The Yoga Room!

I finally got myself to a Yoga Class at The Yoga Room in Kalispell. I LOVE it there. I usually dislike Yoga. First, I sort of disdain the spiritual element of it. I generally dislike religion for removing accountability in people's lives and handing it to some celestial being. To commercial yoga's credit, it is less religious than it is spiritual. In a lot of practices, it seems like yoga asks people to be introspective and to take ownership in their lives (starting with caring for their bodies). But I cringe at the idea of the commercialization of this spiritual quest, and I generally find that most teachers are full of shit when they try to incorporate it into their routine. Prior to coming to the Yoga Room, my teachers had always reminded me of professor trelawney (harry potter reference) with her cult following, her awkward bumblyness, her weird incense, and her common ability- an aura of being fake and flakey. I had a lot of teachers who rubbed weird smelly lotions on me, or twisted me into positions I shouldn't have been in. Or failed to account for injuries. It always seemed contrived and awkward. And if I have to ohm one more time....

To me, Yoga should be a personal challenge but it should also be calming, strengthening, and cleansing and not make me feel weird. I find that I achieve all of these things at the Yoga Room. I love this Yoga because I feel like my instructor is an extremely skilled and also extremely normal person, who accounts for everyone's different needs and teaches accordingly. She is down to earth rather than up in some weird celestial yoga cloud. Rather than focus on any spiritual element (which she may do in her personal practice), she describes Yoga in a way that is digestible to me, as a means of "honoring the body's intelligence." I interpret this to mean recognizing the difference between your mind and your body, and realizing that both deserve to be challenged, nurtured and cared for. I like the analogy of teaching your body and keeping it active in the way that you keep your mind active. I just think that the emphasis on self respect is good, and the lack of emphasis on weird spirits coming out of my crotch chakra, is even better.