Samantha Cullen

The Not-so Pretty Side Of​ Yoga

I've noticed how people on the cover of yoga magazines always look so pretty. They're dressed to the nines in the latest yoga gear, hair perfectly placed around their bursting smiles. The cover model has perfected whichever advanced yoga posture they are showcasing that month. Now don't get me wrong, I respect these magazines (and to be honest, I am one of those yogis that can contort her body into most of those poses). I was born with ligaments that bend like Gumby, and because of the anatomy of my body, this is possible, not because I have some special gift or I'm by any means more "enlightened" than the less bendy. As I glance over these magazines from time to time, I begin to daydream on what it would look like to show the not so pretty side of yoga? Those days when we are not at our best but we show up to the mat and practice regardless. I will say the further down the yogic path I go the more layers are revealed, and some of my most gifted teachers have reaffirmed to me that this path is not always pretty.