Animal Yoga Calendars -- Cute or Ridiculous?

This is not a serious post -- just my little rant about animal yoga pose calendars.

I enjoy putting up a yoga pose calendar each year at Harmony Yoga of Ann Arbor.  For a number of years I bought the Yoga Journal wall calendars, and each month we'd be treated to a nicely executed asana that could inspire us for those few weeks, even if it was something that most of us might never be able to do.  Sometimes I'd plan a week's sequence around the "pose of the month".  Granted, the models were all very young and excessively thin and flexible, but the poses were works of art in my opinion.  Unfortunately, Yoga Journal hasn't put out a calendar for the last couple years.

Other calendars that I also used and enjoyed were made by local Iyengar Yoga teachers who photographed "real" yoga students and teachers in realistic and accessible poses.   Those are inspiring because we know some of the people who are featured.

Another of my favorite calendars was put together by the Iyengar Yoga Institute of Greater New York, with edgy black-and-white photos of people doing poses in various places in Manhattan, including a photo of a bald-from-chemo Mary Dunn, looking radiant (as always) in Padmasana.


Yoga Cats and Dogs I also loved a "Yoga Cat" calendar...but wait, not like the ones you might see in the stores now.  Each month had a photo of a woman doing a yoga pose, with her cat in the picture as well.   My favorite photo was of the woman doing Prasarita Padottanasana (wide-stance standing forward bend) with the cat perched on her sacrum.  That was artistic and cute!

But a few years ago, I started seeing some other... rather silly... yoga calendars crop up in the stores.  It started with Yoga Dogs calendars and Yoga Cats calendars, each month with a photoshopped image of a dog or cat in an asana.  Kind of cute, I thought, but not at all what I was looking for in a yoga calendar.

Then came Yoga Puppies and Yoga Kittens.  Wasn't that taking things a little too far?   I want to see real people do real poses, not animals doing photoshopped poses.  Or do I just lack a sense of humor about my chosen passion?

But now, when I'm looking under the Yoga Calendar section on Calendars.com or on Amazon I find very few calendars of people doing yoga, and many, many animal yoga calendars.

Out of the 27 yoga calendars that I found on Calendars.com, 19 were animal yoga calendars.  That's 70% of the total!  Along with the dogs and cats, puppies and kittens, there are yoga horses, yoga cows, and other assorted animals doing a variety of asanas.  I don't really get it, but obviously they strike many peoples' fancy :-)

Here is a Farm Yoga calendar, created after the success of Cow Yoga (yes, this is an ad).

Farm Yoga 2015 Wall Calendar - $14.99 The success of the best-selling Cow Yoga calendar was not lost on the other farm animals. Now the pigs, chickens, sheep and nearly all the critters in the barnyard are getting into the act with myriad poses and postures that you would deem impossible if you were not witnessing them with your own eye

Here is Zoo Yoga.  Again, not my thing AT ALL, but I have to admit I laughed over the blurb in both of these calendars (yes this is an ad too).

Zoo Yoga 2015 Wall Calendar - $14.99 In 1896, elephants at the New Delhi Zoo were observed practicing rudimentary yoga poses within their enclosures. Their astounded keepers encouraged this remarkable behavior and before long the pachyderms were demonstrating up to seven distinct postures.

But no, I'm not going to cave in and get one of these silly calendars.  Just not my cup of tea, but they might strike your fancy!   If I can't find a yoga calendar that fits well with my sense of aesthetics, I'll get an Audubon bird calendar instead for the studio... and no, I haven't seen a Bird Yoga calendar yet.  Maybe next year.

Pep Talk - Just Come to Class!

I recently received a message from a woman who had just returned to my yoga classes after a long absence, saying she couldn't come that day after all because of an emotional upset.  Something was going on in her family that was distressing her, and she thought it was best if she didn't come to class because she wouldn't be able to concentrate.

Unfortunately I didn't hear her message until afterward.  Otherwise I might have been able to  encourage her to come anyway, because after all, what better reason to practice yoga than to help us deal with the stresses of our lives?   And it will certainly help us focus.

When I finally did touch base with her a couple weeks later, her excuses had changed to physical problems.  Her joints hurt, she didn't feel good, she was worried about her health.  But again, what better reason to practice yoga than to give us the tools to help ourselves feel better, either physically or emotionally?

