"The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel."
~Steve Furtick
True story. I can absolutely, 100% relate. It is so very easy to watch ourselves become jealous of someone else's "picture perfect" life, especially in this social media consumed age. Now, I just have to make it clear before continuing on, that I am not saying I am against social media or that I am blaming social media for any sort of negativity or anything like that...I just have a few thoughts I've been pondering as of late.
Picture this:
You are an avid 'yogi'/'yogini' living in a tropical climate by the ocean, or living up high in the mountains with breathtaking scenery all around you. You can balance in hand stands forever, and you're extremely flexible and can do the most difficult yoga postures known to man... yeah...If I were that person, I would probably be snapping photos of myself in the middle of beautiful nature, in some sort of crazy twisted yoga posture.
...People do it all the time. Take instagram for instance. Hash tag this (#), hash tag that... Challenge this, challenge that...who can do the best hand stand in the best location...who can put their feet farthest behind their head...and THEN do an arm balance...
For a while, I found myself getting caught up in all the IG monthly challenges. It was fun, I tried new things, and it kept me busy...but the time I spent getting into a pose was nothing compared to the time I spent analyzing myself in the photo. I was constantly comparing myself to others, and even felt myself becoming jealous of my IG peers. It wasn't healthy. It became a competition. It was no longer yoga. . .
You see, what we see on IG isn't always true reality. Just because someone has a perfect posture in a perfect environment, doesn't mean that this person has a perfect life. They could be truly hurting inside, or not in a good place in life, or not happy in general. It made me start thinking..."could I be making people feel bad about themselves too?" Probably... The truth of nature is this...how we perceive the world is but a reflection of ourselves...A lense which goes deeper within than imaginable.
I stopped doing IG challenges, because I started to realize that the competition wasn't for me.. Yoga means so much more to me than a photo on instagram. Yes, I do post pictures of myself in a hand stand or in a pose from time to time...but more for the purpose of being artistic. I have a love for photography, the body, and yoga. But I have vowed to not mess with the angle of a photo as a means to make my pose (or body) better (skinnier, stronger, etc) anymore...
My whole reason for posting this is to let people know that there is more to a person that what they post (or don't post) for the world to see...and whatever they do post, don't take it personally by thinking that they "have it better" than you. Each and every one of us has our own lives to live...we should not be obsessing over the life of another person, wishing our life was more like theirs...that's just wasting our lives away...
I had a conversation with one of my yoga buddies on the way to Flagstaff for a workshop I attended with Christina Sell last weekend, where we talked about how a lot of people have become yoga teachers for the sake of self fulfillment, and not primarily to be 'of service'. It's a hot career choice these days, especially for women...there is a lot of beauty industry forcing its way into the world of yoga, and honestly...frankly...it does not belong there. Yoga is not about how the body looks. It does not matter whether you are overweight, underweight, or even 'just right'...(what is 'just right' anyway)...It does not matter whether you wear Lululemon or your favorite pajama pants to yoga class...your ability to move comfortably matters. Your self worth does not depend on a yoga pose, yoga clothes, or your body type, whether your skin is clear or broken out. Your self worth depends on you alone, without any outside influence. We are our own person, and beautiful just the way we are. There's nothing wrong with who you are. If you want to do something to change your appearance, do it for you alone...not for someone else.
In the workshop, Christina stated "It works if it works, except for when it doesn't"...hey, totally applicable in life as well as in yoga. What works for someone else may not work for you--in yoga, in life, etc. It's not a one-size fits-all world we live in. We are all different, we think different...HELL! You may not agree with what I'm writing here, but that's totally okay as well. What kind of a world would it be if we didn't all have different thoughts, ideas, and beliefs? I think it'd be kind of lame to be honest. The fact of the matter is, we just need to start being more real with who we are. We need to stop pretending to be someone we are not. We need to just follow our bliss and be confident with ourselves, and not let others influence our own happiness...It's no one else's to claim but ours. We need to stop comparing our behind the scenes to everyone else's highlight reel, and start living our lives the in the truest and most honest way.
All of this has been floating through my head for the past few days...and damn does it feel good to finally get it all out...
Namaste.
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