chrysler’s doing yoga now?
kim on 2:15 pm January 27th, 2008 / 7 Comments »
So I was talking to a friend and yoga student the other day, and he mentioned yoga journal‘s latest issue, which of course includes many pages of earnest yogis doing great poses. my friend mentioned a few particular pages that dismayed him because the poses were not part of a normal editorial section. these poses were paid for by chrysler.
this car-sponsored spread of yoga poses teaches us something about poses, to be sure, but to my friend’s point in a letter he wrote to the editors of this fast-changing magazine, it may teach us more about the necessity of something else: a dialog between the people who consider themselves students (surely we’re more than “enthusiasts?”) of this deeply internal practice, and the western media channeling millions of dollars to advertise its benefits.
what do you think? go buy a yoga journal and give aimmedia.com, its owner, more money and attention, so that we can talk sincerely about whether it’s ok for yoga journal to take money from a huge car company when it didn’t need to. to be sure, wholefoods and vegetarian times are two great entities benefiting from yoga journal‘s rise, so a rising tide lifts all ships? or all cars?
january 22
Dear [yoga journal] Editors,
I just bought the February 2008 issue of Yoga Journal — my first in a while. I was really looking forward to reading it. But picking up the magazine and opening it was like bumping into a friend one hasn’t seen in a long time and having your breath taken away by how far along their cancer is — your magazine is simply being overrun, inch by inch, with ever more inappropriate advertising.
I’m sure you get lots of letters like mine, and have many answers to my objection — where do you draw the line; it’s all in the name of getting the good word out about yoga; and so on. I’m sure it’s very easy to dismiss letters like mine, and very hard to turn down Chrysler.
But please, somewhere in the back of your minds, at least register that one reader has given up on you. I know we’re all caught up in the ugly contradictions of capitalism; I know none of our hands is clean. Still, even so, when I see that your editorial staff has decided to produce an “article” in the YJ house style that is actually an ad for automobiles — automobiles! — I’m unable to read the rest of the magazine. I hope your hard-working writers will
accept my apologies.Yours,
On February 4th, 2008 at 7:08 pm Jambo Said:
Is anyone that late to the yoga party that they didn’t realize that Yoga Journal ate itself quite awhile ago? “…ugly contradictions of capitalism…” seems inherent in any yoga studio in the DC area.
On February 5th, 2008 at 1:15 pm kim Said:
jambo, thanks for your comment. i want to hear more about the contradictions.
On February 5th, 2008 at 1:28 pm Chris Said:
Is it worthwhile to comment on the contradictions of capitalism only if you’re first to the party? I think those ugly contradictions are so manifold that just taking a deep breath and objecting aloud is a sign that you haven’t become too cynical to say anything at all, not a sign that you just discovered capitalism that morning.
On February 5th, 2008 at 2:58 pm Alix Said:
Particularly a shame because Chrysler has hardly been an innovator in producing more fuel efficient/ longer lasting vehicles, like Toyota and Honda. That it was an ‘advertorial’ instead of a regular ad is also worth noting.
On February 8th, 2008 at 11:40 am Leigh Ann Said:
To add to the advertising discussion, i noticed in my new yoga journal an advertisement for HV Hoodia the dietary supplement that ‘keeps celebrities slim’.
On May 29th, 2008 at 12:45 pm jesse mentken Said:
Capitalism is based on ownership. It is based on every tree, ocean, lake, mountain being owned and controlled by certain people who have considerable money.
Not too long ago US capitalists actually owned other human beings who had darker skin. And because these people were owned then they could be killed, tortured and repeatedly dehumanized.
You can not claim to be dedicated to spiritual principles and support such a system. Not possible.
I feel rage and contempt for many so called yogis. This is not fair to them and it is just an indication of my pain but I do feel it.
Do people need to remind folks that their wealth and their white middle class lives are spiritual issues? Do people need to spell out the fact that you can not tolerate racism and greed and poverty and also think that ninety minutes on a yoga mat is adequate?
If you see a flier that says “Learn How To Be Generous…Come To A Weekend Workshop in Malibu…Price $1000″ is there anybody that does not feel disgust at that?
Yoga Journal deserves more then just a letter here and there. I have written to them. So have others. Somehow there needs to be some collective organizing done to get them to finally really grasp how fundamentally cruel and inhumane their publication has become.
And yes it is that bad. It is a racist magazine put out to re-enforce the comfort for wealthy white people. This may sound harsh but I challenge anybody to actually prove me wrong.
One prays and breathes, bends and moves to come home to their self and their soul and their heart.
And then one acts. Then one acts in the big broken messy loud world. And you keep on acting and speaking out and feeling all of the terror and loss and hatred that is all over the place and then you go back to your savasana and tadasana and notice that you are stil there…still alive..still inhale and exhale and loved.
Yoga is a path to revolution. I don’t give a damn if this sounds harsh. The truth is often hard. That is why it can set us free.
On March 2nd, 2010 at 10:23 pm Watch Shrek Free Online Said:
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