Saturday, March 23, 2013

TOO MUCH CHEEK?


CIRCLE JERK: A metaphor for any group activity performed for personal gratification.


TOO MUCH CHEEK
Johann Wagener 3-23-13

Leave it to the Self-Centered, Ego-centric, Narcissitic Western culture to screw up a perfectly designed Eastern practice of meditation and exercise by turning it into a fashion show.

The Looney tunes Lululemon devotees are complaining that there hot and flimsy tights are exposing too much booty.  It’s no wonder that they are having problems since the focus is more on style, fashion, and socializing than on practicing Yoga. Lululemon lovers buy into healthy lifestyle 

The pitch sounds like something out of a cult film;

For a relatively small but growing circle of fitness fanatics, glimpses of the Lululemon Athletica brand act as a signal.
Running by someone in a distinctive, neon-striped hoodie or seeing a co-worker bring lunch in the same reusable red shopping bag covered with the company manifesto — "friends are more important than money," "breathe deeply" — are both signs that two people have been initiated into the same tribe, one that worships healthy living, tight-knit communities and colorful athletic apparel.
The company's loyal followers rave like obsessive groupies. "Once you go Lululemon, you never go back," says 24-year-old Nitasha Khetarpal, of Valencia, Calif.

As usual, it’s all about making money by hyping up something that historically has done very well as it was; just a simple quasi form of mediation and exercise with a focus on mental and physical health and reconnecting with our “true” selves which allows us to “empty” our minds of all that “self-centered” chatter about how good (or bad) we look, is our outfit color coordinated, or am I better at this than the person next to me?

For those who actually want to learn and practice Yoga they are wasting their time if they remain caught up in the silliness going on in the marketplace. Fashion shows, and “feel good” sale pitches is “not Yoga.”
All one needs to learn and practice Yoga is a willingness to put aside the hype, and put on a pair of loose fitting, neutral colored cotton pants (and shirt), sit down, shut up, and listen to the silence. Simply put, that’s “traditional Yoga”.



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