Two annoying yoga things out there today

I’m already regretting this post, but I’ll toss it out there in the hopes of amusing a few people.

Two yoga-related things breezed across my virtual desk today, and rather than bottling up my reactions, and I’m going to release them.

The first is a silly one. It is from a piece at MagforWomen on 11 celebs who do yoga. Here’s the copy about Madonna:

2. Madonna – Ashtanga Yoga

At 53, if there is someone who looks stunningly beautiful among our celebrities, it has to be Madonna! Just look at her face, her figure; it’s just marvelous. Well, the credit goes to Ashtanga yoga which she has been practising since almost 16 years. In Ashtanga yoga, there are six postures with an increasing level of difficulty. It commences with an ‘opening sequence’ that involves ten Sun Salutations and standing poses. After this, you move on to the next level depending on your ability.

Did you catch it? Six “postures?” Gah.

Now, I know it is little more than a typo — it’s a mistaken substitution of one word, postures, for the right one, sequence or even “set”. But it sure makes me wish my Ashtanga practice were just six postures long! (Well, not in the sense that I wish I was being stopped at, what reverse triangle?) How easy would it be to bang through the practice in 20 minutes every day? I might weigh 250, but… I’d be a successful Ashtangi nonetheless.

The second item is a bit more serious. Just a bit. And, sadly, it involves our favorite author, the NY Times’ William Broad. Although it is not his writing, it is Tara Stiles’ — at the Huffington Post.

Via Huffpo

She uses some encounters with Broad to make a fine enough point:

Yoga is not about the history of yoga. Yoga is not about being in a sacred community of the initiated few. Yoga is about uniting inward which takes place in the present, not the past, in each and every moment. It’s a different experience for each individual, but connects us all, allowing us to tap into our powerful ability to become sensitized, heal, and live with compassion for ourselves, others, and our world.

But my issue is her defense of Broad. (I’m more or less agnostic when it comes to Stiles, herself, although I realize why she might set more than a few people off.) I understand her desire to zig (in defending him) when so many other people are zagging (in attacking his take on yoga). And I hate to zag with the crowd, but in all the interviews I’ve seen and heard of Broad on yoga, he’s come across as a terrible spokesman for the practice. And yet, by benefit of his lofty position as a NY Times reporter, he’s got that role. And I suspect he’s going to have it for some time to come.

I don’t think that’s going to be a good thing. I also don’t think it will be a hugely bad thing in that I doubt he’ll have that much impact. But if he came across as credible, didn’t pass on suspect stories and reiterate the same inane points again and again, he might have been able to do a little good as an unofficial yoga spokesman. It feels as though, in her desire to remain a “yoga rebel,” Stiles might be missing that fact.

Wow. I’m in a mood. Can I blame that huge moon coming Saturday?

Posted by Steve