Authenticity of Approval

[Salty]

Cultural appropriation abounds here in Murrica.

It's what we do. It seems the internet is binding people together to become aware of this and combat it. I certainly wasn't aware of the term cultural appropriation until this board started talking about it recently.

One of those worst offenders in our culture, IMO and perspective, is yoga.

Oms get plasted anywhere handy, a multifaceted, secular path to self knowledge and self development is turned into soccer mom vacation and social battle ground, and whole yards of yoga is lost and forgotten in another attempt to be as skinny and fit as Murrica wants you to be.

Want to see just how bad it is?

Become a yoga teacher. Go ahead, what's stopping you?

Oh that's right, nothing. Nothing is stopping you from teaching yoga.

There are plenty of them, and mostly affordable. Just make sure it's approved by the Yoga Alliance.

You can check to see if a yoga instructor is Yoga Alliance approved pretty easily. Then you know what you've got. Except, what have you got? What does the Yoga Alliance do?

They do nothing, well, except approve Yoga teachers. What about afterward? Is there some kind of follow up? Continuing education? Inspections? Investigations into alleged misconduct?

Ha ha ha.

No such luck. No, just like the National Board for Certified Massage Blah blah blah, there IS not actual oversight. The latter has continuing education credits, a quick search for "massage continuing education credits" shows up shit like

Canine Massage and Energy Work
10 CE
$120

And what about that follow up? Nope.

So basically, these organizations are bullshit. Will they eventually attain some measure of power over the people they'd probably enjoy having power over?

Right at this moment you can sign up for CorePower Yoga's Online courses and, for $500, become certified to teach CorePower Yoga. This is seen, often as the Starbucks of Yoga. OR you can just make up a fancy plaque, get some liability insurance and a waiver and GET TO WORK.

I'm weighing my options.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

But, Alty, The People want their Woo!

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I just want the yoga pance, so my ankles will balloon up when I fart.

But I do have to wonder, how WOULD you police yoga?  This shit was hilarious when it was last fashionable, back in the 70s (even as a kid, I couldn't stop laughing), and it's hilarious now.

Mind you, I'm not laughing at the guy in India who does it as an expression of religion.  I'm laughing at the same people you are, but for a different reason.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

I did a yoga class in SEGUIN for awhile.
They just gutted all the Hinduism out of it and made it stretches and asanas. It was a thing you did before you hit the weights or the Zumba class or whatever.

[Demolition Squid]

My aunt qualified as a yoga instructor. I'm not sure on the process, but it wasn't quick, or cheap, and the fact she is the one healthy person in a family full of fatasses kind of leads me to believe there's some sort of benefit and not all yoga is bull.

Which in no way invalidates your point that there's a lot of frauds. I just felt compelled to speak up.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

My aunt qualified as a yoga instructor. I'm not sure on the process, but it wasn't quick, or cheap, and the fact she is the one healthy person in a family full of fatasses kind of leads me to believe there's some sort of benefit and not all yoga is bull.

Which in no way invalidates your point that there's a lot of frauds. I just felt compelled to speak up.

I am 169% certain that there is some good reason for yoga.

But that reason isn't to add a splash of color to the bleak existence of people who are too damned dense to see that LIFE CAN'T BE BORING unless you DECIDE that it is.

[Salty]

Right, and that's what it's become.

The whole yoga of breathing is lost, which is what makes the rest of it so effective.

And then there's the bringing down of the word itself. It means ONE thing to Americans, by and large, when there are many, many yogas.

My aunt qualified as a yoga instructor. I'm not sure on the process, but it wasn't quick, or cheap, and the fact she is the one healthy person in a family full of fatasses kind of leads me to believe there's some sort of benefit and not all yoga is bull.

Which in no way invalidates your point that there's a lot of frauds. I just felt compelled to speak up.

I think it does really depend where you live, and what you put yourself through. But there are easy paths.

I know yoga isn't all bullshit.

The idea that is bullshit comes right back to cultural problems.

You see, most newage fiddle faddle comes from Yoga. The term New Age itself came from a publishing company back in the 60's or 70's. The entire newage movement is predicated on being fed snake oil. And many of the collective claims of newagers are just pilfered, just in the way shamanism has been pilfered.

And, as with shamanism, there is some point, some benefit, larger than what we in the civilized world make of it. Or different than we make it anyway. We cheapen these things.

And THEN we have the nerve to sneer at those with "less substantial training". The god damned world is run by snake oil salesman.

[Salty]

Yoga has been shown, in one instance, to be as effective in relieving backpain as physical therapy.

That study was sure the mention the yoga instructor has 200 hours YA training.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Yoga Alliance.

Alliance against WHOM?   

[Salty]

Yoga Alliance.

Alliance against WHOM?   

The unwashed?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Yoga Alliance.

Alliance against WHOM?   

The unwashed?

No, I think it's the Pilates geeks.  Everyone hates those bastards.   

Yoga, Feng Shooey, and the Tai Chi thugs.  Allied against the people with the huge balls.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

Yoga Alliance.

Alliance against WHOM?   

The unwashed?

No, I think it's the Pilates geeks.  Everyone hates those bastards.   

Yoga, Feng Shooey, and the Tai Chi thugs.  Allied against the people with the huge balls.

And TANNING. Don't forget tanning. 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Yoga Alliance.

Alliance against WHOM?   

The unwashed?

No, I think it's the Pilates geeks.  Everyone hates those bastards.   

Yoga, Feng Shooey, and the Tai Chi thugs.  Allied against the people with the huge balls.

And TANNING. Don't forget tanning. 

Which side are they on?

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

Yoga Alliance.

Alliance against WHOM?   

The unwashed?

No, I think it's the Pilates geeks.  Everyone hates those bastards.   

Yoga, Feng Shooey, and the Tai Chi thugs.  Allied against the people with the huge balls.

And TANNING. Don't forget tanning. 

Which side are they on?

Not sure. The site just shows treadmills and weights.

I think they hit you with the NEW AGE after they get your credit card number.

[Salty]

Yoga Alliance.

Alliance against WHOM?   

The unwashed?

No, I think it's the Pilates geeks.  Everyone hates those bastards.   

Yoga, Feng Shooey, and the Tai Chi thugs.  Allied against the people with the huge balls.

And TANNING. Don't forget tanning. 

Which side are they on?

The Sun's