fake yogis.

I’ve been seeing a kind of spiritual elitism. There are those that construct a definition of themselves based on what sounds cool not on what they actually do. These are “yogis” that quote the yoga sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, and random phrases of “spiritual wisdom”, but rarely step foot on their mats. They don’t live the yoga off the mat. These same yogis treat people who aren’t in their inner circle like sh*t and twist certain spiritual ideas into justifications for being irresponsible and cruel. I think everyone has come across yoga “mean girls” at the studio. I’m not saying that I’m perfect. I’m guilty of allowing my spiritual ideas and practices to become an ego trap. At times, I’ve caught myself acting like I was better than or more enlightened than people that don’t do the same practices. I’ve been guilty of presenting a false positivity and espousing love when I really wanted to express my anger for what I felt was an injustice.

 Practicing yoga doesn’t mean that you have to be positive all the time. Expressing negative emotions isn’t bad. Embracing our own negative emotions is a part of growing and connecting deeply with ourselves and others. Today’s spiritual world feels fake. There’s lots of talk about positive vibes, only surrounding yourself with supportive positive people, and not letting negative thoughts or emotions to get to you. This isn’t realistic. If you live in that bubble, you may never grow or truly learn who you are. We have to allow space for all emotions. Yoga teaches us this. It teaches us that for there to be union with the Self, we have to dive deep and allow ourselves to experience everything. This isn’t an excuse to do whatever we want to those around us and use our spirituality as a justification for the behavior. It can be easy to make ourselves think that anytime someone has a problem with our behavior, that it’s because they aren’t as evolved or need to grow spiritually.

 Own your sh*t. If you’re being an asshole, acknowledge that you’re being an asshole. Judging others for expressing anger or other strong emotions at our behavior, is just as bad.

I say all this not to preach, but to teach. This is the yoga too. Like I said before, I’m not perfect and these are things that I have to remind myself. I’m still growing and evolving. I call myself a yogi, but only because I’m truthfully on my mat every damn day and practice “engaged yoga” (yoga off the mat).

 I’m trying to be authentic and stay away from “artificial spirituality”.