Monday, August 31, 2009

Yoga News - Group to Stop Yuppification of Yoga

For EternallyBlissfulYoga Magazine

What started a couple of years ago as a rogue movement of fundamentalist yogis making a stand against the increasing bastardization of yoga, has blossomed into an organized grassroots movement against yoga’s excesses. This movement, comprised of disgruntled yoga practitioners, has solidified with the formation of a group called Stop Yuppie Yoga United Front (SYYUF).


Poster put out by the "Stop Yuppie Yoga United Front" organization

This group of self-styled yoga purists is calling for a return to yoga’s roots; to a time when before the yuppie yogis (according to the group a yuppie yogi is a highly yuppified individual whose main interest in yoga is the fabled “yoga butt”) took it for their pastime. SYYUF feels that yoga has been turned into a circus side show; having been brutalized beyond recognition and had its so-called ‘spiritual heart’ turned into a yuppie play thing. Using tactics similar to other fanatical groups, these yogis have placed manifestos, flyers and posters outside yoga studios, yoga clothing stores and yoga conferences. They also allegedly tacked a treatise written on a pink yoga mat to the doors of a leading high-end yoga studio in New York City


The NYC yoga studio which had the treatise against yuppie yoga attached to its doors recently


Their treatise read:

“The yuppie yogi is a slacker; a pretty girl/boy, shaved, sexed and clothed in high end yoga togs whose soul is void of the yogic spirit. The yuppie yogi is the devil; scrapping and bowing before the cesspool of the Industrial-Yoga-Complex while spouting regurgitated propaganda of unity, happiness and harmony that they found in pop-yoga magazines. These semi-educated yuppies, espouse the simulated experience of yoga “stuff” while their brains are filled with fluff and the repugnant rambling of the scores of clueless yuppie yoga teachers.

"The true yogi is not a nice man or women, concerned only with yoga’s popularity and trendiness. The true yogi shouts unpleasant truths from the mats of countless yoga studios and forces upon the yuppie yogi the ghastly consequences of surrounding their bodies and souls to a narrow minded and timid yoga elite who too long has perverted the concept of yoga.“

"The true yogi does not stand in tadasana in famous yoga studios; nor chant Om among the mindless yuppie yogis participating pop-kirtans, nor pranam before a pimp-celebrity, bobo yoga star. Stop Yuppie Yoga NOW!!



SYYUF feel they are stalwarts for the prevention of further atrocities against yoga perpetrated by the yuppie yoga elite and has been agitating for the disruption of what they call “the celeb-fornication of yoga.” They seem particularly disturbed with the recent trends of yoga-music festivals especially embodied in one such venue called Wanderlust. SYYUF say they want to reestablish yoga for the common yogi and is calling for direct action against mass acceptance of yoga as a false economy for the few smug manipulative yoga elite and their ensuing grip of control over yoga. SYYUF is advocating a boycott against pop-yoga studios and institutions across the land.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

YogaDawg's Yoga Fun Sundays - Orgasm Yoga

This style of yoga has now gone mainstream. Nude yoga is so yesterday. I can't help but crack up laughing just thinking about this happening in my Saturday morning yoga class with the teacher saying, "Okay everybody, choose a partner for this next pose".

"Oh, it's the best way to start a Monday," said another woman. "I'll be so much kinder and more present with my co-workers." Now I know what all the kind women are doing before they come to work. Hilarious!!!

The action starts about 2/3 in on the video.


Here's the video link

The ABC News article

The yoga studio One Taste Yoga

Saturday, August 29, 2009

YogaDawg's Jazz Saturdays - Eddie Gomez

I heard my hero Eddie Gomez at the Jazz Standard last week and smiled as I remember that when I heard him with Bill Evans, I realized that I will never be a great jazz bassist. He still plays an amazing bass.




The Jazz Standard


The show


Eddie Gomez (double bass)
Stefan Karlsson (piano)
Nasheet Waits (drums)

Friday, August 28, 2009

Clean out the yoga inbox week - Friday

All the stuff that I found on the Yoganet but didn't know what to do with.






Yoga Bitch

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Clean out the yoga inbox week - Thursday

All the stuff that I found on the Yoganet but didn't know what to do with.

Yoga To Go

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Clean out the yoga inbox week - Wednesday

All the stuff that I found on the Yoganet but didn't know what to do with.

The Yogaless People of Gastown (from Yoga Rants and Raves)

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Clean out the inbox week - Tuesday

All the stuff that I found on the Yoganet but didn't know what to do with.

Yoga Rumble



Monday, August 24, 2009

Clean out the inbox week - Monday

Yoga type stuff that has been clogging my inbox.

