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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that doing yoga in a public place is just attention seeking?

187 replies

UnsuspectedItem · 03/03/2018 16:17

Several times this year I've seen people crack out a mat in the middle of a public place and start doing yoga.
When I say public place, I'm not talking about a park or a beach, but an airport, bus station and a waiting room.
It seems to be a trend on Instagram too, the culprit usually kitted it in something very reveaking.
I love yoga and it's great for being a "portable" exercise but AIBU in thinking that doing it in a place where you stand out is just showing off, and is a little bit wanky?

OP posts:
FrancinePefko · 04/03/2018 09:03

"Not British"
I would say "Not quite British... yet. But it could be". As Narendra Modi (pm of India) said, "Yoga is India's gift to the world, the more people do it, the more peace and harmony we will have in the world"

OwlinaTree · 04/03/2018 09:05

It's not the yoga that's not British. It's the showing off!

MaisyPops · 04/03/2018 09:10

Agreed. It's the showing off.

At the park or beach and other places where people do sport and exercise - not
wanky at all

Do exercise somewhere it's busy and not generally for exercise - wanky

Put it this way. I like HIIT workouts. I don't need much space. Maybe I should use the aisle of the plane on ny next flight. Or in a train station.
If it would be wanky and odd to do HIIT or squat reps in a location then it's wanky to do yoga there.

Fekko · 04/03/2018 09:14

Performance yoga? 🧘‍♀️ 🧘‍♂️

FrancinePefko · 04/03/2018 09:17

I wish the Chinese and Pakistanis would adopt with the same enthusiasm as Westerners. Mantras not missiles!!

FormerlyFrikadela01 · 04/03/2018 09:25

I once saw a woman doing this in the middle of city park in Bradford (anyone who knows it would know it's not an exercisey sort of park, lots of concrete little grass). Wanky in the extreme.

And the person upthread who said there is no ego in yoga GrinGrin Instagram would massively disagree with you.

FinallyHere · 04/03/2018 09:31

If you, the observer, decide that it is attention seeking, then so be it. Can't myself see what difference it makes in your life, but, hey, it's your life and fair enough, you get to choose for you.

I have done stretches in 'public', for example after exercise but also in an airport, when lacking other exercise. It would not occur to me to consider what any random observer thinks about what I am doing and more than I would consider the audience before sneezing. I am most likely concentrating on breathing through the stretch and on how much better I will feel afterwards. I am sure that I have read simple stretches for wellbeing in the in-flight magazine, surely they are for doing in your seat, rather than waiting til you are alone.

Each to their own.

lljkk · 04/03/2018 09:32

You'd catch frostbite if tried to do yoga outsidere here, today.

I dunno. I can't object to Tai Chi so I don't think the Yoga would attract my attention, either. At least it's something different to watch when cooped up in an airplane.

AnotherDunroamin · 04/03/2018 09:35

FrancinePefko
That just about sums up my family Wink

😂 Where do people get these ideas about what India is like?!

Original poster
UnsuspectedItem · 04/03/2018 09:45

surely they are for doing in your seat, rather than waiting til you are alone

I'm not referring to stretching in your seat, I'm referring to getting out a mat and doing a full arse in air, grandiose make-yourself-look-big yoga sequence in a space designed for public waiting.

OP posts:
FrancinePefko · 04/03/2018 09:46

Punjab - where else??? Oh Bale, bale!!

FrancinePefko · 04/03/2018 10:22

I am absolutely delighted to learn today that "Balle Balle" has its own Wikipedia entry

Balle Balle (ਬੱਲੇ ਬੱਲੇ) is a phrase used in many Punjabi songs to depict a feeling of joy and happiness. It is used in the same way as the English expressions, "Hooray!" or "Hurrah!" It comes from the Persian word بله (baleh), which means "yes". It is used in Bhangra songs and dances generally set in the Punjab.

FrancinePefko · 04/03/2018 10:24

Wow !! Punjabi text works on MN Grin

FrancinePefko · 04/03/2018 10:56

And the person upthread who said there is no ego in yoga grin grin Instagram would massively disagree with you

There should be no ego in yoga. It should be about shanti (peace) and recognising one's kinship with all beings, all life and all energy in the cosmos.

Kokeshi123 · 04/03/2018 11:27

"Doesn't give a flying fart what you or anyone else thinks...."

Well, as long as they don't ACTUALLY give a flying fart...

iammargesimpson · 04/03/2018 11:47

Yeah let's be realistic there's plenty of ego in yoga!!

Dozer · 04/03/2018 11:55

Grin at doing stretches in the fruit machine gambling shops at service stations!

My former colleagues, who were diverse in age, size and reportedly also diverse in yoga prowess, used to go off to do a yoga class together at lunchtime twice a week. I declined, had never tried it at the time and was too mortified at the very idea, but they all enjoyed it and it was a good atmosphere in that team. So I probably missed out!

FrancinePefko · 04/03/2018 12:05

Doesn't give a flying fart what you or anyone else thinks....

While we should not be beholden to the thoughts and judgement of others, we should still be considerate.

On that point - I a little bit Hmm at the fortune people pay in the West for skin tight and very revealing "yoga attire". You can do it in a very simple (and cheap) pure cotton kurta pyjama. Far less ostentatious.

FrancinePefko · 04/03/2018 12:22

Don't you think the world be a better place if Modi could get Trump, Putin, Xi, Assad, May and Merkel doing this?

To think that doing yoga in a public place is just attention seeking?
FrancinePefko · 04/03/2018 12:28

Yes - some of the "crowd' behind him are actually the Indian army. My DH's nephew (corporal Sikh Light Infantry) tells me is 7,945th row behind the PM, 215th from the left.

To think that doing yoga in a public place is just attention seeking?
FrancinePefko · 04/03/2018 12:44

heateallthebuns
I don't know, if it's an accepted cultural norm in other countries maybe it's just spreading into western countries as people learn more about it.

I hope so. See; in India if you started doing it in public you'd have people feeling guilty that they hadn't done any in a while and probably following your lead or just stand and gawp at you especially if you're a Western woman

Faultymain5 · 04/03/2018 13:10

Unsuspected
There is space on a plain and not in an aisle. I don't seem to stop anyone getting around (Not even staff). So yes, still a mean spirited thread. If anyone asks you to join in either on the plane or in the airport I see how it affects you, until then no issue

MombieMumbles · 04/03/2018 13:17

I would love to whip out the yoga mat and not give two hoots what anyone thinks. The reality is I might roll my eyes at someone doing yoga in a public place but secretly I'd be envious of their confidence.

raiderofthegoodause · 04/03/2018 13:17

I was on holiday in the South of France last year and the woman next to me at the pool did a full 8 minute abs routine. We were on a sort of sprung AstroTurf floor and it was hilarious.

FrancinePefko · 04/03/2018 14:13

It's strange isn't it that we have no issue with someone drinking tobacco smoke in public, filling their lungs with carcinogenic poison and poisoning those around them.

Yet we seem to be so offended by someone trying to attain inner peace, temporal and spiritual harmony with all that is manifest in the universe and expresses unity an love with all beings.