It’s time to stop worrying what others think of you

I’ve been teaching yoga for 11 years. I have worked with many Yoga students, and it never ceases to amaze me how so many of us worry about what others think. Even my students who are in their nineties still worry what others think of them.

When teaching in-person yoga classes, I will often notice students finding a place in the back of the room. I invite them to move closer. I ask, “Why are you in the back when you can be in the front?”

They say to me, “Well, I don’t want to be in the front because I don’t want people to see me.” 

“Oh my goodness!” I will say. “At my age, and at your age…we’re still here. Somewhere along the way, self-consciousness came into play when we were children. And at this age, you are still concerned about what other people think of you.”

And what a waste of time, I say to myself. 

Because, at the end of the day, what other people think of you shouldn’t matter. It really doesn’t matter. It’s none of your business what others think of you, and vice versa. 

But these wounds still happen. 

When we were children, we became self-conscious, and it seems we kept carrying this all along. So, I find myself telling my yoga students, “Can you just let it go? Can you breathe into it?” 

Because you’re not the same person you were fifty years ago, seven years ago, maybe even ten days ago…or only one day ago.

This is unnecessary luggage that we carry, and it no longer serves us. Now, it is time for us to let go of what no longer serves us. 

And this is an aim we can incorporate into our daily yoga practice…starting today.