Hi, I’m Michael.
I teach insight practices — yoga, meditation, and a few less obvious ones — to people building things in leadership and technology.
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About
Twenty years teaching yoga, running a studio, and thinking about what insight practices actually do. They sharpen attention — and attention is the bottleneck on every hard problem, personal or professional. I write about that intersection, work one-on-one with leaders and builders, and run The Yoga Club in D.C.
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Tuesday
November 10, 2026

1. The Dangers of Safety
1. The Dangers of Safety Freakonomics Radio · sourceSource: Freakonomics Radio — mgln.ai
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Etsy IRL Instead of spending hours scrolling through vintage finds at 2am, you can browse crafts from around the world at the MMEG market. A cut of the sales fund education grants, which cancels out buyer’s remorse. (10am to 5pm) 10am to 5pm → https://us.list-manage.com/HFy5ZNK4Z9A?e=fc2268d0b5&c2id=3b8ddcf1279fac8169615f1d26995685…
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Sound like a good adventure on Friday! What even is a jingle dress?? 730DCSource: 730DC
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Pride
Liz is already a doctor of physical therapy. Becky isn't far behind — neither is Victoria. All three pursued their doctorates while keeping a serious practice. They've each thanked me, at different points, for fostering their curiosity. For never letting them forget what they were…
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Comic books go undercover in a new exhibit at DC’s Spy Museum
In Tuesday's episode of "Matt About Town," we're showing you how a new exhibit at D.C.'s International Spy Museum is looking to change that. It's called "Comic Book Confidential," and curators say they hope this exhibit serves as a great introduction to the world of…
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November 9, 2026



Trump says FBI investigating Nvidia boss’s affair with alleged Chinese spy
US intelligence officials believe Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, was a spy for Beijing, according to a New York Times report. The report said Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a memo to top officials in Washington last spring warning that the Nvidia…
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Did early humans collect keepsakes 500,000 years ago?
The study combines archaeological findings with insights from evolutionary theory, psychology and neuroscience. Its authors point to objects that early humans collected, carried and kept despite having no apparent practical purpose. They propose that these objects may have served as personal keepsakes, reminding their owners…
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Did early humans collect keepsakes 500,000 years ago?
Most of us are familiar with the urge to pick up a seashell from the beach or keep a stone from a hiking trip. The object itself may be ordinary, but to the person who keeps it, it serves as a reminder of a particular…
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How to turn (almost) anything into a great soup
Yeah, that is a really good move. And I was going to say a pinch of MSG to add a little bit of savory depth, but the Parmesan rind, like that's also what it's doing. Parmesan is a natural source of like a ton of…
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preview.redd.it/shocking-hollywood-shakeup-dc-studio-heads-james-gunn-and-v0-8xe preview.redd.itSource: preview.redd.it
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Wig Budgets with Casey Spooner
And it's not an issue. Right. Like, I don't think there is like, there's no concern about getting older. Getting older is fucking awesome. Certain echelons of a scene may be hard to penetrate, as it were, but you, like, if you live in New…
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Wig Budgets with Casey Spooner
…do a little bit of it, but then I just feel like I don't have the next day. No, you definitely don't. I, I, I, I, respected it as a ritualistic practice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't need to do all the time. I'm not…
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Wig Budgets with Casey Spooner
…I was like, okay, amazing, cool. I always travel. I always travel with a backpack, but I always carries kind of a semblance of a tuxedo. So I was always backpacking with a tuxedo, which is I highly recommend. Okay. That is such a good…
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Wig Budgets with Casey Spooner
…the way I looked so much on stage. No one recognized me on the street. I was always like crazy hair, tons of makeup, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then my personal style was kind of preppy. You know, like I wasn't dressed like a…
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Wig Budgets with Casey Spooner
But it's a good way to do it. It's good, but it looks a lot more fun on the outside. Like the inside is like, it's kind of tedious, it gets repetitive. People are petty and weird. Fashion people aren't smart. You know, you're dealing…
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Are You Taking Fun Seriously Enough?
…of my favorite techniques is to notice and share delights, which is a practice I got from the poet Ross Gay, who wrote a whole book called The Book of Delights. The basic idea is just make…
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Are You Taking Fun Seriously Enough?
…3: that's my job. And I just thought, oh my God, I like to think of myself as a self-aware person who lives fully and I can't think of anything to do. And so I asked myself a question.…
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Dropping the Mask
And, uh, you know, I was getting ribed by the cashier for, you know, buying this because, um, the other things I was getting were somewhat more highbrow. So he was like, it's not often that we see somebody buying this book and then this…
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Action at the old Bold Fork Books Space in Mount Pleasant – New Cafe Coming?
Saw this inside the old Bold Fork Books location: Is there a new cafe opening?? We would love that in Mt. P Bold Fork Books → https://www.popville.com/2026/08/bold-fork-books-closing-dc-mount-pleasant/ PoPville · sourceSource: PoPville — popville.com · Action at the old Bold Fork Books Space in Mount Pleasant…
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Torrenters are building epic media collections
…supposed to be, just never cease to blow my mind. But as phones get bigger and bigger, enough's theory is that phones should be 5.3 inches. That's the display size that they're going for. I encourage you to go look at the pictures of this…
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New Metalio E Ink 4 Plus has 4.7″ Screen with 297 PPI
The E-Ink 4 Plus has a 2,000 mAh battery and the device weighs about 100 grams. The smaller E-Ink 4 has a 1,000 mAh battery and it weighs about 70 grams. Apparently there's a variant with 4G wireless and a 2MP camera, but it doesn't…
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Are You Taking Fun Seriously Enough?
Are You Taking Fun Seriously Enough? The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos · sourceSource: The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos — pdrl.fm
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Dropping the Mask
Dropping the Mask Hidden Brain · sourceSource: Hidden Brain — hiddenbrain.org
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Why Is the Internet So Afraid of Sex?
Oh no, what if you saw 69's me and he calls back, you know, so it was this like cheat for finding out who was calling you. And it was, of course, it had like a dirty name, you know, even though. Not just a…
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They may have upgraded the average skill set of software teams in a way we have not seen before. So why does software keep getting worse across the board? A few examples from last week alone: My banking app requires, on average, three FaceID logins…
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The Calm Is Over: Cancun Airport Rebounds To Over 500 Flights In A Single Day
Go Carry On Only If You Can If you can manage to fit your swimsuits and flip flops into a single carry on bag, absolutely do it. During these massive peak travel weekends, the wait times at the baggage claim carousels can easily swell to…
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The Calm Is Over: Cancun Airport Rebounds To Over 500 Flights In A Single Day
escapes. Surviving The Peak Season Airport Rush Because the airport is already hitting these massive peak season numbers in early November, travelers arriving over the next few months need to be totally prepared for a highly crowded airport experience. escapes. → https://expedia.com/affiliate/j8DgvYQ Cancun Sun ·…
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The Calm Is Over: Cancun Airport Rebounds To Over 500 Flights In A Single Day
Over a single weekend, the Cancun International Airport recorded an absolutely massive 953 scheduled flights. On Saturday, November 7, they hit a maximum of 500 flights in a single day. That figure completely shatters any doubt about a tourism slowdown and proves a massive rebound…
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This Will Be The World’s Biggest Park
King Salman Park will break records in Riyadh. King Salman Park is reshaping life in Saudi Arabia and American firm Parsons is helping them do it. To find out how, click here: https://bit.ly/4jZZVvX https://bit.ly/4jZZVvX The B1M · sourceSource: The B1M — youtube.com · This Will…
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When Idaho Banned Abortion, OB-GYNs Fled. The Doctors Who Stayed Are Cracking.
"Since last October, the families of every fallen soldier have been offered post-mortem sperm retrieval." Longreads · sourceSource: Longreads — longreads.com
Open the pick →Practice with us this season
Two seasons a year in DC through 2029, and four Mysore weekends a year on the coast of Mexico. Pick a date, hold a seat.
Self Practice by the Sea
A Mysore retreat on the Riviera Maya.
Four mornings of practice, four nights on the coast, a private home with a rooftop pool. Four dates a year through 2029, four spots each.
Semester Enrichment
Sixteen Sundays. Two cohorts. Four seats each.
Fall 2026 is sold out. Spring 2027 opens 7 February — Functional Primary or Functional Intermediate — and the fall format returns in September. Seasons run through 2029.
Books by Michael Joel Hall
Six books on Ashtanga, systems, and the craft of a practice. Functional Ashtanga is free; the rest are $10 each, or all six for $50. EPUB + PDF, instant download.

