This reflective blogpost .. written after in-depthdiscussion with Platinum yoga salesman.

— I once said that “a dependency is unhealthy if costly or non-dependable”.

Well, in many places commercial yoga would be unavailable (not dependable).

As I told Platinum salesman, U.S. and Philippines both offer cheaper classes. Even there, price is still a luxury, unsustainable. What if one day I move to a location without classes, or what if I can no longer afford? Admittedly, the current cost is some small percentage of my income, but I stand resolute against that view. I aim to save 70% to 80% of my income so this cost is a big chunk of my disposable income, something like $100/M.

A secondary factor is the tcost. I have to pick the session, commute, arrive in advance, wind down. Total tcost was about 3 hours in Bayonne. Even at 2H/session, it’s very hard to maintain 2 sessions/week for months.

— self practice .. For a sustainable practice, I must rely on myself.

The Platinum salesman had a valid argument that my self-practice is far from enough, so I told him “Climbing one flight of stairs 5 times a week, or even one squat 7 times a week consistently … is also far from enough but challenging and beneficial for some.”

It’s harmful and counterproductive to be fixated on an unrealistic target. As long as I fail to practice enough hours of weekly yoga, the commercial trainers would always say “You need to practice more”.

In reality, 99% of guys in my age group won’t do 3 sessions a week (not even once/month), so these centers are basically implying that “Most of you need to pay someone to help you achieve what you should (but can’t) achieve by yourself.” Harmful propaganda, similar to the brainwash by tuition center or weight-loss supplements.