On Spiritual Narcissism

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‘Look How Zen I Am’

“If a major point of yoga is quieting the ego and reducing focus on self, why are there so many yoga pose pictures on Instagram?” asks psychologist and author Scott Barry Kaufman. 

Of course, our feeds are flooded with downward dogs partially because yoga has been butchered and often whittled down to aesthetic fitness in the West. But Kaufman has a point about practices that should be helping us grow, but might boost self-centeredness (or what he calls “pseudo-transcendence”).

One study attempted to find out whether mind-body practices do indeed quiet the ego. In one experiment, researchers followed 93 Western yoga students for nearly four months. In the second, they tagged along with 162 meditators. In both, researchers found that on the contrary, such modalities did not quiet the ego, rather, they boosted self-enhancement and communal narcissism. (Yoga participants were probably subjected to that quasi-spiritual lingo all too common in studios today: phrases like “you are full of love, light, and wisdom.” So that by the time they were finished, they were Yoda with a six-pack.) 

I sometimes see the same outcomes within other heavily popularized practices. It’s likely rare, but I see it.

Stylist recently published an excerpt from my book, The Gospel Of Wellness, specifically a section on the mysterious and growing world of manifestation coaches—some of whom charge up to $2,000 per workshop.