Rubber Boy (I like to show yogis this when they start to get too cocky)

http://therubberboy.com/#

Saturday, August 22, 2009

YogaDawg's Jazz Saturdays - Mulgrew Miller

Caught Mulgrew at the Kitano a couple of months ago.




Mulgrew Miller (p)
Derrick Hodge (b)
Rodney Green (d)

Friday, August 21, 2009

Two Paintings - A Review

I received this review on Facebook and thought it captured the painting and the intent behind them perfectly. Abstract art is difficult and this makes it a little easier to understand. From Patricia B. Busbee

These are so powerful, especially together. What these evoke for me is looking down over a place, a specific place in time. Complex, lots going on, people are interacting with each other and with the landscape. There is richness about this work that is very engaging. The blues and aquamarine tones make me think of water, the red brings to mind passion—summer heat. Seeing them together reminds me of shifting from one frame to the next—a progression of time. Movement is the word that comes to mind. It’s interesting because the work is tight—compressed—but there is fluidity about it and having those two things juxtaposed together is why I think these paintings are so powerful. They are complicated which draws the observer into the work. There does seem to be focal points but as an observer I am drawn to explore all areas of the work. I want to examine each corner—each brush stroke. Also borders and boundaries come to mind too--where things touch, merge and change.

Two Paintings, One Day in June - various media on paper - 12 x 25 inch

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Last chance to win "Enlightenment for Idiots"

Contest end August 22, 2009.

Ann Cushman, the author of the hilarious yoga inspired book, “Enlightenment for Idiots”, extended two copies of the paperback version of her book to YogaDawg’s readers. We thought a contest would be in order to give away the books. To sweeten the pot, YogaDawg is also giving away a free yoga class to the studio of your choice as well as a consolation prize randomly awarded to all non-winning entries.

Go here for details: Yoga Stars Say The Dardest Things Contest

Monday, August 17, 2009

Yoga News - Fundamentalist Yogis Emerge

(With an exchange between American yogis and a Fundamentalist yogi over at YorgaDork, I remembered this piece I did awhile ago.)

Betty Handley
For EternallyBlissfulYoga Super Magazine


A new phenomenon is developing within the American Yoga world; the rise of Fundamentalist Yogis. These practitioners have started appearing at Yoga studios a little over a year ago and have become a distraction according to Yoga studio owners, teachers and students.

The Fundamentalist Yogis (they refer to themselves as True Yogis) apparently grew out of a reaction to the overly commercialized and trivialized contemporary Yoga scene today. These Yogis have not only taken on the beliefs and dress of the sadhus of India but are also doing Yoga according to the first recorded ancient text of Yoga, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. They have begun appearing in Yoga studios sometimes wearing nothing more then loin cloths and carrying tridents. They feel that the pastel colored Yoga mats and expensive chi-chi Yoga clothing is an abomination of the practice of Yoga. Some of these Yogis have an ashen tone to their skin from the ashes that cover their bodies which they claim are the ashes of the dead. When one of the Fundamentalist Yogis was asked if the ashes were from humans, that Yogi only smiled.

Cathy Freeman, a yoga student, whose yoga class has been visited by a Fundamentalist Yogi commented, “The ashes are weird but the trident he was carrying gave me the creeps.” She added, “He did have a nice ass though”. Jasmine-ji, the owner of the Laughing Buddha Yoga studio which has also been visitied by Fundamentalist Yogis said, “I know, as Yogis, we are suppose to be accepting of all Yogis, but these guys are freaking my customer out. It’s bad enough that they don’t bring Yoga mats to practice on, but the fact that they leave all those ashes all over the studio floor has become a nightmare to clean up after. Plus”, she added, “they’re kind of smelly”.

A fundamentalist yogi with a trident rushing to a Yoga class in New York City



Sunday, August 16, 2009

YogaDawg's Yoga Fun Sundays - Sex Edition

I know, I know, yoga is all spiritual and everything but I can't help but to marvel at the exploration of the lower chakras in the name of 'yog'.

The ad that showed up in Yoga Journal a couple of months ago. It graced us with the hot Kathryn Budig for Toesox.




A little more tame is the great booty shoot of Tara Stiles. More on YogaDork




And if you think that this naked exploration of yoga is only on the commercial level, check out Cherryl Duncan of Living Yoga exposing for animal rights.



Check out The New Hotness Is Naked Yoga (from Gawker last year, just caught it the other day) Don't miss the comments. They are best part!

Of course Playboy enters the scene




First from Stacie Stukin's blog and the post entitled "OMing Orgasms"





The post Can Hot Yoga Make You Horny? from Lemondrop may explain the Yogasm and Sexasana.



