I’ve got my pleather yoga strap in hand and you better believe I’m going there. While the more apropos term is “BDSM,” I feel like S&M still holds a certain delicious dirtiness. It’s best you agree, considering I’m the one holding the whip. (too much too soon? heh. didn’t think so. you love it, dirty bird!)

Let’s get two things out of the way before we begin: 1) Yoga can be like S&M if you are a type-a pusher or tango with these tendencies, so don’t get all feisty with me if you have a sweet, honest practice that reads more Disney than The Brothers Grimm. 2) Our safe word is “ahimsa.”

5 Ways Yoga is Like S&M:

1. Bondage – Yoga straps, bound baddha konasana, and strangling sports bras (why are they ALL like this?!). And teachers always seem suspiciously giddy to “help” you bind yourself up or get you a strap. Hmmm…
2. Sadism – We’ve all had a teacher like this. You know who you are and you are way too jolly when you gleefully exclaim, “We’re doing to do a LOT of core work today!” Your cheery little face masks a devious, blackened, sadistic heart.
3. (Erotic) Asphyxiation – Let’s come clean. We do this to ourselves. When things get particularly gritty in class or the nemesis pose rears its challenging head, we hold our breath. And hold. And forget we’re holding. And hold some more.
4. Masochism – Whether it’s mental (self-talk such as, “No Child’s Pose for you, pansy-ass sassafrass!”) or physical (toes dig into your mat, teeth gritted, sweat beads upon your brow, pose held for dear life), we do it again and again. Because we are pushers and punishers. We see no edge, no borders, no boundaries.
5. Deviants – The more vanilla and mainstream yoga goes, the more underground the yogasphere goes. We keep our words and our practice real. We are deviant because we deviate. By choice. We follow our own rules. I don’t know about you, but that gets me hot and bothered.

To my fellow pushers, I send you blissful ease and a dose of straightforward sensualism. To my fellow yogic deviants, crack the whip!

With tough love from atop my custom-studded Manduka Black. xo + smack!

photo credit: time.com

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