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It started, as many cathartic moments do, with an innocent question. And it came, unexpectedly, from a familiar furry character whose bedtime is probably earlier than the start time of most nighttime yoga classes. When Elmo asked “Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” earlier this week, the simple Elmo tweet quickly become responsible for what’s been dubbed “Elmo’s existential crisis.”
Within hours, thousands who had perhaps been holding back the truth of exactly how they’re doing responded with exactly how they felt.
“Every morning, I cannot wait to go back to sleep. Every Monday, I cannot wait for Friday to come. Every single day and every single week for life.”
“Elmo I’m suffering from existential dread over here”
“do u want my real answer elmo”
“The world is burning around us, Elmo”
Within a couple days, the post had drawn more than a hundred million impressions, exceeded 100,000 likes, and incited tens of thousands of responses. Although the underlying angst and frustration and despair echo pretty much the exact same feeling that numerous media outlets have described as “distressed,” “dread,” and “trauma dumping.” Amid the despair, though, there was also appreciation for the check-in. Also some leaping to the defense of Elmo.
“Not y’all trauma dumping on Elmo”
“Has anyone checked in on you, Elmo? How’re you, pal?”
The post has been portrayed as many different things by the media, including a public service announcement of sorts that it’s okay to feel like you’re falling apart. Inc. lauded the post as “a powerful lesson in emotional intelligence.”
Whatever we name it, the lesson is obviously that sometimes no, you’re not okay. And not only is that okay, but it’s nothing that needs to be hidden. And judging by the responses, we’re all here for it at the current moment in time.
It should be noted that’s not always what’s taught in yoga spaces. There can be a tendency among a lot of teachers to aggrandize the things we should appreciate in life by displaying a “good vibes” mood each moment of the day. There’s a time and a place for keeping perspective. Yet sorta obviously, as echoed in the existential display, sometimes that message can be overemphasized to the extent that it could be a SNL skit.
Yoga, or anything that can truly help any of us cope with the crappy moments in life, isn’t about donning rose-colored glasses (except maybe for those first several minutes after class when you’re blissed out and no one has cut in front of you in traffic yet) or trading them in for googly eyes.
It’s actually asking yourself to become exquisitely aware of your response to a situation that challenges you. It’s a chance to be curious, truly curious, about what happens within you. Resistance takes a lot of shapes, among them physical tension and emotional distress. Yoga lends us the tools of self-awareness, slowing the breath, and focusing on the moment taking place and not an aggrandized “what if” relating to what’s already taken place or what likely won’t ever happen. Yoga doesn’t change the situation. It helps you change how you show up to the situation. Even if that’s acceptance that it’s happening.
And sometimes the situation, quite frankly, sucks. What Elmo’s tweet and existential crisis remind us is that there there’s nothing you need to hide and there’s actually solidarity in asking others how they are as well as being there for the truth of their response. Because there are times when the most helpful thing in the world is knowing that you’re not alone.
And when you are ready to experience a glimmer of light again, well, NASA is here to remind you it’s out there.
Thanks for checking in @Elmo. Reminding you all that you are made of star stuff. ✨ pic.twitter.com/E6ZQbMIjI9
— NASA (@NASA) January 30, 2024
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