors. For me, I have distilled and discovered the true meaning of “yoga”, and figured out how to retain the parts that saved my life, while being able to let go of the asana once and for all. I finally feel ready to totally break up with asana.
During our Buti training, which was heavy handed in traditional asana, I had a realization - I don’t teach Buti, and I haven’t in a long time.
I’m 30 now. I’ve had two children. When I try to comply with everything I learned in the early years of my yoga practice or days teaching Buti, I notice my body resisting - my wrists hurt. My knees hurt. My back. I experience the discomfort that comes along with chronic tightness in the pelvic floor.
So will I stop teach yoga? Probably never. It is still a catalyst, a path (one of many), and usually an entry point for people to discover that mind-body integration and spiritual awakening. The benefits, in my view, outweigh the risks tenfold. What I hope to do at Uprise is offer both asana, and non-asana classes, as many paths to the same ultimate destination: awakening the primordial energy, inspiring somatic release, and re-patterning the body for health.
So what is “That Uprise Class”?
It is…
Fitness created with women at the center
Everything you love about yoga - the mental, emotional, somatic and spiritual benefits - with the ADDED benefit of true functional movements for the body
Designed to awaken the primordial energy & flood you with oxytocin
The dance club vibe you didn’t know you were missing from your life
Wicked f*#&ckin fun
What it’s not ..
EDM overload that stresses your nervous system
Yoga asana that does not create strength, endurance & fitness for women
Too fast-paced with no time for integration
Painful for the knees and hips, and not accessible to all ages
Competitive or exclusive or for one particular “type” of body
We have several new instructors joining us at Uprise this month. Please give them a warm welcome by bringing your unique energy to help them co-create their classes; it’s all about the people that show up! Book now at this link.