Punk Rock Yoga? from Seattle, My FriendI started this post thinking that Sadie Nardini’s Bon Jovi Yogi was in direct competition with Seattle’s (new-to-me) Punk Rock Yoga. But, as so often happens when posting, the more I dug around the more the story changed.
In fact, it seems that Nardini’s New York Fierce Club (yoga studio) offers a version of Seattle-based Kimberlee Jensen Stedl’s punk stuff. (Offered by Brian Williams though his bio isn’t explicit about it.)
Created in 2003 (yikes! how did we miss it?) Punk Rock Yoga is offered once a week for the rest of the summer at 20/20 Cycles in Seattle (as well as locations in Boston, Las Vegas, Missoula, Toronto, and —wait for it—Weisbaden, Germany).
PRY is designed to liberate yoga from the rigid, elitist, body-slimming aerobics-wannabe exercise routine it has become—says creator Kimberlee Jensen Stedl (see her earnest, but somewhat rambling mission statement).
She covers a lot of territory without giving much idea of what happens in a Punk Rock Yoga class (we’re *dying* to know!). It has live music (sometimes), a community vibe, and—almost totally against the spirit of punk—a rock’n'roll sensibility.
(By the way, anyone read Iggy Pop’s brilliant put-down of rock’n'roll this week in NYMagazine? So good.
NYM: Have you grown weary of rock and roll?
Not necessarily, but I’m really irritated.
NYM: How come?
I think it’s now officially the world’s worst form of music. Even a mid-level cumbia band in Venezuela sounds better than the biggest-selling rock bands.)
Even more sadly, there are no pictures.
So, plucking again from the mission statement: Stedl explains, “For several months while taking both yoga and belly dance classes, I noticed that I would leave the belly dance classes feeling joyful and connected with the other participants, while I would leave the yoga classes feeling cold and isolated. I sensed this was due to the complete detachment from everyone else in the room that occurs in most yoga classes. What I needed was a more balanced approach, whereby at least a portion of the class was dedicated to connecting with others.”
(That’s why everyone has dyed blue hair that stands, glued-up straight in perfect Mohawks?)
“These observations drove me to incorporate community-building aspects into Punk Rock Yoga classes, such as adding partner poses into each class and incorporating more group activities into our classes.”
“The more I taught and the more I immersed myself in the professional yoga community, the more I carved out a mission for Punk Rock Yoga: I want to scrub the elitism and rigidity out of modern yoga.”
Okay—but it’s hard to imagine true punks being inclusive, flexible socialists. Unless I’m really, totally getting it wrong. (What does punk mean these days to Seattle-ites?)
Whatever it means, I would really like to see gloved hands (YogaToes–“yoga grip hand gloves”?), blue Mohawks, old Doc Martins, and safety pin earrings and nose rings moving through sun salutations. That surely would be a yoga democracy.
Or, would it be anarchy?
Related Posts:
Bon Jovi Yogi, January 2009
Fierce Club Opens in Nolita, March 2009
in Culture.
For me, and in my classes, I think of the yoga, and the way I teach it, as “punk rock.” I encourage the students to work from a foundation, dig into their core in these postures to build heat, and to have a grounding, but to express the poses in individualistic style. I don’t really incorporate a lot of traditional yogic philosophy into these classes-it’s a freewheeling, free-for-all feel. People of all ages and all types show up for this class…and while you may not see safety pins shot through anyone’s ears, or bright blue mohawks in every class, what you will find is a class that is open, fiercely powerful, and raw.
The music ranges from rock to funk to punk to jazz, to percussion to didgeridoo. We do what we want in here, and don’t worry about what “traditional” yoga dictates we must do. I’m for personal expression coming from a strong foundation. We try to create a community–just like it used to be when you liked the same kind of music, for example, you would go to shows of your favorite bands, and see the same people over and over–a community forms. I turn the lights down, light some candles, and invite the students to their practice.
I lead the practice, but let the practice be influenced by the music that is playing. I find working with musicians to be liberating for me, for the students, and the musicians seem to really have a good time, too. I teach this class for students who might not come to other yoga classes, but because of the name, they will come to this–something that is a little bit unexpected. They know they are getting real yoga, but that it might be, as I like to say, reverently irreverent. Hope that helps to clarify a little bit.