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Did you know it took me nine years to achieve these skills?

Did you know I started my yoga practice at 30?

After my daughter was born I had postnatal depression and attempted to take my life, which led me to look for a way to rebuild myself to be here as a mum.

Did you know I didn’t wake up one day being able to take a photo or have these strengths and skills? It took almost a decade of showing up for myself on my mat, off of social media when nobody was watching, liking, or cheering me on.

It was just me against myself.

For all those who say that showing our practice or self online is attention seeking, I have one question for you:

Are you not stereotyping and judging things a little too simply?

Have you ever learned or been inspired to start something new because of a tutorial or post online? If that person did not share their practice, you would never have learned or been inspired to start.

I would never have been able to show my skills if I had not spent nine years practicing. If I hadn’t woken up at 5 a.m. while raising my daughter and working.

We are in a world of constant attention and visibility, yes. But we are also in a world of humans who are doing the work behind the scenes and being judged too quickly.

To the person showing their body on social media, it’s okay.
To the person not showing their body on social media, it’s okay.
To the person watching others people’s posts and not posting their own, it’s okay.
To the person posting and pretending to be perfect, it’s okay.
To the person posting who is still healing, it’s okay.
To the person posting but feeling unsure, like they don’t know themselves, it’s okay.
To the person posting who fully knows themselves, it’s okay.
To the person posting quotes or something other than themselves, it’s okay.
To the person showing their flaws, it’s okay.
To the person not showing their flaws, it’s okay.
To the person sharing their life, their family, and their dark secrets, it’s okay.
To the person not sharing deeply, it’s okay.
To the person who chooses to post whatever they post for whatever reason, it’s okay.

And to the person judging those who post because you think their labels tell everything there is to know about who they truly are, that’s not okay.

My advice to you is to find the people you love on social media and follow them. And the ones you do not resonate with? Unfollow them. No amount of calling out another and dimming another’s light with your judgement will make you shine brighter or make the world a better place.

I hope one day we can all look at what we focus on and realize that is what matters most.

What is your focus on social media?

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