This is a repeated pattern for this woman.  I know from past experience that this is just how she works.  She has experienced that yoga is good for her (she has told me this), and I know she initially has good intentions for coming to class, but for various reasons she has never followed through for very long.

Many of us do this to some degree in certain areas of our lives, although maybe not to this extent.  It can be easy to come up with excuses to step off the path we have chosen for our own growth and self-improvement.  Why do we do this to ourselves?  

I think two underlying reasons for this self-sabotage are feelings of discomfort stemming from:

1. Our fear that we really won't be able to accomplish what we set out to do - that we won't live up to our own expectations (or the perceived expectations from others) of how well we think we should be doing.
2. That it will take more effort than we are willing to put in to see results.  We want to avoid hard work.

There's also a fear for some people that they will hurt themselves, or at least be very sore after class.  That's a valid concern, and we can work with that.   I can encourage you to ease up on what you're doing so you won't be likely to injure yourself or to be as sore.

We unconsciously find excuses to avoid the discomfort of hard work or the fear of not succeeding,  or the fear of being in physical pain, and that gets us....absolutely nowhere.

Yes, it does take disciplined effort to practice yoga, and you may not accomplish what you initially envisioned for yourself.   But if you study and practice in a setting that is appropriate for your level of health and fitness, you will soon start to feel the benefits of this powerful practice.   You will feel stronger and more energetic, and better able to deal with whatever physical, mental, or emotional stresses are going on in your life.  Most of you have felt this if you've been practicing for awhile.

There are good reasons for not coming to your yoga class.  You might be recently injured or sick, or recovering from a serious illness, or there might be some emergency that you need to deal with, and you really do need to step back for awhile until things quiet down.   If you are already a seasoned yoga practitioner, I hope that during these times you take care of yourself with some quiet restorative practice sessions (including pranayama).  That will help you get through your difficulties.

But if you often make excuses for not coming, take a harder look at your reasons.  Are they really valid (and ultimately only you can make that decision), or are they ways to get you "off the hook" for  doing the work that is necessary for growth in this area?  You might ending up deciding that your avoidance really means that the classes you're taking just aren't working out for you at this time.  I hope you can find another path, whether it be in another yoga class or a completely different discipline that works better for you.  On the other hand (and this is what I hope happens), maybe you'll decide that it's time to stop making excuses and start regularly joining us again in yoga classes!  You'll be happy you did, and I'll be happy to see you again!

Special Yoga Classes at Harmony Yoga, November and December 2014

Deepen your understanding of different aspects of your yoga practice. These classes may include a combination of talk, demonstration, and asana work. Recommended for people with at least three months recent Iyengar Yoga experience at Level I or higher unless otherwise noted.  Gentle Yoga students will be fine in some of these classes. Contact me if your background is in another style of yoga, or if you have injuries / health concerns.

Please register and pay early. Some classes may fill. Classes that have less than 5 people registered will be cancelled a few days beforehand.   You are registered when you pay.   Note: Since these classes are not part of the regular session classes, they cannot be used as make-ups and cannot be paid with class cards.

Deep Forward Bends and Arm Balances

Saturday  November 1, 2:00 -- 4:00pm

$25

Recently we had fun in some classes working toward Kurmasana (tortoise pose) and Dwi Hasta Bhujasana (both legs over the arms balance).   Join us in this class to work more on these and similar poses.  We’ll explore ways to break them down into their component parts before attempting the full poses.

Day After Thanksgiving Classes

Saturday November 29

Focus on Twisting

10:00 -- 11:15am

$15

Work off those mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie with lots of twists!  We’ll include standing and seated twists and other supporting poses.  There will also be some inversions for both experienced and inexperienced students. Twists and inversions are great for the digestive system!

Quiet Class, Seated and Restorative Poses

11:30 -- 12:45

$15

De-stress after your busy Thanksgiving Day with this quiet sequence of seated and supine poses, possibly with simple inversions.  Some simple pranayama (breathwork) may be included.  Multi-level class.

Ease Into the Weekend With Restorative Poses and Pranayama

Friday December 12   6:00 -- 8:00

$25

This time of year is stressful for many people.  De-stress at the end of your work week with these quiet recuperative poses and yoga breathing exercises.   You’ll hold these supported poses for some time to experience their calming effect on the nervous system.  

For continuing Gentle Level students and above.

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