Are Yoga Selfies Feeding Yogis' Egos?

Thirty-one days ago I embarked upon a 365 day handstand challenge. I should let you know that 31 days ago I didn't know the first thing about how to handstand. All I knew was that I wanted to learn. I was inspired to such madness by Amber Shumake, a yoga teacher I'd been following on Facebook, but who I've never met in person. Amber wrapped up her 365 day handstand challenge on Mother's Day, and one day a few weeks ago, without giving it any logical thought at all, I posted a comment on one of her posts and told her and the universe that I was picking up the torch. I would start my 365 days the day after she finished hers.

So for the past 31 days, I've been posting a video of my progress on our Instagram and Facebook pages.

Since this is really the only consistent "public" view of my yoga practice, I wanted to take a moment to provide some context around the handstands and what my real yoga practice looks like.

My real yoga practice consists of a lot of laying down I have issues with my sacrum and my left SI joint, and they're painful pretty much every day. Like most everyone, I have a lot of tightness in my upper back, shoulders, and neck. I teach and practice a very therapeutic style of yoga, so my yoga practice is intended to address my trouble spots and reduce tightness and pain so my body will be happy.

I pretty much always warm up with a lot of very slow paced laying down postures. Just laying on my back (on the floor) brings relief to my sacrum. I do a variety of poses to stretch out my legs and hips. If I have time and energy, I might also do a few down dogs or standing poses.

My real practice is pretty boring to watch compared to the handstands, but if you want to get an idea of what it looks like you can check it out here. Please note that this is the end part of my practice, after I was completely warmed up.

And the handstands are pretty much the polar opposite of my real practice. They're quick and flashy and mostly just for fun. But I've realized that they do provide an excellent opportunity for increasing strength and also for self-study, both in the moment and later when I review the videos, and to me, self-study is a very important aspect of yoga.

In my handstand practice I pay attention to so many details: the position of my hands, shoulders, hips, legs, and feet; the engagement of different muscles throughout my body; how I'm breathing; my energy level.

By sharing the videos online, I'm not only holding myself accountable, but I'm also creating a visual timeline of my progress. An on-going "Before" and "After".

And maybe more importantly, I'm a real life representation of our Yoga for EveryBody philosophy. If you look up #handstand on Facebook or Instagram, you're pretty much only going to find super-fit, young, thin yogis, and me. And while, yes, of course, I wish I was in better shape, I'm also proud to show that yoga is indeed for every body.

Alright, I'll get off my soapbox now and encourage you to find your own challenge.

Which yoga pose do you wish you could do better or with more ease? It doesn't have to be something flashy like handstand; it could be anything. Maybe a seated forward fold, maybe down dog, or maybe even the basic comfortable sitting position?

Just like with yoga practice, make this challenge your own. Take 30 or 100 or 365 days to consistently work toward your pose. Post a comment and let us know what pose you're committing to work on and for how long. Let us know if you have any questions or need any guidance.

Then take a photo or video every single day and decide if you want to keep it for yourself or if you want to share it on social media.

If you keep it for yourself, I suggest naming each photo "Day 1", "Day 2", etc., and putting them all into a single folder to keep them organized so that you can go back and review your progress. You might even keep a journal of notes and observations to go along with your photos.

If you decide you want to post your Challenge photos online, use the hashtag #rryogaroom so that we can keep up with your progress, too!

I'm so excited about this! I've learned a lot in my first 31 days of handstanding, and I'm sure you're going to learn a lot about yourself and your body if you decide to join me in this Challenge.

Let me know if you have any questions!

P.S. So getting back to the question about whether yoga selfies just serve to feed the yogi's ego, my opinion is that it depends. Selfies might be used as a learning tool (that's mainly what mine are for me) or they might be used to show everyone in social-media-land just how cool and awesome you are. It depends on the yogi :)

Yoga You Won't See on the Cover of a Magazine

Have you ever considered yoga as a form of therapy, rather than a form of exercise? Pretty much all forms of Hatha Yoga can be used to improve flexibility, increase relaxation, and begin to teach body awareness and mental focus. And some strong styles can be used to build strength.

But did you know that Gentle forms of Hatha Yoga can be used to:

• release chronic tension in the neck and shoulders
• reduce pain in the feet, ankles, knees, hips, back, shoulders, and neck
• improve posture
• continue rehabilitation after physical therapy
• as an alternative to or in conjunction with massage

And other beneficial side effects can include:

• reduction of high blood pressure
• reduction of stress hormones
• reversal of diseases brought on by stress

Gentle, therapeutic yoga is such an excellent self-care tool because you can continue to apply what you learn in class, outside of class.

Say your low back is hurting. You come to yoga class and the teacher leads you through a series of poses to release tightness in your legs and hips. By the end of class you’re feeling great! Your low back pain is gone and you feel good all day long. But the following day your back pain starts creeping in again. What do you do? Your can go to another yoga class or you can practice a few of the poses you learned in your previous yoga class.

For the relatively low cost of yoga classes, you can learn how to treat your own back pain without having to take any medications and possibly even in the comfort of your own home. How awesome is that?!

And if you have a chronic issue, private yoga lessons are an excellent option so that the teacher can focus exclusively on your needs. They’ll even send you home with a customized written yoga practice that you can do on your own.

People often ask me how often they should practice yoga. You can practice as often as you’d like! The more consistently you practice, the more amazing you’ll feel. You’ll feel energized, easeful, and peaceful. Your mental focus will improve and you’ll sleep better.

It’s not uncommon for a person to practice yoga at the studio 5-6 days per week, and if you think about it, the cost of the Monthly Unlimited pass is about equal to the cost of a one hour massage plus tip. The benefit of the Monthly Unlimited pass is that you can practice (literally) an unlimited number of hours of yoga. You can keep yourself feeling great all month long!

I rarely (if ever) talk about prices in the newsletter, but I think in this case it's relevant and helpful, especially if this post has piqued your interest in Gentle, therapeutic yoga to create ease in your body...

If you're brand new to The Yoga Room, you can take advantage of our First Week Unlimited Pass, which is 7 days of unlimited classes for just $10. And if you have attended classes at the studio before, you might want to check out our Beat the Heat Summer Unlimited Pass, which is unlimited classes from June 1 through August 31st for $255 AND you get a free t-shirt or tank top! ;)

Now it’s time for you to take action!

• Check out our Class Schedule and find the Gentle classes that suit your schedule. Write them down on your calendar and come in for a class this week! Make sure to tell the teacher about any body issues you’re working with so they incorporate poses to address them into the class.
• If you’ve experienced an improvement in your health due to your yoga practice, we’d love to hear from you! Send us an email to tell us all about it. We’ll contact you for permission to share your story in a future newsletter. We all know that success stories help motivate people to make positive life changes, so you can be an important part of helping others improve their health :)

I look forward to seeing you and/or hearing from you!

Lots of love, Zelinda

P.S. If this post was interesting to you, please be on the look out for next week's post about how we customize our Gentle classes to suit the needs and limitations of every person in the class.

And if a friend or loved one who can benefit from yoga came to mind while you read this post, please share the post using the links below. <3