The Yoga of Twitter
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The word yoga literally means to yoke or unite. This union is nothing short of divine. A conscious merging of the self (ego) with the self (pure consciousness). This may also include uniting with the consciousness of others of like mind. The Sanskrit word which best describes this is Shangha or community. There are many steps in the yogic process which reveal who we are as well as our view of the external world and our relationship to it.
One of the steps that allows us to recognize our innateness is simply observation. Our tweets become a reflection of our deepest values, desires, likes and dislikes. Our consciousness becomes etched in our tweets 140 characters at a time (or less). Like a stream of thought molecules flowing like a river of reflective energy expressing our awareness. If we step back, we can observe the patterns that shape our minds as well as the greater collective. We can then make conscious choices to either reshape those thoughts and in some cases express them as action in the real world. In other words, tweets can shape our day to day thinking and may influence not only our actions but also the actions of others.
In Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion, there is an interesting dichotomy. An almost painful longing for connection echoed in a deep emotional yearning coming from a place of loneliness. This feeling of separation walks hand in hand with a grateful ecstatic state of bliss and oneness. The deep rooted need for community so often lacking in modern society can manifest in the twitterverse. As a result, the craving we have for connection is an inherent quality that compels us to tweet or use sites such as Facebook or MySpace.
The world of social media fills the need for a connection but also our need for validation. There is a simple satisfaction when our tweets are replied to and retweeted. We can share our various views and opinions while at the same time allowing us to project the best our ourselves and our ideals out into the social media world. We attract others of like mind that share in those topics, beliefs or causes that we like to tweet about. A mass consciousness (oneness) comes together through the sharing of similar ideas that allows us to become something greater than ourselves. At the same time, we get to enjoy our own uniqueness by expressing those subjects dearest to our individual hearts.
In addition, social media and yoga have some interesting parallels. The one that stands out the most for me is exploration. Social experimentation becomes the playing field for a stimulus/response type of environment. This environment reveals the triggers for basic human interaction. What we learn is that the twitter experience is not about ourselves as much as it is about everyone else. It’s about building relationships. Egocentric tweets don’t work. Just as yoga teaches us to downplay or even transcend our own ego in order to find a place of humility to be of service in and to the world.
The way we interact, form and build relationships can also hinge on yogic values. In some cases, there may even be obstacles that prevent us from truly reaching out to others manifested as fear or self-doubt (will my tweets be accepted or disliked?). This can also teach us and give us the ability to implement strategies that can help us remove those obstacles. Twitter can become a place to practice social skills in the digital world that spill over into the real world as we begin to recognize appropriate social scenarios. We may also at times catch ourselves in a moment of ego domination or even a Zen moment of presence and mindfulness.
In conclusion, the twitterverse allows us to be individuals but simultaneously part of a larger meta-consciousness en-masse struggling toward a great awakening. We can explore and observe the contents of our mind as well as the way we relate to the world around us. We can grow, learn and ultimately transform as a result of our interactions. After all, one of the primary goals of yoga is transformation and twitter allows us another platform to do just that.
image courtesty of flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/florenciarussi/3703964809/
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Comments
4 Comments on The Yoga of Twitter
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Blog Marketing on
Tue, 28th Jul 2009 1:00 pm
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Fredric on
Tue, 28th Jul 2009 1:22 pm
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dolphin blue inc. on
Mon, 3rd Aug 2009 12:44 am
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Glenn Arcaro on
Mon, 7th Sep 2009 12:46 pm
I actually expected positive and uplifting tweets to have a huge impact on people in their day to day lives. I also expected with the power of retweets that people would in some way connect more and retweet things that would be power and uplifting in other peoples lives. Honestly though, I find most people retweet things for one reason and one reason only and sadly no thought goes into it, its a simple matter of “would people I market to be interested in this tweet”. In other words “will posting this retweet in someway benefit me”.
Sadly a lot less quotes and powerful word tweets get retweets then advertising and spam.
I believe it is important to approach social media with authenticity and with the number one goal of adding value for others first. Those that put themselves first instead of others will no doubt be limited in their success. So many people “have it wrong” when it comes to social media which is why we see so many spammers that don’t take the time to actually build relationships with their friends and followers. In many cases, this is simply a “mistake” that can be overcome when you change your attitude and become more conscious of how you approach mediums such as twitter. The most successful individuals GIVE the majority of the time and they are the ones that actually do make a positive impact in the daily lives of people.
I agree with blog marketing. I love social media for the fact that it connects people, but sometimes it seems people are only out to fulfill one thing and one thing only, themselves. I believe its about supporting others!
Great Post Fredrick! Interesting connection between Yoga and Social Media. I’ve never thought of things like that.
Keep up the stellar work!
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