Shiny Blue Shorts, Chronic Diseases, and Real Yoga
By Kristine Kaoverii Weber | August 12, 2022
He was wearing shiny electric blue shorts, a red bandana, and little else. He rolled out his mat in the front of the room, gave me a disinterested once over, and then popped himself up into a headstand. I was sitting waiting for the rest of the retreat participants to arrive.
Then I taught my usual thing – a slow, mindful yoga class.
At the end of the class he turned to his partner and I heard him say, “We’re leaving, this isn’t real yoga.”
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Back when I first started teaching yoga in the 90s and through the mid-2000s there wasn’t a lot of awareness about yoga philosophy, practice, or lifestyle beyond asanas. Some people wanted to be pushed more than I was willing to push them. I was no Jane Fonda, and they didn’t see the value of what I was offering (and I was frustrated because I couldn’t explain it convincingly enough).
Yoga had been stuffed into the fitness box and I had no idea how to fish it back out.
The yoga-as-fitness phenomenon was an inevitable development because since 1968 and the publication of Dr. Kenneth Cooper’s culture-shifting classic, Aerobics, Americans had been bombarded with messages that cardio-vascular exercise is a key ingredient of good health. Today, even though we’re all well aware of the importance of exercise, according to the CDC, less than one-quarter of Americans get enough of it (cardiovascular + strength).
Dr. Kenneth Cooper’s book, Amazon
But the importance of exercise has been well established and disseminated. So yoga, inevitably, became an exercise trend in the U.S., and that’s what integrated it into the mainstream. Still, only 1 out of 10 Americans does any yoga at all in a given year.
Why don’t Americans move enough?
Lots of people opine that it’s because we’re lazy. But actually, that’s just lazy thinking. The truth is much more complicated.
One factor is that six out of 10 Americans have chronic diseases, and four out of 10 have two or more of them – heart disease, stroke, diabetes, chronic kidney and lung disease, Alzheimer’s, cancers, autoimmune diseases, and lots more. Many of these may create mobility issues, pain, and fatigue – big factors that increase sedentary lifestyles.
CDC
Ninety percent of the $4.1 Trillion spent on healthcare each year in the U.S. (an updated statistic since this graphic was created) goes to the treatment of these chronic diseases. It’s well understood that lifestyle, poor stress management, social determinants, and toxicity in the environment are all factors, and many people don’t have the ability to live healthy lifestyles because work, family obligations, exhaustion, finances, mental health, and social problems often leave folks with a limited capacity for self-care and healthy living.
But awareness is growing.
The CDC has instituted something called “Health in All Policies” which is “a collaborative approach that integrates and articulates health considerations into policymaking across sectors to improve the health of all communities and people.”
Forward thinkers (on both sides of the aisle actually) recognize that health is created by a multitude of factors beyond healthcare and they are trying to bring health to the forefront in policy decisions to mitigate or even reverse the negative effects of poor health on individuals and the larger culture.
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Western medicine has its limits, and various cultures have held wisdom for millennium that has been largely ignored in the modern world. However, if we want to improve the health of whole societies, reclaiming this knowledge is essential. The Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine recently crafted “The People’s Declaration for Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Healthcare” because of the growing belief that traditional, integrative healthcare is a human right.
Reclaiming these practices, including yoga, can help folks struggling with chronic illness have more choices, better care, and healthier lifestyles. These kinds of initiatives can help yoga (as well as Ayurveda) emerge from the fitness box and expand to be utilized as healthier lifestyle strategies, not just another cardio workout with a short rest at the end.
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Another reason Americans don’t move enough is that 1 out of 4 U.S. adults live with cognitive or mobility disabilities. The most common disability type, mobility, affects 1 in 7 adults. This increases to 2 out of 5 in the 65+ age group. Clearly, a gym-style yoga workout is not the best or the only “real” yoga, because it’s not universally appropriate or accessible.
Greater availability of slow, mindful yoga could help yoga expand beyond the fitness box and become more mainstreamed and more accepted as an important practice for prevention and health promotion.
