Spoiled Yogi

YJ contestant Geri Girardin

The yoga community is all a-flutter about Yoga Journal’s Talent Search model contest. In case you don’t follow the on-goings of YJ, they asked their readers to submit pictures of themselves to be voted on to determine a winner, who will get to fly to California for a photo shoot.

Needless to say, there has been a lot of controversy about the contest. The lovely Anna Guest-Jelly from Curvy Yoga encouraged all the curvy yogis out there submit their pictures in an effort to show the editors that beauty can come in all shapes and sizes. Nancy Alder from Flying Yogi and Core Power teacher Sadie Nardini took exception to the “tighty brighty” wardrobe mentality and protested to the focus on external appearances by submitting their picture in seated meditation with their backs to the camera. Meanwhile, Yoga Dork is hosting a photo contest of her own in response: “For our version, it’s not so much a contest as a declaration of satya (truth): We ask you send a photo of who you are, as a yogi, a real person, in any shape, size, age, gender or color/clinginess of clothing. We’re not selling magazines. No fancy poses required, but by all means go for what speaks YOU.”

Now that the photos have been submitted and the voting has begun, my inbox has been flooded with emails and Facebook messages (all from ladies who are more than deserving to be in a magazine) urging me to vote for them.

Whether they want to win this competition to challenge the status quo or just think it would be really cool to live the glamorous life of a yoga model for a day… everyone wants to be a yoga model — or at the very least to feel represented in the yoga community!

Last week, I posted a status update on my Facebook page about how conflicted I am about voting–torn between so many deserving people who I also consider friends. Within seconds a teacher I really admire posted a response, “because yoga is all about being beautiful and modeling.”  He deleted his comment before I could reply, but it made me think… Is yoga about being beautiful? No, of course not! But is feeling beautiful, accepted, and validated a part of the practice? I think it is! I know I always feel great when a teacher tells me one of my poses is beautiful.

I don’t love the competition aspect of YJ’s contest (because I don’t think that’s very aligned with yoga philosophy)… But I’m thrilled that I can look through all the gorgeous photographs that were submitted and rate every one of them as highly as I possibly can. Because seeing beauty in each other (no matter how precise the pose) IS what yoga is all about as far as I’m concerned.

In yoga we talk a lot about detoxing. I guess the theory is that we collect harmful things in our bodies, and we want to move them out as soon as possible. We often think of these toxins as physical things we’ve either put into our bodies (pesticides lingering on conventionally-grown produce, hormones from meat or dairy, caffeine, processed foods) and from the environment we live in (pollution, radiation, etc.). Of course, we also tend to hold negative emotions–stress, fear, anxiety–in our bodies. So to rid ourselves of these toxins we build heat hoping to sweat them out. We twist and churn our bellies, trying to kick our digestive systems into gear so toxins exit through, well, our digestive track.

Image: Yoga-Abode.com

If you think that sounds gross, just wait until you hear some of the things ancient yogis did to cleanse themselves! They’d drink saline water to get things “moving” if you know what I mean. They’d put a string up their noses and pull it out their mouths to “floss” their sinuses (if you use a neti pot–it’s the same idea!). My favorite one is a kind of dhauti, where the practitioner swallows a long strip of cloth (all except the end), then pulls it back out taking impurities from the stomach out with it. All I can say is that I hope they threw that cloth away when they were done. Yuck-O!

When you hear about that type of cleansing, today’s popular dietary cleanses seem kind of mild. Today, when you hear a yoga student say he’s cleansing, it probably means he’s restricting the foods he takes into his body and takes in only cleansing foods and beverages instead. There are kinds of cleanses–juice cleanses, fruit cleanses, and the Master Cleanse (nothing but lemon water, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup).

I’m telling you all of this because I’m contemplating a cleanse of my own. I did a cleanse a couple of years ago where I gradually worked my way to eating only fruits and veggies for a few days. I had heard that cleansing would make me feel energetic, clear up my skin, and help me get on the right track to healthy eating. When it was all said and done, I’m not sure if I felt “cleaner” or not.. I almost want to do it again because knowing what to expect, I might be able to understand it all a little better.

I like the idea of getting rid of toxins, but at the same time… a cleanse sounds a lot like a crash diet. And the whole idea that there’s something wrong with our bodies–that they’re unclean–is kind of contradictory to the philosophy that we’re all perfect just as we are. And that’s my favorite yogic philosophy! Plus, it seems pretty silly to go all out with a cleanse for a couple of weeks if I have no intention of giving up cupcakes in this lifetime…

So, I need some feedback.. Should I try it again? Have you ever done a cleanse?