Speaking of Sexasana, not sure what this style of yoga is but I think her........shoes are really hot.




And then there is the yoga mouth!




Saturday, August 15, 2009

YogaDawg's Jazz Saturdays - Les Paul

Thanks Les!




Musicians on songs with Les Paul:

2. Sting, Joss Stone - Love Sneakin' Up On You
3. Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Edgar Winter - Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo
4. Eric Clapton & Sam Cooke - (Somebody) Ease My Troublin' Mind
5. Peter Frampton - So Into You
6. Alsou - How High The Moon
7. Billy Gibbons - Bad Case Of Lovin' You
8. Neal Schon & Beth Hart - I Wanna Know You
9. Jeff Beck & Sam Cooke - Good News
10. Richie Sambora - Let Me Roll It
11. Les Paul - Caravan
12. Buddy Guy, Keith Richards & Rick Derringer - Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
13. Johnny Rzeznik - All I Want Is You
14. Les Paul & Friends (All-Star Jam) - 69 Freedom Special
15. Steve Miller - Fly Like An Eagle (2005)
16. Joe Perry & Mick Hucknall - I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know

Friday, August 14, 2009

Now for a brief commercial break

This is in response to a blog meme from a of couple fellow yoga bloggers who mentioned My Itchy Third Eye. I'll list the seven things you didn't know about YogaDawg first and then my list of blog love.

Seven things that you didn't know about YogaDawg



1. Invented the Internet….and Twitter




2. Born in Kenya...this is my birth certificate



3. Hung out with Buddha and Elvis in a Vegas strip club




4. Bigfoot is my half-brother. He was also born in Kenya



5. Taught T Krishnamacharya Downdawgasana. T figured out Updawgasana on his own. (By the way T Krishnamacharya was also born in Kenya)




6. Gave closing invocation at Woodstock (Yeah, like you drugged out geezers would remember...)




7. I eat meat, wear Lululemons, practice on a $100 yoga mat, love Yoga Journal, have the hots for Sarah Palin, am yuppie yoga scum, do hot naked yoga, am a lush, have dawg breath and am helping Ombama kill your grandmother!


Wait, wait, wait…WTF!! I didn’t write that last one!!! It wasn’t me, I swear. I’ve been hacked. Damn it, really people, don’t believe any of that stuff…oh man, I’m bummed...You know I’m cool, I’m YogaDawg…man oh man…crazy shit…where’s my damn yoga mat..holy f’, I have to lay off the Kombucha…sheeze, wow, into child’s pose dawg, slwwp, snore…


The YogaDawg Yoga Blog Hall of Fame (in no particular order. To have your blog added to this elite list, send a $100 bill wrapped in a Black Manduka and ship to YogaDawg, Mombasa, Kenya )

Linda's Yoga Journey
YogaDork
Brooks Hall
It all yoga, Baby
Yoga for Cynics
Now this is Yoga
Accidental Yogist
Write-On Yoga
Grounding through the Sit Bones
Prana Journal
ElephantBeans
Nadine Fawell
My Yoga Book

Thursday, August 13, 2009

What not to say to a Yoga teacher during class #4

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing" / "Abandon all hope ye who enter here"

color on canvas 24 x 24 inch (lost painting)

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

What not to say to a Yoga teacher during class #3

"Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things" / "Throw in the towel"

color on paper - 8 x 12 inch

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

What not to say to a Yoga teacher during class #2

"Break a leg" / "You can lead a whore to culture but you can't make her think"

watercolor on paper 7 x 9 inch

Monday, August 10, 2009

What not to say to a Yoga teacher during class #1

"Woe is me" / "The blind leading the blind"

watercolor, wax on paper 2 x 4 inch (scrap)

Saturday, August 08, 2009

YogaDawg's Jazz Saturdays - Central Park Jazz

There is more jazz talent in Central Park then in most cities in America today. Here is what you can came across on a stroll through the park. Amazing and no one should wonder why NYC is the Jazz Capital of the World.









The New York Historical Society has a great photo of Charlie Parker's home in NYC (kind of fuzzy) on 151 Avenue B, New York City.



Below is a better photo of the Birdhouse and the plaques.





Friday, August 07, 2009

A Yoga Fabel - The King of Yoga

It was shortly after the bodily demise of the reigning King of Yoga that the yoga world began the search for a new yoga King. As the world was awash in yogis, (Note: yoga has became the greatest of all physical, and some might say, spiritual, endeavor to be partaken by cool, tight and trendy modern women and the occasional slightly loopy man), it would have seemed that a new King could be found and crowned quickly. But this was not to be, as there were too many damn yogis who also wanted to be crowned the King of Yoga.

