Comments on: TIME: Yep, Yogis are Yuppies!

By: wayne

wayne — Sun, 16 May 2010 02:07:52 +0000

I have to say I understand the TIME article and where the author is coming from, but it doesn’t justify the knock and degrading of the art and act of yoga. I am no yogi, and other then occasionally doing a drop in class years ago, I have never practiced regularly. I started learning Tai Chi, but it was hard to afford back when I was younger. I scraped my cash for martial arts when I could practice. My instructor turned me on to yoga stretches to loosen up for grappling. I loved it, starting stealing books on yoga from local libraries, and taught myself some basic yoga. Now at the age of 37 I need it, the anxiety and anger of life in a overcrowding city, I just need to true spirit of yoga, screw it if yuppies love it or not. I cant say I could drop a $100 on a mat, but if others got it, then have at it. I will stick with my cut off sweats and my Nike mat I got at Ross for $10

By: Study: Yoga Kicks Eating Disorders, Body Obsession in Teens

Study: Yoga Kicks Eating Disorders, Body Obsession in Teens — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:35:09 +0000

[...] school jocks, yuppies, troops in Iraq, cancer survivors, or addiction recoverees. We’ve been a bit snippy snap with the news crew over at TIME mag, (they had it coming!) but for once we can feel so much better [...]

By: McKenna

McKenna — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:14:37 +0000

Interesting and stimulating debate going on here. I continue to be surprised by the lack of editorial depth in Time mag in general…
Yoga is most certainly for everyone. The “rich yuppies” might be in class for better looking butts, but hopefully the class will have calming and positive effects on their attitudes… meaning, nicer people walking around in this world…I hope?!!

Anyway, as a soon-to-be studio owner, I’m glad to know some people will pay good $$$. I’ll be counting on revenue from them so I can also offer low/no cost community classes as well. My studio won’t do anyone much good if I have to close it down.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:12:35 +0000

TIME doesn’t get home birth coverage right either. I’m not impressed with them.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:38:26 +0000

Hi All,

Frankness first, Recycle Your Mat promotes Manduka. We do it because we like their products, we like their people and they have helped us out more than a-n-y-b-o-d-y else in the whole industry. That being said, I can shed some light on what yogiATL is pointing out.

Most of the mats we receive at Recycle Your Mat are the cheap mats people have purchased when they first started doing yoga. They send them to us because usually within a year (sometimes two) one of two things happen:

1) they try yoga a few times, decide it’s not for them and they then dispose of the mat.

2) they really like yoga, keep going and learn more about that cheap mat they bought, ultimately deciding they want a more eco-friendly mat and/or a mat that performs better for them.

So Mr. Sean Gregory, from someone who is dedicating her life to clean up after yogis and yoga manufacturers, I wish people would pay more for any brand of eco-friendly mat! Those mats have more chances of being upcycled than the cheap mats and aren’t as detrimental to the environment and those residing in it.

Stephanie (aka. RecycleYogi)
twitter: recycleyourmat
web: http://www.recycleyourmat

By: Babs

Babs — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:06:07 +0000

I am so un-hip and out of it that I didn’t even realize that yoga had been usurped by yuppies. Whatever, they’ll lose interest and move on to their next thing, like yuppies of every generation do, and the real devotees of yoga will remain, with or without Manduka mats.

Are they really $100? And here I thought I was splurging on my plain blue mat from Gaiam which I bought 5 years ago!

By: Yoga_mydristi

Yoga_mydristi — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:01:27 +0000

I love my Manduka mat! I test drove 5 mats that were either given to me or loaned by studios/friends. I kept getting sore knees and slippery feet. Until I tried the Manduka. It has changed my practice. I do yoga 5-6 times a week and often they are power/flow classes that are sweaty, hot and require that I don’t slip. If you are a casual practitioner, maybe not a good choice. However, after looking at all my options it worked the best for me. I figured that if I was a runner, spending 100 on a good pair of shoes would not be out of the question. Is it so wrong to spend the same amt on good yoga equipment? If you want it to be part of your life, if you want it as a career, and if you want to practice in comfortable safety: definitely not wrong!

Test driving is always a great idea… most of us yogis have friends who are yogis. Try their mats, rent one at your fav studio… test drive folks. I say, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. thanks for all the great posts btw.

By: sara

sara — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:46:55 +0000

I am saving my pennies for a Manduka because I read that it provides stability on a carpet, which is important for standing postures. My entire house is carpeted and since I practice at home 3-4 days a week, when I’m not in class, it’s important for me to feel safe in standing poses. Especially since I have bad knees. If I wobble out of alignment, I get a lot of pain.

But yeah, consumerist yoga sucks.

Because my father recently died, I am spending the summer with my mother, who despite living on a modest budget lives in an expensive “rich people’s playground area” of the Hamtpons in NY. All the studios around here charge $25 for a single class. Where I live, you can get a monthly unlimited card for $100.

This is going to be quite a stretch for me, financially as well as mentally, but I need to keep up with my yoga so it looks I’ll be stuck practicing at one of these over-priced studios until Labor Day. Anyhow, I went to one of these classes yesterday and just decided to make it a spiritual exercise to not have all sorts of hostile feelings toward the heavily botoxed, expensive-yoga-clothes-wearing ladies who were in the class with me. I made that the intention for my practice. And you know what? It worked. I didn’t let the whole exclusive atmosphere ruin my vibe. Yoga is indeed for everybody, including rich people whom I assume, probably erroneously, are all superficial assholes. I’m a practitioner for life and want to be able to practice in all situations, with all kinds of people.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:33:28 +0000

Great post. It does bother me sometimes to know that I’m participating in a yuppie sport. But in another way I like it because it affords the opportunity to remember yoga isn’t a competition — either on or ABOUT the mat. So I’m just going to keep plugging away at deepening my practice and reaping its benefits.

By: YogiATL

YogiATL — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:51:35 +0000

They should look into how often people with Mandukas practice. Really, if you have to replace a cheap-o $25 mat every 6 months, you’re at a Manduka black mat in 2 years, but you’ve added substantially more to the landfill.

So perhaps people are up in arms because there should have been a sidebar consumer reports-esq look at mats. Expected life/replacement costs/carbon footprint of cheap mats compared to more expensive mats… But it’s TIME magazine; I’m sure we’re not the first group they’ve marginalized, and I’m sure we won’t be the last, either.

Namaste.