For the first time I actually had a glimpse of what it must be like to be an athlete in today’s online culture, and trust me, it wasn’t good 😂.

I have a very ​small corner​ on the internet where I talk about yoga, family, and living your practice. Almost no one knows it’s there and I operate pretty much in anonimity. That is, until this past Monday.

I opened my Instagram to dozens of likes and a handful of comments from people yelling and cursing at me for having an opinion. I won’t get into the specifics of the post. You can watch it ​here​, but it was a rude awakening to the world we live in.

The point is, wow. You must be exhausted.

Let’s talk about how you handle social media better and what this shit is really like.

Welcome back to the Joy Code, where we play with the overlap of yoga and personal development to help you show up BIG for your week and the things that matter most!

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Here’s what you can expect in today’s email…

➡️ A more honest take on what it’s like to navigate social media

➡️ My 4 tips to handling the internet better

➡️ Why sports trigger people like nothing else (and how to deal)

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A Wake Up Call

Let me just start by saying the quiet part out loud. Most of us out here coaching you on mindset and mental health have no idea what it’s like to come of age in the digital era.

None of us have had to experience the scrutiny and the access that strangers have to your life. So first of all, I want to apologize for assuming that I could relate. I can’t.

But what I can do is offer up some tools, because social media isn’t going anywhere and you can’t let it dim your light.

• Hot Take: Protecting your mental peace will not happen on accident. Building a meditation practice around mindfulness and intentional living is crucial to your overall well being.
  Have you looked at ​AP Meditations ​yet? They’re a great place to start.

My 4 Go-To’s For Handling Social Media Better

1. Create a Finsta (a fake Instagram account)

Probably not what you thought I was going to say, but you know me by now, I keep this all the way 100. Turning off your browser and deleting an app, is only going to take you so far, nor is it realistic.

I know most of you do this already, but have a personal account that you share with close friends and family and a public account to repost content from your school and/or team.

There’s something to keeping your personal life yours and not giving strangers access to it. Everyone deserves a space where they feel safe to be who they are, and that includes you.

2. Curate who you follow

I made a post about the 5 accounts I recommend you follow. ​Check it out​. Social media is an incredible tool, if you use it intentionally and with some boundaries.

Take a look at the people you follow. If they elicit feelings of comparison, negativity, or any emotion that is not helpful – mute them (if they’re a friend) and unfollow them if they’re not.

You have more power over your mental well-being than you sometimes give yourself credit for. Train the algorithm to work for you and not against you.

3. Log off around game time

No one said you had to delete social, but you should be mindful of WHEN you use it.

I recently started following the men’s basketball team at Northwestern to support some of my students and I happened to read the comment section of a post and WOW, just wow.

The amount of negativity from “fans” was astounding. I could only imagine what kind of affect that would have on me if I read those things at all, let alone before a game. So don’t.

…Also, maybe stay out of the comments section 😂

4. Build a mindset practice

This can look like many things. But really it’s just a combination of activities that help you reset and keep your peace.

For me I do a bit of all of these:

• Read
• Meditate
• Listen to uplifting podcasts
• Stay active (there’s almost nothing a walk outside in the sun can’t make better 😉 )
• Music
• Friends
• Alone time

It’s kind of the basis behind the programs I create for you all. All of them are designed to help you build out these systems so that you can find a combination of what works for you and you can create your own practice around taking care of, well … YOU.

• Which reminds me, stay tuned – I’m opening up our 12-week summer yoga-backed peak performance program (AP Performance) in May. And I’ll be sharing how you can jump into that with some cool new offerings over the coming weeks. It’s hands down my favorite program to teach/run.

Social Media is Not the World

(and these people don’t matter)

Let me leave you with this one thought. Sports is an arena like no other. Fans have a fixation with teams and schools that runs beyond reason and the emotion they display (good or bad) isn’t about you.

Think about your favorite team. Why do you love them? Why do they matter to you?

The Lady Vols

My parents used to take me to see Pat Summitt and the Lady Vols basketball team when I was young. I idolized the players and dreamed of one day playing for Coach Summitt.

When they played I’d yell at the screen and get so emotional I could barely watch a close game. I was a mess about total strangers on the television.

I realize now looking back that my fixation with the team wasn’t about the individual players, but what that team meant to me as a child and how it brought my family together.

Come Back to the Joy

Most of us won’t play for a national championship or sit on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but the scrutiny can feel just the same.

Come back to the joy of playing because you love it. And realize you have this amazing opportunity to inspire people in ways you never imagined. Focus on the people you inspire for good.

You are more than your sport and you’ve worked way too hard to let strangers on the internet steal your joy or have a say in your potential.

As always …. rooting for you BIG,

A-

The Weekly

• News: AP Meditation Bonuses go away at midnight tonight. Get it while you can! ​Click to buy​
• Mindset Inspo: ​Click to watch​
• Post of the week: ​Click to read​
• Come practice with me: ​Click to save your spot​
• The Player Coach Reframe: ​Click to view​

See you next week!

Good athletes train the BODY
Great athletes train the ​MIND​
Exceptional athletes train BOTH