The
Embodiment of Yoga: An Analysis
I am ten years old. I giggle with my best friend, Heather, as we
wait for our moms to finish their yoga class.
We laugh at the way they chant “om” and go into strange positions. “Yoga
is weird!” we exclaim when they finish their practice. My mom says that as soon as I turn eleven I
can begin. I have no intention of doing
so. I’d rather be writing stories or
playing outside.
At first it may seem like the topic
of yoga is far removed from a class about sex work, performance and
feminism. However, I have come to learn
that yoga, for me, is about being in my body and discovering how it is
connected to wider politics. Ultimately, through yoga I have better understood
my own relationship to the world. Yoga is not just about being on the mat, but
it is how I interact with others, how I perform daily, how I feel when I wake
up, and how I approach learning about my mind, body, and spirit. Likewise sex work can be an avenue into all
of these topics of exploration and can serve as a gateway into better
understanding the complexities of life.
Sex work is ultimately an embodied practice, one that is deeply
relational and affects the mind and arguably the spirit as well. Sex work is about bodies interacting- and the
repercussions of that connection. Sex
work is political; yoga is political too.
Sex work and yoga can be sites of power dynamics, resistance,
self-awareness, and economics. Exchange
is inherent in today’s yoga world and is fundamental to sex work.
Both yoga and sex work are sites of
intersectionality and a place of convergence for the politics of everyday life.
This paper will focus on yoga in terms of embodiment, performance, and feminism,
and aim to uncover the sometimes hidden yet pervasive politics that permeate
the practice of yoga, and deeply affect those who are involved in the practice. Interspersed throughout this paper are
personal reflections and memories of my yoga practice, to provide some ways
that these theories and ideas are tangible, true, and real.
Social Location
I
am a cis-gendered, heterosexual woman of colour who has been practising yoga
for more than half of my life (roughly 12 years). I am also a Cultural Studies student with a
strong interest in feminist endeavors and I am minoring in Gender and Women’s
Studies. These facts all inform my bias
and standpoint. In some ways I am an
insider when it comes to yoga, as I both practice and teach yoga in the
community. I began doing yoga as a
pre-teen, going to a local Sikh temple and doing Kundalini yoga with my mother
and grandmother. On the weekends we would do yoga at a local community
center. For the most part, yoga seemed
removed from capitalism, colonialism, and politics when I was growing up. It was simply a way for me to relax three
times a week and get more in touch with myself. When I was 20 years old, I
decided to take my 200 hour teacher training at the Vancouver School of
Bodywork and Massage and I came to a sudden realization that there are many
forms of yoga and different values associated with each type. Although united by a common intrinsic
philosophy, yoga is largely an art of interpretation and individual resonance.
Since then, I have been teaching mainly in university campus recreation
settings, providing yoga to students and staff at UBC Okanagan. I do not practice every day but I do my best
to share and instruct what I know.
I am twenty years
old. During my teacher training, our
instructor Dan asks us to do handstands and headstands. I am baffled.
I have never done either before even though I have been practising
kundalini and restorative yoga for nine years. As others effortlessly push up
into elegant inversions, I stumble and crumble and tumble all over the
floor. I feel inadequate. How can I be a
teacher if I can’t even do a headstand against a wall? Ironically it is only me (the youngest member
of the class) and Mary (the oldest) who cannot do the advanced poses. We settle for a more humble yoga. One that perhaps doesn’t look as
impressive. But as we breathe together,
I realize that yoga is not about acrobatics.
It is about being in my body, quieting my mind, and hearing my spirit.
All of these experiences have
affected by identity as a “yogini” and inevitably shape my perspective on the
world. Since getting my teacher training
I have been very interested in sharing yoga with marginalized populations, and
utilizing the healing benefits of yoga for people who wouldn’t normally use it,
and analyzing the potentially problematic aspects of yoga. During critical points in my life, yoga has
been there for me. It has saved me on
several occasions. Yoga has calmed me,
centered me, and held me. This paper is
a continuation of many thoughts I have had over the years and allows me to
critically reflect on my own positioning within the yoga community. Similarly, discussions around sex work allow
us to locate ourselves. During our
class, I came face to face with many of my assumptions about sex workers,
violence, and stigma. I realized that I
held a lot of stereotypical attitudes and ill-founded beliefs. It is useful to realize what kinds of
privilege we hold and to take those into account when we interact with others
and make generalizations and judgments.
