We’ve all seen them. The videos where asana class is led by a 20-something could-be fitness model in matching branded attire demonstrating posture in a gorgeous tropical setting with a serene voice-over for effect. Ah, the bliss of yoga.
That. Is. Not. Real.
In the age of digital media, we’ve become accustomed to and tolerant of performance, but yoga is not performative. It’s messy. It’s real. It’s crying on your mat with a box of tissue next to you and an occasional collapse into child’s pose to muster any strength to get through the rest of the sequence. It’s embracing movement that makes you cough, makes your nose run, makes you a bit dizzy from a lack of equilibrium, and makes you work for every breath. It makes you work through anger, through sorrow and grief, and even through the laughter and joy with a sense of clarity, calm, and purpose.
Yoga is not performative. Yoga is life. For reals.
I have been tolerating a relentless case of laryngitis this past week. It has created moments where I lose my voice entirely. It has made me endure coughing fits that have me lunging for the bag of cough drops. It’s…annoying.
Teaching this week has been challenging. I almost decided against posting the live class recordings for Friday morning and leaned toward recording some more ‘controlled’ classes later in the day. I thought better of it and posted the classes as recorded. Yikes. They’re messy, and they’re real. I have coughing fits in my earbuds. My voice cuts in and out. A couple of times during the Gentle Yoga class I needed to run off camera, mute myself during a coughing fit, lunge for the bag of cough drops, and show back up on camera for the next posture.
Why did I post these videos if they were difficult to teach and (for me) watch? Because they show a vulnerable practice. They are me showing up to my mat, cough drops and coughing fits in tow. They are me moving through sequence with the body and condition that I have right now, and they are real. This is practice. This is what practice looks like. Rather than hide the realism, I chose to embrace it and put it on display.
It’s my hope that anyone watching these videos thinks, “hell, if she can get on her mat and move for an hour sounding like she does, maybe I don’t have an excuse. Maybe I can do it, too.” You can. You should.
Yoga is not performative.
Yoga is transformative.
Keep it real.