Here Phishy Phishy

THIS RIGHT HERE is hilarious. It's a detailed, yet albeit hapazard, description as to why the band Phish completely sucks. Before any Phish fan reads this and gets upset....I don't really think that Phish sucks, but I did find this article fascinating.

For those of you that don't know about Phish fans, let me break it down for you...

This is Phish

They are a MAJOR MAJOR player in the festival scene and have been for over 30 years. 

This is their logo

And these are their fans. . .

(just a minute fraction of them)

They seem pretty happy-go-lucky right? Balloons, smiles, tye-dye galore...but holy smokes does their loyalty run deep. So deep, in fact, that when one journalist wrote an article bashing Phish for not actually being a good band, he still continues to get death-threats from these fans. These fans are CRAZY. Like wayyyyy crazier than Bieber fans or One Direction fans. These people take drugs, lots of drugs, like to get dirty and sleep on the ground (clothing optional) and LOVE them some freaking PHISH. 

I have one friend that's a die hard Phish fan and he literally cannot help himself but to talk about Phish at every chance he gets. He is going to see his 40th Phish show this year...he's 23. The point is, don't cross these peeps. Respect how much they love the band and how much the band means to them and then leave it be. Hey, maybe even turn on some Phish tunes and see what you think. 

Transformational!

Recently there has been an big emergence of "conscious" music festivals that promise ticket holders a life-altering and spiritually uplifting experience unlike any other festival. When I look at these posters I immediately think that this is the place I need to be this summer. These festivals must be the answers to all my problems because it's promises something so much more than just music and light shows.

Look at this poster for Envision festival. It looks like Mother Nature herself is inviting you to come along for the mystical ride of a lifetime. 

Rootwire, held here in Ohio for the past two years, claims itself to be a "transformational arts festival"

The thing is, these festivals ARE amazing but my boyfriend made an excellent point this week; are these people just out to make money? Any good promoter will survey the fans that are going to come out to these things and will realize that the young hippies of our generation are getting REALLY REALLY into things like yoga, permaculture, sacred geometry, and live art. Kids will pay big bucks to go somewhere that they think will change there life and uplift their spirit...even if they're just going to douse their brains with a shit ton of drugs and run around like looney-bins for four days...hey, whatever works. 

The point is, and as one elephantjournal.com blogger notes in this post , these festivals are still festivals and are not actually places of spiritual growth and healing in the raw sense. People are using drugs rampantly, drinking obscene amounts of alcohol, and staying up all hours of the night. Not to say that these things aren't cathardic and wonderful at times...but festivals are trying to broadcast themselves as being something that they might not be. 

When I was 19 I began my first yoga teacher training program. It was a rigorous, yearlong program that really opened my eyes. My program not only gave me the tools to teach a yoga class of my own, but also helped me understand the vast and expansive depth that the world of yoga holds. Contrary to popular belief, yoga is not simply something that you "do" by going to a class and working out. The more and more the Westernized versions of yoga grow in popularity, the more I feel embarrassed to tell people that I teach and practice yoga.

Yoga is much more so a spiritual practice than it is a physical practice. Yes asana (postures) is part of it but so are meditation, self-study, non-judgement, practicing ahimsa or non-violence, and so on. I'm beginning to meet so many self-proclaimed "yogis" that have simply become fans of a watered down practice that makes them feel fit and peppy. 

Like what the flip is this? 

I understand that sometimes one needs to take clothes off while exercising because one gets hot. . .but this scantily clad yogi is turning herself into an object for the male-gaze and developing a certain type of sexualized holistic look for other female fans to emulate. I mean just type in a Google search of "yoga" and all you see is hot girls. . .

This is great and all but please keep in mind that the practice of YOGA was developed for MEN! Yes, that's right! MEN! 

Can you see how different these images are? The fandom of yoga is something entirely different than the actual yogic system of beliefs. It would make me very happy if people would start understanding this fact and maybe even start paying attention to the richness of yoga and how it can deeply affect one's life. 

Nature vs. Nurture

This week I've been thinking about how our childhood preferences shape what we become fans of. I was having a conversation with my boyfriend about our different tastes in music and why that may be. One glaring factor was that his childhood was spent in the 80's . . .

and I am the product of the 90s. . . 

Since the music that he and I were surrounded with as children was so different, we now have different tastes in music. I think what's going on is that sometimes when we hear music it triggers a sense of nostalgia that makes us long for a time when our parents drove us around while our favorite pop song was blasting through the radio waves. I think some things you become a fan of is due to your environment and not simply how you were born.