The Luxury of Yoga

Many people can have access to hobbies like football, jogging or drawing painlessly. However, if you find yourself practicing the asana in a yoga studio, then you are very likely to be in a high social class. Yoga is an expensive practice. Most yoga classes take place in prestigious clubs and hotels and the fees for the class are pretty high. I have never been aware about the wealth factor in practicing yoga until I studied sociology and enrolled in a yoga workshop in the Yama Yoga Studio at the European Club led by the International Yoga Instructor John Scott.




The cost for the workshop was QR 1325 and it lasted for the entire weekend; starting from Thursday night, Friday’s and Saturday’s morning and afternoon. So we practiced in total 10 hours of yoga. The 80 participants who attended the workshop project an indicator that they have the money and the time to engage in such elite activities. It is impossible to see people from the working class in the studio because they can’t satisfy their basic needs and don’t have enough leisure time as they are usually exploited by their bosses. Apart from the money and time required to do yoga, the participants were elegantly dressed up in the most costly active wear brands such as Lululemon and Hugger-mugger. That even adds more to the constraints in pursuing your practice to its full potential.









But in this particular workshop, the status value of yoga has risen to an extremely prestigious level. As I mentioned earlier the workshop was led by John Scott. The owner of this studio Valerie Jeremijenko who is also the dean of student affairs in Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar had exerted considerable effort to invite such influential guru over for a workshop. There are many reasons why this man had the power to unite 80 practitioners from different backgrounds over the weekend. A) Speaking of his age, gender and race; he is a 54-year old white man from New Zealand. B) About his education, he has a bachelor degree of Applied Science in Industrial Design. And he has been a dedicated yoga student since 1987 and a direct student of Shri K Pattabhi Jois since 1989, who certified John to teach Ashtanga yoga since 1993. C) Regarding his spectacular achievements, John taught many national and international workshops. He has written the book “Ashtanga Yoga”- the essential step-by-step guide to dynamic yoga and also he produced a DVD of the “Ashtanga yoga primary series”. And to further bling his profile, John had taught Madonna and Sting.





All of these privileged ascribed and impressive achieved statuses have given him great self-esteem. Since when he first entered the studio cramped up with new faces in a country he has never been to, he did not show any sign of nervousness. He just walked pass by smiling to all of the participants and then settled in the middle of the studio and started chanting to greet us. His superior reputation clearly illustrates his confident and relaxed attitude. Prior the start of every session of the workshop, Valerie drizzled generous drops of the pricey high therapeutic grade Young Living essential oils in the diffuser to enhance our motivation to go beyond the practice. Notice so far, the people, the funds, the gear and the props the yoga community needs to conduct the wholesome process of yoga. It is definitely a practice for the people at the top of the social class hierarchy.







One may think that yoga is an extremely extravagant discipline. However behind all of these lavish investments, is a practice that can immensely improve your overall physical, mindful and spiritual well-being. For instance during the workshop, John had challenged us physically in the versatile sequences and postures of Ashtanga yoga which developed our flexibility, strength and balance. And for the mindful side of the practice, we worked on various meditation techniques to connect us to the present and overthrow the conditioned mind that cause us to continue repeating our old patterns, habits and addictions. Finally, for the spiritual aspect of the practice, John had dived into the limitless philosophy of yoga. In brief, John preached about the importance of having “Subject specific notes”, which means in situations like having a conversation with a friend or listening to a lecture at school, we should control our mind in allowing it to have thoughts, questions related to the current setting rather than thinking of irrelevant things like the game you want to watch tonight or the outfit you want to wear tomorrow. This subject-specific note mindset can tremendously improve the quality of our lives. He also emphasized on the power of group unity in a way that this workshop have brought together people from various cultural, religious, educational origins to a common purpose which was counting, moving, breathing and sweating together to construct a pathway for a profound sense of well-being. If people can apply this philosophy on a global scale, there is no doubt that the world can become a better place.




John, Valerie and I posing after the end of the workshop