Season 2 Episode 12: Sex & The State Of The World

Welcome to Be Still and Notice, a Yoga podcast. Join me, your host, Yoga and Meditation instructor Helen Taylor, to dive deeply into the vast ocean of wisdom that is yoga. Explore with me how these ancient practices can help heal and elevate us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually in an ultra modern world. Together we'll deepen our practice, explore a connection to divinity and our own inner landscapes, with the help of special guests, guided meditations, how-tos, and all so much more. Yoga has the incredible power to change your life on every level. And it all begins with stillness. Now let's begin.

I'm so grateful to have you here. Today I'm talking, I'm impassioned, I'm emboldened, I'm feeling fiery. I've definitely got that fire horse energy in me. I'm talking about sex and the state of the world. I'm talking about how we have sexualized yoga in the West to our or humanity's detriment, how we've belittled it. I'm relating to um my role as a makeup artist in a similar female-driven industry. And although I don't talk politics in yoga, we are talking about the state of the world and how important it all is for all of us to continue our yoga practice, especially now. You might think it's a light and fluffy endeavor. If you're listening to this, I know you don't by the way, but maybe you do, maybe you still think it's a light and fluffy endeavor, it's not serious work. I am here to say different and to say that it's one of the most vital things that we can do in a world that's really chaotic, topsy turby, and at war. So grab yourself a nice cup of tea, get settled in, and I really hope you enjoy the episode. Hi everyone, and welcome to the podcast. I hope you're having a really lovely day, whatever you're up to. So today we're talking about sex and the state of the world in terms of yoga. I'm gonna ask you a question. Do you think that politics has a place in yoga? Yoga teachings, yoga classes for yoga teachers, um, when they're in discussion, when they're in satsang. Do you think politics has a place? Because I might be um a little bit inflammatory here by saying I don't think it does. For me, I struggle with politics at the best of times, and I don't think that politics has a place in yoga. However, they do show up, they do show up uh more often than not. But today we are not gonna talk about Trump, and we're not gonna talk about our government here in the UK, but we are gonna talk about the state of the world. That's my little doggy coming in, the state of the world in general, and we are gonna talk about how yoga has been sexualized. So, as a woman, and I'm going to guess that most of my listeners are women, although I know I have some male listeners out there, so um I don't want this to be biased on either side, but as a woman, as a female yoga teacher, I'm very aware that in the West we have created this stereotype, which is kind of me, uh, white, middle class, skinny, flexible, good-looking yoga teacher. That's the kind of stereotype: slim, flexible, white. Um, I don't meet all that criteria, by the way. I'm just white and female and vaguely middle class. But there is this, like, so if you go to Hollywood and you said to someone, okay, let's let's get a let's get an LA yoga teacher, that's the kind of person that you will be finding, that's the kind of look, that's the kind of stereotype. And there's this really gross cliche about middle-aged men having affairs with yoga teachers. It's just it's fluffy, it's derogatory. I hate it. I actually really hate it. And in my previous career as a makeup artist, it was very similar. You know, people did not see makeup artists as important. Um, we were just the fluffy girls that went in and fluffed people, shouldn't use that term too much, should I? But basically used our makeup brushes to just powder people's noses, and that was it. You know, it just wasn't held and still isn't held in high regard. Um, people didn't see the hours that it were, they didn't see the expertise behind it. Being a makeup artist on a film set is, excuse my language, fucking hard work. It's really long hours, it's brutal. You're filming, you could be filming in the middle of a field of minus four temperatures for 12, 16 hours. You've got to have all your own kit there, you've got to deal with multiple difficult personalities, beautiful ones too, of course. Um, makeup artists are the first ones in the door, the last ones to leave. We are psychologists, therapists, we are um cheerleaders, we're support. I mean, it's quite clear how intimate the relationships are because many actors do actually marry their regular makeup artists. But keeping on track, it's a female-driven or led industry that really doesn't get any respect. Not the respect that it deserves. Costume, however, gets a lot of respect, but for some reason, makeup artists are seen as kind of the fluffy, fluffy girls that just hang around and have a gossip by the monitor. That's where you the monitor is the screen where you see what's happening on set, what's actually being filmed. And that really I find so so difficult. And here I am in another in the West female-led industry that again isn't taken seriously, it really isn't taken seriously, and