Herd of Unicorns
What if we all started to move to the middle. I feel like I hang out there. Me and all the other unicorns like me. Personally I think it makes for a more interesting view of the world. But that’s just me and as you all know I encourage your freedom of thought.- Ericka Thomas
Transcript
Welcome back to the work IN! Last week we heard from Yogi Aaron about the idea that we should stop stretching because it can do more harm than good if your intention is to get more flexible or heal chronic pain. And there is a lot to be said for a deeper understanding of neuromuscular connections and how the body actually heals. Certainly these things are important if you’re in any kind of body work field like fitness, yoga, personal training, physical therapy, …basically any wellness practice that has anything with moving the body for better health. But ultimately no matter what or how you are moving it all comes back to the why. The intention behind your movement is important. But that’s not exactly what I want to talk about today.
During our conversation last week, Yogi Aron called me a unicorn. I think because I shared that for me, yoga has never been about flexibility. And I’m always careful when I teach to direct awareness to the muscle connection in poses, to give permission and freedom for students to feel whatever it is they feel. Maybe it’s because I always used yoga as a crosstrain or maybe because I came to it from the fitness side, but I want my students to understand some of what the body is naturally designed to do. To understand how to work with it rather than fighting to put it into shapes that are more performative than practical.
To me these are not unicorn traits. At least in my experience.
I know lots of fellow yoga instructors, many of whom are my teachers and colleagues who have the same approach. They are voracious self educators, studying hundreds/thousands of hours beyond any check the box continuing education or teacher training to bring their students absolutely the best, most current, most creative practices. I don’t think any of them would describe what they do as only stretching.
One of the things that I love about yoga is the way dynamic tension and release is baked into every pose. Every standing posture, seated posture, forward bend and back bend and twist allows the yogi to strengthen and release at the same time. The difference, if there is one, is in how we cue these postures, how we sequence them and the permission that we offer to customize each to fit every student as they are.
This is how I teach. Perhaps it is a unicorn style. I confess I’m probably biased. As we all are. It’s hard not to be when all you know is the way you know. But I also know there are people way better at it than me and probably those who have got their own thing going. Every instructor across all formats is going to have different teaching style, different way to communicate what they know.
I remember early on in my career, long before I even practiced yoga let alone taught, I was teaching a lunchtime kickboxing class and we were doing roundhouse kick drills on target. This one student had a taekwondo background like me but different, a different style. She was throwing her kicks with her foot flexed. This is something some styles of Taekwondo teach. But for cardio kickboxing, I asked her to point her toes so she would strike the bag with her shin or top of her foot. This really upset her. She was adamant that her master taught her this way and that he was a 10th degree and he was right. I wasn’t disagreeing. I simply asked her to try this way for this drill. I’m not sure what happened in her mind but she was very upset by this. Very angry, to the point of tears. As I’m retelling this story I realized that something about this had triggered her. But it illustrates the power that instructors hold over students. No matter the format. It’s kind of like imprinting. And it is limiting for both the student and the instructor. I can’t blame her for that though, or anyone else for that matter. I’ve felt the same pull. It used to happen a lot until I decided not to be the first one to drink the kool aid…ever.
Perhaps I was lucky to have the quality training that I had. I basically trained myself for my personal trainer certification. And then my 200 RYT was through Yogafit. It is a thorough and customizable program that allowed me to specialize in the trauma informed track. It’s a module style of training where you get exposure to lots of different instructors with lots of different experiences to share. Less likely to imprint on a guru.
I took other intense specialized training to support that path, in trauma release exercise, in Pain Care Aware, and now my 300 hour training through Drishti which feels like getting a PhD.
All of these trainings refined my skills as an instructor a little bit more. I don’t believe I'm unique at all. I think the nature of pursuing a long career in the fitness industry it creates very unique styles from instructor to instructor. And that in fact I think I’m part of a herd of Unicorns.
I’ve certainly heard stories about instructors who phone it in, or worse treat their classes as their own personal performance, to stroke their ego. I doubt they stay long in that place. Because yoga by its very nature, changes you, not only from the outside in, but the inside out.
