MOON MAGIC: YOUR MOON 101 GUIDE

MOON MAGIC: Your Moon 101 guide

Happy FULL MOON!

On my birthday I made a post on instagram stating that this year, I will be more authentic. This blog post is as a step towards that direction and a way for me to shed some light on what some of my deepest interests and passions include, which happens to be spirituality, the moon and my connection to it. And what better time to do that than the day the sun fully illuminates the moon, which happens to be today.

It’s interesting how my soul chose to be born in a country where we today are so disconnected from nature and spirituality (and within that same spectrum, also the moon). Growing up in Finland, I’ve throughout my life been conditioned to a society where we are surrounded by systems, order, rules and regulations. Everything is perfectly planned, systemized and scientific. Don’t get me wrong here, I am grateful and aware of my privilege and I do feel lucky to have been born into a country that is so well functioning. But in terms of being connected to nature and its cyclical essence, our surroundings and spirit, I wouldn’t rank Finland very high today. Quite the opposite actually. But it didn’t always used to be that way. Finnish shamanism is one of the oldest shamanic lineages as it stems from the indigenous peoples of Finland; the Finns and the Saami. Both peoples developed rich shamanic traditions, where for instance going to the sauna was seen as a spiritual act (similar to a sweat lodge in Native American culture). The sauna was a sacred ritual and you had to follow the sauna rules. Sauna also had its’ own spirit called löylynhenki. So even if we Finns might seem detached from nature and spirit today, we still have our deep traditions that live and thrive.

Despite us Finns having these deep roots and traditions, to be openly interested in things most people would describe as occult or new age mumbo jumbo, is not always the easiest path. When you mention the idea of aligning your actions with the lunar phases, you might get eye rolls or be ridiculed. On the flipside though, I actually find it sad people are so detached, as they see everything they don’t understand as woo woo. Luckily however, I’ve been fortunate enough to have connected with many like minded people, who understand the ancient wisdom of connecting with la luna and its cycles. When I lived in Mexico, I used to meet up with a couple friends during full moon and new moon. We would go to a very special place overlooking the town of Sayulita to share our deepest desires and hopes and do various ceremonies to connect with the moon. And if I can inspire even one more person to find this connection, this blog post serves a purpose. Aligning your actions with nature is so so powerful.

HOW THE MOON AFFECTS US

As some of you might know, the moon affects the ocean with its tidal pull. If you’re a surfer, it’s helpful to use this information to decide the most ideal time to shred the gnar. What you also might be aware of already, is that the human body consists up to nearly 70% of water. You do the math (moon + water = effect). Another interesting thing to consider is the link between the lunar cycles and menstrual flow. A menstrual cycle lasts 28 days, which is about as long as a moon cycle. The moon takes 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes to complete one round around the earth. Normally, the ovulation happens around full moon, when everything is coming into full circle and fruition and the shedding usually happens around new moon, which is the darkest phase of the moon. When you start to observe your body more you might notice a clear correlation with the celestial events and your menstrual cycle.

The moon has always been a big theme in religions art and rituals. The moon represents powerful feminine energy. It signifies wisdom, intuition, birth, death, reincarnation, and a spiritual connection. Throughout eons of time, peoples across the world have worshipped it and gathered to celebrate the full moon. Each phase of the Moon’s cycle has a unique visual characteristic and spiritual meaning. The lunar phases are also used in agriculture as these same forces affect the water content of the soil, creating more moisture in the soil at the time of the new and full moon. This increased moisture encourages the seeds to sprout and grow. The lunar cycle is like the cycle of a seed: it grows up into a flower, it blooms and then it dies. 

Meditate and center yourself during a full moon to connect with yourself. Pic: Vuokko Salo

We are all capable of attuning with the moons energies and activating our inner power. The lunar cycle is made up of different stages.

Traditionally the full moon and the new moon are considered to be the most potent phases to align with the moon. There is a myriad of ways you can work and connect with the moon through intention and ceremony. Each month of the year also holds a specific symbolic meaning for each full moon as well as the weekday it falls upon. The full moon also falls each month in a different astrological sign and you can learn specifically about each full moon and its themes. As there is so much to dive into, I’ve gathered a simplified list here below of the different lunar phases of one moon cycle about what the various phases represent and what you can do in order to connect with them.

