Yoga and Fashion..is there any relation??

Yoga and Fashion: Common Ground?

A recent article by yoga instructor and fashionista Meghan Blalock sets out to establish the “shared truths of fashion and yoga.” She argues that “contrary to appearances, the two enterprises share a core truth: they are vehicles by which one can both discover one’s core self and endlessly re-shape one’s identity.” Blalock then describes preparing to take a 5:30am hot yoga class during her teacher training, for which she found the most crucial aspect of preparation not adequate sleep, sustenance, or hydration, but finding the “perfect outfit;” something that “helped [her] feel fierce, strong, nearly invincible.”

She continues, “fashion has always been that for me: something close to armor, a way to assert myself in the world with strength, present the image I want to present to the world, and endow myself with the traits I aspire to.” But is this yoga? In defining the discipline of yoga, Patanjali’s second Yoga Sutra states that yoga is the cessation of mental activity. This refers to a state of union in which differences between subject/object, mental activity/cessation, and spiritual/mundane life dissolve. Because attachment and over-identification are believed to foster suffering, the eight limbs of yoga evolved to foster non-attachment to the material realm. Yoga sloughs away the artifice of our attachments to facilitate greater integrity, authenticity, and transcendence.

Fashion asserts difference, whether differentiating class, subculture, or level of cool. Yoga conversely yokes together the seemingly disparate aspects of the self—with a resulting sense of wholeness and fullness. Where fashion depends on constant change, innovation, and novelty, the gradual melting of layers for a yogi is vastly deeper and more enduring, unveiling the authentic self which transcends ego and its attachments/aversions. Of course, yoga and meditation traditions recognize that the universe is in a constant state of flux. Thoughts, emotions, and external environments are constantly changing (just like fashion). While yoga teaches us to embrace this change, the skills it endows for doing so allow us to understand that any sensation, thought, or desire will pass if we simply contemplate it long enough.

Yoga and meditation thus provide us with the fortitude and insight to act intentionally and consciously. If Lulu makes your heart sing and you love decking yourself out in the latest trends (full disclosure: I love yoga clothes!), then a yogic perspective might encourage you to explore these preferences and the impact your choices have on your mental and social environments. Fashion certainly has the capacity to afford greater integrity with ourselves and the planet. Yet consumerism presents a host of distractions that ancient (and often nude) ascetic yogis lacked, and fashion’s hedonic treadmill has the potential to take us further from our deepest selves.

What do you think about yoga’s relationship to fashion? Do they share similarities? Differences?

source : http://www.yogabasics.com/