Anything smacking of new age narcissism deserves to be savaged. This endless discovery of oneself which logically leads a person to be prideful about being both spiritual and about their spiritual development while not worrying about the needs of others creates selfish people. Ron Rosenbaum over at Slate.com gets this, and has written a very good article about how plenty of folks who do yoga also are into new age narcissism. My favorite quote, regarding a cringe-worthy recounting by Rosenbaum about an article that appeared in a recent yoga magazine, is:
"The final step in the great journey of self-understanding the Yoga Journal editors have force-marched her on is realizing it's all about her "relationship with herself." Whitney Houston yoga: I found the greatest love of all—Me! It's the return of New Age Me-generation narcissism. And there's nothing worse than narcissism posing as humility."
Check out the article HERE
5 comments:
I saw this article when it first went up at Slate, and I laughed heartily for quite some time, because Yoga Journal-- as well as Organic Style, Mother Jones, Vegetarian Times and the Utne Reader-- was a competitor of the magazine where I worked for several years.
It felt good to see an old foe called out on their pretentious behavior.
i couldn't disagree more with the article and assessments in terms of the black and white implied. i practice yoga and do so regularly.
and if anything, just being more relaxed and fit helps me relate to others, to be rested and to give to others.
everything in moderation i guess?
-jm
just to clarify: i don't mean that i missed the point that yoga in general isn't necessarily bad. :)
i just meant that the sensitivity to self is sometimes emphasized greatly to counter balance the utilitarian nature of so much of corporate america (at least for a lot of peeps, myself included).
there's nothing wrong with finding closure in relationships, seeking out a half hour a day to process the day/night or a candel-lit scented bath. especially for the "super women" who usually try to do too much and neglect themselves.
you can't do much good in soup kitchens, community centers or even your family if you feel like you're walking around with the shit kicked out of you all the time. :)
to join the slate club of bitter discontent: that was obviously a MAN writing that article. :)
There's nothing wrong in doing some yoga to relax and take time out to think. And self-understanding is a good thing to seek after. However, with so much of the New Age stuff it isn't so much self-understanding that is taught as self-aggrandizement. A proper view of oneself will reveal strengths a person has and plenty of weaknesses. Particularly with regard to dealing with other people, and that is where the woman in the Yoga Journal article really was narcissistic. If she desired to apologize, then apologize. The woman, by her own admission, hurt the guy earlier in life. So now she basically asks him to do something for her--give forgiveness. "I need absolution--give it to me." Rather than simply apologizing and leaving it open to him to respond, which would have respected his autonomy. Self-understanding should lead a person to increased virtue, kindness and ability to love others. Too often it stops in popular culture at understanding "what I need."
gotcha.
:)
i subscribe to yoga journal and enjoy most of the articles. i don't do too much with the ones likened to the attacked one (i tend to go for the pose explanations, nutrition, anatomy and workouts), but some of those inner-life ones have been pretty neat.
i guess i just get tired of the smug treatment of things that are holistic in nature. i think, whether i sound new age or not, that we'd do well as a socity to be more balanced.
the general american lifestyle is very masculine, linear and pragmatic; and some of the touchy-feely, deeply personal, feminine and (self/other) nurturing voices should be heard more, imho. we all need each other.
in all fairness, though, i agree that it is a shame to have to commodify everything. i guess that's what he meant by the swanky magazine blurbs targetting weight-loss and easy fixes.
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