From Dance to Iyengar: Sivan Goldhirsh on Finding Her Perfect Yoga Short

December 31, 2024

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From Dance to Iyengar: Sivan Goldhirsh on Finding Her Perfect Yoga Short

What is in a short?
Why do Iyengar Yogis love this “Pune style” short so much, and why in particular are Malaika Padma yoga shorts so popular?
These are the questions that prompted this blog post. I’ll get to answering those
questions, according to my opinion, but first a bit about me and my yoga short history.
My name is Sivan Goldhirsh; I’m a long time Iyengar Yoga practitioner, and a certified Iyengar Yoga instructor since 2017. I say a long-time practitioner because my first exposure to yoga was in 1996, in an Iyengar Yoga Fundamentals of Yoga 12-week course in Baltimore, MD. At the time I was a sweet young thing of 19 years old, a serious ballet dancer and university student, and I wanted to try yoga because my boyfriend’s mom highly recommended it.
This was not just my first exposure to yoga, but also to the infamous Pune Yoga Short. My eyes widened as I took in the expanse of leg before me. The teacher’s slender, but firmly muscled legs were like an anatomy lesson come to life. He stood in Tadasana, with these long legs, tiny shorts, and broad, expansive chest. His body looked different from what I was familiar with in my dance classes. I was no stranger to long, muscled legs, but this was distinctly different.
His instructions were different too. Rotate my frontal thighs in but my shins out??
What?? What weird, contradictory, impossible action was he demanding?
When I lunged deeply to show off my dancer flexibility in Virabhadrasana II, he
corrected me and pulled my bent knee back to a 90-degree angle. Again, what?? Aren’t you impressed with how low I can lunge to the floor?
Not to mention what went through my mind when at the end of class, after instructing us to lie on the floor, he turned off the lights and left.
Was this nap time? (yes, yes it was)
Would he come back? (yes)
Was there a snack afterwards like in daycare? (sadly, no)
Needless to say, I learned a lot during those 12 weeks. I also stopped getting the
recurrent UTIs (urinary tract infections) I used to suffer from chronically, but I was not yet a convert to the yoga short. My jazz pants were very versatile college wear, thank you very much, taking me from dance class, to the grocery store, to yoga and even functioning occasionally as pajamas.

Sivan Goldhirsh - Photo by Danielle Mehler Photography

Wearing the Shorts, my way
Fast forward to about 13 years and many different styles of yoga later, and I’m back to Iyengar Yoga, this time in Zichron Yaakov, under the excellent guidance of instructor Kym Ben Yaakov, who, coincidentally, is also the owner of Malaika Padma.
Again, there’s that short short…and, gorgeous, toned legs!
At this point in time, I’m no longer dancing, having retired four years prior, and I no
longer approached yoga as a bunhead ballerina. I was the mom of a little toddler and 6- month-old baby and was a relatively new immigrant to Israel. I was also religiously observant by this time, and this fundamentally affected my approach to yoga, and ultimately, my approach to these yoga shorts.
It took me about 2 years of beginner classes with Kym to really absorb and deepen my understanding of Iyengar Yoga. And to try out the shorts.
Back to the questions that I opened with.
Why do Iyengar yogis love this short?
One of the common selling points of the Pune style yoga short is that it is modest.
If you are a religious sort, used to dressing modestly, this statement feels a bit
contradictory. I mean, how can a garment that exposes so much skin be modest?
Essentially, the snugly tailored thigh bands and waist band form a seal to the skin,
allowing for a full range of motion without exposing any private bits to the public.
Compare and contrast to your average athletic short with loose legs. Can I tell you how much underwear (or worse) can be seen when students go upside down? Even once can be scarring.
Additionally, the bagginess of the rest of the short allows for freedom of movement
within the confines of the bands. Lower abdomen and buttocks can roam freely, which feels great and is not at all restrictive in the hip joints. After a night of fondu fun with the family, I can’t tell you what a relief it is to slip these over my cheese belly the next morning, and no one is the wiser.
To receive the benefit of these shorts, while still nodding to my more modest
sensibilities, I’ve come to the compromise of wearing the shorts over top of a pair of fitted, microfiber tights. A footless, dancer’s tight if you will (and in winter with a thicker knit for warmth). The skintight fit allows for my students and teachers to see the muscular form and shape of my legs but provides me with a less exposed feel.
Additionally, the tights provide a buoyant energy and support to my legs.

Photo by Danielle Mehler Photography

Final benefit to the tights – choosing different color tights is fun and coordinating with my shorts brings a bit of personality into the mix.
This is also a benefit of the particular appeal to Malaika Padma shorts…the variety of colors, while upholding the consistent standards of material and sizing make purchasing these shorts a sweet joy. The beautiful 9-petaled lotus logo, strategically placed on the sacrum, provides a useful landmark in teaching and demonstration, in addition to its
subtle branding. The rainbow of choices for sale offers an opportunity to individualize.

Photo by Danielle Mehler Photography

What Is in a Short?
A few final reflections on the question of “What is in a short?”
Essentially, Iyengar yogis have a deep and profound appreciation for the entire yoga prop system. From the wide range of materials, of woods, cottons, metals; to the versatility of usage; to the broad spectrum of emotional and mental states they expose us to…props are a way of life for us.
We pedantically fold our blankets, align our blocks, adjust our straps, position our
bolsters, and drape ourselves over our chairs. The precision in the posture is preceded by a precision in our prop selection and placement…to encourage earning, alignment, longevity and support.
Can we really expect that our clothing choices would not also reflect this level of
thoughtfulness and appreciation for purpose?

There is something in the yogic process that is very much about revealing that which is hidden, a journey through layers. Paradoxically, that doesn’t mean that all is publicly revealed and obvious. Part of the spiritual journey, the integration of our whole selves, starts for most of us from “the outside – in.” From the superficial tissues that interface with the outer world, to the organic body that is still a very tangible aspect of our physicality, to the less tangible but still witnessable facets of intelligence and personality, to the deep energetic states that can be perceived by sensitive individuals, to the deepest, holiest parts of self that commune on the highest spiritual planes. Not all of this is for public consumption…our access to our whole selves, our whole potential seems to me to be a somewhat oscillating state between hidden and revealed. Between those tangible, accessible tools in our hands, to the somewhat magically accessed layers that
present themselves more randomly…perhaps after we’ve put in the necessary “work,” but just as often appear as in a moment of grace.
Iyengar is famously quoted as saying, “Body is the first prop. The body is a prop to the soul.”
This deeply resonates with me. And I believe that the iconic Pune short, which Malaika Padma so beautifully produces, is yet another prop along the way. Revealing the powerful tools that are our legs yet allowing for some hidden recesses. Providing access, but in a modest way, to movement in the hips and pelvis, areas of deep energetic potential and cultural attitudes, so that the practitioner can find freedom on his or her own terms.