I almost forgot, this is NOT the whole point

How social media often interferes with my personal Yoga practice.

I haven’t been practicing much lately. The act of stepping on my mat has been ruined by the thoughts of whether or not I should film the practice. Create content from my ritual. Share with the social media world the supposed benefits of doing this thing. I think to myself, sharing this will encourage people to come to my classes, to start their own practice, to learn more about yoga. If I don’t share this, it’s a missed opportunity. Is it a waste of the practice altogether?

When I come back to the philosophy of yoga, the principles and the foundation of the practice I know this is not true. It’s easy to get lost in the world of socials, branding, marketing, the idea that you could be doing better, more, profiting. Maintaining dharana (concentration) through the practice is often not achievable with it becomes for social media. Posting our practice is actually not the whole point, right?

So, is it possible to have the best of both worlds? Can we practice and stay true to the yogic philopsophies and to ourselves and also share and engage with others through social media? After pondering this for long enough to get it out on this virtual paper I come back to Satya. Satya is the yogic principle of truthfulness and sincerity in the entirety of our being. If we take to our mat as a means of self discovery and subsequently take what we’ve discovered to the world of social media then we bring this Satya, this sincerity, to our community. If we’re engaging from there, helping others to build a practice, leading others through retreats or experiences from a place of Satya, we are honoring the roots and foundations of the practice. We can hold our own practice and engage with those in our social worlds. And this, for a lot of us, is actually the whole point.

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Flashback Files - July 14, 2020

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