AustralianYogaJournal-May2018

(Axel Boer) #1

6


may/june 2018

yogajournal.com.au

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AUSTRALIAN YOGA JOURNAL
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letter


Change


OUR LAST
ISSUE
FEATURING
Nude Yoga Girl
was one
of the most
controversial
issues ever,
provoking
some
exceedingly
strong
opinions. The majority were
supportive and congratulatory;
some were critical, but
constructive.
Sadly, some were downright
nasty towards our team and Nude
Yoga Girl herself, a young woman
who struggled with body issues
and used nude yoga and
photography to find self-acceptance
and consequently attracted a
sizable social media following.
Her struggle, her art, her
bravery and her practice should be
congratulated and celebrated, and
the potency of her underlying
message – “you are perfect the
way you are” -- should not be
diminished because of her nudity,
fame or her weight, or as one
harsh critic awkwardly described
her physique, “able-bodied”. She
is no less deserving of recognition
than our current cover yogi,
Tiffany Cruikshank, or the other 68
wonderful, perfect yogis who have
graced our covers over the last 10
years. 
The late Roma Blair famously
pioneered nude yoga over 40
years ago and attracted the ire of

the establishment and jeers from a
conservative population. While she
was undoubtedly criticised then,
today she is celebrated and revered
as a fearless pioneer and the
mother of yoga in Australia. 
Hypothetically, in 20 years will
the enormously popular “Robot
Yoga Teacher” be howled down
as wrong and “not yoga”?
Probably. Will we put a Robot
Yogi on the cover? Maybe.
And that’s the thing. Yoga, in
its essence, is formless, pure, and
timeless. But how it manifests in
a society depends upon the
society’s mores, cultural norms
and technological advancement.
With the advent of social media
the practice and teaching of yoga
is changing and it’s our bounden
duty as a journal to chronicle
that change. Like Rachel Brathen’s
(aka Yoga Girl) enormous
social media following (page 16),
NYG’s social popularity and
impact on yoga is an inerasable
part of the yoga landscape for the
time being, as is drunk yoga, dog
yoga, goat yoga and nude yoga
and as will be the scores of as-yet
not realised derivatives and
approaches we’ll see over the
coming years. So putting NYG on
the cover was not exploitation,
sexualisation or profiteering as was
varioulsy suggested by the critics.
It is the history of yoga, being writ
now. And everyone, all of us, is a
part of it.

SEND COMMENTS TO
[email protected]

ISSUE NO 67. MAY/JUNE 2018

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