Fit2B, Yoga and Eastern Religion

In last week’s Mom Learns Too post, I introduced the journey I have begun to heal diastasis recti and finally get my body back after pregnancy and miscarriage. Before I began the Fit2B program, I had some questions for Bethany about the connection yoga may or may not have with Eastern religions. I was concerned about these issues for myself, since I have always associated yoga with Eastern religions and mind-emptying meditation. But I was also concerned for my readership.

Bethany reassured me in our interaction together, and directed me to some reading on the subject. After doing my homework, my questions were answered, I was satisfied with her responses, and I was ready to start the program. But the issue came up this week with a reader, so I decided I’d share here what “Mom” learned this week about yoga and Fit2B.

Yoga Moves?

First, Bethany is aware of the school of thought that condemns yoga for its roots in Hinduism. But while she admits some of her workouts do contain poses borrowed from yoga, and she acknowledges the facts of the origin of yoga, she says yoga is not her focus. Instead, she says, “I pull from many schools of movement to help my members make a healthy start…I do not practice any mind-emptying in my videos, nor do I subscribe to hinduism. The way I look at it, a move is a move is a move. Yoga happens to have actually named many movements with better terms than Western cultures. Sitting cross legged or ‘criss cross applesauce’ or ‘indian style’ or ‘potted palm’… It’s all the same position. But I like ‘Potted Palm.'”

A Move by Any Other Name

Bethany renames things too, when it suits her purposes. A move common to yoga and Pilates with a “big fancy long name,” she calls simply, a “hip hinge.” She argues that throwing out movements because they can be associated with yoga is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. “We don’t stop doing lunges because the Indus call them warrior poses. And we don’t stop doing kegels because Sanskrit calls it mula bandha (which means ‘root lock’ which is much different than a kegel and much nicer around little ears).”

She further points out that the earliest weightlifters were Celts who “were pagans in kilts tossing rocks in fields.” And throwing out yoga for its roots is equally silly.

A reader specifically asked about the music used in the workouts, and Bethany responded that she uses stock music applied after the exercises are recorded, and her only objective in choosing it was to find something that sounded relaxing to go along with the workouts.

She sums up her ideas about this with the words of a familiar song, “Every move I make I make in you! You make me move, Jesus! Every step I take I take in you!”

At the Heart of Things

Her heart for her program is to give women their bodies back after childbirth. “Birth is supposed to be a sacred, joyous time in a woman’s life, but trauma and injury during delivery can shadow a woman’s recovery and haunt her body with unnecessary hindrances. Many moms have resigned themselves to being broken, and my heart aches to share the truth of simple healing through loving movement to every woman, everywhere.”

As for me, I’m already seeing progress.

Please leave your comments below. I’d love to hear what you think about this issue, and join me in sharing what you learned this week. Your kids have been schooling, and certainly they’ve learned, but you have too. So share what “Mom Learned Too,” by linking up your post below.