Rage Yoga uses screaming, swearing on path to better health

This story was originally published Feb. 29.

You won't hear"namaste" even once prepare yourself for an assortment of words that are a little morecolourful.

Instead of a sun-filled studio,LindsayIstace'sRage Yogaclasses areheld ina curtainedcorner of Dickens Pub a dimly-litbasement haunt in downtown Calgary.

The serene sounds of new age music that might permeatea conventional yoga class arereplaced by pounding heavy metal.

Calgary Eyeopener5:10"Rage Yoga" classes in Calgary

The CBC's Chris dela Torre meets a Calgary woman who is teaching "Rage Yoga" classes in a downtown Calgary pub.

But perhaps Rage Yoga's most distinctive feature is the addition of screamed swear words and offensivegestures like the middle finger as a way to release stress and add a sense of humour to age-old yoga poses.

"I'm a very loud, colourful personality," saidIstace, who has been leading the classes on Monday and Wednesday nights since January.

"I wanted to create a practice that I felt comfortable in, and I knew I wasn't alone."

• MORE YOGA NEWS |Bunny yoga organizers hope to find homes for abandoned bunnies
• MORE YOGA NEWS |Blind Saskatoon yoga instructor looking to regain sight through stem cell treatment

Unconventional techniques

Istace, who is also a trained contortionist and fire eater, says Rage Yoga is not a new yoga discipline, but bringsa more casual attitude to an existing form of the popular health practice.

According to the Rage Yogawebsite, the movements are based onVinyasa yoga, but performed at a slower pace.

"When I started going to yoga classes, I felt like I didn't really fit in at a lot of those different studios,"Istace says.

"(There's a) very deadpan, serious, overly serene approach to things. And that's just not how I roll."

Rage Yoga created duringpainful breakup

Istacesays she developed Rage Yoga while dealing with apainful breakup. According to her website, combining swearing and screaming with her yoga practice helped her overcome addiction and anger issues.

"When you create a space for yourself to be angry and to shout and swear and scream, suddenly it's hard to take yourself so seriously.

"So it goes from anger to laughter pretty quickly. And we have a lot of that going on here."

Colleen Trumble, a Rage Yoga regular, tends to agree.

"I find the atmosphere of the class is a lot more easygoing.If you fall over or wobble, you can just sort of laugh through it. You don't really feel like you're disturbing some sort of 'tranquility' of the class," she says.

"WithLindsay'sclasses, the poses are a lot easier to get into, and I can feel like I can accomplish something."

Some yoga teachers don't think it's 'real yoga'

Istacetypically sees between fiveand 12 participants per class, and says feedback has been largely positive.

But she admits it's not for everyone.

"Some yoga teachers don't exactly like the approach,"she says with a laugh.

"They don't really think that it's real yoga, that swearing and drinking beer makes it illegitimate.And that's fine. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. Different things work for different people and not everyone has to be on board."

Istace hopes to one day incorporate her practice into tours at various breweries across Canada.