I was recently chatting with a local who regally drops by a nearby coffee shop. He told me how — in the summer — the yoga studio opens and there is a throng of students careening into the parking lot at the last minute to catch class. In addition to parking up all the spots, the students would often do lots of other things without (seemingly) any regard for anyone else.
It got me thinking about some of the ironies of how “yoga people” are perceived by non practitioners.
Here are some of the ways that I suspect yoga people come across:
Vain
Self obsessed (Egotistical)
Arrogant
Self Important
Smug
In a rush
Rich
Weird
Lazy
Fake
Of course these qualities are THE EXACT OPPOSITE of the way a yogi really would like to be.
Certainly we all have rough days. But, in general, I would say there is a lot of truth to these perceptions. (They are mine, after all!)
How do you think non yoga students perceive practitioners and how do you try to change the negative parts of this perception?