Comments on: Kundalini Yoga for Beginners and Beyond

By: More on Sexploitation in Yoga: John Friend, Tara Stiles, and the “Bitter” Charge | namasteph yoga blog

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 20:18:33 +0000

[...] if you don’t like Tara Stiles selling yoga as “sexy,” if you don’t like Ana Brett showing her nipples off in a Kundalini Yoga DVD, you are “jealous and [...]

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 22:55:56 +0000

So Babs, would you be perfectly OK with your yoga teacher wearing a see-through gown that showed off her nipples and buttcrack? How about a yoga teacher with spiked stripper shoes on?

If you are going to be a teacher of Kundalini Yoga, there are certain guidelines for how you dress and present yourself. One, you are supposed to wear all white. Two, you are supposed to cover your head with a white cloth that is a natural fiber. Three, you are encouraged to dress *modestly.*

I have never, ever been to a live Kundalini Yoga class where someone was dressed in a skimpy outfit. Reserve the skimpy outfits for Bikram Yoga – where they actually *are* appropriate due to the heat. They are *not* appropriate for Kundalini Yoga, which is primarily a spiritual discipline.

PS I am not fat, never have been, and I’ve been told I’m quite attractive. Please see my picture on my About page. So sorry to disappoint you. But even if I were “ugly and fat” I still would have every right to critique a “yoga teacher” who is exploiting her body.

By: babs

babs — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 06:30:23 +0000

Stephanie, judging others based on the clothing they wear is high school thinking. Personally, I couldn’t care less what my yoga instructor chooses to wear. All I care about when it comes to a yoga video is that the instructor knows what he or she is doing and that they can teach well.
Personally, just from your little review of this video and the comments you’ve made, I do think you sound terribly superficial. I can only hope that you haven’t been practicing Kundalini Yoga for very long, because if you have been, then this type of yoga does not work to improve or to enlighten at all.
I am also sure that the real reason you don’t like the instructor in the video is because she is pretty and you are unattractive–sorry but re-read your review and see how you come across as being mean, ugly, and fat too.
Also, if you really think the video in any way smacks of porn you need to go watch some porn because you obviously don’t know what you’re talking about.

By: What You Can Do to Drown Out Yoga Porn | namasteph yoga blog

What You Can Do to Drown Out Yoga Porn | namasteph yoga blog — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 20:08:52 +0000

[...] my reviews of Namaste Yoga and “Kundalini Yoga for Beginners and Beyond” for what I feel are prime examples of yoga exploitation starting to cross that line into yoga porn. [...]

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:28:16 +0000

Babs, the “simple” outfit as you so described it is basically underwear and it is absolutely applicable to criticize it in the context of the type of yoga she is teaching.

Her outfit is simply not congruent with the tradition of kundalini yoga. Go apply to teach kundalini yoga at any reputable kundalini yoga studio. They will have a dress code that includes modesty, and many will probably also insist that teachers wear all white and a turban or head covering to boot.

You cannot divorce this woman’s outfit from the type of yoga that she teaches. Modesty is certainly a part of traditional kundalini yoga.

As for this ridiculous assumption that I am critizing a skimpy outfit over being “jealous” and I must be “unattractive” – that is high school thinking. Were I the fattest, ugliest woman in the world I would still have a say in whether I think it’s appropriate for kundalini yoga teachers to be teaching in suggestive underwear-type clothing. Fat or thin, young or old, attractive or ugly, we all have a right to ask for some modesty from our teachers if that is part of the tradition.

By: Babs

Babs — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:46:37 +0000

Reading your review made me just a little sick to my stomach to hear your incredibly judgmental tone in regards to something as simple as the outfit the poor instructor is wearing. Personally, I own a copy of this particular video and I find the lady who demonstrates the yoga poses to be very sweet and beautiful. Perhaps you are just jealous because you are unattractive? Or maybe you are just mean?

I’m going to go with mean, and not bother reading any more of your ‘writing.’

By: Prenatal Yoga Woman

Prenatal Yoga Woman — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:02:24 +0000

Women and men both look for yoga DVDs with both scantily clad woman and men – Alot of women buy yoga dvds with shirless men – some of the best sellers have shirtless men – so i think it goes both ways –

if the dvd takes the person closer to where they want to go – then it seems ok.

Maybe over time they will learn more – that is the hope

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 04:38:24 +0000

“So while nominally I think that skimpy clothing is not necessary for yoga, I think it is beneficial for video yoga.”

Kundalini yoga is different from hatha yoga – the emphasis in kundalini yoga is in the movement. It is not strict in regards to posture. So there is no need to have revealing clothing in kundalini yoga in the way that it might help with hatha yoga. You can also teach breath of fire without having to show off a bare belly.

Even if you do wear form-fitting clothes as advised in, say, Iyengar yoga, there’s no need to be having your butt cheeks hanging out.

“FYI, your aspersions on Ravi Singh seem uncalled for and do betray some sort of hostility, since he and Ana are married.”

I can’t say this makes me feel any less “creeped” out by his voiceover. How old is he? How old is she? Is he with her because he respects her or is he with her because she’s a pretty young thing? Just because a man has married a woman doesn’t mean there’s not an element of creep factor in it.

If a married couple is going to do a yoga video, I’d much rather see the sort of video that Rodney Yee does with his wife (I forgot her name) – they both appear in the video, there’s not one directing the other, and they are a team, a partnership. They aren’t creepy, they are cute. But this video…sorry, it creeped me out. Just my opinion!

By: akatsuki

akatsuki — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:31:54 +0000

In a class, you have someone correcting your position, in a video, you sometimes have to study the position of a person. So while nominally I think that skimpy clothing is not necessary for yoga, I think it is beneficial for video yoga. Long flowing pants and tops can really inhibit your view – for example, the midriff exposure does show off the breathing techniques, which were something I never really could see even in class.

I did think the dancing bit in the beginning and end were over-the-top though.

Otherwise, I didn’t have too much of a problem with it – sexuality is part of human nature, there is no reason for yoga clothes to be dowdy, etc.. But I do think the overt sexuality in the beginning dance distracts and detracts from the instruction offered.

FYI, your aspersions on Ravi Singh seem uncalled for and do betray some sort of hostility, since he and Ana are married.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:23:31 +0000

Jesus writes: “harsh critiques of Yoga are like a giant oxymoron. Or in your case just another self-conceited, snobbish moron.”

Hahaha, you are a riot! Isn’t this a bit of the pot calling the kettle black? Here’s Jesus, in his infinite kindness: “DON’T WRITE A HARSH CRITIQUE, YOU MORON!!!” Ummm…yeah, you are really showing what you think is best by example here (not!)

I stand by my review. And I do study at the top kundalini yoga studios in the country. Not because I’m better than you, or a snob, but because I am privileged to live within driving distance of the original studio that Yogi Bhajan himself taught at.

And yes, I do think Ana Brett’s skimpy clothes and attitude are an insult to what kundalini yoga is about. I do believe going to Yogi Bhajan’s studio, and taking classes with teachers he personally taught, DOES give me a basis from which to compare and I think this video is absolutely atrocious!

Now if you somehow think my being able to go to Yogi Bhajan’s studio makes me think I’m somehow better than you, you have serious issues. I think it just makes me lucky. And thank God I found kundalini yogi there and not through this video, since if this video was my introduction to it, I would have run screaming and never come back to it.