Are you a yoga snob? 5 signs you need to sort your snob out
You've practised your pincha to perfection, finally bought those high-waisted, high price-tagged yoga pants, and are on first name terms with all the teachers at your studio.
Yoga is your thing and these are your people. You're in!
It's a great thing to belong. Studios and brands everywhere call on us to join their tribe, be part of their family, band together
But what about those who have not joined? What about these others?
Considering Yoga is all about union, the rise of the yoga snob is Alanis Morrissette level ironic. Don't you think?
Compassion and gratitude are the backbones of yogic philosophy, along with truth and non-violence.
So instead of smirking at the girl who's omm is super short, or popping up into headstand as a warm-up before class, catch yourself and leave any snobbery at the door
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A snob:
"a person who judges the importance of people mainly by their social position, and who believes social position makes one person better than others"
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Here are 5 signs you need to sort your snob out
1: You judge everyone else's mastery of the pose
Seriously? Our bodies are all different, and different every day. You have no idea what other people are going through, why their body is moving like that, and far be it from you to decide how their asana should look like.
My favourite thing to say in forward folds is always "remember, your worth is not measured by the length of your hamstrings"
2: You deviate from what the class is practicing
You have gone to a led class to be led. So why on earth are you insisting on performing an advanced variation of the pose? Let the teacher teach, and practice your variations at home.
3: You judge all other styles of yoga
Your studio is traditional and so modern studios cannot be teaching yoga properly. Yoga with props is not real yoga. If you don't sweat it's not yoga. If you don't follow the set sequence it's not yoga.
All these judgemental dogmatic ways of thinking are the biggest problem with yoga snobbery today.
I can rant a lot on this but will hold myself back...
4: You only use Sanskrit even when talking to people who have never tried yoga
Want to put people off yoga? Then make it something they cannot understand, without bothering to include them or educate them.
New yoga practitioner is talking about that pose on your hands with bum in the air?
How about saying "it's called bakasana in Sanskrit and crow pose in English", rather than a lofty "oh yes, bakasana, pretty basic arm balance"
5: You go on and on about how you could never poison your body with x/y/z
Everyone is super pleased for you and your polished halo, but falling off the health-wagon every now and then does not make you a lesser person.
Just like on the mat, we can apply the same logic
"falling out of (the pose) makes us human, getting back into it makes us a yogi"
So less judgement, more compassion. Please!
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What other signs have you found? Are you a yoga snob? Do you want to combat this exclusivity?
Then hit share and let's sort our snobbery out!