New Moon

New moons represent new beginnings. The Moon is positioned between the Earth and Sun so it cannot be seen from Earth.

WHAT TO DO: This is a time to start new projects and phases within your life.

Waxing Crescent Moon

This phase signifies intention. ‘Waxing’ means the moon’s illumination is growing, and ‘Crescent’ means less than half of the moon is illuminated.

WHAT TO DO: Write a list of your intentions and keep them in mind. What things do you want to accomplish or get done?

First Quarter Moon

This phase signifies decision making. Exactly half of the Moon is illuminated and the other half is shadowed.

WHAT TO DO: During this phase spend extra time making decisions.

Waxing Gibbous Moon

This moon phase signifies purification. ‘Waxing’ means the Moon’s illumination is growing and ‘Gibbous’ means more than half of the Moon is illuminated.

WHAT TO DO: Assess your goals and figure out what is working for you right now and what may need to change.

Full Moon

Fruition, completion, bloom, release and sealing of intention. The Sun illuminates the entire moon.

WHAT TO DO: This is a the time to set goals and make any promises to yourself on a soul level. If there are any areas that no longer serve you, it is time to let go of them.

Waning Gibbous

Gratitude. ‘Waning’ refers to the decreasing of the Moon’s illumination, and ‘Gibbous’ means more than half of Moon illuminated.

WHAT TO DO: Make a list of all the things you are grateful for.

The full moon is a powerful time for looking within, for healing and shifting. A great way to channel these energies is through a sound bath. Pic: Vuokko Salo

Third Quarter

Forgiveness. Exactly half of the Moon is illuminated and the other half is shadowed. We will see the opposite side than the First Quarter Moon.

WHAT TO DO: Use this time to forgive others and forgive yourself.

Waning Crescent

Surrender. ‘Waning’ refers to the shrinking of the Moon’s illumination, and ‘Crescent’ means less than half of the Moon is illuminated.

WHAT TO DO: Spend time being mindful, going with the flow and surrendering to the world around you.

February Snow Supermoon 2020

Like I mentioned above, each full moon has a specific theme and meaning. The February’s moon is the Snow Moon.  In the northern hemisphere, this name reflects the time when winter is in full force.  This moon has other names as well such as the Hunger Moon, Storm Moon, and Chaste Moon.

This specific full moon falls upon the sign of Leo and is a supermoon, meaning the moon appears to be closer to earth. The theme for this full moon is passion, motivation and shining brightly, burning away anything that stands in front of you from achieving your deepest desires. Leos like to be in the spotlight and this full moon is a time for all of us to embrace our inner Leos and celebrate ourselves. As full moons represents fruition and/or completition, it’s a great time to look back at all you’ve accomplished. 

This full moon also has the moon trine Mars aspect. This condition helps us to acknowledge the fears that have been holding us back,and the things we have tried to avoid resolving. This creates a new setting for change and progress. The projects that we start during this Full Moon will blossom into something truly beautiful. So if you’ve been waiting for a sign, let this be it. Source & read more here.

How do you connect with the moon?

It’s been a while since I wrote my last guide. Let me know if you enjoy these posts or you have any topic you’d want me to write about.

Con amor,

Eva

Get to know the girl behind the screen // 15 random facts you (probably) didn't know about me

15 facts you (probably) didn’t know about me

and didn’t care about in the first place…

Or maybe you do or did. Either way, I recently saw a post on my insta feed of my good friend and talented photographer, Jessica, where she posted a list of funny things about herself as an introduction. This inspired me to do the same, so without further ado, I decided to give it a whirl.

Proof of me juggling, well kind of. Pic: Jess Leigh

1. I’m Finnish Swedish

   I am from Helsinki, Finland and a part of the 6 % minority of Swedish speaking Finns – I speak Swedish with my dad, Finnish with my mom. In addition to these two native tongues, as I lived in Sayulita, Mexico for nearly 7 years; I learned Spanish, I also understand French semi-fluently and well, English is a given. Another randomness for good measure: I lived in Bali, Indonesia, during my studies and during that time I could understand Bahasa Indonesia pretty decently (today, not so much, I only remember Terimakasahi).

