Comments on: The Emperor is Naked: LA v. NYC.

By: Alanna Zabel

Alanna Zabel — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 04:58:51 +0000

Hi Rebekah. There is no doubt that teachers will be a reflection of the city where they live, and LA is home of the film and TV industry. I would say that 90% of the instructors here in LA are or were actors/actresses/models. I have been part of yoga communities in NY and San Diego, and I never felt the competitive, phony energy in those cities. Yet, there is strength in overcoming one's weaknesses, and this is what makes LA so appealing at the same time. Swimming in this neck of the sea only makes me work harder at compassion and non-reactivity… Thanks for your comment….continued bliss in your teaching.

By: Rebekah

Rebekah — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:51:31 +0000

I teach in the mountains of NC and haven't experienced yoga in NY but I have been to a charity yoga event in LA. I found the place I was at and the teachers who were there to be very "look at me, look at me!!" It was a round robin teaching and the teachers who were walking around, supposed to be adjusting, were actually having conversations that had nothing to do with what was going on there and were quite loud and distracting. The way my friend I was with described it was that LA women who practice yoga are women who want to be photographed (she actually does live there). Now, granted that is my only experience of LA yoga, but it left a not so nice impression upon me.

By: Queenofcups

Queenofcups — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:24:49 +0000

As a blogger who cares about children
and influencing them you might like
this link http://www.coffeekids.org
***
Consider the source, when you are in
Maliboobs, you're not going to be able to avoid it's
culture. Since you live in LA, please VOTE tomorrow
Tues June 8th for your local assembly! Out-lawing
plastic bags ( wish that included Heidi LOL) is going on the ballot.
It is much more difficult to take action than to be
a passive observer of the uber-obvious.

Speaking of observations:
The opening of upper Westside Whole Foods
got more press than the ABT, and Eastside's Alphabet City
sprouted Old Navy's and Ikeas, so the flavah of NY
lost it's rawness for me. But I'll always love it. NY rocks.

The moral: in both cities, stick to the
creative neighborhoods with local businesses
that don't cater to the never-were's.
Do not concern yourself with what other
desperados are scanning rooms for. Coffee
houses were founded as America's hotbed
of political discourse. It's a sad statement that
they have devolved into arenas of rampant laptop
isolation.

By: Alanna Zabel

Alanna Zabel — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:27:53 +0000

You have some good points! haha – but I, personally, still feel the contrast when I travel from LA to NY and saw it as a segue into my topic of sincerity. I saw some cheesehostess dancers in the NY brewing beaneries. They radiated experiential confidence while working on their task at hand. If I saw Heidi Montag at the Malibu Cross Creek Java Jug, I assume that she would be desperately scanning the room for victims to advance her empty fame instead. I do love LA (hence why I live here) and I, too, have found great communities in this rough (westsider), but nothing beats the raw realism of NYC…
Thanks for the honesty, the humor and the referral offers….stay clear of Applebee’s.

By: Derek

Derek — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 06:51:25 +0000

Good read Alanna. Thanx – D!

By: Queenofcups

Queenofcups — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 04:17:28 +0000

Speaking from 50 years of experience in LA, rather than 14, I must ask… Why do you live here? I find the homegrown local coffee and yoga communities in the city of Angels among the most dharma/bahkti-driven in the world. The "coastal disconnect" diatribe is as old as the first nickelodeon The p.o.v in this post is as stale as corporate coffee beans.
And, having worked in NYC off and on for decades, I can assure you a healthy percentage of their employees are hyphenates too…. singer/designer/cheesehostess/pilates instructors. In addition, Bux is far from a company who engages in sustainable practices. Dig deeper than any mermaid you happen to see.

For a list of homegrown institutions, with deep roots and authentic expertise- gimme a jingle!

I heart LA. And NYC –
(its the endless expanse
of Applebee's in between
that's got ME down)

By: Carrie

Carrie — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 02:53:28 +0000

Excellent Alanna! Can't wait until your next visit to NY. And I now know why it always took so long to get a coffee in L.A…..