{"id":16116,"date":"2023-07-07T14:32:55","date_gmt":"2023-07-07T14:32:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yogajournal.com\/?p=112322"},"modified":"2023-07-07T14:32:55","modified_gmt":"2023-07-07T14:32:55","slug":"why-i-hate-yoga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/07\/why-i-hate-yoga\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Hate Yoga"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I was recently at a friend\u2019s house when I decided it was time to make my confession. I\u2019d been thinking about this for a while, and I wasn\u2019t sure how to break the news. But after dinner, I took a deep breath and shuffled over to her, head hung low.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019ve been doing some thinking.\u201d She turned to me, eyebrow raised, dish towel in hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I\u2019ve decided that things just aren\u2019t working,\u201d I admitted. \u201cI\u2019m not happy. I don\u2019t think this is for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was referring to the yoga class we\u2019d been attending together for the better part of a year. She\u2019s a dear friend, and one of many people I know in my Colorado hometown who swear that yoga changed their lives\u2014and are equally certain that it will change mine, too. Whenever I\u2019d open up to her about my anxiety, depression, tight hips, achy back, or any other malady, her answer would always be the same: \u201cYou know, you really should try yoga.\u201d<\/p>\n

For years, I\u2019d simply roll my eyes. \u201cHere we go again,\u201d I\u2019d think, bracing myself for the lecture and the frustrating feeling that I wasn\u2019t being heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because yoga worked for you doesn\u2019t mean it will work for me,\u201d I\u2019d remind her.  But eventually, during a particularly stressful month at work, she wore me down. I was anxious all the time and desperate to manage it. \u201cMaybe she\u2019s right,\u201d I thought in a moment of weakness. \u201cMaybe this yoga thing is worth trying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fine, I told her. I\u2019d give it a go. And I did. But as the months ticked by, the oft-touted benefits of yoga\u2014a greater sense of calm and equanimity, better sleep, lower stress, reduced rates of injury\u2014remained elusive. And trust me, it wasn\u2019t for lack of trying.<\/p>\n

A Brief Litany of All the Yoga Studios That Have Failed Me<\/h2>\n

When I finally agreed to try yoga, my friend gave me a promotional code for a free week of classes at her studio. At the time, I was an underemployed freelance writer living in the basement of a run-down house with one dude I\u2019d met in college and three other guys we\u2019d met on Craigslist. I had almost no money, and I was a sucker for free stuff. So I resolved to squeeze the maximum benefit from this sudden windfall and go to yoga classes for seven days straight.<\/p>\n

Each class was different. The first involved doing yoga poses while pumping dumbbells to high-powered pop music. During another, the instructor played aggressive hip-hop and pranced around shrieking, \u201cWork that booty!\u201d to hapless participants. In Wednesday\u2019s class, the teacher played the harmonium and encouraged us all to join her in a wheedling, half-hearted chorus of \u201cThis Little Light of Mine.\u201d I don\u2019t remember much about Thursday except that some shirtless dude in the back row seemed to spend the entire class doing maddeningly perfect handstands. Every time I glanced in the mirror, I could see his sweaty, upside-down six-pack in my peripheral vision. By the end of our first cycle of Sun Salutations<\/a>, I hated him. By the end of the second, I was fantasizing about \u201caccidentally\u201d knocking him over during my next three-legged Downward Dog.<\/p>\n

My last class of the week was actually quite nice. It was a more traditional vinyasa, flowy and meditative. The teacher still used too many Sanskrit words for my liking\u2014a practice that has always struck me as show-offy and appropriative<\/a>\u2014but the movement itself was\u2026fine. Still, by then it was too late. Just walking into the studio left me feeling itchy and irritable. I couldn\u2019t wait for the week to be over.<\/p>\n

Later, I tried taking a yoga class at my climbing gym<\/a>, hoping it would be more workout-focused. Instead, the instructor waxed poetic about moon cycles and horoscopes<\/a> and burned a quantity of incense that would have sent an asthma sufferer straight to the ER. I tried hot yoga, which left me both irritable and dehydrated. I tried rooftop yoga<\/a>, the best part of which was the mimosa that was served after. And, finally, I tried showing up religiously to that yoga class with my friend, twice a week, for months. But it never did stick.<\/p>\n

Who Yoga Doesn\u2019t Serve<\/h2>\n

I have a number of friends who seem to derive enormous benefit from yoga. Many are folks for whom a love of exercise doesn\u2019t come naturally, or whose bodies are healing from physical or emotional trauma of some kind. For them, the slower, gentler styles of yoga are a great way to find movement without the intimidating intensity of a cardio or weight-lifting workout. That\u2019s something I can definitely appreciate.<\/p>\n