An Overview of Yoga in the West
The
popularity of yoga in North America has skyrocketed in recent years. In
Vancouver, where I grew up, yoga studios are almost as common as Starbucks on
street corners. Statistics Canada states that 1.4 million Canadians
practiced yoga in 2005 and estimates of the number of global yoga practitioners
are as high as 250 million (http://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/fitness/2013/03/19/yogas_evolution_from_basement_studios_to_big_business.html).
Angela
McRobbie, in her ground-breaking article, “Top Girls? Young Women and the Post-Feminist Sexual
Contract” argues that “under the guise of equality” young women are imbued with
a sense of capacity and opportunity for achievement (718). McRobbie writes, “The
meanings which now converge around the figure of the girl or young women
(which, from a UK cultural perspective, have global export value including
films like Bridget Jones’s Diary and Bend It Like Beckham), are now more
weighted towards capacity, success, attainment, enjoyment, entitlement, social
mobility and participation” (721). Women
are seen to be active agents in the economic sphere. Pirkko Markula examines how an ancient Indian
spiritual practice reserved only for men has been translated into a vastly
different context and time. Today’s market of yoga lovers are primarily young
white women. They are understood as consumers. Inevitably,
neoliberalism has shaped and impacted the way that yoga is consumed and
produced. For example, entire business
empires such as Lululemon Athletica are built upon the lifestyle and identity
associated with yoga – mats, accessories, fashion, etc. Kern points out in her article that over 5.7
billion dollars is spent each year in America on yoga classes and products (30). Sometimes I feel flabbergasted at the
opulence and profit-based motives of yoga studios. I grew up doing yoga in a Sikh temple (which
cost $10 by donation every month for our entire family) and at a community
center.
The first time I try hot
yoga it is for a hot guy. I am going on a first date and I am taken aback by the beautiful art, the
impressive desk, the extravagant change rooms and showers at a well-known hot
yoga studio in town. I walk into the heated room and before I begin sweating I
cannot help but notice the wall of mirrors reflecting my image back at me. For the entire class I am concerned with the way
my body looks in the mirror. “Will he
think I’m fat?” “Does my sun salutation look flowy?” “Am I sweating too much?” I am so concerned with my appearance staring
back at me in the jam packed class that I forget to breathe. As I glance over at his fit glistening
body and his breathtaking abs, I realize I am not doing yoga, this is some kind
of strange mating ritual instead.
Pirkko Markula is concerned with the way that certain bodies are privileged
on the covers of Yoga Journal in her article, “Reading Yoga: Changing Discourses of Postural Yoga on the Yoga Journal Covers.”
She states in her abstract, “However,
on the Yoga Journal covers, postural yoga also developed into a practice of
finding one’s ‘‘true self,’’ creating a lithe yoga body, and becoming a
conscious consumer. When read through the covers of a popular magazine,
postural yoga Americanized, feminized, and commercialized into a Western
fitness practice increasingly governed by the neoliberal rationale.” (143).
Markula utilizes a historical perspective within a Foucauldian framework to
analyze how the covers of Yoga Journal have changed over time. She discusses the discourses of a lean, fit
body being marketed as well as a lifestyle brand. She also seeks to understand the ways that yogis
are constructed as “conscious consumers” and define themselves in regards to
their purchasing power.
A
section of Markula’s article is entitled, “The Performing Body.” In her introduction to this part of the
paper, she writes, “The visible representations of the yoga body, similar to
the media representations of other fit bodies, drew elements from aesthetics of
the healthy looking body. The ‘‘looks’’ was, nevertheless, intertwined with
advice on correct performance, prevention of physical illnesses, and with
sexuality. These themes characterized a distinct yoga body.” (Markula 162). A specific image emerged in the 1990s of the
ideal female body, slender and lithe doing advanced poses such as headstands,
handstands, deep back bends, and arm balances (Markula 163). What kind of repercussions does this have on
the general populous? I have known many
people who are too intimidated to attend a yoga class, they are afraid of
wearing tight lululemon pants and a sports bra.
