the search
Former promo shot. I believe I’m forming the letter ‘E’.
I applied at a local yoga studio, one that I actually attend and enjoy. I’ll begin this blog with a disclaimer; I’m a critical thinker and am not overly given to suggestion, invisible Princess Alice* has no hold on me. (* in reference to a study done on children aged 5-8, the first group of children were given a task and left alone with an adult nearby, the second group were left alone, no adult, but given the suggestion that ‘Princess Alice’ was in the room, and the 3rd group were left completely alone. The third group, given access to the means to cheat in order to complete the task; did. The first and second group did not cheat, equally.) That being said, I am a life long fan of yoga. It seems to be the only widely accepted social structure in which perfectly well behaved adults, hard working and perhaps silently suffering humans can come together in a dimly lit, soft smelling room and give their bodies a little hug. And yes, there are times when an instructor will introduce their version of Princess Alice. Sometimes I’ll shoot her a mental ‘hey girl, I caught that twurl.’
Needless to say, I didn’t get the job. Perhaps I didn’t move quick enough on the reply interview, perhaps I didn’t strike the right note. On my application I had written of my ‘ come to Jesus’ moment of Yoga discovery, and it’s absolutely true, I’ve memorized it : I was a teenager exploring Grass Valley, California an old gold rush town all primped up with new agers and artists, coffee shops and dusty trucks . ( I will maintain that it’s important for young people to see the possibilities out there, I’m old enough that I got to be around ‘real’ hippies,the idea of counter-culture, as naive a concept as it may seem, is so important to experience a concept of personal freedom., of rejection of the status quo.) ..” I found a dog-eared copy of a little paperback in an old book shop, heavy dark beams overhead and hardwood plank flooring . A guy was playing flute outside on the corner. I took this little book, a first hand account of a guy who rented a shed in the backyard of of a lady devoted to Yoga, who only ate a handful of nuts a day and had a handful of children running a foot
The author rented a shed in this woman’s backyard for a year or so, attempting to follow a version of her strict dietary laws ( she consumed approximately 800 calories a day) He expressed awe and admiration of her lean figure, parading around in her daily uniform of ballet leotard and wrap skirt, subsisting on a handful of nuts while single handedly raising a handful of kids on a vegan-esque diet and spiritual discipline gleaned from her time with a guru in India. (The book could have been titled, now that I think of it, ‘ The Year I Did Everything I Could to Get With a Single Mother. And Failed. Daily’. ) This book was crazy. I was a crazy teen, so I loved it. It did contain detailed diagrams of the postures called Sun Salutations, ( ‘Surya Namaskar’= ‘Highest respect to the Sun’) I performed these postures, on an overnight hike with my gay aunts ( I make that distinction, as it is a hard-won history of achievement, being gay. They eventually married) on an overnight hike in the Sierra Nevadas. In the morning I rose, at sunrise, and on a massive smooth boulder facing the hot piercing globular fireball peeking over the jagged peaks, I shaped my body into the series and my mind blew, ( just a little).
Needless to say, I didn’t get the job. Perhaps I didn’t move quick enough on the reply interview, perhaps I didn’t strike the right note. On my application I had written of my ‘ come to Jesus’ moment of Yoga discovery, and it’s absolutely true, I’ve memorized it : I was a teenager exploring Grass Valley, California an old gold rush town all primped up with new agers and artists, coffee shops and dusty trucks . ( I will maintain that it’s important for young people to see the possibilities out there, I’m old enough that I got to be around ‘real’ hippies,the idea of counter-culture, as naive a concept as it may seem, is so important to experience a concept of personal freedom., of rejection of the status quo.) ..” I found a dog-eared copy of a little paperback in an old book shop, heavy dark beams overhead and hardwood plank flooring . A guy was playing flute outside on the corner. I took this little book, a first hand account of a guy who rented a shed in the backyard of of a lady devoted to Yoga, who only ate a handful of nuts a day and had a handful of children running a foot
The author rented a shed in this woman’s backyard for a year or so, attempting to follow a version of her strict dietary laws ( she consumed approximately 800 calories a day) He expressed awe and admiration of her lean figure, parading around in her daily uniform of ballet leotard and wrap skirt, subsisting on a handful of nuts while single handedly raising a handful of kids on a vegan-esque diet and spiritual discipline gleaned from her time with a guru in India. (The book could have been titled, now that I think of it, ‘ The Year I Did Everything I Could to Get With a Single Mother. And Failed. Daily’. ) This book was crazy. I was a crazy teen, so I loved it. It did contain detailed diagrams of the postures called Sun Salutations, ( ‘Surya Namaskar’= ‘Highest respect to the Sun’) I performed these postures, on an overnight hike with my gay aunts ( I make that distinction, as it is a hard-won history of achievement, being gay. They eventually married) on an overnight hike in the Sierra Nevadas. In the morning I rose, at sunrise, and on a massive smooth boulder facing the hot piercing globular fireball peeking over the jagged peaks, I shaped my body into the series and my mind blew, ( just a little).
