Some people are surprised when they hear that I identify as an introvert. They are usually people who know me only through my yoga teaching, and have seen me, seemingly very comfortable at the front of a room leading a yoga practice. And I am comfortable in the front of a room – when I am teaching yoga – something I have done for nearly 20 years, in a language of movement and breath, emphasizing quiet and stillness, with a plan in my notebook on the mat next to me.
Put me on the spot though, to improvise, talk about something I’m not prepared for, or god forbid, put me in a room of people I don’t know and ask me to socialize, with dreaded “small talk,” and I want to run the other way.
Lately I have been thinking about being an introvert, being a yoga teacher, having a yoga business, and the image of yoga today. I have watched big name yoga teachers, and other yoga related businesses and how they present yoga. I see the Yoga Journal perfect poses, the Instagram accounts with beautiful bodies doing beautiful things. I see hip yoga clothes; I see inspiring quotes on a stunning background. I see slick, I see young, I see flexible, I see outgoing, I see trendy. And mostly, when I look at this, I see how I don’t fit into that mold. I look at these images and think “that’s not me. That doesn’t look like me.”
I see how students could look at the images of yoga that are in most forms of media, and think they don’t fit into that mold either. I actually worry that folks see yoga in the mainstream and don’t see themselves at all and then decide that “nope, yoga’s not for me.”
I’ve paid attention to the world of yoga in America for a couple of decades, and I have seen yoga trends come and go. And honestly, I’m tired of trendy yoga. I just want to provide a place where people feel safe. Safe to come and be as they are.
Sweatpants, a tee shirt, no fancy yoga pants necessary. Or if you feel great in fancy yoga pants, great! By all means! Let your light shine in those fancy pants! But just know you don’t have to spend $100 on yoga pants to experience the invaluable gifts that yoga has to offer. You don’t think your body is the right shape or size for yoga? Afraid you can’t touch your toes, much less stand on your head or do the splits? That’s ok too. That’s not why we are here.
Recently, after class, on her way out the door, a student said to me “thanks for class, now I can go be with my family and not go crazy!” That made me so happy. Because that’s why I really teach yoga. Not to teach the perfect Downward Dog, but so that you can take your yoga off your mat and be happier, more aware, and more peaceful in your life. That has nothing to do with the shape of your pose, the shape of your body, or how good you look in your yoga pants.
At 41, what I have finally come to is that I don’t care about being trendy or hip. I am finally ok not being cool—it’s probably good for me to get comfortable with that before my kids are teenagers! I’d honestly rather stay home and knit or read than go out to a party or the coolest new restaurant. It’s taken a long time to realize that I don’t have to be some other way.
And guess what? I’m embracing that in business too. Source Yoga may not follow the yoga trends, but we are working every day to continue to create a space where you feel safe and welcomed. Whatever body you have, whatever age, whatever state of mind, whatever you are dealing with in your life. At Source Yoga, you can come as you are.