Many refuse to try yoga because they are inflexible and afraid of putting
their body on display. The performative
aspect of yoga places the emphasis on how one is perceived and seen. A hyper consciousness of being watched then
arises and the attention is taken away from the practice.
Alternatively,
I grew up doing most of my yoga poses with my eyes closed. The idea of yoga was to unite body, mind, and
heart, so it didn’t matter what anyone else was doing. Quite often in Kundalini yoga I couldn’t keep
up with ladies much older than me, so I just sat quietly or stretched out on my
back when I was tired. It makes me sad that people decide to miss out on all
the possible benefits of yoga because they are so concerned with what others
think. I can relate to that fear,
though.
I am on exchange in New
Zealand at the University of Canterbury.
Free yoga classes are held in a giant gymnasium. The floor is hard and there must be at least
70 people in the room. The teacher is
incredibly flexible and incredibly beautiful.
I am in awe as she effortlessly glides into her poses and provides
options for advancing our practice. I
cannot do any of the advanced poses.
Once again, that familiar feeling of inadequacy rises like vomit. I can’t bear to be surrounded by all these
beautiful people with beautiful bodies. I
am less than perfect. I don’t fit in, I can’t keep up. So I leave and I don’t come back.
While
yoga may be marketed towards a certain audience, there is still a diversity of
people who practise yoga. For example, Edward Field’s essay, “Yoga and Body
Consciousness” reveals the way that an older, gay man uses yoga as a way to
love and understand his own body. Within
the article, Field describes standing in front of a mirror, naked, and through
yoga altering the appearance of his body.
Yoga supports body consciousness for Field, and allows him a new and
unique way to experience his body. As
Field writes, “If
our bodies are the record of our lives, my history was clearly built into mine.”
(22). During my teacher training I learned that we “store our issues in our
tissues” meaning that memories are embedded in our bodies. So are emotions,
stories, and traumas. The body serves as
a tool to explore the self, in yoga. The
body is a gateway to the infinite, a glimpse into the divine, a chance to make
friends with who we really are.
Embodiment
Yoga
is deeply intertwined with concepts of embodiment, as many types of yoga
encourage breath awareness and present moment body consciousness. For the purposes of this paper I will borrow
a phrase from a medical sociology reference book, “embodiment refers to the
lived body, our body-being-in-the -world, as the site of meaning, expression,
and experience.” (Gabe 73). We are often
encouraged to feel emotions and let them go in the practice, and are similarly
encouraged to not get attached to any thought in particular. Often in yoga, a teacher will encourage students
to feel into their muscles, to become absorbed by the sensations. A constant reminder throughout class is to
avoid getting attached to any particular thought. When I teach, I use imagery of clouds in the
sky as metaphors for thought. I say
something like, “Imagine you are lying on your back in a field of green grass
observing the sky. Watch the thoughts
pass like clouds across the sky, simply sit back and observe, without getting caught
up.”
For survivors of trauma, this disassociation
may be harmful. As Anastasia Kirtiklis writes on her blog, Popomo Yoga, “If you have
trained yourself to detach from your emotions (through meditation or otherwise)
you lose the ability to feel even when you want to feel. Unfortunately, you
can’t just turn off the painful emotions. The good ones shut down too.”
(Yoga, Meditation, and Disassociation). Kern argues that bodies are sites of
emotions and indeed, during my own teacher training I learned about the deep
connection between emotions and bodies – I was taught that people store trauma
in the tissues and muscles and that certain poses can activate particular
memories. I have also undertaken trauma
sensitive yoga teacher training with Yoga Outreach in Vancouver, and we were
also instructed not to teach specific poses because they risk triggering people
(particularly survivors of sexual trauma) and can require large amounts of
vulnerability. For example, happy baby
pose, which consists of lying on your back with your legs spread wide open in
the air, grasping the outsides of your feet with your hands, can bring back
memories of rape or sexual assault. To
be exposed in such an explicit way may be upsetting, and even harmful.