2. In addition to yoga… I also like the gym, cute surfable waves, swimming, short runs (not marathons), long walks on the beach and berry picking (does that count as a sport?).

3. My favorite TV shows include…

   Game of Thrones (duh) and The Office. Actually, if you’re in a dark place in your life or need any anti depressant, try watching a couple seasons of The Office and I can assure you, you’ll be in a better place.

4. I am highly sensitive and perceptive and have razor sharp intuition. I usually get a pretty good feel on wether people and situations can be trusted. That being said, there’s definitely also been some misjudgment and I’ve been burnt a handful of times.

5. I know how to juggle.

   Only with three balls tho. Still pretty cool if I may say so myself.

6. I love to paint and draw!

   I usually paint naked women and eyes. Why? Go figure.

7. I have a Master’s degree in Science (Economics)

   Yup, I graduated from the Swedish School of Economics (Hanken) in Helsinki and I studied Marketing as my major, my minor was Spanish and Business Mgmt & Organization. I wrote my thesis about wellness tourism (no surprise there).

8. I’m currently working on or working with…

   Event production (day job), various collaboration projects including the podcast I co-host, a yoga retreat in Mexico, corporate yoga classes, revamping our summer cabin by the sea and a secret super cool project that will be launched later this year (stay tuned, will ya).

9. I’m not allergic to anything (as far as I know)….

   And my plan is to keep it this way. I’ve never been tested tho (well I don’t remember at least).

10. A lion once wanted to eat me as a snack.

    True story. We were in Zimbabwe on a safari, luckily my mom’s friend pulled my down a cliff and there was a feeble fence in between.

11. I’ve been stung by a scorpion

    And it hurt like a mother*** Seriously, worst pain I’ve ever felt. Imagine neuro toxin running through your body in waves and not being able to breath simultaneously. Ouch.

12. I am a cat and a dog person and my cat got eaten by a python.

    And yes, you can be both a cat and a dog person. And yes, my cat got eaten by a python in Mexico. I know. It’s pretty dark.

13. My favorite color is…

    purple, lavender, lilac, magneta, violet, plum. You get it.

14. My favorite flower is…

    THE SUNFLOWER. GIMME. I love the Spanish name “Girasol” the one who turns towards the sun.

15. I love warm water.

    The ocean or a hot tub, I’m there.

Warm water, yes please. Pic: Jenn Farmer

K, that’s all for now.

Love,

Evita

Why do I blog, but perhaps you should too?

Greetings dear readers,

Welcome to my world. Well, at least a glimpse of it. I started blogging (again) after a loooong break. Ever since I started writing again some people in my circle have been curious and reached out to me and asked me why I blog. This actually made me stop for a second and ponder that same question myself, and so I decided to open up and shed some light on it; WHY DO I BLOG. Ladies and gents lemme tell ya why:

First and foremost I actually enjoy writing. It’s a way for me to express and share my thoughts, passions, interests and ideas within my community. It feels really really good and empowering to put my thoughts down on a piece of paper (even if it’s in a virtual format). Interestingly enough writing is actually something that runs in my family, as my mama used to be a journalist and worked with communication until she finally retired this year. So, in it’s simplicity, it’s a way to communicate with you guys (ahum, if you’re actually reading this, comments are more than encouraged).

Secondly, I feel like it’s extremely therapeutic and I gain a lot of insight and clarity on how I actually think and feel about certain things or whatever it is that I am writing about, it simply helps me make sense of things. In addition to this, I feel like it’s making me commit to a practice or habit and teaches me to build discipline (self work, duh!). I also feel like it is helping me become more analytical and a better thinker, as I actually really think about the stuff I put out on the world wide web (aka my brain is getting more functional 🧠).