Now, there was one yogi in particular who felt he should be the King of Yoga among all the others. His name was Harri Hari. You see, Harri was a popular yogi in the Land of Yoga. Stories of his god-like powers and cult-like following were talked about far and wide by the denizens of the yoga world. As word spread that Harri would be anointed the new King of Yoga, other yogis protested because they also wanted to be King. So it was decided that a competition would be held to determine who would receive this most coveted crown.

A location was picked; described by some as “a hot, barren barn-like structure that smelled of sweat and horse piss”. In all, five of the most popular yogis(or as some called them, “yoga stars”) would compete for the title of King of Yoga (though one malcontent protested that the title should be changed to the Queen of Yoga as she thought this King of Yoga was just so much bullshit as practically everyone doing yoga was female). In any event, a crowd of yoga students filled the vast space to vote for their choice for Yoga King. As the yogis in attendance settled in on their yoga mats and waited for the competition to begin, they were entertained by street musicians, fire eaters, fortune tellers, puppeteers, sword swallowers and a slew of dancing leprechauns. It was shaping up to be quite a circus, this coronation.

The five hopefuls entered the room one by one in their brightly colored, high end ‘yog togs’ (donated by the leading yog tog manufacturers). As they strode past the crowd, many bowed before them. When Harri entered, several fainted as he walked past them. “Damn, he’s good”, the four other contestants remarked to themselves.

The ‘they-who-want- to-be Kings’ settled on the dais and presented photos showing themselves with the former King of Yoga to the fawning crowd before them. There were color photos, black and white photos and the occasional faded Polaroid. All in attendance were quite impressed with this close association to the former King. But it was Harri who wowed the crowd when he set up a movie projector showing the departed King chatting and hugging Harri on an old reel of Super 8 film. An oceanic sound was heard coming from the platform as the others King of Yoga hopefuls become slightly nervous and started to do deep and loud Ujayyi breathing (an odd form of breathing practiced by advanced yogis).

A talent portion followed. One hopeful showed great talent with chanting; another led the crowd in a spirited kirtan playing a harmonium; another demonstrated skill at henna tattooing while another did a South Amazonia Snake Dance while banging on a tambourine. But it was Harri who mesmerized the crowd as he mounted a rousing and inspirational performance with a band of aging rock stars. The crowd went wild as Harri belting out an exciting rendition of “Stairway to Heaven”, all the while puffing on a beedie and guzzling a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. The audience began doing a series of Sun Salutations in time with Harri's singing. It was quite a tour de force by Harri.

The five hopeful then moved on to demonstrations of advanced yoga poses to the delight of the crowd. Everyone in attendance was in awe how these mighty poses were made to look so easy. When it was Harri’s turn, he rose from his perfect Full Lotus and stood in Tadasana; placed a pair of sunglasses on his face and promptly proceeded to levitate in the air. Pandemonium erupted in the crowd. When Harri reached the apex of his levitation, a bright flash of light erupted from him and he disappeared completely, leaving only a purple haze. Many ran from the room, entered into rapture or experienced spontaneous orgasms.

After a short while, the front door opened and Harri walked back into the hall with a big grin on his face. All in attendance agreed that Harri was truly the King of Yoga. As they chanted, “Harri is the King…Harri is the King”, he raised his hands in namaste and thanked everyone for this great honor bestowed on him. He looked out upon the vast crowd and speaking in a calm voice said, “My yoga book is coming out next month so make sure you buy a copy along with my King of Yoga DVD and companion Harri Hari’s Hoodoo Hits CD. Be sure also to attend my King of Yoga workshop, and book your spot now on my King of Yoga cruise. Tickets start at only $15, 978 per person, double occupancy”.

With this pronouncement, the crowd went wild and rushed for all the yoga goods that suddenly were displayed before them. Thus Harri became not only the King of Yoga that day but also a very wealthy yogi indeed.

Harri Hari, the King of Yoga

Sunday, August 02, 2009

YogaDawg's Yoga Fun Sundays - Yogin

Don't fuck with old yogis...


A great animation from John Hanrahan who seems to know a bit about yoga!

Saturday, August 01, 2009

YogaDawg's Jazz Saturdays - Kind of Blue

The Miles Davis Quintet playing So What with John Coltrane.






Original Musicians on the Kind of Blue Session

Miles Davis – trumpet, band leader

John Coltrane – tenor saxophone

Julian "Cannonball" Adderley – alto saxophone, except on "Blue in Green"

Bill Evans – piano (except "Freddie Freeloader")

Wynton Kelly – piano on "Freddie Freeloader"

Paul Chambers – double bass

Jimmy Cobb – drums

Skateboard Design by Dangerous Minds