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| Conceit? |
Asana selfies used to to be about the work....., didn't they?
Am I fooling myself, were they always about ego?
My memory of the Cybershala was that we were all working together on postures in our different parts of the world, occasionally bouncing off each other and our blog posts, a little push or encouragement occasionally in comments.
Asana selfies tended to be so we at home could take a look at the posture, from the outside as it were, a record of progress.
Once we pretty much had the posture that tended to be it, there was no need to take a photo or video of it anymore. There were some exceptions perhaps, kapotasana, eka pada sirsasna as we sought to get a little deeper into the posture, to a more comfortable place, a nice grip on the ankles, leg nicely over the shoulder rather than the neck.
I'm sure conceit came into it occasionally, I wince at an occasional photo of mine, I might not be able to see my face but I can tell...
"...looking pretty pleased with yourself in that one Grimmly".
Note: to be fair it was so attendees could reclaim some of the attendance fee, but really, god help somebody who doesn't give a certificate on their workshop these days.
If I ever walk into a shala with a sixteen hour certificate anywhere on the wall, I swear I'm walking straight back out again.
I find facebook..., Instagram increasingly unbearable, grinning photos of self proclaimed yogi's in intricate pretzel postures, it's clearly not about the work anymore, not about the asana, just ego..
"Look at me in this one, look at me!"
But worse, much worse is the faux wisdom, the self help, the 'justification' for posting the pose. Who are we trying to kid...
"Listen to me, listen to me
here in my pretzel shape,
how wise and enlightened I am in this one
aren't you inspired".
aren't you inspired".
"Oh and don't forget to sign up for my newsletter",
Aren't we supposed to be working on reducing the ego, that's the idea right, to reduce our attachments to the world, lessen to power of the ego over us, how's that working out?
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Don't get me wrong, there is of course a time and a place for sincere words of wisdom, of things we've picked up along the ways our chaotic lives lead us but so often even that which is true and heartfelt sounds trite and banal amongst the cacophony of asana comment confetti.
Recently I read something beautiful, something honest and true and so understated in it's bereavement and grief, may you come across something just as beautiful this year, rather than in the next five minutes and the next and the next.
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| the work |
Update
I just shared this on my blog FB page..... and then deleted it again.
When did I start caring whether anybody read this or not, I remember being bemused when my readership doubled from thirteen to thirty.
Worse, when did I start thinking that this SHOULD be read.