"Can You Play Without the Magic Shorts?"

The studio in Pennsylvania where I first came into contact with Iyengar yoga had certain fashion preference: most of the students who came regularly wore a certain kind of short bloomers which we all affectionately called, “the silly yoga shorts.” I remember the day, after about six months of taking classes there, when the group’s shorts order had come in the mail and I finally got to come to class sporting my very own silly yoga shorts. I was in; I belonged; I was one of the cool kids.

Now, these shorts were popular for very good reasons. They were designed and functionally well-suited for the practice of Iyengar yoga. But they also served as status symbol, albeit a very group-specific one (to the best of my knowledge, the general populous is still more keen on iPhones & Porches than on short knit bloomers). It took moving half way across the country to realize that the value I’d placed on my silly yoga shorts was largely social; back in Michigan, I was almost shocked at how few people at various studios seemed inclined to wear the magic shorts! Apparently they knew what I learned: the real value of the shorts was in their functionality.

Here’s why they worked. It’s also why any sort of clothing that meets the following criteria is suitable yoga attire:

1. They were comfortable, flexible, and easy to move in.

2. They were neither too tight, restricting movement, nor too baggy, so that one’s limbs got caught in excess fabric.

3. They left the skin of the legs free, which is very helpful in certain poses like vrksasana, tree pose.

4. They were modest. They covered what needed to be covered without slipping around.

5. They left the knees visible. A yoga teacher gets more information than you can imagine by being able to see your kneecaps! (But a pair of leggings or shorts that come just above the knee accomplish this as well.)

What I had called my yoga shorts, because of the prideful value I’d placed on them, were really my bhoga shorts. Bhoga yoga is, in BKS Iyengar’s words, “yoga exclusively for pleasure.”  He writes in his book, Light on Life, “It is an obsession in our modern society to focus on appearance, presentation, and packaging. We do not ask ourselves, ‘How am I really?’ but ‘How do I look, how do others see me?’ It is not a question of, ‘What am I saying?’ but ‘How do I sound?’”

It is human to crave acceptance, affirmation, and a sense of belonging. But often we seek it by creating barriers that puff up our sense of self at the expense of others, like in those early days of sporting my shorts when I secretly felt just a little superior to the new student wearing regular shorts. The same thing can happen in class when we compare not only our clothes but our poses to our neighbours’, for better or for worse. “But,” Mr. Iyengar admonishes us, “when yoga is only outward facing, exhibitative, and self-gratifying, it is not yoga at all. Such an attitude will deface and deform even the character you started out with. In class when pride rises, or its complement, insecurity, as you look around at others, recognize it for what it is and send it on its way.”

I once saw a play in which two characters were preparing for a game of tennis and one had on a ridiculous 1980s tennis costume. The other character wryly asked him, “Can you play without the magic shorts?” In yoga, the answer is absolutely, yes!

Kirsten Brooks is a Teacher in Training at The Yoga Space in Ann Arbor. Each week one of the teachers at the Yoga Space shares her thoughts and experiences in this blog. The Yoga Space is a studio just east of Dexter serving Saline, Chelsea, Manchester and Ann Arbor.  We have been helping people with their flexibility, strength, focus and stress management for over 14 years.  Fall 2 Classes run Oct 28 - Dec 21 with special On the Mat benefit classes the week of Thanksgiving. We offer a free class the last Friday of each month from 6-7 pm. 180 Little Lake Dr #1 Ann Arbor, MI, 48103. www.yogaspaceannarbor.com 734-622-9600