But my relationship with exercise is different. I\u2019m a high-energy, high-anxiety person, and I need to move a lot to stay sane. As such, I\u2019m happiest when I spend my free time pumping iron at the gym or hammering out miles on local trails<\/a>. I know there are intense, strength-focused yoga classes out there, too, but an hour of bodyweight exercise just doesn\u2019t give me the same high as a long session in the weight room.<\/p>\n

If I had infinite time, sure\u2014it would be great to spend an hour burning off energy under a barbell and then a second hour stretching and breathing in a yoga class. But like most working people, I have to prioritize. And if I prioritized yoga, that would mean sacrificing the types of high-intensity workouts that leave me feeling strong, confident, and calm.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re the kind of person who needs a lot of fast-paced and\/or weighted exercise to stay happy, yoga just doesn\u2019t cut it. For some of us, yoga is nice to have, but it isn\u2019t essential. I think of it as a luxury. An increasingly expensive<\/a> and often exclusive<\/a> luxury.<\/p>\n

My other complaint about yoga is that its practitioners often act as proselytizers, acting as if it\u2019s the only type of meditative movement out there. Talk to any experienced rock climber<\/a>, power lifter, dancer, or runner,<\/a> and you\u2019ll find that every single one of these sports relies intimately upon the breath to channel focus, rhythm, and power. Yoga doesn\u2019t have a monopoly on this.<\/p>\n

Yet the evangelism persists. When I tell avid practitioners that yoga makes me anxious and irritable, they usually tell me that the answer is more yoga. Imagine if people responded to other distastes with a similar prescription. Never liked broccoli? Eat a head of it every day until you do. Never had a brain for math? Become an engineer. Always hated running? Just run more. The last time I tried telling a devoted yogi to run more, she raised her eyebrows at me and made a disgusted noise. \u201cRunning isn\u2019t for me,\u201d she said, ending the conversation.<\/p>\n

I have seen yoga practitioners turn up their noses at a variety of sports, snubbing them as too \u201cstriving\u201d or too \u201cintense.\u201d While I agree that movement should be pleasurable and relaxing whenever possible, I reject the idea that yoga is the only way to achieve this. I have certainly witnessed competitive, striving yoga (see: sweaty shirtless man doing handstands in beginner class). And, on the other end of the spectrum, I\u2019ve seen CrossFit fanatics throw tires around with egoless, enlightened ease.<\/p>\n

Like anything, it\u2019s not what you do but how you do it. If you love something and set about practicing it with intuition, intention, and openness, you can find a sense of meditative flow. It doesn\u2019t matter if that thing is Warrior 2<\/a> on a mountaintop or a 300-pound deadlift in a grimy garage. There are a thousand ways to use movement to calm the mind. There are a thousand ways to stretch your muscles and your limits. Yoga is one way. But it\u2019s not the only way.<\/p>\n

What I Wish Had Been Different About My Yoga Experience<\/h2>\n

I know exactly one yoga instructor who explicitly acknowledges that yoga is just one of many ways to meditate in motion. A friend of mine, she teaches a yoga class at a local rec center that I attend now and again, mainly to support her. It\u2019s only nine bucks and most of the participants are over the age of 65.<\/p>\n

We try new things and we laugh a lot. The classes are simple, challenging, and fun. They don\u2019t pretend to be anything other than what they are. I enjoy the camaraderie, but not the yoga. Sometimes, though, I wonder if I would feel differently if I had been introduced to her class sooner.<\/p>\n

When I started going to therapy more than a decade ago, a friend\u2019s mom sat me down and shared some advice. \u201cCorey,\u201d she said, \u201cFinding a good therapist is like finding a bra: You need to find a style you like, it has to be the right fit, and it has to feel supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n

I wish I\u2019d been given that guidance when it came to yoga. So many instructors think that their approach is best or uphold themselves as spiritual mentors or all-knowing gurus. But the reality is that they\u2019re just people. And like all people, they\u2019re extremely variable and immensely fallible. Just because they\u2019re speaking at the front of the room doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re right\u2014and doesn\u2019t mean their way is reflective of yoga as a whole. I wish I\u2019d known that sooner. I wish I\u2019d been warned to shop around more intentionally for a practice or studio that worked for me.<\/p>\n

As it is, I think I\u2019ve come away with something even more valuable from my yoga experience: a strong knowledge of who I am and what kind of movement I need to be happy. I know that isn\u2019t yoga\u2014at least not technically\u2014and I\u2019m at peace with that. I can only hope that, with time, my yoga friends will be, too.<\/p>\n

About Our Contributor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Corey Buhay is a freelance writer and editor based in Boulder, Colorado. You can read her work in Backpacker, Climbing, and Outside Online, among others.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"Why<\/figure>\n

Friends who practice yoga like to preach that my life would be better if I tried it. So I did. They\u2019re wrong.<\/p>\n

The post Why I Hate Yoga<\/a> appeared first on Yoga Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[37,35,36],"class_list":["post-16116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ayurveda","tag-blogs","tag-yoga","tag-yogacourseware"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}