I am not the best at "branding" my 'Self'
especially as a yoga teacher
i am far too complex to assume that as my ONLY identity
yet...it is a part of it.
Now that 'part' has become a stereotype too. i have watched it evolve in my lifetime, perhaps even contributed to it...
For yoga has only been infiltrating the western mainstream culture for the last 50-60 years, and more obviously in especially the last 25 years, so this young, healthy woman yoga teacher, pretty and positive, often white,
that many love to hate
and yet also follow
is a relatively new archetype in the culture.
I have mixed emotions about it for two reasons:
On the exterior i have fit the stereotype ironically despite my very dark self-destructive childhood and past which led to people projecting all sorts of assumed privileges on me that i did not in fact have. It feels disappointing to have the powerful transformation i experienced from being the extremely ignorant, raging self-abuser somehow existing without self-esteem to becoming the healthy, vital empowered being who was elevated due to deep immersion into yoga and meditation modalities diminished to a modern apparently watered-down wisdom stereotype in the New Cage Movement.
Any stereotype causes ignorant biased assumptions usually, but one can't deny there must be a need to empower this archetype in our culture currently, judging by the sheer volume of followers and influence this 'yoga girl archetype' has in social media.
There is an innocent wisdom arising in the hearts of sweet beautiful women and what is wrong with that?
Maybe some think it is unearned, or merely a result of privilege?
... as though that makes it less valid.
Honestly, i too have struggled with that perception, believing that someone who quotes a powerful potentially liberating idea and yet appears like they haven't earned their stripes is underserving to be associated with the enlightened idea they are quoting. They are spiritual posers, wannabe gurus, or mere fledglings imitating wisdom, when they still need to undergo more training and life experience to embody the role of wisdom teacher in this modern era.
But the wise yogi realizes it's all a game, and we are always posing.
Once we accept that at this stage in the game, we all have the choice to reinvent ourselves at any time we fully claim self-ownership, then we are truly free. This is hindered only by over attachment to one's old stories or former identities. This is why in many yogic paths, disciples take "spiritual names." This is so they can create a new identity that is aligned more closely to their ideal values, or to the potential that their teacher recognizes in them and would like to help them to realize. It may feel awkward at first to call someone something like "Gurudev" (which loosely translates as Divine Guru) when maybe they don't always live up to it, but it gives them something to shoot for. And it could give you a more elevated way to see them.
And hey, maybe that's not so bad after all.
Especially if your given name brings up many negative associations in the subconscious, like bad memories of guardians yelling at you calling you a name you didn't choose, projecting expectations all over you that may not have supported your authentic self-expression.
Don Juan, the wise shaman in Carlos Castaneda's book Tales of Power warns of people "indulging" in being masters...yet, i posit that we are always indulging in being something.
We do indulge in identity; we are forced to simply by the predicament of being human, so why not make it a good one? And one day, don't worry, you will finally have your fill of this indulgence and simply let go.
Ego death
or death itself will make this possible.
Interestingly, in India, the Brahmin caste has spiritual privilege as that they are born into the Hindu priesthood and only they can hold the honorific positions in the temples. It used to be that those born in these families, the men, were the only ones taught Sanskrit, which is the language of the Vedic scriptures, so all the uneducated would always be dependent on these people to deliver the divine wisdom. They were the educated scholars based on their privileged birth in their society, not so different from the upper classes in the west who can afford to send their children to university, and introduce them to the alumni that will become their elite networking pool for life.
Yet, in the west, it is becoming predominantly women who are wisdom holders and beautiful embodiments of the profound yoga tradition. This is an empowering shift actually and is obviously a part of our collective awakening process.
Perhaps, this modern beautiful yoga priestess archetype is becoming like the stereotyped eastern guru figure.
Personally, i am now navigating how to distinguish myself now from the spiritual quotes paired with acsetiticly pleasing imagery, yet still express something of value that holds attention in the contemporary social media venues. Seems impossible, yet despite the fact I have at times thought it was cheapening the message of yoga to post a picture of a yoga booty in a yoga pose donned only in a thong, i gotta honor those bikini yoginis who have decided to simply share boldly their beauty and their message which is shaking up the status quo and forcing people to examine their resistance to pairing sexually attractive women with wisdom. Maybe we can evolve our fears about sexuality and wisdom and marry the two in a holistic way,
and mostly just "be"
unthreatened.
As we gain mastery in self-ownership and ego-deflation, we will come to know the peace of allowing for it all;
for wisdom comes in various guises, and the wise one is able to see it in as many forms as possible, even and perhaps especially from the mouthes of babes.
It's always your choice, your view, that only you have control over.
with love,
your yogini anarchist ~
forever dedicated to liberation through compassionate understanding of the seeming paradoxes within truth
&
unapologetically, a liberation hustler, in spite of myself
~
for now anyway ~
Please follow, comment and upvote to further this conversation and please share about any stereotypes that you feel uncomfortable within,
or your personal reaction to this modern yogi goddess archetype.
i am so grateful to be cultivating true allies here on Steemit as we evolve the consciousness of humanity.
*pictures of yours truly striking a few yoga poses: first in a ghost town in Nevada and secondly in Baker City, Oregon
and an anonymous Brahmin priest from the World Digital Library