What I Wish Every Yoga Teacher Knew About Social Media

A few years ago, I was taught by some Instagram-savvy colleagues that a quick way to gain followers was to "like" people’s posts. I would spend days and weeks mindlessly scrolling through applicable hashtags, liking every post in the feed at a rapid rate. As my followers increased, it became like a game, a drug even. I was "liking" things all the time. Early in the morning. Late at night. At stoplights. I was doing it so fast that I didn't even notice when a little message appeared saying I was unable to like any more posts. Apparently, I abused the privilege. Twice.

In the yoga community, the parameters of success have changed vastly over the years. I started teaching in 2008 when social media was in its infancy, and a yoga teacher’s mastery was measured by how long they studied and whom they had studied with. When Instagram first came into existence in 2010, it was just an app with cool filters. Now, it's a marketing machine. As a result, perception of success for today’s yoga teacher has more to do with brand and reach than years of training.

It's hard not to feel discouraged or behind when brand-new teachers (some of whom you taught) are whizzing by you in the Instagram express lane—I know from experience. But when we step out of ego, which is what is really hurt here, and return to our values, we can remember what we stand for and stay focused on our individual path.

While we're at it, let's redefine what it means to be successful on social media. It's exhausting how much time it takes to create one post. Success in the social media world should be measured by how many of our students tell us that what we posted was exactly what they needed. Success with social media is when your family, friends, and students around the world can track and support your growth and well-earned accomplishments and, as a result, be inspired.

I'm not saying we should never hire someone to help us with our business strategy, nor am I saying that it's wrong. What I'm advising you to do is trust the process. That time and experience will mold you much more organically than any service you buy. That yoga teachers can grow successful businesses with integrity, but in order to do that we must never lose sight of our greater intention to help others. Ask yourself this: Are you doing this to become a rock star or to heal people?

As teachers, we lead by example. And the more we emphasize the external (the pictures, the poses, the popularity), the less we invite the internal. So, let’s measure success not by how many exotic places we get to teach in but by how many lives we get to change. Let’s measure success not by the number of students attending our events but by how many we deeply connect with. Let’s measure success not by the number of followers we have but our ability to share our truth and help others recognize theirs.