Striking a pose with Instayoga

Is Instayoga all about self-reflection or self-promotion? Megan Carnegie Brown on a new incarnation of yoga

Anne-Marie Newland's students wouldn't dare use their mobile phones in her yoga class, let alone take a surreptitious snap of their sphinx pose. However Newland, founder of the Sun Power Yoga School, is reluctant to criticise the growing presence of yoga selfies on the internet. The Instayoga trend now extends far beyond the usual celebrities - searching #yogaeverydamnday on Instagram generates more than 4m posts, and a nameless model known only as nude_yogagirl attracted 80,000 followers after joining the site five weeks ago (though that may have been the "nude" rather than the "yoga"). But how should we view this eruption of self-promotion when yoga is founded upon principles of self-reflection?

Newland, who is based in Leicester, advises us to consider the reason for each upload. "The difficulty is seeing past all these fashionistas who are jumping on the bandwagon. If the intent is to be trendy, to big yourself up, to show how you've matched your nail colour to your mat, then you've missed the point of yoga," she says.