Yoga: body, mind… or society?

Yoga is the neo-yuppie craze that’s found its way into mainstream American gyms - and homes - over the past several years. It’s got a certain social status attached to it now; you can almost picture the big name celebrities going to their yoga and pilates classes, right? Unfortunately, this leads to a public perception that yoga isn’t for everyone, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

Hatha yoga - the most popular - is marketed by gyms as a fitness routine and one of the less cerebral forms on offer. You don’t need to assemble an altar to practice it; you just need to buy a mat and some really cool yoga pants.

But what’s missing from this characterisation is that the purpose of yoga is for the mind, with the body following. You can learn all the yoga positions from websites, books or classes, but what’s harder about the practice is actually clearing your mind and optimisating the positions. We live in a very “now” society where multi-tasking is commonplace; simply laying prone on the floor and focusing on breathing (yes, that’s really a position!) is a lot tougher than one might think.

Unfortunately, discovering all of this involves getting past social opinions of yoga - mainly, how famous am I and does my butt look famous too in these fabulous yoga pants?