An online presence is unusual for the Self and you can lose your Self.
It won’t be long into your Yoga studies before you read one of the most popular quotes from the Bhagavad Gita; ‘Yoga is a journey of the self, through the self, to the self.’ In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna learns the importance of acting without attachment to the outcome of our decisions. -Remeber this next time you post something on Instagram.
Carl Jung said the purpose of life was to become whole; ‘The journey from the fragmented self to wholeness requires us to face our shadow. Our shadow is everything inside of us that we have avoided, disowned and kept in the dark. It is energy not integrated with the rest of our being.’
People are fascinated by other people, because from observing others, we can learn about ourselves. Can You Ever Forgive Me biopic is about the author Lee Israel forging letters from celebrities and writers to cover her rent. The letters that were most valuable, were the more personal ones, because they were a chance to get to know the author. Who they were when they weren’t doing the thing they were famous for.
My advice to anyone talking about themselves online is to make sure you leave something for yourself. As a very private person I decided before my first post what I would keep offline. There are some areas of my life that are not for public knowledge or discussion. I will share difficulties, worries or lessons I’ve learned but I might hold back some of the more intimate detail. This method feels really healthy, and I don’t lose my sense of Self online.
I know who I am, the darkness and the light. I don’t pretend to be the two dimensional person I am online. The images I publish - which are all posed even though they might look natural - shows a big part of who I am though; A Yogi, doing her best.
I never show the food I eat, yet I consume it on the daily. I don't detail the epic personal and professional highs and the equally epic lows, but if you assume I eat, you can assume I experience those too.
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Photo by Jonathan Jones.
Thank you, Rosie Pose x