It's not you, it's just not MAINSTREAM

It’s not you, it’s not you, it’s not you! What a relief.

I feel this in my own heart and bones.

Via: @heartandbonesyoga who wrote this 2 years ago and holy crap is it still relevant.

A little perspective as you embrace the new year. This is for all the yoga teachers who teach yoga that doesn’t always look like yoga in popular media.

For those who have been questioning the way yoga has been taught and practiced. Who see yogis on social media with professional photos, fancy poses and a 100K + followers [it doesn’t mean they’re making money, they usually aren’t] and leave you wondering how will you ever compete with that, or wondering why the eff so many people follow that kind of image.

There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re just not teaching mainstream yoga. The biggest disservice we can do for ourselves is looking at mainstream culture and comparing oneself to it. And if you don’t match parts of it, then believing that you have to change.

Don’t change what you’re doing. Change the paradigm that tells you that you’re not good enough whether that’s yoga, or anything else.

I fully know it can be a harder path because you have to make it your own.

Mainstream means easy. Mainstream doesn’t mean right. Do your own f—ing yoga. Believe in yourself more. Teach what your heart says. Unfollow social media accounts [and real life studios] that make you feel like shit. Learn more this year. Compare less, trust yourself more. Keep learning, ask more questions.

And if you’ve changed your yoga practice to something that you can’t easily find on popular accounts on or between the pages of yoga journal [congrats], then trust your path and don’t take it personally. You’ll be surprised at how many more people you’ll reach that way. - Brea Johnson.