Somewhere along the line, the yoga
tradition has married philosophies that
seem overly focussed on the self and
spat out a new age/positive psychology/
yoga hybrid that’s often inconsistent and
sometimes downright ridiculous. To me,
the self-care phenomenon fits into this
category. That’s not to say I’m not a fan
of an indulgent spa session or a gentle
reminder to myself that I am worthy.
But an extreme focus on the self takes
our attention away from the things
that actually make us feel happy and
fulfilled: helping others and having a
sense of community. Likewise, tell
someone who is genuinely suffering
from mental health challenges to go
take a long bath or recite some
affirmations and you may end up
exacerbating the problem.
Having said that, something like a
yoga or meditation practice as an act of
what we now call ‘self-care’ can be
absolutely essential for creating the
space one needs in order to sift through
the contents of the brain and find some
clarity and stillness. But that doesn’t
mean you need to head off to Bali for“Aborempero que sus, niendestiae
et laborrovidi beat fuga. Et.”another teacher training. In fact,
self-care, from a truly yogic perspective,
goes beyond individuality and embraces
the self as a part of something infinitely
greater.THE PARADOX OF SELF-CARE IN
THE YOGA WORLD: ISN’T YOGA
ABOUT RENOUNCING THE EGO OR
SOMETHING LIKE THAT?
The strong focus on the self in the
modern yoga world perplexes me. Yoga is
supposed to be about letting go of the
self, and seeing that there is no
separation; we are all one. One of my
most influential yoga philosophy
teachers, Swami Pujan (www.pujanyoga.
com), a long time yoga philosophy
teacher, meditator and author of Advaita
Vendata for Ordinary People, agrees.
He explains that traditional yoga
philosophies were all aimed at liberating
oneself from the ignorance of our
separation. He says, “Indian tradition
was never about the individual, but
about the family and your connection
with your wider community. The aim of
yoga was to contribute and not toenhance your individuality.” When it
came to teachings of the Self, it was all
about the realisation of the separate self
as the universal self. Contrastingly,
modern yoga, he says, “is built around
the idea that you need to strengthen
your individuality and that is, of course,
a reflection of our society which is built
on individualism.”
Lissie Turner, a long time yoga
teacher, yoga therapist, and owner of
The Yoga Shack (theyogashack.com.au)
in the Byron Shire agrees that yoga is
not an easy path, and it’s association
with self-care could be damaging. Yoga
asks for attention, dedication and
commitment. It requires us to confront
hidden parts of ourselves and sometimes
to change, and that can be really hard
work.
True yoga, she says, “is utilising this
work and this willingness to truly look
at where we are within, our own
prejudices, interpretations and
shortcomings that are causing people’s
suffering with a deep determination to
dismantle those things.” When we put
yoga under the self-care umbrella, we
make it a luxury, a symbol of the
privileged, and something to feel guilty
about having time for—not an essential
part of our lives and spiritual practice.
She says, “We must, as teachers, become
committed in looking at how this has
happened and undo that story.”THE DANGERS OF SELF-CARE
It’s okay to take time to yourself, to
assert healthy boundaries in
relationships and indulge once in a
while. In fact, these things may all be
essential to your physical, mental and
emotional health. But being overly
attached to the idea of the self can
become unhealthy. Swami Pujan points
out that connection with others can be
lost when we’re too focused on
ourselves. He says, “Forms of narcissism
develop like constant Instagram photos
of yourself. Obsession with physical
appearance can take the place of
genuine caring and community.”
Sarah Ball (www.sarahball.com.au)
is a mental-health focused yoga teacher
and a social worker who knows all too
well the downside of focusing on
self-care as a solution to a much
greater problem. She explains that we
need to view both distress and healing
in a larger context, rather than
68 isolating ourselves – which is often ataugust/september2019yogajournal.com.auPHOTO: 180108140 /SHUTTERSTOCK.COMyj77_64-67 Yoga for self care_TODD.indd 68 19/7/19 1:19 pmSomewhere along the line, the yoga
tradition has married philosophies that
seem overly focussed on the self and
spat out a new age/positive psychology/
yoga hybrid that’s often inconsistent and
sometimes downright ridiculous. To me,
the self-care phenomenon fits into this
category. That’s not to say I’m not a fan
of an indulgent spa session or a gentle
reminder to myself that I am worthy.
