Yoga Is Not A Competition. Let’s Keep It That Way.

I follow an absurd number of yoga models on social media, and I’ve seen some crazy things.

 

I recently saw a guy do what I can only describe as an otherworldly back handspring, where he paused upside-down in handstand with lotus legs, then straightened his legs, bent at the waist and dropped down to firefly. I mean, everyone can do that, right? I might have called the maneuver “gymnastics” or even “break-dancing” rather than “yoga” if the guy wasn’t bearded and wearing harem pants.

 

Or there’s the girl who was—I don’t know—seven feet tall and reed-thin, who used her arched doorway as a yoga prop. With one foot planted on the ground, she managed to walk the other foot all the way up to the peak of the arch, without even wincing, even though she’d essentially just split her entire bottom half in two.

 

There was a time when posts like these upset me. I’d hear friends in real life say that they were too intimidated to go to a yoga class, that they “aren’t flexible” or are “terrible at yoga,” and I couldn’t help but blame those leggy blonde human pretzels on Instagram for making them feel that way.

 

I mean, even amongst non-professionals, the social media posts can be overwhelming. No one posts “Check Out My SAVASANA Pose” on Reddit. What they post is most often their absolute hardest pose–possibly the first time they’ve held it long enough for a photo–which has probably taken them years to achieve.

 

I’ve reached two conclusions about this.

 

Firstly, we shouldn’t allow ourselves to get upset by internet strangers. Ever.

 

Logically, of course you know that others’ social media posts are outside of your control. But if you’ve ever felt bad about yourself after viewing some Gumby’s Instagram, I have good news for you: You’re totally crazy. Or rather, your “monkey mind” (that name we give our internal monologue when it’s being a jerk) is totally crazy.

 

Here’s the thing: the Gypset Goddess has nothing to do with you. Her standing split is not a symbol of your failure.

 

My absolute favorite thing about yoga is that it is not a competition. Competition is actually completely antithetical to the idea of yoga.

 

Yoga is about listening to your own body, finding the connection between your mind, your body, and your breath. It’s a gift that you give yourself, and it has nothing to do with either Instagram stars or the girl on the mat beside you.

 

Secondly, while I think it’s great to be inspired by others, seeking inspiration on Instagram is a slippery slope.

 

I will always admire and be motivated by the hard work that others put into their yoga practice—it’s why I follow these accounts in the first place. But when “inspiration” means that an advanced pose is #goals, it’s time to pause and examine your motives.

 

Some of my real-life yoga goals include: being more mindful and present, quieting the judgmental voice in my head, changing my relationship to stress, and yes, increasing my body’s strength and range of motion.

 

In a yoga practice, I am the most mindful when I pay attention to how I feel, in that moment, rather than how flexible I hope my body will one day be. When I focus on my breath and the sensations in my body, I am less judgmental of myself, and I find no need to judge others.

 

As for stress, most of our lives are already filled with “goals,” and these can be huge causes of anxiety. Why bring that stress to the yoga mat by creating arbitrary goals for ourselves, inspired by someone else’s practice?

 

When it comes to increasing your strength and flexibility, your body is smarter than you think. Whatever depth and intensity it allows you to achieve with a pose, is exactly the right depth and intensity for you at that moment.

 

At the risk of stating the obvious, if your body is resisting a pose, it’s not good for you to push it. Trying to attain “goal poses” that are out of one’s reach is a huge cause of injury in yoga.

 

Yoga is supposed to make us feel good. If your goal is to get your foot farther behind your head than someone who gets paid by a brand to do so on Insta, and has likely been doing gymnastics or dance since birth, you’re bound to feel pretty “bad” at yoga.

 

But the truth is, there’s no actual way to be good or bad at yoga. In the yoga sutras, Patanjali defines yoga as “chitta vritti nirodha”– “the gradual quieting of the mind’s fluctuations.” To me, that means that if you are on this journey at all—if you take the time to try to be present in life, to have an open heart—you are inherently “good” at yoga.

 

Can you tell how mindful someone is from an Instagram photo? Absolutely not.

 

But can you see and feel improvements in yourself every single time you practice? Absolutely.