I was at a “vinyasa” class last week. Music was Jazz. Sade and others were taking turns to provide the vocals.  The instructor told us to press on the golden egg between the root chakra and the genitals. Some more chakra talk continued. My golden rule of thumb had always been to avoid a class where the teacher talks about chakras. I normally draw the line at bandhas. Most instructors understand bandhas. Chakra talk is so DC (Deepak Chopra) and is what I classify as saccharine sweet. It is mostly mumbo jumbo to me. I understand chakras in the real yogic sense, but not in a yoga class where the instructor is trying to sound cool.

In my home practice, I follow the KYM and astanga style. The breath is super long, the asanas look like it is done in slow motion. There is no hurry to jump through things in milliseconds. The “Vinyasa power” uses a lot of movements so quickly, that my knees buckle. Moving from a mostly hyper extended trikonasana to warrior 2 to ardha chandrasana to standing splits. What does it all mean to the knee? Is it okay to put your knee through all these movements one after the other? This style is torture to my knees and my breath. My knee screams violence. Especially the ardha chandrasana, the standing splits and the lunges. The darling poses of western vinyasa power.

One aspect of my issue is the knee injury, for sure. What matters is also the yoga instructor. I believe any style of yoga can be good if the instructor is good. I have attended amazing Bikram, Vinyasa, Hatha, Astanga classes. Each one of them can turn bad if the instructor is just so so. The yoga education, practice of a teacher matters a lot and how they translate their knowledge to guide the class. It is a combination of things.

For now, I have decided to take a break from vinyasa power in Vancouver. It is quite possible the teachers are not as good as in San Francisco. Or it may be that I am attached to my experiences of San Francisco. I have also been studying a lot about Yoga and I have changed a lot too since I went to India and KYM. My understanding of Yoga has gained a lot of depth as well.

Vinyasa power feels like Bollywood yoga and Disney combined in one. Everything is perfect, color coordinated, sweet, cute, lots of songs, nice outfits and so predictable. I have decided to go Indie and try other styles. “Hatha” seems to make sense to me as the asanas are done at a much slower pace and does not feel too scripted. I keep reading about Yin. I will try that as well. Ultimately, I will be happy in a yoga class which does not use music. Silence must be encouraged and that is the style what I enjoy the most. Astanga fits the bill for most part, but just a little too aggressive for me.

I am looking for a style that has no music and a little mild. I hope this is not too much to ask. No offense to Sade, Marvin Gaye, Beatles, Reggae, Rock, Trance and others.

Using music is alright, if the music used is good. I am aware of the reggae, rock, trance and all the variations.  In San Francisco, the music choice was quite decent. Even though the Sanskrit was butchered in all the new age lounge music, it still had a rhythm. Om Man-ee pad-meh hooooom. During my teacher training in San Francisco, I was even taught how important music is and how it must be used to build a tempo. Personally, I do not want to use music as it is a distraction to go to Apple music and buy the songs. It costs extra and it is unnecessary nuisance. If I do use music in my class, I make sure it is interesting.

I go to “Vinyasa” and “hatha” yoga classes in Vancouver just to mix up my home practice and a led class. There is no special importance placed on the music. It would be better without music, but they play some kind of elevator music. Same constant thing with no rhythm. Sun Salutations or Savasana, it is the same.

What do my readers think of using music in a yoga class?

I am writing this as I read about this guru called Nithyananda. Normally I do not like to write about such people, they do not deserve my time and space on this blog. This guy has this ashram just outside of my home town, Bangalore. I heard about this guy the entire time I was in India last year. The youngest swami in India. One of the yogis that I had met was a follower of this man. She would meditate on this man and she had told me so much about him. I kept thinking to myself, what would happen if this guru is a fake. It would be such a waste of time and energy. I simply don’t trust anyone who lives in an ashram and claims he is a guru. True to that thought, I read there is so much confusion caused by this man.

Lulu and lemon sounded silly and quite ridiculous to me.  I did not know these are clothes I cannot afford in this lifetime, or don’t want to as I have no need for them. I spent less than one minute in this store and made for the exit. This is a shop specific to yoga clothing and was started in Vancouver. It definitely has a huge following everywhere I go.  Just when I am studying and going deeper in yoga and realize that you don’t need much at all to be in the Yoga path, here is one store that will sell you so much to look the part. Amazing, how many people fall for it.

And then I read an article in the magazine Hinduism today, that some nut case has patented this sequence as “Superbrain Yoga”. I could not believe the nuttiness involved in patenting something that is followed in a religion for hundreds of years.

The nut who patented Thoppu karanam goes by the name ‘dates of life’. Click on the piture to read the article.

I remember attending a class lecture on Ahimsa.The class started with the definition that ahimsa means non-violence. That was fine. Then it quickly degenerated into being vegetarian and vegan is what is ahimsa. My fellow classmates wondered how are we supposed to get the protein. The teacher had all the answers ready. For the magic is available in soy. Tofu is the one stop solution. One can eat tofu in myriad forms, from morning through night. Raw, baked, grilled, stir fried, deep fried, steamed, in fruit shakes and so on. Of course, the soy milk is yet another magic drink that can solve all calcium deficiencies. For better health maintenance, we were given the address of a specific shop whose owner can give us fabulous advice on the exact vitamins the students needed. If we mentioned the yoga teacher’s name, we would also get a discount. Perfect. The class ends with a horrible video showing the slaughterhouses and such. I just walked out at this point. No one noticed, as every one was so engrossed seeing the video on a laptop.

This was not the first time I had heard of being vegan was the supreme idea. I remember going to this particular yoga class for the first and the last time many years ago. I did not know anything about the class. Those days, I did not know anything about branded yoga. I wanted to get some trikonasanas and savasana. While waiting for the class to begin, I was given a pamphlet which had pictures of pigs, cows, chickens and other cute animals being tortured. We were asked to start practicing ahimsa and to become a vegan. I don’t know why this forceful idea of yogis being vegans feels like himsa to me. Tofu within me all the time is himsa too. Soy bean feels so dense to me. I do have a strong feeling that the soy board of US funds the yoga studios and teachers. I get it now. Corn is sold to the fast food and cattle industry and Soy is sold to the yogis. Yes, that makes sense. Why else will the teachers sing the praises of one particular food?

It is not just the diet that the instructors discuss. There are blogs written by the instructors. Some of the first few hits on the google is a blog, where the instructor will give such detailed advice on what videos, workshops, retreats, outfits, yoga mats, food habits one needs to have to be a yogi. The videos are always by the company acacia, the outfits are something like earth goddess. Nowhere is it mentioned she is a sales woman representing these companies. The advice is given in such a disguise as if she happened to come by these videos and retreats. And that she is recommending to the blog readers. I find it disgusting.

The instructors when they give this advice, they always mention that it is said in Bhagavad Gita that- what one eats becomes that. Just this quote is cherry picked from the Gita.The first yama in yoga is ahimsa and immediately followed by satya. I do not see how yoga instructors can say they are following the teachings, if satya is not practiced. The only comfort is that not all instructors are like this. I follow teachers who stay away from such quackery. I like my diet choice left to myself, for I do not want to become a soybean. I prefer string beans.