I am 16 years old. I cannot
understand the phrase “sweet sixteen” because all I feel is misery. I am in the trenches of depression, or a far
reaching sadness that tinges my heart. I
drag my butt to yoga. When everyone lies
down for savasana (deep relaxation) I do not get up. I hear all the sounds around me but I shut my
eyes and remain motionless on the carpet of the temple. I don’t want to wake up. Everyone around me thinks I have fallen
asleep. One woman even says that falling
asleep is the marker of a spiritual soul and that I must be very advanced in my
practice. I smirk at the thought of
that. I am just lazy and pathetic. Yoga doesn’t always make me feel better.
Sometimes I cannot quiet my monkey mind.
Sometimes the pain lingers after the practice is done and I have left
the mat.
So is yoga helpful or harmful when it comes
to embodiment? Does yoga facilitate transcendence of the body or immanence?
Ultimately, it depends on which tradition the yoga is rooted in. Tantric practices see the body as a vehicle
to the divine, embodiment is viewed as a form of connection to God. God is in everything and in everyone. Other modes of meditation and yoga encourage
going beyond the mind and the body to the realms of the spirit. Embodiment is also fundamental when analyzing
yoga, as asana (physical) practice
undoubtedly has the possibility of changing the appearance and quality of the
body. Doing yoga is often associated
with a wealth of other habits including eating healthy and being
environmentally conscious. People often
buy into a collective identity when they become “yogis” and this has
significant market repercussions as well as social belonging and community
effects as well.
Impett et al. conducted a study about the relationship between embodiment and self-objectification – and discovered that body awareness and responsiveness was correlated with positive affect. To me, this indicates that yoga has important contributions to make in the arenas of mental and emotional health. The body can be an invaluable tool in creating stability and calm in the mind, as is evidenced by the recent surge in mindfulness research and other Eastern –based modalities. Psychology and other fields are starting to recognize the legitimacy of practices such as yoga in helping people heal.
I am twenty two years old. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I am
in the hospital, on the psychiatric ward. I felt incredibly alone. I am locked into a jail like room and I hug
my knees into my chest. Calmly I
remember my yoga practice. I can put my
legs up the wall. I can do a sun
salutation. I can bend my body into
comforting shapes. I can find stillness
and peace within. So I do. The nurses may think I am strange, but I don’t
care. Yoga helps me. Yoga heals me.
Accessibility
Furthermore, ideas of accessibility when it
comes to embodied experiences are key to understanding yoga as well. In Kern’s article regarding yoga, embodiment,
and gentrification, she draws on the concept of embodied social capital. To me, this refers to a type of lifestyle
privilege where certain embodied practices such as yoga require a particular
amount of social capital. Yoga is not
available to many populations due to its ever increasing price tag. An average yoga class costs $20, the price of
two inexpensive meals. Those who do yoga
can afford it, those who can’t, don’t do it.
Although there are ways to learn yoga through books and youtube videos,
yoga classes are the primary way that people engage in yoga.
My personal goal is to bring yoga to
marginalized populations so they can experience the healing potential of yoga.
I would like to be a yoga therapist. My
big dream is to see yoga offered in mental health treatment, alongside and
perhaps for some people, instead of mere medication. I want there to be complementary healing
modalities available to people suffering from depression, psychosis, anxiety
and other kinds of suffering. I want them
to be able to find peace within their bodies, which can lead to a quieting of
the mind. Western medicine does not take
a holistic approach. We cannot fix the
mind by ignoring the body. I would love
to teach yoga at women’s shelters, in hospitals, in anxiety centers, and to
people struggling with eating disorders. Awareness of the breath can lead to so
many positive changes for people. Awareness of posture can improve physical and
mental well-being. Awareness of the mind
can help us to get in touch with our inner voice. Everyone deserves the opportunity to do these
things, not just those with money.
