The 'gender' of yoga!

I recently heard a good friend mention something like 'Yoga is for girls...' (Another matter that friend is a girl.. Topic for another blog :) ), and this got me thinking...

Yoga, brings association of, either Baba Ramdev on the one hand, or Shilpa Shetty on the other. And neither of them truly depict what yoga is! All that people know about it, is its a fitness tool. And hence, it's in a reference set which includes things like: the boring, yet masculine gym, the beaten up and middle-aged aerobic fitness and the more exotic like Zumba.

Now that's a difficult place for any fitness service, look at the competition. Can yoga ever be more sweaty n masculine than workouts in the gym? Or more exotic and fun than the Zumba? 

But there in lies the problem. It's a comparable reference set. The key Value Props of yoga has nothing to do with the ones offered by the others.

Let's step back a little and understand yoga.

Based on my learning a from the days of my yoga classes and further reading, yoga has three parts to it... Physical fitness, emotional fitness and spiritual fitness. The much talked about and famed 'asanas' are what help you with your physical fitness. Then there is the Pranayama, which through breath control teaches you to control your emotions. But the two put-together are only stage-gates to take you to the more exhilarating spiritus fitness. You cannot really be happy, unless you are spiritually fit and you cannot really be spiritually fit, unless you have some control your body and emotions.

Now that is something, nobody else in the reference set can offer you!

Now the real question, is yoga only suited for the feminine gender (gotta thank Shilpa Shetty for at least encouraging guys to look at it)? Now that you understand what yoga really is, hopefully the answer not too difficult. 

As a physical fitness exercise, it's definitely not masculine and by deductive logic, can be construed to be feminine. However, as a form of gaining emotional and eventually, spiritual fitness, it's definitely not feminine. In fact, the feminine sex has a significantly higher emotional fitness, as a base, and hence, relatively, the males have a lot more to gain!

I would only want to encourage people to do their research on yoga and understand it better (before you accuse me, I only claim to understand it a wee bit more than the average.. ). 

Just so it's clear, I'm not a regular yoga practioner, nor a yoga proponent. Just putting my thoughts out there.. Is all!

God(s) or the one super power... Same difference?

In the last few weeks, months really, the 'intellectual discourse' in India has been primarily on one topic.. I.e., Mr. Narendra Modi. In all my understanding of his supporters, they can be catagerozied into two distinct segments:

One group of people, mostly comprising the relatively less intelligent community, consider him as the harbinger of change and development. The party to which he belongs, is, undoubtedly, as important as the man himself. There is no separating Modi from the BJP. And if Modi has to achieve anything of importance, he has to abide by the party's founding principles, not deviating to accommodate for changes in the world and it's ever changing people. These I would like to call the Religuous (not to be confused with Religion - they could be from any religion, but believe in religion as the most important identity of any individual)

Then there is the group, who believe, Mr. Modi and the party has very little in common. In fact, he would hardly seem to represent the typical BJP worker! This section would like to place it's bets on the Man and not his party. Trusting, that he can overcome the social boundaries and norms placed by his party and perform beyond any human can! These, I would like to call the Spiritualists - people who do no believe in God, but believe in an omni-potent super power.

In fact, I think this behaviour defines the divide in present India. The Religious, who like to serve as the watchdogs of social norms and the Spiritualists who like to believe social norms are only one possible path to deliverance!

In effect, the success of Mr. Modi, is largely due to the majority support from both sides of the divide. I have never before seen more heated debates, in matters of nation and politics, between people on the same side of the fence! Both factions, supporting Modi, have tended to provide reasons, after reasons, supported by verifiable facts and articles of the intelligentsia, as to why they think he has to be the next head of the Government.

From the parallels I have drawn, I would like to say that proponents of religion and spirituality are on the same side of the fence! They very kindly ignore the presence, of another side of the fence, athiesm. I am not, by any stretch of exaggeration, an athiesm. However, I have been drawn in numerous debates between religion and spiritualism and with a little perspective lent by Modi, come to realise that they are both same side of the coin.

PS: I would like to highlight that references to Modi and his supporters - some of whom from both factions are good friends of mine, is purely illustrative!

PS2: History notwithstanding, I would like you to believe that I would soon contribute to this debate, very soon :)