Yogis for Black Lives

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” Maya Angelou

I’m empathetic, so as soon as the Black Lives Matter movement had to make itself known once more when two unarmed African American men were shot to death by police a day apart, I felt like a piece of myself withered away. Social media can be the devil, and Facebook turned into a room of screaming voices. Some demanded justice; others expressed their bigotry and ignorance. There were even girls I went to high school with expressing opposing views of my own, making me rethink how they looked at me when we walked the same halls.

As I’m sure most of us yogis did, I retreated to my yoga Instagram. I felt as though yogis were different from the others, more open minded and loving. I felt I could freely express my anguish in each of my challenge posts and be faced with nothing but support. I raised my fist proudly in the air, a symbol the Black community knows all too well. Others posted every day to raise more awareness of this systematic issue. In some ways, I was partially correct.

It shouldn’t have surprised me to have been faced with people saying “All Lives Matter” on their posts and being promptly cornered by Black yogis (or the Black community in general) giving their two cents. I groaned at how this, too, was taking a toll on my mental well-being; how I thought those who didn’t share my race would understand why we were preaching “Black Lives Matter” instead of the term created to, in most situations, devalue our message. I needed to tell myself three certain things, and I think the following will help all of us.

1) Breathe.

As soon as you see someone preaching “All Lives Matter” so hard on their feed it feels like they only show concern for the lives of a certain race, take a second to just inhale slowly and exhale slowly. Most of the time, the individual means that phrase in an innocent manner, not at all to devalue the lives of the Black community. Yogis, especially, are so spiritual and caring that they truly feel concern for all lives and that’s when the phrase appears. The situation always depends, but first it’s a good idea to take a deep breath before engaging.

2) Remember it is not your job to educate the ignorant.

Then there are those who do demean “Black Lives Matter” because they really don’t understand its meaning and choose not to read why it was created and what it’s about. They won’t understand why we hate hearing the argument on “Black on Black crime” and “Blue Lives Matter.” There have been many times where I’ve wanted to put these people in their place but then realized something; you cannot educate those who choose to be ignorant and not educate themselves. It is not our job as Black people to teach our histories and our pain and our reasoning to those who don’t want to listen. If they were curious and really wanted to become enlightened, they can educate themselves or politely ask us why we feel the way we do. If you do feel the need to reply, by all means reply; however, do not let ignorant responses hinder your mental well-being. Trying to educate the ignorant can be tedious, similar to talking to a brick wall, and we are sometimes left more frustrated than when the encounter first began. We must still take care of ourselves while fighting, and yoga can be our saving grace.

3) Keep believing in yourself and your cause.

If you feel there’s too much negativity on your social media, take whatever break you need from it. If you feel that you need to block someone, block them. Although it is good to listen to opinions and be open minded, if that opinion offends you or your lifestyle you don’t need to put up with it. Unfollow them or block them and don’t look back. Keep expressing Black Lives Matter in your posts. We’re all frustrated, but we need to keep pushing so that change can happen. The worse we can do is get riled up over an important issue just to fade away when it’s overpowered by a current trend or what the media uses to distract us. Our voices will not be in the background. Our strength will not falter. We matter, and we need to always remember that.

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” Langston Hughes

Written by Anjé McLish

IG @yoga_tapdancer