There are certainly instructors out there who have deeply ingrained traditional training. Where the tradition outweighs the reality of the students in front of them. Tradition is a powerful thing. This is where the guru mentality can come from and has led to some very big sexual misconduct scandals in the yoga world but it isn’t unique to yoga.
Recently some articles have come to my attention about apparently big named teachers going off the deep end with conspiracy theories and how this somehow indicates that ALL wellness is has now been infiltrated by the alt right and white supremacy because conspiracy is at the center of yoga philosophy.
This is news to me. I’ve read the yoga sutras and bhagavad gita several times and I don’t recall anything that supports those claims. But hey if it fits that narrative we can go with it.
I DO agree that yoga and other types of fitness practices lend themselves cultish behavior. We have lots of evidence of this. But I suggest anytime there is an unequal power dynamic you’ll have this risk.
It’s human nature to want to belong. We are tribal creatures at heart. We thrive in community and connection. It’s part of what makes yoga such a beautiful practice. And the beauty in that practice is that it can look completely different from one class to the next, from one body to the next and from one teacher to the next. The beauty is NOT in thinking, looking, acting, behaving, speaking, moving, exactly the same as everyone else.
When I hear stories about guru’s who “fall from grace” I always wonder at the level of righteous indignation. Because even when it rises to the level of criminal behavior it doesn’t seem to really change anything.
So here we have one instance of a yoga guru who broke with the typical yoga speech and entertained people who think differently from the yoga community on her podcast. I don’t know her, I’ve never heard of her, I don’t know if she was playing devils advocate, if she really believes some of that q-anon stuff, or what. But frankly aren’t we all entitled to be as crazy as we want? Just because you did follow her doesn’t mean you have to continue. People change and grow. You can do that too. I am not sure why this particular story means that now ALL of the wellness industry is lost to crazy right wing loons.
At the risk of being labeled one of those, I suggest that the yoga and wellness space has been dominated by left leaning and very liberal thought leaders since the beginning. And maybe we’re reaching a point in history where everyone, including yoga instructors, even the little ones like me who aren’t gurus, are less afraid of speaking their thoughts. After all, when you stand all the way to one side to the left or the right, everyone looks pretty far away from you.
What if we all started to move to the middle. I feel like I hang out there. Me and all the other unicorns like me. Personally I think it makes for a more interesting view of the world. But that’s just me and as you all know I encourage your freedom of thought.
I feel like this one took a little turn but it is relevant because the freedom to express yourself to your classes is a part of every instructor's teaching style. I try to keep all my personal politics out of classes no matter what the format because inevitably you end up offending half the room and who wants to do that. That said, I believe everyone has the right to decide that for yourself.
Ultimately the kind of instructor you want to be is completely up to you. You can curate your education in a way that creates a very unique career. You can cultivate your experience in a way that serves your students AND yourself. Understanding and designing intention behind your sequences, behind the variations you offer, the way you direct awareness in your classes all matters,and it not only creates an experience for your students but can be the foundation of trust and respect. While we should respect the traditions that got us where we are, we also need to respect our students and their experience. Empowering them to step into that guru role for themselves. Maybe that’s what it means to be a unicorn.
Thanks for listening to The Work IN. Next week we begin a series dedicated to what it really means to be trauma informed in the fitness and yoga industry. Be sure to head over to savagegracecoaching.com/theworkin for all the show notes. And - If you are a bootstrapping business owner or independant coach who is looking for actionable, authentic accountability OR just someone to bounce ideas off for a little focus and direction in your business in the new year, I’m offering this new thing I like to call clarity collaboration coaching. It's simple, straightforward affordable business coaching without the long term commitment. So if any of that sounds good to you you can apply at savagegracecoaching.com/clarity
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I’m your host Ericka Thomas. I'm a resilience coach and fit-preneur offering an authentic, actionable realistic approach to personal and professional balance for coaches in any format.
Savage Grace Coaching is all about bringing resilience and burnout recovery. Especially for overwhelmed entrepreneurs, creators and coaches in the fitness industry.
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