there is this kind of stereotype of the female Western yoga teacher, and it's been sexualized. Now, I think there are a couple of reasons for this. One is because it has to do with the body and the senses, um, and some of the positions, if you have that mind, could be seen as um, oh no, it even hurts me to say it, provocative, or you've really got to have a bit of a twisted mind to think that way. Um, but I get that it's to do with the body and it's intimate and it's different, and it's sensual in the fact that we use the body and the breath. So there is a sensuality to it. I'm not talking about sex here, but sensuality. You know, when you a lot of people think tantra or tantra, if I'm going to pronounce it correctly, I'm trying with my Sanskrit tantra, is um all about sex, and it's not, that's a very small part of it. Huge part of it is about living your experience of the world through your senses. So that means uh the breath, what you see, what you hear, what you feel on your skin, the wind on your skin, what you taste, what you experience through the body. But somehow in the West, we're so short-sighted and we're so uh kind of base in our interpretations of things that we go right for the sex. Um, and I find that so frustrating, and really it's it's harmed the industry, it really has harmed the industry because a lot of female yoga teachers aren't taken seriously, and let's be really frank here: huge amount of yoga teachers are asked to teach for free. Now, why on earth should someone who spent thousands and thousands of pounds um on their continued education um should should they work for free? I mean, people still do, people still ask. I've heard it just the other day. Oh, can you do this for free? Voluntary yoga. Now, just because yoga teachers are very um ethically minded, most of them, I'm I'm being a bit generalistic here, so I just want to say that. But most uh yoga teachers are really think about humanitarian causes and are ethically minded and hopefully good people, hopefully, again, I can't generalize because just because you're a yoga teacher doesn't make you a nice person, that is also very true. Um, but I do think that the the kind nature of a lot of yoga teachers is taken advantage of, um, and it is an industry where people struggle to make money, it's notoriously difficult. Another thing that I think has massively contributed to this sexualization of yoga is marketing. Now, so the two are interlinked. What I just said about yoga teachers struggling to make money, this is really real, you know. A lot of people set up yoga studios and they fail within within a year or two. Um, it's it's difficult, and um the people that do seem to really succeed with studios uh seem to have a certain niche, uh, certain quality. Um let's cut that bit out. So, with marketing, of course, sex sells the attractive woman in skin tight clothing, moving her body slowly with the breath. It appeals to women want to look like those kind of women, and men think they're really attractive. Um so I think this episode was really part of it was sparked, the idea of it was sparked by a post I saw by an amazing yoga teacher, a male yoga teacher, Indian heritage, who um I follow who is absolutely brilliant. And I'm gonna link his account in the show notes because he just really speaks from a very solid, foundational yogic place. And one of his posts kind of sparked this off that you know, with the marketing in this in this country, it really is geared towards um asana-based, so strong movement, handstands, you know, quite extreme advanced poses that aren't accessible for everyone, and the sexier side, so this kind of gymnastic, sexier side, which I think is starting very slowly to change. I don't want to be completely negative, but I do really think the majority of people that are running really successful online businesses or studios are that end of the spectrum, it's more like um gymnastics, to be honest, and they have a certain look and a certain market, and it's trendy and it's fashionable and it's cool and hot yoga style, that kind of thing. But in uh this guy's post, I don't know his full name off the top of my head. In his post, he was saying that leaves no space for the teachers who are actually teaching full-spectrum yoga, so philosophy, um, all of the other practices, pranayama, meditation, um, teachers like me who are basically living yoga every day to the best of my ability, perfectly imperfect, messy all the way, it leaves no space for those yoga teachers in them in the area of marketing because it's not sexy. Because when you get to an authentic yoga practice that isn't just all about movement, that isn't um by the way, I'm not denigrating um those types of yoga classes. If that's your thing, that's your thing, amazing. But I'm just talking about how it all relates and how it all creates a bigger picture of what is essentially one thing, which is yoga, and yes, there are different styles and different methods and different teachers and different ways to practice, and always there are a million different ways to do things, but in the Western world, it's become very narrow-minded and very short-sighted, and this very small little piece of pie. So, where does that leave the rest of us? Where does