Yoga mats are the American prayer rugs
I recently finished reading Patel's Life of Pi. Very good book, inspiring one could say. The narrator mentioned taking his prayer rug to pray to Allah to different places. I remember seeing men with rolled rugs loosely tied over their shoulders in Turkey and Israel. It draws no attention there, like a woman's purse here. As I thought of it, rolled yoga mats are rather common in this area, in purples and pinks and greens. Then it came to me. Yoga mats are the American prayer rug.
Muslims consider praying an obligation to God, so they have prayer rugs with them when the need arises to praise god and listen to god any day of the week. So too do women around here carry their yoga mats for classes available every day of the week. You see them everywhere, well, everywhere where white women with at least one college degree are a heavy presence. Well, heavy in numbers, not in girth, as most of the women with the mats tend to be thin. And that's part of the point of it.
Both the men with their prayer rugs and women with their yoga mats are expressing their identity with what they carry. The men, as a man of faith and not afraid of practicing it, no matter the difficulty. The women, as a woman with a skinny body and not intent on losing it, no matter the difficulty. Both have masters to lead them when together, the bearded iman in resplendent robes and the thin instructor in sexy yoga tights, all cotton. Both have their eyes on the future--a place in heaven doted upon by virgins, a knockout body at 40.
Modern Islam and yoga are traditions that convey an ageless dignity upon their practice. Yoga has a slightly mystical flair coming from India where anything can be made spiritual--I'm waiting for the mystic call center, providing a mantra along with help with your cell phone bill. Yoga is sometimes taught in the same rooms as meditation classes, so there is a quasi-religious aspect to it, perfect for the searcher who wants a religious experience with something in it for them. And there are not many ugly yoga instructors, so the aspiring can see their goal in the form of their teacher.
The rug and mat are gender exclusive. You never see a woman carrying a prayer rug, as the tradition for them is to be at home and to pray at home. You never see a man carrying a yoga mat, as the tradition for them is to go to the gym and attend their bodies there. Both are signs of the same thing, the denial of death and decay for an afterlife and a toned stomach. Both platforms transport their occupants to the place they would rather be.
Muslims consider praying an obligation to God, so they have prayer rugs with them when the need arises to praise god and listen to god any day of the week. So too do women around here carry their yoga mats for classes available every day of the week. You see them everywhere, well, everywhere where white women with at least one college degree are a heavy presence. Well, heavy in numbers, not in girth, as most of the women with the mats tend to be thin. And that's part of the point of it.
Both the men with their prayer rugs and women with their yoga mats are expressing their identity with what they carry. The men, as a man of faith and not afraid of practicing it, no matter the difficulty. The women, as a woman with a skinny body and not intent on losing it, no matter the difficulty. Both have masters to lead them when together, the bearded iman in resplendent robes and the thin instructor in sexy yoga tights, all cotton. Both have their eyes on the future--a place in heaven doted upon by virgins, a knockout body at 40.
Modern Islam and yoga are traditions that convey an ageless dignity upon their practice. Yoga has a slightly mystical flair coming from India where anything can be made spiritual--I'm waiting for the mystic call center, providing a mantra along with help with your cell phone bill. Yoga is sometimes taught in the same rooms as meditation classes, so there is a quasi-religious aspect to it, perfect for the searcher who wants a religious experience with something in it for them. And there are not many ugly yoga instructors, so the aspiring can see their goal in the form of their teacher.
The rug and mat are gender exclusive. You never see a woman carrying a prayer rug, as the tradition for them is to be at home and to pray at home. You never see a man carrying a yoga mat, as the tradition for them is to go to the gym and attend their bodies there. Both are signs of the same thing, the denial of death and decay for an afterlife and a toned stomach. Both platforms transport their occupants to the place they would rather be.
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