Social media and the boom of internet in general have changed our lives in many ways.
Despite I’m in most of the bigger social networks now, I’ve never been a “pioneer” among my friends signing up. In fact, both with Facebook and Instagram, I firstly was a bit reluctant to open an account. “I waste enough time online” I thought 8-9 years ago with Facebook, “What am I going to post about?!” was the main thought with Instagram.
And then, this summer, while being on a wedding with its own Instagram hashtag I fell into it, just for the sake of being part of the picture party!
Quite quickly I discovered the vast yoga community in there and I was amazed. To see so many dedicated yogis, and such beautiful pictures was both inspiring and encouraging.
I suppose I used the word “narcisim” in the title because there’s always this worry of looking like you are “showing off” when we put ourselves forward with something we feel strongly about. It is a sad reality that very often we try to avoid standing out in our passions or happy moments, just to avoid being seen as a keeno, narcissist or egocentric.
When I started Instagram, I personally worried about looking annoying to my (not so close) friends with all the yoga pictures; but at the same time I felt very excited about adding my little and humble part into the instayoga world, by recording my progress, asking and answering questions, and seeing all their feedback.
“Your fear of looking stupid is holding you back”, recently posted one of my friends (precisely) on Facebook . This fear of looking Y or Z rings true in my case, except for the fact that now (both my with Instagram and this blog) I dared not to hold back, do what I feel like without judging myself. Sometimes, we judge ourselves more than anyone else.
Maybe with this post I’m just trying to explain myself. Which ironically shows lack of self-assurance, if anything.
A yogi and blogger I discover recently, precisely thanks to Instagram, wrote a very interesting reflection about the pros and cons of yoga in the social media (it is in Catalan). I very much agreed with what she said there.
It is funny that much of my inspiration and resources (even for this very post) comes from Facebook and Instagram, not to mention the big wonderful internet. So it is undeniable how much we get from it and how beneficial it is for us, as long as we don’t obsess about feeding our Ego with likes, nice comments or site visits.
As I read online recently, a study said that Facebook could actually help people live longer. Well, maybe that a bit too much of a statement, but as it argued – “One of the reasons behind the findings might well be that being on Facebook encourages us to go out and participate in social activity.”
And I think this is what happens with Instagram and yoga. Despite all the “narcisism”- or not – in my case, it has been a positive addition. I has boosted my practise, made me improve and gain lots more insights, not only about asanas as such but about the philosophy behind them.
Wellbeing Lifelong 