Been sharing my own personal journey for 3 yrs now.
For most, it’s not news that I went thru 2.5 yrs of hell, after a bedrock of childhood trauma, before learning healing modalities (thx to the guidance of @dsstein18) that helped me pull out of the depths.
For those who are new, I’ll share a link to the full experience, in Stories, but for those who’ve heard it before, you might remember that the first place that got me back on my healing journey, was a breathing class.
It took place in an old studio & was run by a nonprofit org. I showed up & I was the only man…only one under 40…only one born in the US. It was me (in a cut sleeve shirt & bball shorts) 8 Indian women, & 9 yoga mats. Talk abt a fish out of water.
After the 3 day class, it frustrated me that the only others there, were ppl who’d learned this “Sudarshan Kriya” before, & were now coming for a refresher. Why wasn’t this appealing to others? Who’d try it anew?
At home, I googled: “unusual yoga images.” I came across one I loved: Eddie George, the behemoth of a former NFL player from the Houston Oilers, on a mat, doing a warrior pose, w a football on the ground next to him. The image shocked me…but in a good way. This was not a woman in Lulu Lemon pants, at a studio.
If we want ppl to change the way they THINK abt MH & self-care, we need to change the images they see: so it shocks them, draws ‘em in, makes ‘em think: “I can do this too.” It’s why I love this pic of Seahawks QB, Russell Wilson, in uniform & pads, doing yoga.
Why bring this up now? I shared in Stories that after Naomi Osaka decided to bravely take off from the French Open to work on her MH, some sponsors spoke up in support.
But in a sport like tennis, looked at as a: more expensive/exclusive ticket, reaching a “wealthy” demo, we need brands who typically stand for “the finer things in life” that are “perfect”…brands like: Rolex & Louis Vuitton, to speak up as well…& they didn’t.
The images of Eddie & Russell don’t make them look weak. They make them look versatile. Supporting Naomi wouldn’t make the brands above look cheap or weak. Being vulnerable is part of perfection.