that leave people that are teaching the philosophy, the real hard part of yoga, the unsexy part of yoga, which is the deep inner exploration, the deep self-inquiry, the stuff that is actually pretty ugly, which to me seems absolutely mental because that stuff is way more interesting and way more exciting and transformative, life-changing, and in that way could be seen as hella sexy, way more sexy than just someone doing a headstand, because that's shallow. Give me all of the deep inner work. If you know me, you will know that probably within five minutes we'll be having a really deep and meaningful conversation. I'm just like my dad, that is who I am. I'm not really here for the small talk. I don't mind a bit of small talk, but give me that deep and meaningful conversation. Let's just get to it, let's just talk it out, let's go right to what really is happening here. So, so yeah, there's there's a lot in the West that has shaped yoga into a stereotype and a derogatory thing, and I can't help but think that a lot of that is because predominantly in the West, um, we do have more female yoga teachers. Traditionally, in India, the teachers were actually male, so it's a lot more of a male-dominated um arena in India traditionally. So it's interesting um how over here we flipped it over into something that is far less meaningful, far more shallow, and just really made it look a lot more worthless than it actually is. And that brings me on to our next subject, which is the state of the world. And I can't help but think that you know, these subjects lead lead. There is a link. So the link is that a lot of people think that yoga is just moving around in tight leggings and feeling fluffy and light, and off you go back home for a cup of tea. By the way, there's nothing wrong with that, but that's not what it is. Let's just talk plainly. That's not what a yoga practice is. Yoga is the science and method for transforming humankind's very consciousness. I'm gonna say that again. Yoga is the science and method for transforming humankind's consciousness. So let's just take a deep breath in and let that sink in, shall we? How does anybody sell that? How can anybody that's another question? How can anybody think that that is light and fluffy? We should be in awe and reverence of yoga and its practices and its quality teachers. Now, I know there's a lot of incredible yoga teachers out there. There are also some not so good teachers out there, as is the way of the world, and it would help if the industry was more regulated. A diff again, another subject, a difficult one to do. It was the same in makeup, it wasn't regulated. So, just to kind of relate and compare the two, for example, when you train to be a hairdresser, you do NVQ levels. If you train to be a beauty therapist, it's the same. NVQs makeup, there's nothing like that. Well, there wasn't in my day, they might have changed it. You could go and do um at LCF, the London College of Fashion, you could do basically what was uh I think it was a level four diploma, which is equivalent to a degree in film and TV, hair and makeup, and that was like really, really good. If you if you'd been to LCF, people knew that you were amazing. Outside of that, a lot of the uh schools like the one I went to were. There was no official regulation. So, what happens in an industry that's not regulated is a huge amount of nepotism and a huge amount of unfairness. So you have to really, really prove yourself in a very hierarchical old-fashioned industry. And the people I did tons and tons of work for free. That's that's just guaranteed. At the beginning, you do loads of work for free, loads of student films, blah blah blah blah blah. And unless you are someone's a producer or another makeup artist's niece, um, or I'll say nephew, because there are male makeup artists out there, niece or nephew, or you knew someone in the industry, it was uh tooth and nail to get work, and that breeds bitchiness and backstabbingness and not a nice culture. And so, similarly, in the UK, although they have started to do um yoga alliance, is actually American, but they have started to change it and to try and kind of regulate it a little bit. A lot of yoga schools aren't, so there is it's very difficult to know when someone is a good teacher. Um, I did a level four diploma, which again is almost like a degree with the British Wheel of Yoga, because I wanted, having been in an similar industry before, I wanted A to learn as much as I could and B to have a really good bit of paper. Um, but when things aren't regulated, there is a lack of trust, which is really sad, and and rightly so in many ways. I mean, if something's not regulated, how do you know if they know all about anatomy? How do you know if they know how to protect you in a class? Um in terms of your physicality, how do you how do you know you know what they've actually been trained in? Because people can lie, but unfortunately, this feeling of like scepticism, lack of trust, this stereotypical view of yoga teachers as kind of fluffy and nonsense, women just bouncing around, you know, it's really really difficult. And in terms of the state of the world of today, people could think, oh god, you know, go and get a real job, go and do something