I also feel like it is helping me grow as a person, as I am putting myself and my thoughts out there and building my personal brand, and showcasing my world views and passions. That being said, I often worry and think “oh my gosh will they judge me, what will they think” etc etc BUT then I just remind myself that the thing is, I’d rather be judged than do shit, and actually judgment says way more about the person judging than the person being judged. Oh, and did I mention it’s the bomb for marketing and SEO? Yea, so I guess you should start now too (if you’re in the biz world)! In a nutshell, I gathered all my reasons here below:

1. I enjoy it + runs in the fam

2. I get to express myself, my views, thoughts, ideas, and beliefs

3. Great way to connect with my community and beyond

4. It challenges me and puts me out of my comfort zone + empowers me

5. It makes me more analytical and inspires me to read and dig more into the topics that interest me or the things I wanna discuss

6. It’s therapeutic

7. It gives me clarity and insight about how I feel and what I think

8. Personal brand development

9. It’s the bomb for SEO

10. It’s making me grow as a person (self development)

If you also happen to enjoy writing, it’s perhaps time you should give it a go as well?

Vamos.

Con amor y cariño,

Evita

Up close and personal.

Collaboration over Competition and (Comparison) + 10 reasons why to collaborate

Collaboration over Competition and (Comparison) + 10 reasons why to collaborate

Hear hear! I recently made a post about envy, if you didn’t give it a read, I suggest you at least eye it through to get an idea of my message. That being said, I completely understand your attention span might be below zero, so to save you some and effort and time I can briefly recap it here below in a few bullet points:

• Don’t judge social media influencers or yoga teachers for posting pics on their feeds, they’re hustling just like you but in different way, they might feel insecure AF posting but do it to gain traction and biz. They’re simply using this channel for marketing (or at least I’d say many are).

• Comparison is the seed for envy. Think about it. Yup, pretty darn accurate.

• If you’re feeling envy: aim to emphasize instead of criticize. Remember errbody is a human and even if someone else’s life looks freaking glorious on the gram, EVEN they’ve had the worst raging diarrhea once (sorry not sorry I went there, lol). No, but for reals, my point is, we shall not compare as we have no idea of the whole story or their internal state. 

• Fight the feelings of envy through cutting the wings of comparison. If you’re feeling envy, try using it as fuel towards your own dreams and always remember that, that you don’t know the reality of their (whoever you feel envy towards) lives, they might actually be in a really bad place with themselves.

K, cool, great, now that you’re all filled in on the envy part I want to take it one step further.  Collaboration over competition. Many of my friends are yoga teachers or at least work within the same field that I do. Some might argue that we’re competing with each other. The thing is though, that we all have something unique to offer, have a different vibe, our individual approach and a distinct way of teaching and we all attract a different crowd. That being said, you gotta play nice and fair and for instance being a copy cat is never cool. However, mistakes happen and one of my friends told me that she had just launched a Goddess Workshop (name changed) and was later contacted by someone with the exact same name, this was an honest mistake and not her intention at all. Communication, expression, honesty. It works, yup, the holy trinity once again.

Working together is powerful and so much more can be done in teams. I absolutely love projects and working with other people! Here’s a couple examples of what I’m doing/planning currently: co-hosting a retreat in Sayulita, Mexico this upcoming November (JOIN US!!) with my good friend & fellow yoga teacher Jonna Monola, co-hosting a singing bowl Yin + Sound Bath with Pauliina Kuunkajo this Saturday, soon launching a course with my friend Jasmiina Ojala from BärBar this fall (stay tuned), I will be teaching amongst a pool of other amazing yogis at the Magnesia Festival this summer, I am co-hosting a podcast (COMING SOON, launched this NEW MOON) with fellow yoginis Audra Rose Stanley and Sylvie Lacourciere and there’s a few more projects I’m not supposed to talk about just yet (aka keep your eyes open). So you, see, I LOVE co-creation.

An image from a collaboration I made with Jenette Skin Care.

K, well, why you might ask? Well lemme give you 10 reasons right here, right now, so read on folks!

1. First of all, there’s magic in coming together! Everybody has a unique skillset and different talents, you can just simply create SO MUCH MORE when joining forces with other people. Chances are you’ll also learn something new from them!

2. Co-creation is the shit for marketing & PR! You double up the reach (or triple up the reach) in whatever you’re doing. More reach, more business, more dinero. Easy.

