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sydneydanger t1_j17blx2 wrote

Reply to comment by notenoughroomtofitmy in [IMAGE] sometimes you just need to not care by Th3MysticArcher

Right? It was a yoga class. It probably went as deep as “next class session, maybe try the advanced pose instead of the “if you’re not feeling comfortable” pose I suggest afterwards” because nobody else in the yoga class cares if you don’t do it perfectly, or if you have to give up halfway thru trying and do the normal pose. It’s not that deep.

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Cats-n-Corks-n-Cubes t1_j17eils wrote

Exactly. Everyone out here is applying it to being homeless or losing their job. The first phrase is "my yoga teacher", not their philosophy professor. Geez Louise.

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MasterWee t1_j17uejb wrote

I think my criticism is fair, if not entirely practical. I am not claiming there is an epidemic of people believing these quotes. I am just making a stated argument that life contains more nuances than a 3 sentence quote can solve is all.

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Cats-n-Corks-n-Cubes t1_j1fksl1 wrote

You said "this is bad advice". It's not bad advice in a yoga class, which is where it was given. Well, unless someone is afraid of failing a difficult pose, resulting in a fall and brain trauma, or something like that.

You're certainly correct that not every 3-sentence quote applies to every nuanced situation in life. I don't believe this particular quote was claiming to, though.

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MasterWee t1_j1fwetf wrote

So this is where we have to use the contextual meaning, and peel away from what is textual here.

  1. The advice was at the “end” of the class. So maybe it could have been about yoga poses, but as a send away it seems very much like “go off and use my wisdom in the real world!” We all interpret things differently. But GOOD advice is very specific. If someone can misinterpret something so easily, it is inherently a bad attempt at communication, and thus, bad advice.

  2. The tone of the advice was very harsh and aggressive. This is suggested by the use of the world “fucking” at the end of it. Now, I don’t claim to be a yogi, but from my limited knowledge, shanti, or inner peace, is kind of one of the goals of practicing yoga. I find a heavy conflict between achieving shanti and having an inner dialogue telling me “fucking” do things. Maybe I don’t fully understand the art so I, once again, can be wrong here.

  3. If the advice was limited to just the first sentence then this would actually be a very positive and insightful message. It retains the advice to just dealing with failure. The addition of the second sentence derails the advice into a call for narcissism and individual selfishness, a very not Yoga principle. Yoga isn’t “think of yourself first/only”, Yoga teaches respect and consideration for others through namaste.

  4. Words have meaning. Deliberate meaning. The length of our speech does not correlate with the heaviness of emotion it evokes. There is a call on your phone. You pick it up… “Mom died”… two words, three lines, an entire manuscript. Words, and the meanings those words convey can be very powerful. Never doubt that being of their length.

  5. Lastly, Yoga is an art form, and art always contains a deeper meaning. I don’t know how many yogis you know, but many of them explore the teachings of it to find extrapolations of Yogas meaning into their life (and more than just posing). This phrase said by a yogi at the end of creating/performing their art. Look at the subreddit this was posted in; this is very intentionally meant to be about more than just Yoga.

So not only is this bad advice generally, but even in the context of Yoga it is bad advice. Namaste!

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MasterWee t1_j1fy3ri wrote

So this is where we have to use the contextual meaning, and peel away from what is textual here. At least if we want to figure out how deep it could be.

  1. The advice was at the “end” of the class. So maybe it could have been about yoga poses, but as a send away it seems very much like “go off and use my wisdom in the real world!” We all interpret things differently. But GOOD advice is very specific. If someone can misinterpret something so easily, it is inherently a bad attempt at communication, and thus, bad advice.

  2. The tone of the advice was very harsh and aggressive. This is suggested by the use of the world “fucking” at the end of it. Now, I don’t claim to be a yogi, but from my limited knowledge, shanti, or inner peace, is kind of one of the goals of practicing yoga. I find a heavy conflict between achieving shanti and having an inner dialogue telling me “fucking” do things. Maybe I don’t fully understand the art so I, once again, can be wrong here.

  3. If the advice was limited to just the first sentence then this would actually be a very positive and insightful message. It retains the advice to just dealing with failure. The addition of the second sentence derails the advice into a call for narcissism and individual selfishness, a very not Yoga principle. Yoga isn’t “think of yourself first/only”, Yoga teaches respect and consideration for others through namaste.

  4. Words have meaning. Deliberate meaning. The length of our speech does not correlate with the heaviness of emotion it evokes. There is a call on your phone. You pick it up… “Mom died”… two words, three lines, an entire manuscript. Words, and the meanings of those words can be very powerful. Never doubt words strength based of their length.

  5. Lastly, Yoga is an art form, and art always contains a deeper meaning. I don’t know how many yogis you know, but many of them explore the teachings of it to find extrapolations of Yogas meaning into their life (and more than just posing). This phrase said by a yogi at the end of creating/performing their art. Look at the subreddit this was posted in; this is very intentionally meant to be about more than just Yoga.

So not only is this bad advice generally, but even in the context of Yoga it is bad advice. Namaste!

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sydneydanger t1_j1g00tj wrote

I’m convinced that people go to r/getmotivated just to try and make every single argument they can find against just chilling out and taking advice lightly. The best piece of advice you could take out of here is take a breath, chill out. Nothing is that serious. Be excellent to each other and back up enough from yourself to realize that nothing is really that important. You don’t need to write an academic thesis with bullet points about how you think an offhand comment from a strip mall yoga class teacher is damaging to the general population. Get a grip. Take yourself less seriously. Every yogi I have known has been someone who in real life struggles very much to practice what they preach. I understand that’s part of the process and I am not judging anyone for where they are in their own personal journey. But I can’t say I have ever met a yogi who I envied for their grasp on the way the world works.

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MasterWee t1_j1gw3sz wrote

I appreciate the concern, but talking things out is how we can grow and identify truths in this world. People can use reddit however they feel so long as it is with community guidelines. These discussions might not be for you, or you might eye-roll about them, but people want to share and exchange thoughts and opinions. That is why there is a comment section for posts.

Things are that important sometimes. Using your advice of “be excellent to each other” is why I commented in the first comment; I believe that there was bad advice/misinformation be circulated around that could be potentially harmful to that idea of “be excellent to each other”. My initial concern was other people’s well being. I know you mean well, but gatekeeping other people’s reddit experience isn’t really the W you think it is. I am allowed to be as transparent and argumentative in my discussions as I want to be.

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MasterWee t1_j17ua28 wrote

You might not take it as that deep, nor do I. But neither of us can speak for everyone. There likely exists people who do take it to that level of seriousness. I speak out for their benefit, not for you or me.

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