Jenn Kretzer, The Yoga Hive

     This week the instructor I followed along to was Jenn Kretzer from The Yoga Hive studio. She teaches a yoga called Sivananda yoga. This kind of yoga is the one you think about when you imagine crazy yoga moves like doing poses on your head. It was very different from the other practices we have done from the beginning breathing to the head stands. From what I have observed from the movies we have watched in class, it seems much different and a much more popularized version of yoga.

    Jenn started out with focusing on breathing. While other practices have been mindful of breathing, this one took it to a new level of really centering yourself and doing different breathing exorcises like one where you really engage your gut and breathe in and out fast. From what we have discussed in class, breathing is a big part of traditional culture of yoga but its more of a steady and soothing pace. In traditional yoga, its a lot more about finding yourself and being centered with your spirit. Its more of a religion of sorts than a work out you do in a studio. Through the practice with Jenn, you can see how much athletic talent you need for Sivananda yoga she taught. It was a lot about exorcising and stretching the body more than anything else to me. Pop culture has taken yoga and turned it into an exorcise where they say is spiritual but when you get down to it, its just a lot of stretches people do once a week to feel they worked out and was spiritually awaken without all the years of practicing.

    Pop culture and traditional yoga are two sides of the same coin but they couldn't be more different. They pop culture has turned it into a hot new trend to do with your friends and how much simpler and more relaxed kind of exorcise than going to the gym. It is not mainly about the spirituality of the practice anymore or the dedication to it. It has been watered down and resold and we are buying it by the dozens and not questioning anything about it.