3. It’s just so much more FUN! You get to share the workload and responsibilities PLUS it’s nice to have someone to hang out with. My friend Jonna and myself were recently at the Helsinki Yoga Festival with a stand promoting our upcoming retreat wearing sombreros and blasting banda music, imagine if I would’ve done that all alone. Lame.

4. Brainstorming & new ideas. Two brains are more than one brain. It’s true. More effective problem solving happens when you combine resources in talent and mindset. This also means you can come up with better ideas, projects, and workshops when you’re joining forces with someone PLUS you also have someone to discuss your ideas with and give you feedback.

5. Your tribe/network/clients get more value. Damn right they do. For instance in a yoga workshop: having two yogis instead of one yogi is amazing since you’ll get more hands on adjustments and help in your practice. If whatever it is that you’re doing is not yoga, you’ll still get more insight and value from having more than one {insert whatever}.

6. It’s time-efficient. Delegating tasks, planning, and implementation in a group or team is way more productive than doing everything solo.

7. You will learn from your mistakes and what collaborations/projects work for you. Not all collaborations and dynamics work, don’t let this discourage you. We are all different and it’s just like chemistry, everything does not work well together. Like oil and water = no bueno. Let failures be stepping stones towards finding the right people, organizations, and companies that do work with you. Kinda like fuckboys towards Prince Charming if you will.

8. Self-awareness. When you work with someone new, you’ll quickly notice your skills and also see what you need to work on. Yay. #selfwork

9. You’ll get inspired. Working together with someone new will most likely inspire you in some way or form, after noticing for instance your skillset and gifts and areas of improvement, you’ll most likely start working on the things you need to improve and start using more of your strengths to your advantage.

10. Community building + new doors. You get to create a community and you’ll reach a broader network for future projects with new possibilities and opportunities. Dope.

Cool. So now that the ball is in your hands. What do you want to create? Let’s create some magic together.

There’s a few things I can help you with and things I am working with currently:

• Yoga classes + holistic wellness + self work (here’s what some of my students have to say)

• Copywriting (if you didn’t notice yet, I love writing; my strongest writing language is English, however I can produce text in Swedish, Finnish and Spanish as well).

• Promotion & marketing; either working on your branding or marketing, coming up with creative ideas, or then promotion through my own channels. I wouldn’t go as far as calling myself an influencer just yet as insta has been killing my reach with its new algorithm), but nearly 5K followers gotta count for something 🤷🏼‍♀️ Oh did someone mention #SHAMELESSELFPROMOTION 💅🏽🙋🏼‍♀️

• Event production (past wedding planner & currently working within this field).

• Modeling (yup, I’ll smile at a camera).

Get in touch and let’s make shit happen.

With love,

Evita

Envy

ENVY

There’s a lot of hype around sisterhood, goddess power and the sacred feminine. There’s a big movement called Women Supporting Women and there are a lot of strong women out there yearning to co-create, support each other and collaborate. I am one of those women and I would go as far as to say that it’s even in my blood, my lineage and my karma. My grandmother was amongst the first women in Finland to get a driver’s license and a dedicated yogini (before it was cool & trendy) and my mom, whom I’m very proud of by the way, has always been an avid feminist and worked to support women. She served as the president of the Finnish Women Entrepreneurs for several years until she finally retired this year. Cheers to you mama ❤️ I recognize your hard work.

I believe that there’s power in numbers and union and supporting each other is absolutely beautiful and we should definitely co-create, collaborate and work together. Unfortunately, however, there is something we fail to talk about openly, the big underbelly of sisterhood called envy. It’s understandable, I mean who would want to bring up the nasty, big ole’ envy with its ugliness, and it surely isn’t something to use when marketing. But envy is real and as much as women would love to have the support of each other, unfortunately they (we) are the first ones judge, criticize, belittle and smack talk each other.

I’m going to use myself as an example. When I first started my blog a few years ago I decided I needed to write at least twice a week and post on specific days. Consistency was key and every marketing savvy person would advise new bloggers to do this as it was considered to be the best method for SEO optimizing and gaining more readers. This was in 2016. The blog scene was already pretty established and I was kinda late to even be jumping on the bandwagon. I decided to give it a go anyways as I thought it’d be cool side project and something that would help me build my biz in Mex. Well, It didn’t really go as planned and life happened, I lost interest, dropped the project and stopped writing altogether. I felt a lot of insecurity in my writing and felt as if what I had to say wasn’t valuable, interesting or good enough. I was reading other blogs and felt that my posts where silly, unimportant or just shitty compared to the other stuff out there.

