The Lifestyle of an Undercover Yogi

Guest blogger, Alison Lea Sher of Be You Be Sure is in the house today!  Enjoy her post about what being a yogi means to her (and maybe you too).

Yes. We yogis love Krishna Das, though to most people he appears to be some sort of self-sanctified deity. Why do we sit there chanting in call and response to a white middle aged man with an Indian name? What do we yogis keep twisting our limbs to tap into? For many, the method to our madness will forever remain a mystery.

Once you get into yoga, you’re into it. You leave a good class feeling the best feeling in the world – united with some part of the self that is light and new. Your body feels younger. You are getting healthy.

If you’re a diehard yogi, you may have bought the style of Lululemon pants recently recalled while Jimmy Kimmel made fun of you. You may have three new tattoos since you started an asana practice. You probably have a mantra you repeat to yourself in the morning, before bed, and while sitting on the toilet. You have shifted your identity into one of the yogi.

You’re a yogahead now. You may eventually go as far as to change your name to Zen. You’ll drink the Kool-aid. You’ll think spirulina can cure AIDS. You’ll tell us all we can solve our indigestion by standing on our heads.  I think this is what most people are skeptical of when they see their friends walking further and further down a yogic path.

Yes, the culture of yoga can appear a bit cultish, like we’re a commercialized sect of blissed out and trim born-again white women. We eat lettuce wraps and escape the stress of the world by retreating to a magical space in our minds. We sweat together in heated rooms, moving in unison as a teacher shares juicy nuggets about the secret of life and orders us around in Sanskrit.

Yoga people sometimes get a bad reputation. Yet, when I think about who are in the grand scheme of the world, when I compare us to all the different types of people pillaging this earth, I’m glad we’re here. We’re here to heal. We’re seeking a life of compassionate understanding and service. Yoga people mean nothing but well – imperfect as we still are despite all the stretching we do. Yet, people are weary of yoga because it is ultimately esoteric and religious.

After 7 years of practice, I’ve come to realize that if I shout about my love of yoga, I will seem like a voodoo-loving buffoon with hot buns. I’ve learned it’s wiser to wear my yoga soul clandestinely. As I continue to integrate my practice into all aspects of my life, I try to do so without advertising this self-actualizing pursuit. I’ve become a stealth yogini ninja who adheres to the virtue of moral secularism in our “freedom of worship” society. I do this, not because I fear rejection from those who think differently, but because I don’t want to ostracize myself from all the great people out there who just happen to think shrines studded with golden statues of Vishnu and Ganesha are weird.

I’m a believer in the power of physical and energetic union to rock your worldview. I know you can find peace of mind through the body. I know meditation will make you a kinder person. I want everyone to taste what this feels like. I want the power of this experience to ripple out into our violent world.

To live my yoga peacefully, however, I’ve had to challenge my yoga ego. My yoga ego has chased me to retreat centers. It keeps me coming back to my mat – and all this is good. But when my yoga ego suddenly wants to get an ohm tattoo on my forehead to prove my commitment, I won’t let it.

I live in the world with shakti stars in my eyes, keeping my views on energy science to myself, so I don’t come off as a fundamentalist. Most people I meet now know nothing about my double yogini life. They don’t know how I source my inner light.

I’ve grown to become fine with this. I’m fine with people thinking I’m naturally positive and energetic. Pfft! What people don’t know is I’m doing yoga all the time – at the gas station as I curse the fossil fuel industry, while yelling at the top of my lungs gridlocked in DC metro traffic. Yes, anger yoga is yoga for the real world! I’m a total yogini, through and through. I just wear a disguise.

Alison Lea Sher (a.k.a. Bee) is a creative writer, journalist, and the co-founder of Be You Be Sure – an inspirational website for the millennial generation.