Reflections
Last week I led a brief yoga exercise in our
studio time. It was beautiful to be able
to witness the change in energy and ambience after the breathing exercises. Students reported feeling more calm and
relaxed after only a few minutes of breathing deeply. I am continually amazed at how quickly we can
“re-set” our bodies and minds. Why don’t
we do it more often? It was nice to work
with a partner and breathe into their hands.
It brought a new dimension to the breath and someone said they felt the
desire to synchronize their breath with someone else’s. I had never tried asking people to say words
while they are in a pose. It was
interesting to hear the diversity of responses.
The partner poses were a lot of fun.
I could sense the joy exuding from everyone’s body. It was such a privilege and an honour to
share something like yoga with the class.
Yoga is close to my heart and I love bringing it to new groups of
people.
Most
of the time I do not concern myself with arguments surrounding appropriation,
as I think that yoga is for everyone. I
believe that some things like music, art, and yoga, hold universal value for
human beings and while it is important to acknowledge their roots and
traditional sacredness, it is great to bring it to new places. Many Gurus (teachers) specifically asked
their students to bring yoga to the West. Now it is here, and I am
grateful. I straddle two worlds
sometimes – being of Indian descent, living in Canada. Yoga is a site of
connection for me – a bridge between these two worlds, a way of understanding
the complexities of culture, and the complexities of me.
Conclusion
I taught my last yoga class of the school year today. We laughed a lot. It was wonderful to see the students
interacting in partner poses and I did a lot of hands on adjustments. The most touching part of the class was at
the end. Everyone came up to me and
shared how yoga had helped them, calmed them, and how they had come to trust
yoga as they would a kind friend. I felt
blessed to share the practice. I knew
that it wasn’t me that they were celebrating, it was a practice that goes back
5000 years - a lineage, a tradition.
They were grateful for something that they were now a part of - a
practice of uniting body, mind, and heart. It was never about me. Before every class I pray to my Creator that
I can be clear, that I can be a vessel for the Divine to come through. I try to speak from that place.
Overall, this paper has aimed to unpack how
yoga is linked to embodiment and dissect its role in today’s society. I have looked at the economics of yoga, how
it relates to neoliberalism. I have
tried to uncover the complex ways that yoga connects people to their bodies, through
trauma or body consciousness. Most of
all, I have tried to share my story surrounding yoga, and detail the ways that
I have been profoundly impacted by the practice. I am so grateful for the opportunity to
reflect and better understand my subjectivity regarding yoga and
embodiment. In the process of writing
this paper, I have gained clarity on why I practice and why I instruct. Ultimately, I know that yoga will continue to
connect people to their bodies and therefore, to themselves. Yoga encourages us
to engage with the university within. One
of my mentors often shares a beautiful quote with me from Swami Kripalu. I will share that same quote with you to
conclude, “Self-observation without judgement is the highest practice.” May we all come to observe ourselves without
judgement and live from a place of love.
Works Cited
Field, Edward. "Yoga and Body
Consciousness." The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide 18.4 (2011): 21.
Gabe, Jonathan, and Lee F. Monaghan. Key Concepts in
Medical Sociology. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2013.
Impett, Emily A., Jennifer J. Daubenmier, and Allegra
L. Hirschman. "Minding the Body: Yoga, Embodiment, and Well-being."
Sexuality Research and Social Policy: Journal of NSRC 3.4 (2006): 39-48.
Kern, Leslie. "Connecting Embodiment, Emotion and
Gentrification: An Exploration through the Practice of Yoga in Toronto."
Emotion, Space and Society 5.1 (2012): 27-35.
Kirtiklis,
Anastasia. "Popomo Yoga." Yoga, Meditation, and Dissociation –.
Popomo Yoga, 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
McRobbie, A. "Top Girls? Young Women and the
Post-Feminist Sexual Contract." CULTURAL STUDIES 21.4-5 (2007): 718-37.
Markula, Pirkko. "Reading Yoga: Changing
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Tapper, Josh.
"Yoga’s Evolution: From Basement Studios to Big Business | Toronto
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