Fast forward three years, a lot of craziness and rapid growth and I suddenly find myself typing again. Unexpected, unplanned and unintentional. But this time it’s not forced, this time it flows, it feels good and I feel like I can stand behind everything I am writing without feeling insecure, without worrying about what other people think. Because I know better. Because I know myself. Because I’ve grown. But perhaps most importantly because I’m not comparing my writing to anyone else’s. It feels like I am finally using my own voice. It feels good to write and it feels good to share my opinions, thoughts and learnings. And if I can touch someone with my writing, or make someone think, even better.

We are all unique and have something different to offer.

My aim is to be real, genuine and write about the hard stuff too. Like envy. Not just the picture perfect life that social media can portray (and I am very aware of that my own insta feed displays this, hence the blog with more depth), but more about lessons, growth, life, whatever comes to my mind really. There’s no guidelines or restrictions. It also feels very therapeutic and more free as I have no set rules on how often to post, I simply do it whenever I get a splurge of inspiration, like right now at this very moment. And right now I feel like talking about envy. Everyone’s felt it, everyone knows what it is, but nobody really talks about it. So let’s.

So what is envy? Well, it’s thinking that what someone else has or is, is somehow better than what you are or have or are doing. The root to envy is comparison. It’s counting someone else’s blessings instead of yours. It’s feeling less than someone else. It’s the feeling of lacking. It’s not being happy with who you are or with what you have to offer. Heavy stuff huh.

So there are two very likely outcomes of feeling envy, either you’ll start feeling resentment towards the person or then other nasty side effect: you’ll start talking shit. But does either method make it go away? Hardly. So how do you make it go away? Perhaps the most important thing is: to stop comparing yourself to others. The saying “comparison is the thief of joy” truly is the truth. Comparison will not take you anywhere and you are only comparing yourself to an perceived image, not the actual truth. “Don’t criticize, emphasize” is a good one, because you have no idea of knowing what the person you’re envious of is dealing with, what they’ve been through or about their struggles or issues. So recognize their mundane humanness and simply stop.

Okay, so if there’s no way that you can stop comparing yourself with someone else or emphasize with them, there’s one more way: start working towards your dreams. Use the feeling of envy as fuel towards your own goals and start making shit happen. And this, ladies and gentlemen is empowering AF.

Lastly I would like to say that if you notice that you’re feeling envy towards a friend instead of a random Joe, try be open and honest about it and talk it out as difficult and even embarrassing it might feel. It takes a lot of courage, but the truth is energy doesn’t lie, and most likely your friend already felt it. Communication is key, to absolutely everything, even in dealing with envy amongst friends. Because if not, you’ll start wishing them to not be so successful or good or whatever it is you think they are, and eventually your friend will have to turn to people that wish them the best.

Life is hard, support each other and recognize your uniqueness. We all have something to offer and we are all just trying to figure it out.

Thank you for taking the time to read my typing, it’s nice to know someone out there is reading this.

Con amor,

Evita

Real and talk about instagram, selfies and self promotion

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Dear reader,

If you're a millennial like myself you’ve most likely stumbled upon the expression “shameless self promotion”. If you’re unfamiliar with it, what it means is putting yourself out there with the idea of marketing something you sell, provide or do without feeling any shame about doing it. I believe the infamous hashtag #sorrynotsorry sometimes goes along with it and most of you have probably seen a cute selfie on instagram by someone you know along with the hashtag. I guess the #sorrynotsorry is a way to acknowledge that something you’re posting might trigger some feelings or opinions in some people but you decide to do it nevertheless. More than the #shamelessselfpromotion, the #sorrynotsorry is often used when someone is simply just giving themselves permission to post that cute pic (nothing wrong with that) and perhaps not as used when marketing a product or a service.

