A recent Slate article discusses why Americans have (gradually) fallen head over heels in love with yoga.
We take part in P.E. from a young age, being graded & critiqued on our ‘athletic skills’. It is such a narrow category: dodgeball, capture the flag, team sports. Dealing with the effect of being picked last was a blow from my classmates. Adults struck by grading my body’s performance, teaching me that it was incapable.
It’s not necessarily a negative to strive to be the best, but fitness doesn’t always have to be linked with a competition. There is something to be said about movement for the sake of movement. There is a revolution of people who are learning that exercise can be more than a gym or a grade. It can be more than just another test.
Why do people do yoga? For the same reason that some people pick up a hoop & never want to let go.
To get in touch with themselves one-on-one.
To do one thing at a time & feel GREAT doing it.
To discover that your body has amazing things to harness.
To stretch upwards, to wiggle, to cha-cha-cha…
I really do need to learn this one day… haha
Your chance might come sooner than you think!
I’d like to add that folks like yoga (and hooping) because it’s non-competitive, mostly. Except now Bikram is trying to get yoga into the Olympics…bah, Bikram, bah.