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As a yoga professional, I think it’s essential to help people understand the difference between exercise yoga and slow, mindful yoga – sure, both have benefits and there is crossover but there are also important differences – strength vs. nervous system regulation, cardiovascular vs. interoceptive awareness skill-building, performance vs. mindful self-discovery, dominating vs. embodying.
Yes there is some intersection, but if we don’t differentiate, we end up with lots of folks like the blue-shorted guy who turned his nose up at it – who assume slow and mindful is watered down “real” yoga. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the many, many folks who will never give yoga a try because the media presents it as an extreme sport – competitive, hot and sweaty, thin, hypermobile, and unattainable.
Which brings me to chair yoga.
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I don’t teach chair yoga as a diluted version of real yoga. I never talk about it that way either. Because thinking and talking about chair yoga as a “modification” immediately sets it up as a lesser endeavor. It can reinforce insecurities or feelings of shame and inferiority in people who may already be feeling pretty bad about themselves and their limitations.
Chair yoga which integrates asana, breathing, and meditation practice has unique benefits – it builds the skills of proprioception (where my body is in space), interoceptive awareness (tuning into and understanding how I feel so I can make good behavioral choices), mindfulness, concentration, contemplative skills, healthier breathing to build resilience in the nervous system, social connection, and of course the important skill of learning to relax and honor the body’s needs.
Chair yoga is much more than a wimpy, second-class way to exercise, and it needs to be reconceptualized as an important accessible, enjoyable, health promoting activity that can be scaled and widely disseminated. It can play an important role in shifting population health.
Chair yoga can help fill many important gaps – the gap of the 75% of the population that does not get enough movement, the gap of the 90% that doesn’t do any yoga at all, the gap of the 60% needing better support and self-care in managing their chronic diseases.
Also there are many places beyond yoga studios and gyms where it can take place – rec centers, senior centers, VA centers, adult education institutions, healthcare centers, offices, schools, online, and more. Chair yoga is not only for individuals, it’s a population health strategy because it’s person centered, low-cost, low-risk, health promoting, preventative, and encourages social engagement.
Hindustan Times
I was a little disappointed with my inability to convince the blue shorted guy of the value of what I was teaching, but I used that experience to clarify my vision. It helped stoke a fire to learn to explain what I was doing and help people understand that in my yoga classes – mat or chair – they would understand very clearly that they were building health skills they would not easily find elsewhere.
Once I overheard a participant say to a new attendee who was feeling apprehensive about joining my yoga class at a senior center, “Don’t worry, this is nothing like gym yoga, it’ll make you feel like you had the best massage of your life.”
Please check out all my FREE resources for yoga professionals here.
CHAIR YOGA FOR YOUR BRAIN & NERVOUS SYSTEM
SUBTLE® YOGA FOR ENHANCING TRAUMA RECOVERY
Five Ways Yogic Meditation Benefits Your Brain – eBook
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Great story about blue shorts! I took it as a compliment when one of my students told me that my class was too slow. Moving slow and gentle means that your body will get the maximum benefit with little chance of injury. I injured myself every few months when I first started taking yoga classes because I felt the need to compete with the hyper-flexible dancers and athletes in the classes. To stop getting injured, I started modifying poses and stopped competing. Our built environment is another reason we don’t move enough. Urban planners will modify car-centric developments to be pedestrian and bike friendly only if we let them know that’s what we want.
I agree Susan! Thanks for sharing your insights
Nicely expressed and I can relate to the examples you used to express where we are in our culture. I’m going to broaden my perspective and reach out to this segment of the population, because I respect that the need exists, but the solution hasn’t been presented. Finding the best way to present the class to the party of interest is where my mind is at currently. I’m going to reach out to elders and do some market research in an attempt to discover the words and phrases that will open a path into this population of folks. This sub-group of our culture will get larger each and every year as we continue our traditional behaviors.
that’s awesome Joe!
