It's All the Rage: An Inside Look at Lindsay Istace's Yoga Practice

This article originally appeared on Yoganonymous.com.

Photo via Google Images

Back in March 2016, we let you know that Rage yoga is a new way to engage with your practice… and now we are telling you, it’s still going strong.

If you were scared the first time you heard about it, you might want to keep reading. We just came across these class details that describe what goes down during a typical class, and why this practice might be for you—even if you don't fall into the typical raging demographic.

Founder of Rage Yoga, Lindsay Istace, was just interviewed by GQ about how her version of the practice, which is taught in the back of a bar with booze and screaming sounds alike, is spreading like wildfire. 

Lindsay's practice goes against the regular yoga grain. She even refrains from speaking Sanskrit in classes. Lindsay says that "when [she] went to traditional classes it always felt weird to hear people say [Namaste, when they] don’t really know what it even means. Plus at the end of a really good yoga practice, when [she] felt like [she] let go and opened up, all [she] ever really wanted to say was ”Fuck yeah!”

This founder also shares that although she loved the yoga postures, she couldn't quite get in the groove with typical yogic traditions. "Sometimes the overly calm and serene approach actually has the opposite effect; it feels like it’s being jammed down your throat and [doesn't feel] super authentic... So Rage Yoga offers this really different access point for those who want to try yoga [but don't necessarily fit in with the yogis]."

So, is rage yoga actually filled with people seething with anger? Well—sometimes.

Lindsay encourages her class attendees to be as vocal as they need to be during their practice. She encourages them to have fun with things, be silly, and embrace the dramatic side of life: "Toward the beginning we do something [Lindsay] like[s] to call Screaming and Giving Up on Life. Everybody inhales up nice and tall, lengthens their spines, lifts their arms above their heads, and then on the exhale everybody collapses and screams their favorite obscenity all together." 

If you choose to practice this style of yoga, you can even swear at the teacher (if that's your thing). Lindsay says she "feed[s] off that shit; [and] eat[s] it for breakfast."

So do we, Lindsay. So do we.