- “I’m too old for yoga”.
- “I’m too fat for yoga”.
- “I like the idea of yoga, but I’m too lazy to do it.”
- “I like feeling shitty about myself.”
- “Some weird shit happened to me. So: Nopes.”
- “I’m a man. Men don’t do yoga.”
- “I’m too normal for yoga.”
- “I prefer drugs.”
- “I don’t want to hurt myself.”
- “I’m too busy to try yoga.”
I’ve heard them all. I may have even said some of them myself. And yet, really, you can do this. I believe in you!
“I’m too old for yoga”.
There are hundred-year-olds teaching yoga. You can modify almost any posture to suit your needs. Maybe you had a bad teacher, once, who didn’t make sure that the class was welcoming, and didn’t pay more attention. But that’s not your fault. It’s the teacher’s responsibility to ensure that all students are comfortable, and I’m used to making adjustments, to ensure that things like high blood pressure and heart issues are taken into account. I recommend talking to a doctor to get their advice on whether yoga is right for you, and always, taking it at your own pace. But are you too old to breathe? Because that’s all yoga is, really. Breathing, and finding unity and peace.
“I’m too fat for yoga”.
Yoga isn’t a competition, and honestly, the physical practice is about 12% of it. There are so many more benefits to being in a class, like calming your mind, detaching from stress, and reconnecting with your breathing. If the teacher is doing the right thing, they’ll make you feel comfortable in your body. Let me worry about whether you’re too fat for this class, ok? Because you’re not.
“I like the idea of yoga, but I’m too lazy to do it.”
My classes are free, you’re stuck in your house for the coronavirus, and I’ll go so far as to bet you $10 (*I’m not sure gambling is…technically encouraged, but…you know) that you’ll feel better after this class than you did before you started. The only reason you wouldn’t take an offer like that, I suppose, is if you didn’t like feeling good.
“I like feeling shitty about myself.”
Me too, actually. Like, I’m surprised at how many of us are unwittingly addicted to having bad friends, bad relationships, bad jobs, and just generally being unhappy. The fact that you’re prepared to even vocalize that sentiment shows a hell of a lot more awareness than most people who come to the yoga mat, and trust me, it’s a great place to start.
“Some weird shit happened to me. So: Nopes.”
Actually yoga is super good for helping people recover from, and process, trauma. I’ve done classes on teaching yoga in prisons and I’ve, personally, found that yoga is more effective than almost any other method for moving through difficult emotions and rediscovering your confidence. If a prisoner can benefit from yoga, with all the trauma they’ve been through, then I’m pretty certain you can. Although of course, trauma isn’t a competition.
“I’m a man. Men don’t do yoga.”
Prove it. Honestly some of my favorite yoga teachers love it when a macho man joins their class and is ready to show off. They relish in making them…humble. So many exercise regimes for us men are about hurting ourselves, but I’ve not experienced anything that gives me the same benefits as daily yoga practice. Also, think about how we’re defining our masculinity. The Bhagavad Gita, one of the books on which yoga is based, takes place on a battlefield. It’s a dialog between a warrior and God. You think Michael Jordan won all those championships without being able to be present in the moment? Maybe what we mean is, “I’m scared to be vulnerable and try anything new,” which is fairly common, I’ve found, in men, as we age. But trust me, mate. You’re going to feel better after you do this.
“I’m too normal for yoga.”
A lot of the spirituality and, let’s face it, outfits, worn in yoga classes can scare the shit out of many of us. We don’t want to shave our heads, wear orange robes, or move in with any members of The Beatles. Least of all Paul, or worse yet, Ringo. I come to yoga from a spiritual perspective, these days, but it’s the same way I go to church: I feel so guilty about not believing in God, that occasionally, I think maybe I believe in something to feel guilty about. If yoga’s spiritual connection is with anything, then I encourage you to consider it about connecting with spiritual energy as you understand it. And if you’re a hardcore atheist, then that’s cool with me. I can still get you to chill out, lower your stress levels and smile more often. But I’m not out to convert you. Promise.
“I prefer drugs.”
I’m not judgmental, but trust me, the highs you’ll experience in corpse pose are pretty monumental. I do have an addictive personality, and the first 30 times I did yoga, I was pretty much chasing that first high, actually. But then I found something deeper and more sustaining in it, and my attachment to the practice got a lot healthier. The way I see yoga is that it’s got something to offer for everyone, and honestly, I’d just encourage you to try on some of the practices and see if they help you. If you still want to smoke a bowl afterwards, then good for you. But honestly, I don’t drink, smoke, or use any drugs these days. And if you’d told me that before I started, that I’d voluntarily prefer the benefits of sitting in warrior two for a bunch of breaths to whatever else might be on offer, I probably would have thought you were high. So.
“I’m too busy to try yoga.”
One of the amazing benefits of yoga for me has been getting me comfortable with doing less. I don’t always need to be overworking just to prove to other people how much I care, or how much I’m worth. I’m comfortable knowing that I’m enough. And honestly, wouldn’t you be happier pushing yourself a little less? Bear in mind that I trained in New York City. It’s not a low-key, low-stress place. And yet? We can do this!
“I don’t want to hurt myself.”
And trust me, I don’t want you to, either. If you trust your teacher and take it easy, you could spend your whole first class in child’s pose and nobody would mind. The only times I’ve got injured during yoga were when I was doing it to a video, so there wasn’t a live instructor there to tell me to chill out, and when I was trying to show off by doing a posture really aggressively, over and over again. The hardest thing in life is to do something at a slow and sustainable pace, and if you’re impatient, you can hurt yourself. That’s why it’s good to work with a teacher who encourages you to take it at your pace. Nothing to prove, no competition.