When yoga collided w/ the American fitness culture, unfortunately, it just set us up for yet another antagonistic relationship w/ our bodies. I think so much of getting more people into what we do is to redefine the relationship w/ our bodies. If we stop the measuring, the tracking, and let go of the tedious nature of many exercise regimes, we might even have fun again and get healthier in the process. I noticed a sign the other day at LifeTime for HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) Yoga Classes. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry!
I agree and oh wow, yes HIIT yoga is a little too much!
Thank you for sharing your wisdom and insight…I am thrilled to find a like-minded yogini, a whole Self yoga instructor. I only recently joined SYRS, and I look forward to participating more, growing as a teacher…and I know my students will benefit. I appreciate this blog! Thanks for writing…and all you do!
Thank you Lourdes! I’m thrilled to find you too!
At the moment, the only place I’m teaching yoga is in a gym. Your blue shorts guy is fairly typical of what I see in a class, but when they come back, I know I’m achieving something. My goal is to introduce more people to yoga and then let them explore the subtleties of the practice.
that’s beautiful Cathy! Thank you for sharing.
I would also like to thank you for being such an inspiration.
When i was still actively teaching yoga i wouldve enjoyed having your input then. For years i felt it but couldnt express it.
I stopped teaching partly as a result of the translation yoga was receiving.
Now, years later, im dealing with crippling arthritis issues and the only thing giving me hope and mobility is yoga.
Because of you Im considering teaching again, chair yoga and/or subtle yoga, in care homes, etc. to those who may erroneously believe they cant do or benefit from yoga.
Cant thank you enough for your courage and tenacity.
Aw thank you Eva, your comment makes me feel quite emotional – and helps me feel like we all need to keep pushing this forward together. I am glad yoga gives you some relief and I hope you will consider teaching again. xoxo
I designed a class 15 years ago with all of this in mind, for someone with medical issues that wanted to continue doing yoga. To my surprise and delight, the class is still running. I call them my wise ones. We use two mats and two chairs (back facing in) for for any standing stability issues. Many do not need them any more but, they know their near by. I really appreciate this article, as it lays out the benefits so beautifully.
Thank you for your education support of this practice of yoga.
That’s great work Kitty! Thank you for sharing!
Your articles always inspire Kristine! Thank you! Todd Hargrove wrote a convincing article called “why Slow Movement Builds Coordination”.
I am new here and So Excited! I have been teaching Chair Yoga on and off since before pandamic. I am a student of Rudy Pierce and Terry Roth Schaff; now a student of Kristine’s as well! Thank you as I emerge and indulge myself….
Welcome Mary and thank you for leaving a comment. it’s great that you are teaching Chair Yoga!
I don’t teach chair yoga. But I do teach to a middle age population. They are mostly 45-65. Still fairly active but have issues with aging, arthritis, surgeries, often joint replacement. I find this group appreciates a non competitive atmosphere, liberal use of props and options and a balance of physical and mental work. I get a lot of people in helping professions who are stressed and love slow breathing and guided relaxation but still want some physical strengthening. I have a small but loyal group but it’s hard to expand. I find too many people even in middle age think a slow, mindful practice is just for beginners or those with injuries. I am often ready to give up but it always seems I get some positive feedback that keeps me going. The Subtle Yoga community helps keep me going as well. I appreciate Kristine’s knowledge and her support to those of us not teaching fitness yoga. It can be frustrating as a person with decades of experience to get treated as second class to a younger fitness newbie. Thank you Kristine for reminding us of our value and the wisdom of our age.
Thank you for sharing your experience Tina – and please keep the faith, things are shifting. Every time you help just one person understand the value of this kind of self-care practice you are making a big difference that will ripple out into the world! xo
Thinking about fast paced yoga classes I mistakenly took at the gym in the past, the memory of timed math tests from grade school came back to me. All of the anxiety of going as fast as possible, not knowing exactly what was going on or just getting into the pose and everyone was off into another one. Maybe-just like timed math exams-this is a pleasurable experience for people or helps them learn. For me the subtle yoga experience of time and space and repetition helps me access the pose and have a larger experience without anxiety.
Thank you Sharon, that is a really interesting analogy!