Why Celeb Yoga Pics Are Causing Controversy

The yoga world seems forever plagued by controversies — guru sex scandals, health scares, public-school pushback, mismanagement, Chip Wilson… Now there’s a new one to add to the list: Celebrities posting yoga-pose photos on Instagram, and whether it’s celebratory of or antithetical to the practice of yoga itself.

“Ohm No You Didn’t!” cried a New York Post take on the topic this week. It calls out celebs from Gisele Bundchen and Lea Michele to star yoga instructors Hilaria Baldwin and Tara Stiles for posting frequent photos of themselves striking Warrior and headstand poses in locales that have included city streets, mountaintops, bowling alleys, and the business-class cabin of an airplane.

“It’s all part of the trend in celebrity yoga-bitionism — more self-promotion than self-reflection — and it’s riling up yoga traditionalists everywhere,” the article notes. The story quotes Jennilyn Carson, of the New York-based blog YogaDork, who says the practice “mocks what yoga is,” as well as Kay Kay Clivio, lead teacher trainer at NYC’s Pure Yoga, who is particularly unimpressed with Baldwin and her daily photos posted to nearly 38,000 Instagram followers.

“To me, that’s more of a publicity stunt,” says Clivio. “Yoga is a practice of body meets grace. And being humble.” Worse, critics say, some of the poses — such as Baldwin’s Warrior II in front of Tiffany & Co., done in heels while carrying her infant in a front pack — could be injurious to the less-practiced who attempt to mimic them.

But James Murphy, director of Iyengar Yoga in New York City, tells Yahoo Shine, people see images of all sorts of physical feats, from gymnastics to diving. “You can get hurt stepping off a curb,” he says, adding that hopefully, if someone less experienced tries out one of the Instagrammed poses and has trouble, “they’ll find a certified teacher to help them get there.”

Baldwin (who has become increasingly famous since marrying actor Alec Baldwin in 2012) fired back against criticism on Thursday in a series of tweets. “You are allowed to have your own opinions, but mine is that spreading yoga awareness is always ok,” she notes in one. She also asks, “I know negativity & bullying sell...But what would happen if we promoted positivity instead? What would happen if we supported each other?” and adds, “True yogis don’t make harsh judgments.” Tweets from supporters included, “You have inspired me! I suck at yoga, but you make me see the humor/fun. I keep going and digging it!” and “Love her yoga pics and look forward to them!”

Stiles, who recently spent an afternoon doing yoga poses in a moving glass-walled truck in Manhattan in order to promote her new partnership with W Hotels (see image at left), was pleased with the Post story. On Instagram, she called the piece “perfect,” and said, “Thanks for giving me the last word! Rad!!” regarding her quote that she’s aiming to make yoga more “fun” and less “rigid.” That drew many supportive comments on her Instagram, along with some criticisms, such as, “I am not sure a marketing campaign with a luxury hotel chain makes yoga more accessible to anyone,” and “It is unclear to me how doing yoga poses on a bed/truck as a marketing campaign and partnership for a large luxury hotel chain makes the practice less rigid.”

Celebs, though, are not the only ones using Instagram to promote their yoga poses, as doing so has become a major go-to PR strategy for just about anyone in the biz. “Over the last two years, yoga enthusiasts have flocked to Instagram to document their perfected planks, lunges and handstands. As the movement grows at an exponential rate, so do the business opportunities,” notes a recent story in Racked. It goes on the discuss instructors from New Jersey to Arizona who have gained millions of followers, been tapped for TV shows and scored swag from yoga brands — and, possibly, inspired many to try yoga out for themselves. In that way, the trend is not all that different from the slew of “fitspiration” photos on Instagram (which have stirred their own controversies, from cries of fat-shaming to beliefs that the images glorify something unattainable).

“Unfortunately, I think that people who do yoga are people, and humans have an ego and a self-interest side, especially celebrities. If [they do this], and yoga is in and hot, they get a story,” Murphy tells Shine. But, he adds, “The definition of yoga is to ‘still the fluctuation of the mind,’ and that can come in different ways… If this stimulates someone to go and search it out, and find a teacher who’s qualified to take them in the right direction, then I think it is OK.”