The yoga instructor subbing in this morning was a guy. And so were 90% of the yogi students. I had to look around to make sure I wasn't just imagining this, b/c I have never been in a yoga class -in NYC, LA, or Miami- that was almost all guys; especially not for a yoga class at a gym where the genders are heavily split between women taking the most of the classes and men lifting most of the weights (and everyone uses the cardio machines).
The yoga instructor noticed it too. And it wasn't just that it was mostly guys, but all diff types and ages. Short, tall, chubby, skinny, old, middle-aged, young. Some times bodybuilders wander in off the floor do a couple of stretches and then bounce. But b/c the class was almost all guys, the few bodybuilders who came in ended up staying for the entire session. And the class was also mostly people of color: black and latino, the instructor was Latino Jewish, the few women that were there were all latino and newcomers. It was a moment of 'first chance' for so many new people who spontaneously/synergistically found themselves trying something new...which transformed the experience into something completely new for me.
It was a lesson in self-determination and people being willing to change. And when enough of us do it, we can transform a class, a college, a country or even the world...just by showing up, removing our external and internal prejudices, and diving into the work.
KUJICHAGULIA: self-determination.
The yoga instructor noticed it too. And it wasn't just that it was mostly guys, but all diff types and ages. Short, tall, chubby, skinny, old, middle-aged, young. Some times bodybuilders wander in off the floor do a couple of stretches and then bounce. But b/c the class was almost all guys, the few bodybuilders who came in ended up staying for the entire session. And the class was also mostly people of color: black and latino, the instructor was Latino Jewish, the few women that were there were all latino and newcomers. It was a moment of 'first chance' for so many new people who spontaneously/synergistically found themselves trying something new...which transformed the experience into something completely new for me.
It was a lesson in self-determination and people being willing to change. And when enough of us do it, we can transform a class, a college, a country or even the world...just by showing up, removing our external and internal prejudices, and diving into the work.
KUJICHAGULIA: self-determination.
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