The Trolls

I know all about Trolls. Northern European folklore is something of a speciality of mine but never in a million years did I think I'd encounter them in real life! Never in a million years did I think that advertising Yoga classes would attract them to me of all people! No, not the sometimes, sinister, sometimes playful creatures of Scandinavian fairy tales but... Internet Trolls.

What is a Troll?

Traditionally a Troll is a mythological creature that appears in the folktales of Northern Europe. They are often described as huge, lumbering, grey creatures, slow in both movement and mind. Sometimes they are benevolent towards humans, sometimes indifferent and oftentimes outright menacing. But one thing that is fairly consistent is their hatred of the sunlight; for if they are caught out when the dawn breaks they will be turned into stone. They appear in Scandinavia mostly, especially Norway, but also under different guises in Northern Germany and places near to mountains like The Alps. 

In more modern times the term Troll has been used to describe a person who, from behind the safety of the computer screen, deliberately incites controversy, causes harm and uses aggressive and provocative language on public forums and posts. This sort of makes sense; there are more incidents of Trolls being unkind in folklore than the other way around and the ogre-ish image that springs to mind says it all really. I was fully aware that this sort of thing existed but to be honest I had never come across it, and certainly not blatantly directed at me.

What was happening?

As a small business one of my main means of advertising is through the local community groups on Facebook. At first it was these strange cryptic comments like 'ridiculous price' or 'not another one' but then there started to be things like:

'Yoga is a spiritual practice aligned to Hinduism and the worship of its many gods and goddesses. Only do this if you are happy giving yourself over to the influence and power of those spirits. If you experience problems find a reliable Holy Spirit empowered Christian who will be able to set you free in the Name of Jesus.' - Richard Roper, Facebook: 30th January 2024

Ok, I wasn't really expecting that (this is an actual comment copied verbatim) but at this point I didn't think too much of it other than to screen shot it because it was an intriguing statement. The first sentence is quite accurate, I thought, but surely a quick Google search would tell you that yoga isn't about giving yourself over to anything, much less Hindu spirits. There were others (that I didn't think to capture) that were public but then it became direct messages to my inbox. They were actually quite personal and the people had clearly done their homework by trawling through my social media feeds to find out about my family. Again I don't have direct quotes from some of the worse ones (because my knee-jerk reaction was just to delete them) but they were along the lines of 'I feel so sorry for your children being brought up without the light of Jesus Christ in their lives'. Although I did keep this one to give you another idea:

'I find Yoga spiritually unhealthy and demonic as there are deeply rooted demonic links attached to yoga but each to their own I guess...' - Vanessa Pinto, Facebook Messenger: 1st February 2024

Yes, Yoga was created by Hindu monks and the sole purpose of its original intention was to commune with God(s). The purpose of the Asanas (the postures) and breath techniques was to detox, purify, heal the body and balance the mind so that the practitioner could sit for hours in meditation. The understanding of the world for these people in those ancient times, due to the path they had chosen, revolved around communion with a spiritual entity or entities and a journey towards enlightenment. That is how the practice of Yoga developed. It was later brought over from India to the west by a few pioneering practitioners and duly adapted for the audience. I'm sure that each of them had their own agendas but I like to think that they recognised that Yoga can be enjoyed and the benefits could be seen by anyone all over the world regardless of their spiritual beliefs.

I do applaud these commenters for recognising the spiritual significance of the practice at least and I truly admire spiritual connection in whatever form that happens to take; spirituality is wonderful and we are so fortunate as humans to have such a rich variety available in our world. However, we are not here to discuss my personal spiritual beliefs in this article (there is plenty of time for that another day) nor are we here to argue one path or another. What I think we might be here to discuss is the significance of harmful misinformation and the importance of taking something on board but not doing your own research and finding your own truth. I say this not because I want to call anyone out for being wrong but because (taking just these two quoted examples) there is a wealth of information on the subject that is easily accessed online that blatantly contradicts these ideas. What is worrying is that information is being circulated that probably comes from far up the chain and is potentially being taken seriously by some.

Were these Trolls?

This question could go both ways. Going back to the concept of Internet Trolls, these people could be knowingly inciting drama and conflict online, they could be looking for a fight for what I can only imagine is fun. Or, it could be that these people really do believe what they were saying. You need only look at the language 'giving yourself over to' and 'demonic' to understand the connotations here. It seems plausible that if you are hearing these words from somebody else then you are conditioned to not be in the least bit open to exploring the wonderful depths that Hinduism has to offer even if only from the standpoint of objective research outside of your own belief system.

Either way was I still shocked to be encountering this as a Yoga teacher. Does this happen to others? I feel that it was entirely uncalled for, yes I agree with the right to express yourself but I was just posting details of a workshop. There was one thread where it really blew up - to be honest, I had posted in so many places that I now can't remember where this was - and the comments section was so long and convoluted that I didn't even get around to reading it all. Have I somehow become the Troll? Although, I can't help but reflect that I think in reality, if these people did come across me they would never say the things they feel compelled to type on a computer or phone. It would seem that actually, in the light of day these Trolls, as the old tales tell, really do turn to stone.

Has this changed my approach to advertising?

Well, yes quite dramatically actually. I never intended or expected this kind of reaction even though, as what happens online, everything has now swiftly moved on and I am once again swallowed up in the stream of small business adverts and everything is how it should be. For those of you who have been following me for a while will have noticed that my 'Full Moon Workshops' have undergone a change of branding recently. I now use the apparently much more acceptable 'Yoga & Meditation Workshop' moniker and this seems to have worked for now.

Personally, I am a teacher who incorporates spiritual aspects into my classes, its just who I am and where I stand. Some do and some don't and neither is right or wrong because that is how Yoga has evolved. But dont worry, if you come to one of my classes we most likely won't summoning demons or coming under the influence of anything more than a nice warm cup of herbal tea.