So like I mentioned the whole concept with shameless self promotion is basically not feeling any shame in blasting (presenting would be a nicer word) your services or products on the world wide web. In all honesty though, unless you’ve got the confidence of Kim Kardashian or Queen B (um, Beyonce hellooo) (not even sure she’s got that good of a self esteem actually…) the odds are you might feel some sort of shame or insecurity in posting pics of what it is that you’re trying to sell. I mean, at least I do. And I wanted to write about it openly and honestly. Social media and especially Instagram are great tools to gain traction for whatever it is that you’re selling or promoting. Good content on your feed translates to many likes that will lead to more followers that leads to a wider audience and that again will eventually result in more business. So yes, in a nutshell social media and self promotion are key parts of a smart marketing strategy. Unfortunately or luckily though (however you wanna look at it) if you’re a yoga teacher or someone whose product happens to be a service you sell yourself, it most likely will mean that the content you’re sharing will involve pictures, opinions or words of yours.

The raw truth is that we live in a world were pretty pics of pretty girls gain followers. I mean who doesn’t want to look at a girl striking a one armed handstand in a thong…. hmm, some might not actually want to. BUT many do. For some it might be inspiring, for others it might be entertaining and for others they simply enjoy the beautiful images. But the truth is these accounts have a lot of followers. The important thing is to understand that an image is just that, a glimpse of a moment, and a pose is just that, a pose. It all comes down to your perspective and the pair of goggles you’re using to look at your world though. Learning cool ass ninja tricks like arm balances or being skinny, fit or good looking does not equal happiness. Being fit and attractive are ideal attributes many strive to attain. Knowing how to rock cool ass yoga poses might be empowering for some. BUT again plz remember, it does not necessarily mean that the person is living a balanced happy life. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. We have really no way of knowing, unless we do. So remember that next time you’re scrolling through your feed. But that being said, pretty pictures work in marketing.

Posting pics on social media is a hard dance between creating content that empowers, motivates, gains traction and is beautiful and real all at the same time. As someone trying to promote something you’re obviously hoping to get likes and to gain followers in order to grow your business. But if you’re a yoga teacher like myself, how the heck do I do that in a graceful and successful way. If I scroll down my own feed for example and review the pics that have the most likes, I can see a pretty clear pattern (well now it’s harder after the new algorithm change). Not surprising, the pics with the most likes are close ups of my face or me in a swimsuit. So does that mean I think I’m the shit and hot as balls, well, nope, I can assure you NOT AT ALL.

To put yourself out for the world to see is hard and takes a lot of courage in the first place. Sadly we yoga teachers get constantly judged and criticized for the content we post on our feeds. And this does not only happen with yoga teachers, I see this with many women in many different fields of business. Why the fuck are we not allowed to be smart & sexy at the same time? Seriously though, who are you to say what is appropriate content and what’s not. I mean if you have a social media account clearly you want to share something with the world as well, so why is your content more appropriate than mine!? I remember it like yesterday when a person commented on one of my pics when I posted an image of a landscape “nice, not a picture of yourself”. This made me sad cuz putting yourself out there is already hard enough to begin with. Well watcha gonna do, haters gonna hate, right!?

This image has the most likes on my instagram feed. Taken by talented friend Jess Leigh Photography.

So my point is too often we might be too quick to judge and think “omg look at Bethany just posting pics of herself”. Well, lemme tell ya something Mike, perhaps Bethany needs a little extra validation and has a low self esteem…perhaps Bethany is dealing with a breakup and needs to feel good about herself OR WHAT IF MIKE, Bethany is actually trying to sell or promote something and is using the best possible marketing strategies she knows. So please before jumping to the conclusion and thinking that Bethany thinks that she’s the shit and throwing the first rock, I suggest you step back and check yourself. Sure, most of us might agree that if Bethany is simply looking for validation through social media, it might not be the best way to cope with her low self-esteem issues. But then on the other hand, who the hell are you to judge. I mean are you perfect? What I’m trying to say is, that we are all different and today the gram happens to be a big part of our lives, in the good and the bad, and we all use it in different ways, some for marketing, some for posting pics of their sushi platter, some of them surfing, others for selfies and some for posting pics of their their kids. And this is all completely fine. So please, Mike, try to be more understanding and kind in a world that’s already harsh and hard enough as it is.

With love,

Evita