According to one online Urban Dictionary, "hippity-dippity" is an old person's old person's euphemism for sex. Another one, and I'm not making this up, says, "A word that means 'please' but when anyone actually says this, most laugh at them." Just so we're not confused on what
today, my definition of "hippity-dippity" is radically different than the internet's. Mine is more hippity than dippity and describes a person who is open to all kinds of things—meditation, yoga, Yanni. You know, the New-Agey kinda folks. The Hippity Dippities!
As I've gotten older and
practiced more yoga, I've become increasingly interested in more non-mainstream
ideas. I've gone to a few meditation classes, heard a lama (not the animal, folks, although that would be cool, too) speak at a Buddhist center and gobbled up
Eat, Pray, Love like Elizabeth Gilbert was my long lost sister. I also became somewhat obsessed with ridding myself of ego when
Eckhart Tolle was on
Oprah darn near every week. (A friend and I even affectionately nicknamed him the "Wise Little Gnome"
whom we'd reference multiple times a day in conversations over AIM.)
I've always been interested in what some people—including my grandma—would call hogwash. It's the same thing that draws me to corny and mostly fake ghost hunting shows or books about psychics. Heck, I'll even let my massage therapist "balance my energy." It's fun!
Over the years, I've also become extremely fascinated by hippity-dippity's relationship to fitness. I mean, if there's a way to get fit AND become enlightened, sign me up! Although many yoga DVDs are not spiritual by any means, some of them very much are. I've been a long-time fan of
Rodney Yee, who seems to walk a fine line of being spiritual without being
too spiritual. Yes, he tells me to "lie in the ocean, lie in the sand" during deep relaxation, but he also says "buttock flesh" in such a way that I know he's giggling inside, too. And don't forget about my somewhat spiritual experience
surviving 105-degree temps with Erin in hot yoga.
That's when I got my hippity-dippity reality check. For me, the DVD was like an acid trip with a very pale and nimble instructor breathing loudly, bending all over the place and dancing awkwardly in combat boots.
I'm not joking. That really happens in the DVD. And I spent half the DVD staring at it like it was the circus.
Thankfully, their hatha yoga DVD,
Yoga for Beginners & Beyond,
was way more my speed (read: no combat boots), but the whole "trip" taught me an important lesson. When it comes to fitness—and just being—you are who you are. For most, working out—really digging deep and proving that you can do something—is a somewhat spiritual experience. Whether it's intense yoga, running a marathon, completing a backpacking trip or even hitting the gym consistently for a week, fitness can be very personal and sometimes spiritual.
It's great to try new things, really learn and challenge yourself, but at the end of the day, you're only as hippity-dippity as you're born to be. That's why I'm going to stick to my usual power yoga and running workouts. I may not be as hippity-dippity as I once thought, but I'm okay with that.
How hippity-dippity are you? Again, refer to my definition please. — Jenn
As I've gotten older and practiced more yoga, I've become increasingly interested in more non-mainstream ideas. I've gone to a few meditation classes, heard a lama (not the animal, folks, although that would be cool, too) speak at a Buddhist center and gobbled up Eat, Pray, Love like Elizabeth Gilbert was my long lost sister. I also became somewhat obsessed with ridding myself of ego when Eckhart Tolle was on Oprah darn near every week. (A friend and I even affectionately nicknamed him the "Wise Little Gnome" whom we'd reference multiple times a day in conversations over AIM.) I've always been interested in what some people—including my grandma—would call hogwash. It's the same thing that draws me to corny and mostly fake ghost hunting shows or books about psychics. Heck, I'll even let my massage therapist "balance my energy." It's fun!
Over the years, I've also become extremely fascinated by hippity-dippity's relationship to fitness. I mean, if there's a way to get fit AND become enlightened, sign me up! Although many yoga DVDs are not spiritual by any means, some of them very much are. I've been a long-time fan of Rodney Yee, who seems to walk a fine line of being spiritual without being too spiritual. Yes, he tells me to "lie in the ocean, lie in the sand" during deep relaxation, but he also says "buttock flesh" in such a way that I know he's giggling inside, too. And don't forget about my somewhat spiritual experience surviving 105-degree temps with Erin in hot yoga.
Thankfully, their hatha yoga DVD, Yoga for Beginners & Beyond, was way more my speed (read: no combat boots), but the whole "trip" taught me an important lesson. When it comes to fitness—and just being—you are who you are. For most, working out—really digging deep and proving that you can do something—is a somewhat spiritual experience. Whether it's intense yoga, running a marathon, completing a backpacking trip or even hitting the gym consistently for a week, fitness can be very personal and sometimes spiritual.
Photo grabbed fromlepiaf.geoon Flickr.