Probably if I’d written the above, it would not surprise you that I wasn’t hired. I shortened it somewhat, but it’s the truth, I believe it now, I believed it then. I believe in a system of belief. I’m just not comfortable with imparting my feelings as truths, or certainties. It’s interesting to me, that people sometimes do not want to know how things work. The truth, or rather, evidentiary knowledge, makes me feel downright religious. Nature is miraculous. And yet it has a system; a calculable, observable system of interwoven behaviours and outcomes which bend math, physics and chemistry into beautiful chunks. Just read a little. Sit through something longer than a ted talk, and a universe of possibilities really will unfold in your mind. Or better yet; sit in a forest, with a book. Preferably one not titled ‘ The Secret’.)
If you are reading this on a smart phone, with facial recognition, for instance, you are using technology created by explorers who mapped out the firing of neurons in the human brain to create Neural Networks, which is a replica of a human brain. This requires advanced training, in, well, Reality. If you are someone who uses that technology to say something along the lines of; birds can fly because invisible fairies are holding them up, I would say there is a direct contradiction in the spirit of these claims. How can one accept a reality ( by using it) to deny reality, a reality, which when truly studied and observed is beautiful enough to make one weep??
No, I don’t make a very good yoga teacher. Yet I continue to go. As I said, I’m a lifelong fan.
Mull that one over.
the Spiritual Marketing we’ve adjusted to is so pervasive it can barely be detected. Yet, like plug-in air fresheners, it is most decidedly there, shaping your experience. I have been to Disneyland, it was at my sister-in-laws insistence and as needed adult backup. I thought I would find it overwhelming and vulgar, but it got to me, it got through to me. The place filled my senses. At the end of theI was screaming my affection inside my head. I like magic. I like costumes, I like cartoony pirates, I like massive hunks of meat on a stick and rides that have me bellowing and yodelling. Do I also notice that the great state of Florida is the most messed with diverse ecosystem in the United States of America and that we’re herded like trampling cattle over a thin veneer of concrete stifling the graves of grassy swampland and mangroves that supported untold varietal life forms, any of which is infinitely more fascinating than expanding the pocket lining of the CEOs who benefit from middle class consumerism and every mothers fear that they are not ‘doing enough’ and a version of their child(ren) scarred by: ‘ my friends got to go and if I don’t get to I’ll miss out on a milestone that affects my standing amongst my childhood peers’ . Yes indeedy. I am fun, I am very fun. I just understand the cost.
So what is the cost of a little marketing sprinkled over Eastern cultural appropriation rivalling the most fundamental Christian operationally cherry picked Biblical gleanings? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You work all day behind a desk, what’s the harm in a taking an hour long guided tour into a ‘spiritual environment that makes you sweat.’ What’s the harm in someone giving you a little un-researched nutritional advice? They know how their body is guided by their own intuition and feelings, they trust themselves, so why shouldn’t you? (And confirmed, at this point, by a legion of dietary restrictions that are recognized Internationally. First world only.)
In short; Do we question what we do and why? Why are we so comfortable with people giving us simple answers to complex questions? Why do we gravitate towards those that offer a polished smile and positivity mantras over someone who says “ I don’t know. I don’t have the answer to that”. What are we so scared of that we don’t want people around us to be real, multi dimensional beings? Why do we create new Religions, new marketing concepts and belief systems which upon scrutiny prove paper thin yet somehow, thicker than a Nazi bunker wall when attempting to penetrate with rationale? If we can find the occasion to think of these things, as we’re all taken in by something. One doesn’t have to cite a strong intuition as reason for this collective growing sense of unease. We all know we’re contributing to climate change. We know there’s human suffering and that it can be alleviated. It feels overwhelming, at times, these hard truths, and much simpler to fill our minds with diversions and pretend play, chasing glittery glam and holy smoke. Recognizing our common humanity is a touchstone, for me, and a mind expanding, real experience. I don’t pray for prosperity, or fame, or follow those who promise me these things if I can only ‘think positive’. I want to move forward, I want to hear about innovation, advancement as a species, and solutions to real life problems, not fulfillment of my own personal desires. That, I find exciting, and deeply, soulfully enriching.
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