YOU’RE NOT “BETTERING YOURSELF”

I hear this all the time — that it’s great to see people of all sizes exercising because they’re bettering themselves. And while yoga is so much more than a physical pursuit, it often gets lumped into this.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: that notion is garbage.

Physical activity, yoga included, can improve things about your health and life. But the concept of “bettering yourself” takes on a moralizing tone, which is unacceptable.

Exercise in nonmoral. It does not make you a better or worse person. To paraphrase Ragen Chastain, running a marathon and watching a Netflix marathon are morally equal activities.

We live in a neoliberal society where healthism is rampant, and being in “good health” (which is different for everyone, and not always even attainable) is seen as a moral imperative. This means we (general we) have created a hierarchy for behaviors. Anything that can contribute to health, like exercising or eating certain foods, is assigned moral superiority over other activities. A person’s needs, abilities, and desires don’t matter here, what is important is performing health for everyone around you.

But guess what — you don’t owe fitness or health to anyone. You aren’t better or worse based on whether you do yoga and eat salads or watch TV and eat cookies.

​What makes you a better or worse person is how you treat those around you. If you’re kind to other people, the environment, children, animals, and so forth, you’re a good person. If you aren’t, that is what to work on to better yourself, not how many hours you spend at the gym.