The online yoga world is a jamboree of photos and captions. In-your-face saturated yoga pant patterns juxtapose sunny backdrops. There seems to be a plethora of cool living rooms styled according to the anthropology catalog featuring someone in pinchamayurasana on a coffee table. If I see one more exaggerated hollowback balance coupled with an inspiring quote by someone famous who’s words have become trendy, I might just lose it.
But like so many, I too am caught up in that online world.
Instagram and Facebook are now tools that business savy yogis are using to help grow their brands, spread their message, reach and teach people globally.
Early on I made a commitment to just do me. I stopped trying to be the cool yogi, the rebel yogi, the innovative yogi, the strongest, the bendyest, the meditative-est, the hottest, the anythingest.
I backed down from almost every challenge collaboration request and stopped saying yes to most brands who offered me free swag in exchange for an endorsement. As a result my following hasn’t grown nearly as much as my peers. This saddens me sometimes. Not because I need a volume of likes to validate my existence but because the exposure is key for selling out workshops and retreats, for being a player in this international yoga scene, for earning a living at doing what I love and what I know I have drive and talent in.
I worry about teachers who constantly take quotes or copy asana from others. What will they speak of in their classes? What is their style if flow? What are their values if they ally with any brand that will send them a swag bag?
If the practice of yoga is about self inquiry and finding union of body, mind and spirit in the internal and external worlds, then it just doesn’t make sense- at least to me- to share content that isn’t part of that process regardless of how many new eyes might view my accounts or how free the clothing could be. If we are teachers of yoga then we should be sharing the practice as authentically as possible.
So somewhere along the way my words and photos have become a very personal visual diary…
Maybe I share too much… But at least the words are my own.
I feel like people who regularly follow social media accounts develop certain expectations of them. Instagrammers love consistency of style, in photos, captions, feelings. YouTubers grow accustomed to the video and editing genres of their favorite accounts. We humans love routine. We like knowing in advance what we’re getting so we can curb our enthusiasm or feelings appropriately before hand. The things is that life isn’t always consistent. The only constant is change, ebbs and flows, victories and failures, successes and set backs and baby, I share it all.
So I’ve gotten feedback that my photos might not go with my message, or that at times my message is confusing.
I’m confused.
If my message is truth and authenticity, seeking happiness in life- and I share
real photos
my real words
real thoughts
real prayers
real fears
real hopes
real struggles
real anxieties
real joys
real gratitude…
where’s the miscommunication ?
Maybe there’s way too much pressure being put on the person behind the screen – a person who is generally a stranger to the voyeur. I can’t speak for online yogis who share other people’s words or dress in clothes from whatever style they are fedexed but I can speak for myself: I have a voice. I have strong opinions that sometimes change as I evolve. I don’t feel that I have a responsibility to show only the best-ofs, the cutest crop tops, the flashiest yoga asana or exclusively ultra fabulous living. There’s nothing to read into or interpret here.
It’s just life
What I share is a truth according to the perceptions of one person.
This being seeks to find balance and union between mind, body and soul.
There’s a commitment to spirit.
Physical movements are practiced to find better health.
An effort is made to keep a clean and pure body and home.
I try to quiet the mind.
I practice self inquiry.
I don’t need confirmation from clothing companies or stranger’s commentary with the namaste emoji to tell me that I am a yogi. But I do need attendance in my classes to make this all work.
I don’t need captions from mark twain or the Buddha to know that I am delving deeper into the soul. I hope after reading this, you won’t either.
I know I practice yoga. Everyday. Even when it’s not in the Asana.
I hope I can encourage others to do so too. But at the moment, I need a break from social media. I’m breaking.
It’s all too much. I can’t keep up with the colors, the glitz, the showiness of it all. So much of it just isn’t real. These are images constructed specifically to create a lifestyle or brand picture chosen by the account holders, hoping it’s followers will buy in.
I’m taking a hiatus. Maybe a month, maybe a day… I don’t know. But I need to stop being so tied to a screen and voyeurism. It just isn’t me and I know it’s not a totally realistic picture of those on the screen either. Social media is contrived, it’s a brand, it is a presentation of how we want the world to see us.
I need to have my feet in reality for a little while. I need to get back to the roots of why I got into all of this in the first place.
Drop the facade.
Practice.
Find stillness.
Find solace.
Do yoga… Do you.
