The Rise of Tight Butt Spirituality

Yoga and the Inexorable Rise of Tight Butt Spirituality

by Nick Seneca Jankel

How many come out of a yoga studio feeling the bliss of post-asana high… only to encounter a bum and feel a touch of irritation as they reach for their cellphone or car keys? This is just one everyday symptom, of many, of the meteoric rise of tight butt spirituality.

It’s estimated that over 20 million people do yoga in the US; and they spend a whopping $27 billion annually on yoga products. Yet how many have read Patanjali’s The Yoga Sutras; the Bhagavad Gita (so good that Gandhi called it his ‘handbook to life’, inspiring me to write a contemporary version of it as we speak); or know yoga means to ‘yoke together’ or ‘union’. Instead, brands have made physical yoga a lifestyle choice for those who want rock-hard buns with a smattering of feel-good spirituality… as long it doesn’t inconvenience political choices, consumer spending or career paths. This lifestyle – tight butt spirituality – offers an easy flash of spirit without demanding we deal with our darkside and that of the culture we live within.

I am no purist or ascetic; and live very much in this world. I love design, fine wines and the occasional all-night party. Yet I beseech the yoga community to move beyond saccharine (or stevia) platitudes and mass-produced Buddha heads, beyond simple tight butt spirituality, and unleash the self- and world-changing power of their practice. Unless people move beyond yoga as a tool for a sexy ass – and mindfulness as a way of getting more work done – the true power of these wisdom practices will be lost. Instead, they will be used to further deepen the crises of disconnection-driven capitalism, whether eating disorders and prescription pill addiction… or climate change and child poverty.

Yes physical yoga can give you a tight ass, contoured abs and positive vibrations. It can also be a great ‘gateway drug’ to deeper levels of self-awareness and awakening. But if it is relegated to a pseudo-spiritual exercise regime – spinning with a lotus blossom – it can fuel ego-driven habits; becoming an addictive prop, an escape zone from reality and way to prove athletic prowess with ever-harder asanas. The wily ego is tricky and can hijack our best intentions, especially when aided by an industry that wants to sell more yoga pants.