Guru 4u
>> Friday, July 04, 2008
I will start doing yoga, just as soon as I find that brand of yoga pants that Oprah mentioned on her show, as well as the Om Shanti yoga mat, and, of course, once I decide upon whether I'm going to practice Jnana Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga or Bhakti Yoga, or a suitable combination.
I'm always struck by how all things spiritual, when adopted by the West, quickly turn into commercial ventures, as this story on a new age retreat illustrates.
And it's hard not to spot the irony in the wellness movement here in Thailand, which is driven by the hospitality industry (every resort is adding the moniker "& Spa" to its brand name), and, from what I can gather, run mainly by expat Westerners.
Yoga, and its best friend massage, has been practiced in Thailand for something like 2,000 years, but only in the last 10 years or so has it been discovered that stimulating chakra flow is also a pretty good way to unblock one's cash flow, too.
Chi-ching!
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5 comments:
**I was hyper and didn't proof read the last one**
I can tell you as someone who both teaches yoga and practices massage that it is not a cash crop. I have also been to Kripalu for a retreat and they are amazing. They are one of the first western places to offer special courses in yoga for fat people, where most modern teachers have no idea how to tell a fat person to do a pose because their bellies or boobs get in the way (making their alignment wrong), the people at Kripalu teach you how to work with your body..I did work-trade for your experience there.
Perhaps you are right.. it all can be materialistic if you chose it to be. How are you going to learn without a teacher? How do you get a teacher? You can't just go to church. You can't just do the postures correctly. You have to pay because western society doesn't accommodate teachers who focus on the body's connection with the mind.
You can get into the fashion. You can get the OM Shanti yoga mat. There is still a core that works.
I agree completely. In these cases the spiritual practice has not at all been adopted by the West. Just the talk of spiritual practice. Just the fashion of spiritual practice. There is no talk or fashion in true practice. There is just practice, and Bethanie is right. There is no money in that.
Ms Odd...I hope you didn't think I was belittling your profession or the people who practise yoga/massage. Just trying highlight how easily people can get distracted by all the material trappings, no matter how sincere their efforts. Happens to the best of us, I think...
I'm only at the lazy yoga stage - the Thai massage.
But eventually I'll branch out to the real deal... well, whenever I find myself in the vicinity of a yoga instructor.
That's what my Thai life has been like so far... when I trip over something, I try to take advantage of the experience of the moment.
And it's not like I don't have the time to do a lot of tripping :-)
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