But an extreme focus on the self takes
our attention away from the things
that actually make us feel happy and
fulfilled: helping others and having a
sense of community. Likewise, tell
someone who is genuinely suffering
from mental health challenges to go
take a long bath or recite some
affirmations and you may end up
exacerbating the problem.
Having said that, something like a
yoga or meditation practice as an act of
what we now call ‘self-care’ can be
absolutely essential for creating the
space one needs in order to sift through
the contents of the brain and find some
clarity and stillness. But that doesn’t
mean you need to head off to Bali foranother teacher training. In fact,
self-care, from a truly yogic perspective,
goes beyond individuality and embraces
the self as a part of something infinitely
greater.THE PARADOX OF SELF-CARE IN
THE YOGA WORLD: ISN’T YOGA
ABOUT RENOUNCING THE EGO OR
SOMETHING LIKE THAT?
The strong focus on the self in the
modern yoga world perplexes me. Yoga is
supposed to be about letting go of the
self, and seeing that there is no
separation; we are all one. One of my
most influential yoga philosophy
teachers, Swami Pujan (www.pujanyoga.
com), a long time yoga philosophy
teacher, meditator and author of Advaita
Vendata for Ordinary People, agrees.
He explains that traditional yoga
philosophies were all aimed at liberating
oneself from the ignorance of our
separation. He says, “Indian tradition
was never about the individual, but
about the family and your connection
with your wider community. The aim of
yoga was to contribute and not toenhance your individuality.” When it
came to teachings of the Self, it was all
about the realisation of the separate self
as the universal self. Contrastingly,
modern yoga, he says, “is built around
the idea that you need to strengthen
your individuality and that is, of course,
a reflection of our society which is built
on individualism.”
Lissie Turner, a long time yoga
teacher, yoga therapist, and owner of
The Yoga Shack (theyogashack.com.au)
in the Byron Shire agrees that yoga is
not an easy path, and it’s association
with self-care could be damaging. Yoga
asks for attention, dedication and
commitment. It requires us to confront
hidden parts of ourselves and sometimes
to change, and that can be really hard
work.
True yoga, she says, “is utilising this
work and this willingness to truly look
at where we are within, our own
prejudices, interpretations and
shortcomings that are causing people’s
suffering with a deep determination to
dismantle those things.” When we put
yoga under the self-care umbrella, we
make it a luxury, a symbol of the
privileged, and something to feel guilty
about having time for—not an essential
part of our lives and spiritual practice.
She says, “We must, as teachers, become
committed in looking at how this has
happened and undo that story.”THE DANGERS OF SELF-CARE
It’s okay to take time to yourself, to
assert healthy boundaries in
relationships and indulge once in a
while. In fact, these things may all be
essential to your physical, mental and
emotional health. But being overly
attached to the idea of the self can
becomeunhealthy.SwamiPujanpoints
outthatconnectionwithotherscanbe
lostwhenwe’retoofocusedon
ourselves.Hesays,“Formsofnarcissism
developlikeconstantInstagramphotos
ofyourself.Obsessionwithphysical
appearancecantaketheplaceof
genuinecaringandcommunity.”
SarahBall(www.sarahball.com.au)
is a mental-healthfocusedyogateacher
anda socialworkerwhoknowsalltoo
wellthedownsideoffocusingon
self-careasa solutiontoa much
greaterproblem.Sheexplainsthatwe
needtoviewbothdistressandhealing
ina largercontext,ratherthan
68 isolatingourselves– whichis oftenat
august/september2019yogajournal.com.auPHOTO: 180108140 /SHUTTERSTOCK.COM