After a bit of a delay, here are the guidelines for submission to the Yoga Like Me blog.
• Submissions will be edited for content and length.
• Please keep comments and submission material respectful and relevant to the goals of this page.
• Submissions can be more than just a picture of you in a pose. People find that the various aspects of yoga practice shows up or can be applied in many places in life. Feel free to branch out.
• As yoga is about more than putting your leg over your shoulder, this is about more than just showing off. The idea is to give a visual idea of what your yoga does for you or means to you. Be creative, be real, be yourself.
I hope to see some great variety in the submissions: favorite spots, favorite foods, favorite friends, favorite props, favorite poses, etc. Thanks in advance for your contributions!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
How This Got Here
I'm a slender guy, but believe it or not, I have body issues. I also have yoga issues. I have issues with not being able to do a handstand away from a wall. I have issues with not having hip flexibility like I would like. I have issues with the asymmetry of my body's ability to settle in certain poses. As I've spent more time working on yoga, I've learned that whether it's evident or not, most everyone has yoga issues.
As I've been catching up on back issues of the multiple magazines I receive, I noted that the March issue of my yoga magazine had a man on the cover. It was a nice change, but the editor's note inside shocked me when it mentioned that this was the first time in eight years that a man has graced the cover of the magazine. It stunned me that a magazine dedicated to yoga that periodically includes articles and editorials by or about men in yoga, references male yoga teachers and gurus, and whose conventions include many male instructors, participants, and forums on men in yoga would have such a gap. It got me thinking about what people who practice yoga and those who don't are presented with as far as images of yoga and its practitioners go.
I often reflect on my presence in the various yoga environments in which I may find myself. Most of the places I go, I'm likely to be one of only a few men if not the only man. Many times, yoga comes off in media as an activity dominated either by slender, toned white women who can afford it or by those who have gone full tilt, yoga chants, skin-tight yoga pants. Anyone who has attended a yoga class has seen that this is not the case and people already work daily to change this perception. Others are the change in the perception simply by showing up to the mat.
The yoga world is full of practitioners who are white, pink, yellow, red, brown, and black. It's full of people who can do all sorts of arm balances or who need assistance or modification in poses others of us take for granted. Some people have amazing, "God, I #*@!ing hate her!" flexibility, others have difficulty touching their toes. Slender, curvy, waifish, plus-sized, young, old, athletic, arthritic, prime form or recovering, there is a lot more diversity in the yoga world than what we see in magazines. Many different people participate. I intend for this space to be a place for people to show and to see this.
I hope that once or twice a week I can feature a picture of someone in a favorite yoga pose with a brief testimonial about what they like about yoga, why they practice yoga, or how yoga fits into their personal life. It is my hope that through this shared exercise others will see someone like themselves, will be inspired to change their outlook, will be inspired to keep at it, and/or will be able to make some small step farther along managing their personal issues, whatever they may be.
This is only the first posting of what I hope to become many. Guidelines for submissions will be laid out in the next post.
As I've been catching up on back issues of the multiple magazines I receive, I noted that the March issue of my yoga magazine had a man on the cover. It was a nice change, but the editor's note inside shocked me when it mentioned that this was the first time in eight years that a man has graced the cover of the magazine. It stunned me that a magazine dedicated to yoga that periodically includes articles and editorials by or about men in yoga, references male yoga teachers and gurus, and whose conventions include many male instructors, participants, and forums on men in yoga would have such a gap. It got me thinking about what people who practice yoga and those who don't are presented with as far as images of yoga and its practitioners go.
I often reflect on my presence in the various yoga environments in which I may find myself. Most of the places I go, I'm likely to be one of only a few men if not the only man. Many times, yoga comes off in media as an activity dominated either by slender, toned white women who can afford it or by those who have gone full tilt, yoga chants, skin-tight yoga pants. Anyone who has attended a yoga class has seen that this is not the case and people already work daily to change this perception. Others are the change in the perception simply by showing up to the mat.
The yoga world is full of practitioners who are white, pink, yellow, red, brown, and black. It's full of people who can do all sorts of arm balances or who need assistance or modification in poses others of us take for granted. Some people have amazing, "God, I #*@!ing hate her!" flexibility, others have difficulty touching their toes. Slender, curvy, waifish, plus-sized, young, old, athletic, arthritic, prime form or recovering, there is a lot more diversity in the yoga world than what we see in magazines. Many different people participate. I intend for this space to be a place for people to show and to see this.
I hope that once or twice a week I can feature a picture of someone in a favorite yoga pose with a brief testimonial about what they like about yoga, why they practice yoga, or how yoga fits into their personal life. It is my hope that through this shared exercise others will see someone like themselves, will be inspired to change their outlook, will be inspired to keep at it, and/or will be able to make some small step farther along managing their personal issues, whatever they may be.
This is only the first posting of what I hope to become many. Guidelines for submissions will be laid out in the next post.
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