Get a reality check with photos of yoga poses in the real world
An Australian man wants to start a yoga movement that is about the mindset and regular people, rather than goddesses standing on mountains doing insane poses in the latest designer yoga pants.
Jordan Berger, a 30-year-old yoga instructor who lives in Sydney, has created an Instagram account where he posts photographs of people doing yoga poses in everyday environments.
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"I'll be at the bar, in a grocery store, and I will see the opportunity and take it. It is kind of addictive," Berger told Mashable Australia. "You start to realise that yoga is everywhere. "
From the supermarket to the bonnet of a car, Natarajasana -- that pose yoga obsessives like to strike on a cliff edge at sunset -- has never looked so achievable.
Every post, which is shot with an iPhone, is tagged with the line: "You don't need a mat to practice yoga." Berger hopes the message will push people to explore the practice of yoga in a new way, by using cars and pool tables as a mat.
"The goal is to raise awareness about mindset, rather than yoga as just the crazy physical postures," Berger said. "It is not about the physical, it is about the mental and spiritual guidance."
He said by making yoga relatable, he hoped more people would become involved in the ancient practice and stop seeing it as an exclusive club for beautiful people in expensive activewear.
"It tends to be people wearing athletic clothing and model women. It is super hot chicks, in leggings doing various postures but with not a lot of substance or yoga mindsets," he said, referring to the hordes of Instagram accounts focussed on the glamorous yogi set.
"There are plenty [of Instagram stars] that are amazing, but I am trying to give a much more grounded view. I think a lot of people see these people and think they can’t do that — and forget about all the other components of what yoga is about."
Berger is the perfect person to be bringing a bit of real life to the yoga scene. In his other life, he works for an alcohol company. He explained that this causes a lot of confusion for people that believe the two worlds can't be interconnected.
"I am straddling these two worlds successfully, many people know me as a corporate alcohol guy who does yoga and it doesn’t make sense," he said. "A friend told me I have one foot in the bar and one foot on the mat."
He hopes his images prove once and for all that yoga is a state of mind -- not a way of life reserved for beautiful people.
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Topics Instagram
Jenni Ryall is Mashable's VP of Content Strategy. She spends her time launching cool, new things such as Mashable Deals and Mashable Reels. On the other days, she is developing strong partnerships with companies including Apple News, Flipboard, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit.