Functional Ashtanga
The manifesto and the method — the whole project’s front door, built on one principle: agency, not compliance.
Free
Self Practice
The method as a manual — how to build an intelligent, sustainable self-practice from the first breath.
$10
Ashtanga 2.0
The philosophy — a postmodern deconstruction of yoga’s authority, and the grounded mysticism that survives it.
$10
Mechanism, Not Magic
The thinking underneath the practice — yoga as a system for clear, honest leadership on and off the mat.
$10
How to Build a Yoga Club
The playbook for the room itself — how to build a practice space that lasts, without burning out or selling out.
$10
Your Life Is Art
The systems primer — stocks, flows, and feedback loops, and the craft of composing a life.
$10Press
Interviews, bylines, and the occasional controversy.
What is Ashtanga Yoga? The Benefits of This Challenging Practice
“Ashtanga demands fitness, flexibility, and focus — a calming, yet sweaty form of moving meditation.”
Read →Yoga Teacher Recovers, But Attack Highlights a Job’s Health Care Issue
The catalyst for my ongoing advocacy around economic precarity in the yoga teaching profession.
Read →Building Resilience in This Political Climate
A practice sequence for finding strength and clarity when the news is loud.
Read →Responding to Rand Paul on Free Yoga for Government Employees
“They are in less pain, physically and mentally. They go on and do a better job.”
Read →Does Yoga Really Foster Transformation?
On why I practice — to cultivate the conditions required for transformation.
Read →Mysore, the Place and the Practice
A long conversation with Chris Parkinson about my journey, cross-training, and the trajectory of yoga in D.C.
Listen →The Newsletter
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