Paranoid dad question

[dantenueva]

Okay. Hello. I don't do yoga, and don't know much about it, but my daughter has been interested in it for a while and her mother has signed her up for classes this summer. Now this is the thing. I have alot of friends who do yoga (women friends) who have mentioned that most women according to some, ALL women wear thongs during class because it apparently frees you up and makes you more mobile and flexible or something. I'm still very protective of my daughter (she's nine) and I don't like the idea of her wearing a thong for class, but I dont want her to feel uncomfortable and less 'zen' or whatever it is you people call it. (no insult intended)
Anyway, for the most part, my concerns are invalid because her mother has custody and will do what she wants. I've talked to her already, and she has assured me that its just normal and practical to wear thongs for class. Nothing sexual or showy or anything about it and she has no problem letting our daughter wear butt-floss, but just for yoga.
I don't know why I'm posting this on here. I guess just to get some other opinions...perhaps get a small amount of relief or assurance. She's nine...and I'm not saying yoga classes are crawling with perverts, but I've seen the stuff some people wear to yoga and I don't want anyone looking at my little girl in the wrong way. So anybody? Put an old dog out of his misery...

[A Better Me]

Let me just say that I practice yoga and have a 9 year old daughter. Although she does not practice yoga she is a recreational gymnast and I can assure you that my daughter would not ask to wear a "thong" while in gymnastics. I find the whole idea of a child wearing these types of undergarments disturbing.

I am not judging you ex-wife, however the whole point to deepening a practice as an adult is not to be aware of your surrounding. The focus is your breath, your postures and not what others are wearing. The true beauty for yoga to me is that it's not about anything other than what you are doing on your mat. People will not judge you for wearing or not wearing certain items of clothing.

I can only hope that your daughter will be able to remain a child (for which she is) as long as she is able.
Best of luck to you.

[Pandara]

Hi,

I must say I will also be paranoid if I were you, not about my daughter but about the yoga studio/class she will be attending and the teacher who allows that. If it is a mixed class with men in it, I will be beyond paranoia. Anyway, I am a yoga teacher and as such I always insist that my yogis dress appropriately, after all it is not a fashion parade but a yoga class and you don't want distractions such as scantly dressed people in your class.

I also don't think it is appropriate that young children under the age of about 14 should do yoga with adults, children need special attention and a different approach to yoga than adults. The type of topics in terms of yoga philosophy one covers in a class might also be beyond the comprehension and correct understanding of such young souls. My advice, ask your wife to perhaps find a class more sympathetic to the age of your daughter where she can enjoy the development and growth in yoga with her peers.

[Pandara]

Just want to ask: do they wear the thong underneath another pair of pants or do they actually do yoga in the thongs? If they wear the thongs without any pants over it I foresee some embassing moments in certain asanas.

[dantenueva]

Okay, correction. It's not yoga she's going to do, but something related. I think its spelled capoeira or it sounds like capawara...like a brazlian martial arts thing. I know virtually nothing about it. Do I still need to be worried?

[dantenueva]

thanks you guys for the insight. I'm a little less paranoid now. But I think I might have been a little vague. I didn't mean that women wear ONLY a thong and nothing else. I mean one under the leotards or whatever they wear. And I believe that it is a class for mostly younger people probably like 7 to 15 or something.

[Pandara]

Originally Posted by dantenueva

thanks you guys for the insight. I'm a little less paranoid now. But I think I might have been a little vague. I didn't mean that women wear ONLY a thong and nothing else. I mean one under the leotards or whatever they wear. And I believe that it is a class for mostly younger people probably like 7 to 15 or something.

Yes, I think you can relax more about it now, this sounds more acceptable.

[InnerAthlete]

The Yoga answer is as follows (the capoeira answer should come from someone who knows about Brazilian martial arts/dance).

I do not see how this is much different than a young boy wearing an athletic supporter. Of course one is for safety rather than comfort - something accutely obvious to anyone who has worn one.

There's no undergarment requisite for yoga practice except, as Pandara points out, "appropriate apparel". As a student and teacher I simply do not concern myself with the under or outer garments of the other students.

Zen is a Japanese concept associated with Buddhism. There are some concepts in Yoga that are similar but it is typically not a word associated with yoga practice unless the instructor is cross-trained or chooses to use a vernacular from another discipline.

[Bridgette]

Personally, from a female stand point, thong and yoga don't work for me. I perfer (I think the tearm is) boy shorts. I commend you for being concerned and I would actually recomend that you mearly sugest alternatives to that particular undergarment.