How to get a yoga body

A few years ago, a yoga teacher confided in me that she knew a fellow yoga teacher that “didn’t have a typical yoga teachers body”. As someone who was about to embark on their training, and who does not have a “typical yoga teachers body” I was deeply worried by the comment. Firstly because I desperately wanted to learn more about yoga and the best way to do that seemed to be to undertake teacher training (I had no intention of actually teaching) and I could not stand on my head – I was already paranoid that I would be surrounded by amazing yoga practitioners that could manoeuvre their bodies into pretzel like positions, and secondly I had finally in my 30’s decided to like the curves and realise I was never going to have a wash board stomach no matter how many crunches I did at the gym (and trust me I had tried). Fortunately for me I landed myself some pretty amazing teachers who did not really care if I could stand on my head or the state of my stomach and taught me what yoga is, and perhaps what it is not. As my teacher Mark Breadner so aptly put it “putting your leg behind your head will not make you a better person.”  His teachings on yoga opened my world into the ancient science and I feel incredibly blessed to have met such an amazing teacher.  I quickly learnt that “the typical yoga teachers body” was not an indication of a realised being.

Having just come from Rishikesh, the “home” of yoga, I can not help but feel a little jaded by what has become of yoga. Pictures of people in contortion plaster the walls in Rishikesh advertising teacher training. Clearly they are targeting what westerners come in search of. Yoga teacher training is the new “thing” to do whilst on your gap year,  and of course your stay in India is not complete without visiting one of the many ashrams. Perhaps the final straw was after a nice Hatha Yoga class, a gushy student was praising the “amazing instructions and incredible adjustments” that the teacher had given. The so called amazing adjustments nearly put my neck out, and once again, I am reminded of how fortunate I was to receive such clear, comprehensive and careful asana instructions from the incredible Nicole Goodwin. 

My fellow travel companion (who coincidentally I met on the teacher training course a few years ago) and I were left feeling, well perhaps disappointed. Not to say that you can not find teachings on the sutra’s or the ancient texts, but it appeared that what the market was asking for was asana. Or should I say body contortion, it was beginning to feel a little like a Cirque de Soleil recruitment drive. I think it was the movie “Alfie” that Jude Law quips about the “best thing about the latest yoga craze is the yoga butt”. Funnily enough he could not be closer to the truth in some cases. Yoga is becoming a physical exercise class and the principles and teachings are getting lost amidst the desire to twist and turn your body into crazy and in many cases unsafe moves and to get the allusive yoga butt.

One way to get a yoga butt....to sit on it :)

Some of the most amazing teachings I have received on yoga have come from teachers that have a great yoga butt. Simply because they have sat on it and done the work, not the body contortion, but the meditation, the study, the introspection, the stuff that gets you closer to the point of yoga – to be in union, to join, to yoke. I learned an incredible amount from people like Mark and also Swami J (his website is amazing, please check it out if you are interested) and his butt is perhaps not trim, taught and terrific - sorry Swami J :) - but it is in my humble opinion closer to yoga than a Manduka mat and Lululemon gear will ever be.