I appreciated how, on our last weekend of teacher training, our master teacher asked us what relationship with money was like. I specifically liked how she worded it:
“Is your relationship with money adversarial? Or is it a tool?”
This post isn’t about money, but about social media as it’s been useful for me to view it within the same framework. Is it adversarial? Or is it a tool?
Sometimes for me it’s one or the other or even both. A couple years after getting sober in 2008 I ran with a crowd that rejected Facebook. Everyone was deleting their accounts, they didn’t like how vapid it could get, they didn’t want to waste their time with it. They wanted to focus more of their energy on being spiritual and living in the present.
I did it too. I went ‘off’ Facebook for years. People would comment to me about it and I would tell them that I didn’t have one. I would get weird looks. Lots of people consider having a Facebook (& other social media accounts) as being normal although there are many people out there who don’t engage.
I later found Instagram & took to its simplicity. Fast forward to the present: I am a Facebooker again & I have both types of accounts, continuously posting & streaming pictures about yoga, my son, & my life. Facebook became a sort of ‘necessity’ for all of my yoga stuff.
But sometimes it’s too much. I waste too much time scrolling though useless stuff. It makes me feel like a zombie. And I do best when I’m not following an outline, I recently tried out my first yoga challenge on Instagram (post every day about yoga for a month) & it made me feel trapped. Creativity & freedom always works best for me. It’s not fun if it feels forced.
I always have to remember that no one places me in a box, except for myself! And I have the power to step back or remove myself from it.
So I’ve taken breaks from it. My head got quiet. I want a quiet head so I think it will be something that I will do more often. Going back to that idea that group of AA’s in early sobriety taught me. Not deleting, just abstaining for periods of time.
Balance. It’s hard to find.
Wishing all you out there balance in what you need.
Peace, love, & namaste~
❤️
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Published by Liz Brower
I've practiced yoga since 2006, I stumbled into a class at my local gym. I didn't really "get" yoga, I wanted to do all of the poses to the max, I didn't focus on breathing, and I was very competitive. A year later I quit smoking and my mom purchased a three month unlimited to a local studio. I fell in love with yoga! Plus the metaphor was strong, my lungs began to repair, I could take really deep inhales without coughing! I later began to go to a free outdoor yoga classes in downtown Long Beach, CA that was also affiliated with a donation based studio. Yoga was fun, affordable, accessible, and outside! I loved it. I started practicing at home by myself. I started meditating.
Right after I found the classes at the gym stopped drinking alchohol. My sobriety and yoga have intertwined ever since. They compliment each other amazingly and I am so grateful for them both.
I stopped practicing yoga after getting pregnant and being caught up with the taking care of a newborn in 2013/2014. When he was 9 months old I realized that I really wanted to redirect myself back to yoga. I also had the seed planted in my mind while driving home from Christmas break, why don't you go do a yoga teacher training?! I started practicing yoga at a local studio and began scouring the internet for a teacher training program. I found Three Sisters Yoga, a lovely program, based out of NY & PDX. I was more than motivated to teach, I started teaching some free yoga in the summer of 2015 at a local park. I continued after that with an internship at the same studio I had signed back up with at the beginning of the year. I quit my day job. I hit the pavement, scouring for yoga gigs that would hire a newbie. I found a job and began to teach!
Now I am navigating the great balance of being a single mom, a yoga teacher, and doing my best to trust my higher power with my future. I love to teach and practice vinyasa, but also know what it's like to be drawn to slower types of yoga due to injury or body type. I feel a special affinity for yoga new comers and like to teach practice at all different levels. Thank you for taking time to read a little more about me and I wish all of you the best in your own individual yoga practice.
~Namaste!
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