^{This post was originally published on Brahmaniyoga.com on Feb 12, 2019}

The rise of judgement, shame and lack of self worth in the yoga world seems ironic and yet, when we really examine our interaction with yoga - its representation, the community and the commodity it has become, it’s everywhere. I travel a lot and teach in many yoga centres throughout the world and what I so often see is a lack of confidence and even confusion in teachers and students alike. When I press people for “why”, I recognise an enormous self doubt. The questions that arise from teachers and students are:

“Am I good enough?”

“Do I have enough students/followers?”

“Am I teaching the right stuff?”

“Should I be doing more handstands in my class?”

“I’m afraid of losing students if I’m not doing the same stuff as the ‘popular’ teachers”

What happened to our inner call to slow down and be integrated...

“There is more wisdom in your body than your deepest philosophy” Nietzsche 

How did we get to this point in history where we don’t trust our bodies? When did we decide someone else (a doctor, nurse, etc) would have more authority over how we feel inside? Isn’t it strange how little it takes for us to surrender our health to someone else.

Modern medicine has created miracles in technology and diagnosis and has saved millions of lives. But before modern medicine was established, we had to rely on our inherent, internal senses to help us decide what was best for ourselves. Why did we discard our more ancient wisdom along the way? It’s funny that often things like acupuncture, reflexology, Ayurveda, meditation, etc are referred to as “complementary medicine”. Weren’t they there first?

Historically we’ve had many means of holistic healing and it’s only now that modern society is starting to realise their benefits beyond...