I’ve been quieter recently, for many reasons, one of which is family, one of which is I’m fully realizing I can’t multi-task, and one of which is my priorities. One of which, also, is yoga.
A few months ago, my friend sent me an article that said something like yoga is only for rich people. These articles have been around before, and I normally ignore them, or respond with how myself and several other teachers I know volunteer hours every week teaching yoga for free to those who might not have access or who might not be able to afford it. And it’s true, we do. And also, that’s not really the point.
Several weeks ago, I was walking with my husband and dogs through my neighborhood in Fort Worth, and a man in a business suit came speeding by in his huge Texas pickup, picking up speed and driving in the middle of the road, not slowing down or giving two shits that people were in the street (side note: my neighborhood does not have sidewalks). My husband yelled “slow down!” and the driver yelled something back, that I could not tell, and I responded by yelling at the top of my lungs, “hey F*** YOU!”
And I realized, that is so not yoga.
And also, that dude could have had the worst day ever. His loved ones could be sick and he could be racing home to take care of them. Or he could have not been the guy “giving two shits that people were in the street” and possibly, he might not have seen us. I doubt it, but you never know.
Or worse, he could have spent the last 2 hours driving in hellacious DFW traffic.
For the past few weeks, I have spent most of my days driving back and forth to Dallas. Driving in Dallas is a freaking beating – a drive that should take an hour often takes two, and if you’re not stopped on a highway, you have some dude in a huge pickup riding your ass.
Therefore, I’ve had a lot of time recently to think about the rich person yoga article again.
It’s not that yoga isn’t for mostly rich people, it’s that it’s often for people who have the luxury of time. Time, not money. However, normally if you have the luxury of time, you also have the luxury of money.
When you’re sitting in 4 hours of traffic every day, the LAST thing you want is some skinny white girl saying, “just breathe in more love and breathe out all the stress in your body.”
I know that I’ve been that (not so skinny) white girl many times over.
It’s one of the reasons I’ve fallen away a bit. Yoga. Damn – I love it, and I think it’s ridiculous too, and I also think its exactly what we all need in life, not only for mental health but most definitely for physical health. But good god, people, stop it with the precious shit (me, too).
I’m in the middle of another yoga teacher training. I’ll be done sometime next year, and this training is through a hot yoga studio in town. It has completely changed my mindset. I have always hated hot yoga. Yep, I really have. Mostly, I have hated hot, fast yoga, which completely defeats the point to me of why we do yoga, but I’m opening my mind, slowly. And I’m beginning to realize that it’s not so bad, and it’s not just for athletes or Type A crossfit type people. I really did think that, for a long time, not kidding.
I will say that one thing I like about hot yoga is, there’s not a lot of bullshit. There’s not a lot of the yoga fluff, the peace and love and we’re all gonna be OK stuff. It’s there, but just barely. You can breathe in hot yoga because someone isn’t telling you how to live your life. They’re just telling you to go into the next pose.
I still don’t like it more than traditional yoga (whatever that even means anymore), but I’m realizing there’s a time and place for both hot/fast and traditional/slow, and one isn’t bad and the other good, and maybe we need to combine the two a little more.
A little less precious, a little more space. A little less fast, a little more curious.
Maybe if we all did that, yoga would seem a little more open, a little more reachable, a little more like it’s for everyone. Not just those with the luxury of time, or the luxury of resources, but for all of us, no matter what path we’re on or where we’ve been, or where we’re going.
Power yoga isn’t just for athletic fit people and traditional yoga isn’t just for hippies and stay at home moms. Yoga is for all, and as soon as we start using less of the hippie speech and the precious otherworldly mentality, the more we’ll make it approachable. I think once it is seen as approachable, it’ll be seen as less of a luxury and more of a need. It’ll be seen as something that we all require to live our best, healthiest lives.
With that, here’s a new recipe. I’ll be taking a little more time this spring to sit on my patio and savor in these kick ass days. I hope you can as well.
With love, Jen.
Precious, Luxurious, Mushroom Burgers
Ingredients
- 4 portobello mushrooms
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 3 tsp. balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
Instructions
- Clean the mushrooms using water and towels to remove the grime. Then, using a spoon, scrape out the insides of the mushrooms and toss.
- In a large bowl, combine the oil, vinegar and spices. Add the mushrooms to the bowl, and stir well so the mushrooms are covered in the oil mixture. Let set for about 20 minutes and use this time to get your toppings or sides together.
- Heat a grill or large frying pan to medium heat, and add the mushrooms, cooking for 5-6 minutes before turning over and cooking a final 5 minutes.
- Add your toppings and mushrooms to the burger buns, and serve immediately.