Clip of the Day 8/16/2021
Hello friends! I’ve been traveling the past couple of weeks, hence the delay in releasing another long post. In the meantime, I thought it would be a good idea to start a new series titled “Clip of the Day,” where I share some of my favorite newspaper clippings with minimal commentary. Here’s a clip to kick us off, published in the South Bend News-Times in 1921:
“Society on Its Head: Strenuous and Very Undignified ‘Topsy-Turvy’ Exercises Whereby, It is Said, Perfection of Poise and Form is Attained by Those Who Have Dared to Do Stunts Like These”
“‘Many persons’ said Mr. Alviene, ‘do not realize just what all this means. They seem to think that because such activity comes from the Orient that it must be highly involved and very mystic. This is not at all. There is nothing mystic about it. It is simply as straightforward method of bringing every muscle in the body into play and so strengthening them that the minimum of strength expended in the ordinary exertions of life.’”
“The Serpentine— in Which the Body is Moved Along the Floor and the Waist Up, Then Up, Over and Down. It Militates Against a Large waist and Heavy Hips”
it's interesting to me that Mr. alviene's quote shows that from yoga's beginning in this country there was that push to portray yoga as simply a stretching practice. nothing mystical at all about it :)