TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Yoga and urban living Beyond Instagram
Celebrity yoga instructor Tara Stiles helps a participant with his pose
Change Size
Celebrity yoga instructor Tara Stiles helps a participant with his pose.(Courtesy of Womenâs Health Indonesia) (Courtesy of Womenâs Health Indonesia)
Celebrity yoga instructor Tara Stiles helps a participant with his pose.(Courtesy of Women's Health Indonesia)
One may feel intimidated being around a stunning former model who can perform all difficult yoga poses with grace. But it is a different case with Tara Stiles, an American model turned yoga instructor.
The 34-year-old Stiles shared her famed yoga routine with around a 100 yoga enthusiasts at the Sunset Yoga by the Beach event at Ancol in Jakarta last Sunday.
There were no sophisticated terms to describe every move. She playfully described the bow pose, also known as Dhanurasana, as 'sailing'.
When the participants made the plank pose and moved their weight onto their right hands, Stiles put them at their ease by telling them simply to enjoy the sunset.
She lent a hand when participants attempted handstands or lifted their feet to perform the crow pose. But there was no pressure at all to nail the poses.
With her jovial and friendly demeanor, Stiles hardly fits the cliché of a strict yoga teacher. She is more like a friend who invites you to work out together at her place.
'What's the benefit of yoga? When you feel good, right?' she asked participants. 'And everything else,' she giggled.
Stiles' laid-back approach impressed the participants, mostly avid yoga practitioners and trainers.
'The yoga was not for beginners, but she led with a relaxed approach. It was fun,' said Dyah, a yoga practitioner from Kemang, Jakarta.
When freelance writer Diani started learning yoga in the early 2000s, there was an unbreakable rule against the use of phones while in class.
She recently returned to a class after years of practicing alone at home to learn new postures that she said comforted her backbone.
To her surprise, the yoga instructor offered help to take a picture of her as she managed a difficult pose.
'The tutor asked for my phone and took the picture. Yoga is becoming less spiritual and more narcissistic, I guess,' Diani said.
The paradigm shift into new-age living that includes a healthy lifestyle, organic food and a spiritual way of thinking has led to the rise of yoga as a new trend.
Yudhi Widdyantoro, a yogi for more than 20 years, said that when he started to learn yoga at the Indian Cultural Center in 1991, fewer than 10 people attended each session.
But following the regional monetary crisis that hit the country in 1996, more people signed up.
'They were looking for an activity to heal their psychological distress from the financial meltdown, a curative measure that conventional medicine could not provide,' he said.
When Yudhi opened his own class, many of the participants were businesspeople or their family members. Most of them were there to maintain their health and relieve stress.
'Some of them are runners and they added yoga to their daily routine, especially before running events to increase their endurance and balance,' said Yudhi, an instructor at Rumah Yoga Studio, Kalyana Yoga Studio and Komunitas Yoga Gembira.
The growing trend, he said, is closely related to the urban problems people in big cities now face.
Urban people, he said, needed spiritual activity to compensate the vice and crime that results from a lack of physical development.
'Traffic is also a factor, as people refrain from going to the gym or sports center and prefer to do yoga, which doesn't need much equipment or space.'
Yudhi said high-achieving people had realized the importance of yoga, despite its lack of contribution to career success or business competition.
'They have told me they have better focus in meetings and better staying power at work [..],' he said.
'The photos posted on social media sites can be a tool to attract more people to learn yoga and to its benefit to health. I just hope that they also learn what's beyond the enthralling postures.'
Yoga trainer Anjasmara Prasetya, a celebrated actor in 1990s and has become a celebrated yoga instructor, corroborated the notion in a separate interview.
'I can understand why these people love to show off. I see it as a form of self-appreciation of their achievement. Yoga is not easy; it needs discipline and patience,' he said.
Anjas, who holds classes at home and is also a trainer at Gudang Gudang Yoga Studio in Kemang, South Jakarta, said most of his clients were women aged between 20 and 60 years old.
He was aware yoga in Indonesia, too, had become an industry.
'There was competition among yoga communities and studios, but now we have agreed to return to the basics of yoga that underline harmony, peace, happiness and love-sharing.'
As the UN last year declared June 21 as International Yoga Day, Yudhi and his colleagues at the Komunitas Yoga Gembira plan to celebrate the day at Suropati Park in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Sunday afternoon, starting at 4 p.m.
'We invite everyone to join in; this event is not only for those who already do yoga. Come with an open heart, no weapons needed. Bring your mat and leave your frown at home.'
