Article Lead Image

The Haunting Hour/imdb @thethornhealer/Twitter

‘There’s less light in their eyes’: Yoga influencer says she’ll stop seeing vaccinated clients, sparking debate

Spirituality Twitter mocked for anti-vax panic after baffling admission.

 

Gavia Baker-Whitelaw

Internet Culture

Posted on Oct 5, 2021   Updated on Oct 13, 2021, 1:05 pm CDT

There’s an amazing array of anti-vax sentiment out there, ranging from Trump Republicans who think COVID-19 is a hoax, to conspiratorial wellness advisers who disapprove of putting “chemicals” in your body. And let’s not forget the people who think the vaccine will make your body magnetic. This week on Twitter, a Kundalini yogi sparked debate with a particularly bizarre complaint about vaccination: It supposedly gives her clients a new (and negative) “energetic imprint.”

With almost 44,000 Twitter followers, Philadelphia yogi Godis Oyá posts prolifically about spirituality, wellness, and the alleged perils of vaccination. One particular tweet caught people’s attention because she suggested that she might stop accepting vaccinated clients.

https://twitter.com/777_oya/status/1444466264580177926

This comment quickly drew mockery and ire from others on Twitter, including comments like, “the black community is dying in droves and this girl talking bout energy lmfao,” and, “y’all are not spiritual or healers y’all are unemployed and stupid.”

“Is this only for the COVID vaccine?” wondered one commenter. “Other vaccines we got since birth pass the vibe check?”

However, some people did agree with the yogi’s position, including one response saying, “Do you also see how there’s less light in their eyes?” There’s a real subsection of the wellness community that believes vaccination has a negative spiritual impact.

Other commenters theorized that people get “angrier” after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, or begin to emit an unpleasant “energy frequency.” The original poster Godis Oyá also chimed in with the popular conspiracy theory that vaccinated people “shed antibodies,” suggesting that they can spread the supposedly negative symptoms of vaccination like a disease. (There’s no scientific basis for this idea.)

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that someone tried to block vaccinated people from a business. An Australian hairdresser made headlines last month by putting a sign in his shop window reading, “Do not enter if you have been Covid-19 vaxxed.” It was an intentional statement against other businesses that ban unvaccinated customers, echoing the continual conflicts over mask usage. In reality, vaccination is very effective against the more dangerous symptoms of COVID-19, drastically reducing the risk of hospitalization or death.


In Body Image

Sign up for our Passionfruit newsletter for creator coverage like this:

Share this article
*First Published: Oct 5, 2021, 9:13 am CDT