If you don’t post your downward dog to social media and use the hashtag #namaste, do you even yoga, bro?

We should all look at ways to keep our bodies in tip-top shape (it is a temple, after all), but there’s also the aspect of increased flexibility leading to an inflated ego.

For real, because a recently published psychological study shows that contemporary meditation and yoga practices can inflate your ego.

The study, published online by the University of Southampton and due to be published in the journal Psychological Science, was outlined in great detail on Quartz, but here’s a summary of sorts:

These findings suggest that spiritual Buddhist practices like yoga and meditation may not do what proponents typically say they do, according to the study authors. “Ego-quieting is a central element of yoga philosophy and Buddhism alike. That element, and its presumed implications, require serious rethinking,” they write.

“Moreover, ego-quieting is often called upon to explain mind-body practices’ well-being benefits. In contrast, we observed that mind-body practices boost self-enhancement and this boost—in turn—elevates well-being”…

Meditation can indeed be narcissistic, notes Buddhist writer Lewis Richmond…”The act of sitting in silence, eyes closed or facing a wall, attention focused on the inner landscape of breath, body, and mental activity, could at least be characterized as self-absorbed,” he says. Those who practice meditation with a self-centered perspective will likely become more self-interested, not less.

What about those who practice it for likes?

They’ve saved the best for last, because if you think we’re taking the piss get a load of these body blows:

The notion that yoga can feed rather than diminish the ego won’t be surprising to those who’ve met holier-than-thou yoga devotees clad in designer athlesiure. But the psychological study didn’t examine whether Buddhist teachings themselves influenced this ego boost. Yoga alone may not be enough to dissolve the ego, but one psychological study does not invalidate thousands of years of Buddhist teaching and practice.

One study does not invalidate those studies, and one session a week does not make you better than anyone else.

Namaste.

[source:quartz]