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“Blackberry Picking” — Seamus Heany
Seamus Heany passed away. Sparked into a flush of memory by a friend’s lament towards the end of summer, I was coated in the thick stain of Heaney’s lingering words: A extra juicy reading of the poem can be found here, at good ol’ NPR. Blackberry Picking – Seamus Heaney [quote style=”1″]Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer’s blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for Picking. Then red ones inked up and that hunger Sent us out with milk cans, pea tins, jam-pots Where briars…

Creating a Yoga Guild: The Case for Unionizing Yoga Teachers
I wanna start this essay by saying that I have come to this essay as the inevitable conclusion of the work that I have been doing in my market analysis of the yoga industrial complex (system). Like many things that I spent months researching inside tgis system, the conclusions were clear: because Yoga is inherently steeped in values like compassion, social responsibility, and friendliness, the production of yoga requires so many intangible stocks that the industry is a nonlinear system. This means we have to use behavior analysis to forecast trends as opposed to basic input output data. Thats the hard kind of systems theory. When I was 17 years old, the Navy wanted me to join their nuclear program and would have provided me…

Video: Unlocking the Secrets of the Yoga Sutras: Key Themes
Unlock the secrets of the Yoga Sutras for a transformative journey into the mind and spirit! 🧘♀️ In this video, we explore the profound themes penned by Sage Patanjali, focusing on mind mastery and overcoming obstacles. 🌿 Discover the 8 limbs of Ashtanga Yoga and how they can guide your practice toward achieving Samadhi, the ultimate oneness with the universe. Whether you’re seeking inner peace or deeper self-awareness, these teachings offer insights into true liberation. Join us now to unveil the wisdom within. #YogaWisdom #Patanjali #SelfDiscovery

Financial Equity for Yoga Teachers: Building Sustainable Business Models
The financial challenges that many yoga teachers face have been an enduring issue within the industry. For years, teachers have struggled to earn livable wages, often working long hours with little job security, no benefits, and limited opportunities for growth. The COVID-19 pandemic, which devastated the yoga industry and shuttered studios worldwide, exposed just how precarious this financial situation was. Many teachers were left without income, unprepared to weather such a crisis. It has become increasingly clear that financial equity for yoga teachers is not just a matter of fair wages—it’s about creating sustainable business models that can withstand future disruptions. In my work, I have become passionate about addressing this issue, with the hope of helping yoga teachers learn how to create financial stability…

The Paradox of Sharing: Unique Experience, Confirmation Bias, and Ashtanga Yoga
Talking about ashtanga can make you crazy. Or not. Or both. “Whenever we practice, we quickly run into paradox… this is what happens when we start to cling to any one formula or any one technique. We quickly run into this sense that it isn’t complete– when we run into another viewpoint coming up in the background– there is this sense of paradox. And, whenever this happens, we know that the yoga is starting to work. Its considered to be a very auspicipous sign. “ — Richard Freeman “The Self-Reference Paradox” With the right google search, you can find someone confirming any belief you’ve been kicking around. Confirmation bias takes us out of our present moment. It sets paramaters for our capacity to feel. And, I…
Context Matters for Indigenous Insight Practices
Decontextualizing indigenous insight practices—like those in traditional Ashtanga Yoga or other ancient systems—tends to diminish their efficacy because these practices are deeply embedded in specific cultural, spiritual, and historical contexts. This “embedding” isn’t a casual detail; it’s essential to how these systems work. When aspects of a practice are extracted or secularized, they lose the nuanced interconnections that support the whole system, similar to removing a keystone from an arch. For example, in Ashtanga Yoga, specific techniques and philosophies are not just exercises but methods developed within a layered understanding of ethics, community, and personal transformation. This is why teachers like Gregor Maehle emphasize that yoga is not just postures but part of a system that includes spiritual texts, breath work, ethics, and ritual. Removing…