I just drove from Chicago to New York last week, and it took a lot out of me. The 12hr drive left me feeling pretty run down, and a couple days after I returned I still just couldn’t get my act together. Instead of pressing ahead anyway, stressing myself out, and pushing my body when it’s clearly telling me to take a day off, I decided to take it easy, and watch the web series Namaste, Bitches.
Namaste, Bitches is a new comedy based in Los Angeles and is poised to make fun of the yoga industry of which I am part. The creator, Summer Chastant, was also part of this industry and worked as a yoga teacher from 2007 to 2013. This series really resonates with me and all the bullshit that can be involved with being a yoga teacher.
I’m the first to admit I don’t fit the mold of the stereotypical yoga teacher. I love tattoos (I’m currently working on a sleeve). I’m not super skinny. My voice isn’t sweet and flowery, and I have been known to slip some swear words into guided meditation when the spirit moves me. (“And on your exhale let allllll that negative shit go.”)
When I started watching this series, which currently consists of six five-minute episodes, I immediately felt a weight lifted. Those of us who don’t fit the stereotypical mold of a yoga teacher are often stifled and suffocated by the pressure to fit into the mold of the perfect new age yoga teacher who is obsessed with green juice and never has a bad thought.
In order to make it as a successful yoga teacher, one has to cultivate an image. There is an expectation of who a yoga teacher is or should be, and if you do not fit that mold, it can be very difficult to succeed.
Namaste, Bitches successfully highlights all that I dislike about the yoga industry: insincerity, ego, and judgment. But that’s not all it does. Ms. Chastant’s series also forces the viewer to be self-aware and ask themselves about their own attitudes and behaviours while shining a light on the fact that yoga teachers are just like everybody else: human and fallible.
Watch it at NamasteBitchesTheSeries.com.