more important. But I am here to tell you today, and I feel a bit emboldened and impassioned. I am here to tell you today that I don't think that there is anything more important right now in the state of our global humanity, anything more important than working on trying to transform humankind's consciousness one individual at a time. Nothing, it's vital, and you might think, oh, really, Helen? Like a little bit of meditation's not going to change the world. It really does. I've seen it change me inexplicably and others around me uh exponentially. Because here's what yoga does, and here's why we need to get away from just this trendy, sexy, asana-based classes, and why we need to change yoga teachers. If you're listening, why we need to really change how we view our yoga teachers. Because if teachers are out there and they're teaching all of the uh eight limbs of yoga, then they are showing people how to be self-aware. And as we know, talked a lot about this in previous episodes. Self-awareness leads to self-inquiry, nervous system regulation. Know yourself, know your body, know who you are, begin to understand who you are, why you do what you do. This leads to anything that hasn't been healed being shown to you. Illumination. Yoga has this really, and the sun is coming out on me right now, which is lovely. Yoga has this incredibly magical way of at the time, you you'll never know when it will happen. At the time that is absolutely right for you, it will just literally show you what needs to be healed. It won't heal it for you, it will show you what needs to be healed. And if you listen and you pay attention, choose a healing modality, keep going with your yoga, whether it's talking therapy, something else, whatever is right for you, whatever's appropriate. This is evolution, this is transformation. When the healing begins, more understanding, more self-knowledge, more compassion, more self-love, therefore, more compassion and love for everyone around you, more understanding, less division, less fighting, less wars, more discussion, more peace. I mean, surely this is not rocket science. It's vital. Problem is it's not sexy and it's not fast. It's not fast and it's not easy. It's difficult. Many people don't have the courage to really. My one of my yoga teachers used to say to me, uh, say to us when we were learning from her, take yourself on. I was like, ooh, that's a bit combative. Take yourself on. But that's what she referred to. You've got to be brave enough to really look at yourself and go, okay, what's not working here? What are the shadows? What are the dark parts that I'm not facing, that I'm not looking at, that I'm not understanding, that actually, like most people, I'm completely avoiding. Push it to one side. Don't want to know, don't want to search, don't want to look at that, don't want to hear it, don't want to see it, it's too scary. So, this is the unsexy part of the yoga practice. This is the unattractive, unsellable part, and in many ways, as I'm talking, I'm thinking about it, this will always make yoga unmarketable in many ways. And although, although a lot of plant medicine is is becoming very marketable, and people are really going for that, there is a sexiness to that. There is a speed, and that is um having been on a plant medicine retreat uh in September, that's a whole nother conversation. Incredibly transformative, well worth the while, hard as FUCK, by the way, really hard. Um, but somehow it's more marketable, more exotic, all the rest of it. The great thing about yoga is because it is you're led by a teacher, but essentially you're you are leading yourself, you're working on yourself, it requires courage, it's softer in its approach, and you go at your own pace. Things will only happen when you're ready, and that in that way it makes it absolutely perfect because nothing is forced, nothing is um overly manufactured, things unfold as they should do karmically, as they should do entirely for that individual. I feel so impassioned and emboldened because I've seen it work for me and other people, and I hate to see anything belittled when really it should be revered. So, my invitation to you after listening to this podcast is have a little look around at how yoga is marketed or portrayed in films, on TV, um, in your local area, yoga classes, advertising, aloe yoga, for example, clothing, fashion, uh, retreats. Just have a little look and form your own opinions. Have a little look and form your own opinions and see what you think. But in my mind, it's never been a more important time for us yoga teachers to step up, use our voices, and to really, really share the knowledge of this incredible science with the world in any way that we can to show its power and to show its beauty and to show the true depth. Thank you so much for listening to Full Spectrum Practice Podcast. I really hope you enjoyed this episode and perhaps it even added something to your life. If you know someone that might benefit, please share this episode with them, and of course a review would be so much appreciated. Please find all the information relating to this episode, including relevant links, in the show notes. And until next time, sending you so much love and light on your path to yoga.