Yoga for Fitness?

There has been a spirited discussion on the blog It's All Yoga, Baby of an "Adidas Yoga" class, taught by celebrity yogi Rainbeau Mars, which will be offered at an upcoming Yoga Journal Conference. Additional posts on the topic can be found here and here.

People are talking about the rise of celebrity yogis, the commercialization of yoga, yoga as a sport, the true values of yoga, and so many other topics. I find this whole conversation fascinating, and respect each person’s right to his or her own views and opinions. To me, it seems like this whole issue crystallizes over the question: what is yoga? at what point does a practice cease to be yoga and become simply a physical exercise?

As yoga becomes more and more widespread, extending beyond ashrams and yoga studios and into gyms, community centers and church basements, the teachers and students are going to be more and more diverse, approaching yoga with different expectations and intentions. While many are introduced to yoga because of its physical benefits and learn to appreciate the philosophy, values and lifestyle of yoga, many others have no desire to go beyond the asanas and get a tight “yoga butt”.

This is where I believe the Adidas sponsorship comes in …. they are jumping on the bandwagon because they are identifying a particular audience, a group of people who are expressing interest in yoga because of its fitness benefits. As a sports/fitness brand, Adidas wants to associate itself with these physical benefits of yoga. As far as I am concerned, you can’t blame a corporation for seeking out additional ways of making a profit – that is their mission. I guess the conundrum arises when the yoga community is faced with whether we accept this connection between yoga and fitness as a “legitimate” yoga practice.

It also seems to be a natural human impulse to try and create meaning and interpret our own experiences for ourselves, including yoga … which leads to many different styles and practices of yoga – including yoga as sport or for fitness. Yoga for sport/fitness seems to be one way of meaning making for a certain group of people – for them, they interpret yoga as a way to attain their health goals without delving into the spiritual side of yoga.

So, to me, as a person relatively new to the “serious” yoga world, it appears that discussions such as this thread point to the desire to name, capture, categorize the concept of yoga … which is, by its very nature, an elusive process as yoga tends to be inclusive of different viewpoints and adaptive to different situations.

I don’t have any answers by any means … I am enjoying reading others’ opinions and left wondering …. where does yoga fit into the fitness world, if it does?

Today's workout:
50 min. run (5.39 mi)
90 min. primary series yoga