#NOTYOGA explained

Let's talk about WHY #notyoga is on all of my posts on Instagram. I want to start off by saying I have NO issue with yoga, but for the purposes of clarification…⁣
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Yoga and contortion are not the same. The mindset of walking into a contortion vs yoga class is, and should be, completely different. Contortion training is that of an athlete. You come into a contortion class with the intention of pushing your body to the max and attaining high level skills to eventually be performed on stage. As for yoga, it is a spiritual practice. That’s not to say it’s *only* about spirituality, but that is the base of it. You are working towards being at peace, and for bodily and mental health purposes⁣
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At this point, there is clearly an overlap as the use of IG has made yoga more of a performative practice for a lot of people. And those who are new to yoga seem to want to attain the flexibility they see in IG posts by taking yoga classes. But yoga isn’t about becoming a contortionist- that’s not the point. Even if some yogis have attained their very impressive flexibility through their yoga practice, that’s not going to happen for everyone, and it’s NOT THE POINT. I work with a lot of yogis who come to me to improve their flexibility to enhance their yoga practice, but these students approach my training in a very different way then their regular yoga practice. And it’s important that they do because, like I said before, the training mindset for these practices is different!⁣
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It’s also important to keep in mind that a lot of yoga instructors go through teacher training and then immediately start teaching. There is no reason for them to know safe, effective methods for teaching extreme flexibility, especially if they themselves are not flexible. To be fair, the same can be said of people who teach “contortion” classes who have never done contortion, or are brand new at it.

​No matter what your goals are, you should find a qualified instructor who has done it themselves and can teach you what you want to be taught in a safe way! ⁣