A Yoga "goddess" slid into my DMs 😲

I posted something on social the other day and someone commented that what I was talking about (in my post) wasn't really yoga 😳

Of course. I kept my cool 😎

Not that it matters too much, but my troll was an English woman in a turban dressed like a Hare Krishna devotee 👳🏾‍♂️. Not that it matters what she was wearing, but just for context 😵‍💫.

So I did comment back (of course I did) that the yoga I was referring to in my post is NOT the yoga she's referring to. That's where the confusion lies. After a bit of back and forth, and me putting her in her place (😄), she deleted the thread and continued the conversation via DM. Not that I was particularly interested in engaging further. I just didn't have the time, and nor do I care. In the nicest way. She could believe the earth is flat, that Krishna is god, that chakras are real. Why would her belief bother me? It doesn't. I was like bru, let me drink my oat latte in peace ☕️.

But I did think the conversation was interesting (after it was done). In many respects she was arguing over two separate things. Imagine you told me that the cricket I play isn't real cricket 🏏. I'm playing T20, the shorter, faster, loud, adrenaline-fuelled version, whilst you play TEST CRICKET, the slower, longer, old-school gentleman's game. Both are called cricket, for sure, but in many ways they're completely different.

And the poetic irony is great here btw 🫣. The Brits invented cricket, and then those dastardly Indians turned this British institution into a multi-billion-pound business full of loud music, bright lights, cheerleaders and money 💰. Which is the exact reverse of what the Brits and Americans did to yoga. Funny that 🧐.

Anyway. The argument this woman wanted to have was redundant. In my post I was talking about modern physical yoga, the kind you do as exercise. She was talking about old-school yoga, the sadhu / holy man in India kind, where man looks to transcend what it means to be human. Both called yoga, but the difference (just like T20 and test cricket) is like night and day.

The point of this email is to help you see how much context matters. There will always be someone waiting to tell you that what you do isn't really yoga. You have to take it with a pinch of salt and even find the humour in it. Think about it 🧐. I'm being "lectured" by an English woman who calls herself Devi (and asks to be addressed that way), when the yoga she practises is supposed to be about finding and embracing your authentic nature 🤔. The madness of the yoga world never ceases to amaze me 😵‍💫. I remember a quote I once read; "The irony of life is that those who wear masks often tell us more truths than those with open faces."

All you have to remember is that each time you step on the mat, you're doing something to make you a little better than you were yesterday. If you're a constant work in progress, despite your quirks and insecurities, questionable music taste, diet etc. You're a yogi to me in both the modern and traditional sense.

Namaskar,

Zahir

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