Parrots

I went to a yin class yesterday. It was a lovely class taught by a lovely teacher who, truth be told, I'd previously avoided for no reason other than the fact that her boyfriend is a yoga teacher whose style really isn't my cup of tea. I realize that this makes absolutely no sense, however, it was my princessy prerogative, so that's that. Anywhoosle, there came a point in said lovely class where the teacher told us "under no circumstance should you turn your head while in this pose because you will damage your neck."

In typical rebel fashion, I proceeded to turn my head in not one, but BOTH directions. Repeatedly. Because that is how I roll in yoga. I am literally the worst.student.ever.

But here's the thing. Not only did I not hurt my neck, it felt GOOD to move my head a few times to release the yogi fireworks, the snaps, crackles and pops, before settling in. However, in wanting to give the teacher the benefit of the doubt, I did ask her after class to please explain to me why I should not move my head in that particular pose. OK, I confess, I already knew that there was not an actual scientific reason, but it fascinates me when teachers simply repeat what they have been told without ever considering its veracity. After some discussion, her answer could easily be summed up with "I am not sure" and "because my teacher said so."

Now I am aware that there are things my teacher says that I say, too. However, they don't tend to be made up things about anatomy and poses and what we are and are not capable of doing because, of course, the truth is, each one of us is different. What my body can do, yours may or may not be able to do, and vice versa... and that's what's so ridiculously cool about all of this stuff.

There are many "parrot" things teachers say... like "for the love of god, make sure your knees don't go past your toes!!!". Really? OK, next time you walk down the stairs, make sure your knees don't go out over your toes because obviously knees over toes = very serious injury (#goodluckwiththat). And as long as you're at it, take a moment to peek into a Zumba class and watch what's going on in there... it's a miracle they don't have paramedics on stand by for all those knee-over-toe offenders. Also, I once checked with my orthopedic surgeon and she told me she has not one time EVER done a knee repair from a tree pose gone bad... so we're probably safe in that one, too.

Tongue in cheek sass aside, it isn't just yoga teachers who parrot things they have heard without ever stopping to consider its accuracy. With all of human knowledge in the palms of our hands these days, we often believe anything and everything that pops up first in our google searches.

I'd like to think we are smarter than this. It is our responsibility to be better informed, to disseminate truthful information, to fact check, and to fully understand the ideas we share... whether it's about our bodies, our minds, our political views, our relationships, simply parroting something we hear as though it is an absolute is a dangerous proposition... because those who trust us will hang on our words, and repeat them time and again... and those who trust them will follow suit. And so on, and so on, and so on.

I'm all for passionate discourse, teaching, debating, sharing... but simply parroting what we've heard is part of the problem... let's be part of the solution.