Yoga + V4V: Tying it all together 🪢

I've been creating content on the Internet for myself & others for years. You already know this is a thankless job for most content creators. As a yoga teacher, competing with the big names on YouTube is hard. I don't know a single yoga teacher who can rival the world-famous Yoga with Adriene.

But things are changing.

YwA will always own the SERP (and YouTube) at this point. A quick search on Perplexity AI and she comes up pretty heavily still. I can see why she gets some negativity from some yoga teachers who can't come close. (A sentiment that's unnecessary and also quite un-yoga-like).

Why try and teach on YouTube? Why join the herd?

Oh, I did. I put up a bunch of yoga videos a year ago to try and gain some traction there. Then I realized my type of content—yoga, meditation, and Reiki—got downvoted there. Shadowbanned. Don't even mention tarot or astrology. YouTube isn't "new age" friendly.

I'd also like to earn some money for my work. Imagine that. 💡

Anyone can be a content creator now, but who's making money at this?

How about we take the word "money" out and replace it with "value."

Who's earning value as a content creator?

It would be nice to put a thing out into the world and have it earn a few bucks. In fact, I've done this. It's a good feeling. I've made a couple of bucks here and there for my podcast, Radio Detox.

While it doesn't pay the bills, it validates my idea. More importantly, it builds community.

Why create content as a transaction? As in, "I made you a yoga class, please send me some value back for it."

Content can become community instead of just a transaction. I decided this is a better route than blindly uploading content and having nameless, faceless people consume it.

Call me crazy, but I want to know who you are reading this. I want to know who's listening to Radio Detox and practicing along with my yoga videos. I don't know a better way to create 1:1 relationships right now than through the Valueverse, which includes Nostr.

For example, I listen to a ton of V4V music. I "tip" the artists with Bitcoin "zaps" ⚡️ of 1,000 sats, or ~$0.60 (depending on the day's price of BTC). This has led to getting to know these artists (sorta) in the small sphere of the Valueverse on Nostr and also on the traditional social networks where they seem to be, like Instagram.

👩‍🏫 Ok, so what if I can do that as a yoga teacher? I don't see why not!

I plan to teach yoga online the "old school" non-Bitcoin-V4V way at the same time I'm taking the V4V route. This is my experiment in reaching people with yoga and building community.

I honestly can't tell you yet that "V4V is better!"

We're still working through this thing. It is paying the bills for some people depending on how much BTC they bring in V4V and how high their bills are. For music artists, it's bringing in exponentially more value than you get by having your music on Spotify. Sara Jade is just one example of this.

If I were a musician, I'd be putting my songs on Wavlake and trying out the use case of V4V that way. Since I'm not... I'm contributing in other ways, like putting my podcast out there, Radio Detox.

Here's one of my favorite V4V songs for yoga practice👇

V4V Yoga Practice Looks Like...

I can teach you yoga online, V4V-style, playing V4V music, and accepting BTC payments via lightning. You can zap ⚡️ me for yoga.

This is what I'm currently working on setting up.

If you're not ready to do this via Bitcoin, that's OK too. I'll still be doing this in a way that's more familiar to you as well.

I'm also going to bring back the meditation podcast in a V4V format!

It's part of my larger mission to detox from fiat life...

Are You a Content Creator, Too?

As a yoga teacher, earning a living can be hard, which is why I'm not doing that; I'm still earning my living helping other people with their online content. There aren't enough people in the Valueverse for us to earn a living there—yet. Following this idea down the rabbit hole is nothing but a labor of love right now.

I've been looking at Nostrapps.com and seeing the possibilities the Nostr clients listed there may offer for content creators.

For example:

💡 Habla lets you write long-form pieces, making it great for journalists. So does Yakihonne. You can just get a set of Nostr keys now and publish; no need to pay for a website anymore. No platforms mean no censorship. Try it!

💡 You can sell items using Shopster.

💡 You can build a website with your content with npub.pro.

In total, there are currently 97 apps (aka "clients") listed on Nostr Apps. All are still in development and nothing in the purple world of Nostr is perfect. You'll have a learning curve and some frustrations. I think it's worth the effort in the long run, which is the entire point of Bitcoin. Instant gratification goes out the window and your time preference lowers.

Tinkering and building become a priority. Getting those quick dopamine hits from getting a like on legacy social media platforms goes by the wayside. You find yourself disentangling from these old ways.

This is what I mean when I talk about detoxing from fiat life...

It goes deeper than just the money! We're at a place in Bitcoin adoption where lifestyle and culture can evolve into a Bitcoin standard, gradually.

Goodbye, to big brand corporate culture and lifestyle. Tear off the labels and let the people be free. In the Valueverse, the cream can truly rise to the top. You can spend your value directly on the person giving you value.

Yoga aligns with this.

Everything I do helps you become the architect of your own destiny, hence the name. 😉