To think that many yoga teachers are too “woo woo?”

I'm not someone who would usually use the expression 'cultural appropriation' but I can't think of a better example of it than someone complaining about a yoga class having a spiritual dimension.

I've found the opposite. Too many yoga teachers seem to treat it just like a stretch and strength class with none of the underpinning spirituality.

The best teachers I had started and ended with a chant and would chat about some of the teachings and stories during the class. I loved it!

Agree with PP, I prefer pilates because it's less "woo woo"

Only encountered on tutor that was, but she was kind of competing with herself whether to be woo woo or talk about herself.
I did give her class a second try, but gave up after that.

Have you not done stretching for the whole length of the class already? 😵‍💫😵‍💫

I went to a yoga class in my 30s which ended with a 'meditation' session. This consisted of the teacher droning on about drifting into the deep purple......... I hated that bit.

I have since learned that it was a far cry from true meditation, which I have learned and enjoy.

This is why I much prefer Pilates. I expect yoga to contain a fair dose of spiritual stuff, that’s part of yoga.

Occasionally I have done a much more practical yoga class with focus on movement and breath and not much woo - but they’re the exception.

When I go to a yoga class, I expect a movement practice with some mindfulness, not a full-on spiritual sermon.

But if you have just physical movements with a ‘bit of’ mindfulness, then you’re not doing yoga as it was intended. Just a really sanitised, westernised version of it.

If that’s what you want, you need to find a yoga teacher who does that.
It’s not the yoga teachers who are at fault for not offering the westernised version, the one YOU want.

I agree and did feel it a little cheeky when one of my teachers add in a "finishing prayer" to what was clearly sold as a exercise class.

Church services aren’t held in the local council sports centre. Nor are they listed as exercise classes.

OP, I get you. Some yoga classes are disappearing into their own chakras. Others are less spiritually oriented so it’s important to keep trying to find one that fits for you.

@LaughingM - no, it’s not offensive to call woo things woo. It’s a rather disrespectful description but it’s also a valid perspective. Belief systems can have a lot of woo, and it’s not for everyone.

Yes! Yoga was suggested to me because I need to improve my flexibility, I’m not keen on Pilates because every time I’ve tried it I’ve put my back out, but I’ve only enjoyed yoga when I’ve had a teacher who was more like a ‘fitness instructor’ type than a tie-dyed t-shirt wearing hippy type. I hate the lying down with my eyes closed at the end, I just want to stretch!

Yoga as a practice is 5000+ years old but the poses we think of as yoga were mostly invented in the last 50-100 years and drawn from Swedish gymnastics.

And the history of the various schools of yoga is hella murky.

But the roots of yoga are ancient, and spiritual.

[(Edit) @LaughingM ]
Why?
The teacher is essentially upselling their "mass" service as an commercial product.

The OP has no interest in being "Saved By the Cross" etc

Isn't yoga a bit like modern paganism though - a lot more tacked on to older practices,but bearing little relationship to them? I might be wrong, I did read it on the internet after all...

But yeah, I'd love to do some sort of sweary yoga. I find the stretching and breathing hard enough without trying not to giggle at woo stuff or accidentally letting out a fart.

Mine’s quite woo, but she’s also really lovely & very good at doing classes that work for students on a range of levels.

I do take the woo with a pinch of salt but I also really enjoy listening to it.

Do you complain when you end up in a Church attending a Faith service😀?

The teacher is bearing witness to their Faith you are there to exercise🤷‍♀️

I had a pal when I worked in Soho who was a brilliant business head and a bit of a Jack the lad and liked a drink, life moved on and when he hit middle age he found Yoga. Changed career and became a yoga teacher, caught big time Woo to the extent that he dumped his wife and kids and went off with a fellow yoga teacher to live the woo life. This woo stuff can appeal to all sorts and can be like a cult in a way: how do you question and hold to account the ineffable?

And by problematic, I mean offensive.

Do you not think it's problematic to dismiss and diminish the cultural and spiritual roots of yoga as 'woo woo'?

Well, to be fair, yoga was developed as a spiritual practice, so it's not really surprising. You can find lots of fitness-focused classes though, you just have to check which is which before you sign up.

Yes agreed, like others have said you might prefer pilates OP. Spiritual life underpins yoga.

Ah yeah I do get you. I fall somewhere in the middle. I’m an ashtanga student, I teach vinyasa and I talk a lot about philosophy, a bit about chakras but not very much about Star Seeds and kundalini awakenings (at all tbh).

You just have to try and find a teacher who is the right vibe for you. I love a good chant but get a bit uncomfortable at white robes and vibrational humming 🤣

But I do agree with you in some respects- there is respecting the roots and foundations of yoga and then there is the 'wellness culture' that has become this massive beast, and that is nudged on by influencers and Instagram and looking a certain aesthetic and that part I find insincere. Yoga should be for everyone.