Have you ever felt a gentle, dreamy sense of floating—something softer than contentment, more ephemeral than joy? In a recent piece for MIT Technology Review, Anya Kamenetz explores these so-called “neo-emotions,” like the AI-generated “velvetmist,” which capture subtle shades of feeling we’re just now learning to name. What does it mean to give language to these wisps of our inner weather? In yoga, each practice is an invitation to notice, to name, to witness the play of sensation and mind. This is svadhyaya—self-study—meeting us in the swirl of modern emotion. 🌫️ Naming the Unnameable From “velvetmist” to “eco-anxiety” and “Black joy,” our emotional lexicon is expanding at the speed of our online lives. Social scientist Marci Cottingham notes that as we spend more time in…

What does it mean to master many things—and what is lost or gained when we step outside the boundaries of specialization? In a recent presentation by Nrithya Jagannathan, Director of Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, the legendary yogi Krishnamacharya is celebrated as a true Sarva-Tantra-Svatantra: a master of all systems. Meanwhile, a career strategy video for “scanners” reframes the modern polymath’s journey, urging us to see value in broad, interconnected expertise. Yoga, at heart, means union. Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than in the lives of those who refuse to compartmentalize their passions. The concept of svatantra—personal freedom and self-mastery—invites us to explore how both tradition and innovation can coexist, and even thrive, within a single life. 🧠 The Polymath Paradigm Krishnamacharya’s life is a case…

What makes you laugh? In a recent piece for Substack, researchers explore whether different cultures share the same sense of humor—and what our laughter reveals about us. They found that Chinese participants linked humor to deeper meaning, favoring jokes with existential or philosophical depth, while Americans gravitated towards lighter, slapstick styles. The study draws on Taoism and Confucianism, showing how cultural philosophies shape our jokes, our laughter, and maybe even our worldview. It’s a fascinating reminder that humor isn’t just about amusement—it’s an echo of what we value, believe, and notice. And perhaps, a window into the ways we seek meaning even in the silliest moments. 🌏 The Yoga of Perception The yogic path asks us to notice the lenses through which we see the…

In a recent piece for Cybernews, the tech world’s quiet revolution is chronicled: Europeans are moving away from Big Tech, seeking digital sovereignty and community-powered tools. It’s a story you might find familiar at our shala, where open source isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a shared practice. As I tinker with WordPress and open source automations to keep our billing, newsletters, and even the lights running, I see this as an act of trust—in both the technology and our community. The real beauty? The cost savings become a sustainability benefit we all share. The tradeoff is imperfection, transparency, and, above all, agency. 🛠️ Autonomy: Showing Up in Community Europe’s digital movement, like our own, pivots on autonomy. Whether it’s switching to Proton Mail or running your…

What does the life cycle of a tech platform have to do with our yoga practice? In a recent episode of the Offline podcast, Cory Doctorow unpacks the rise and rot of digital services—what he calls “enshittification”—and it offers some unsettling parallels to modern yoga culture. Doctorow describes how platforms shift from showering users with value to squeezing them (and businesses) for every drop, all in service of shareholder profit. The cycle feels eerily familiar not just online, but everywhere we turn. What starts as a tool for empowerment can be twisted, commodified, and extracted until the soul evaporates. The question: how do we keep our practices—technological or yogic—vital, honest, and nourishing? 🛠️ Yoga as Technology, Not Just a Tool Yoga, especially something as methodical…

When archaeologists sift through the ancient shell mounds at Ellis Landing, they don’t find the grand, planned monuments of rulers, but something perhaps even more profound: the quiet persistence of a place shaped by centuries of communal practice. In a recent paper on ResearchGate, researchers argue that these mounds, though amorphous and unplanned, gained their monumental significance through layers of ritual and memory, not through blueprints or the decree of an elite. This challenges our assumptions about what makes something monumental—and invites us to reconsider how everyday acts, returned to again and again, shape the world around us. 🌀 Community as Monument Unlike the stepped pyramids of other ancient societies, the shell mounds at Ellis Landing reveal no evidence of careful architectural planning. Instead, their…

In a recent piece for The Atlantic, Sam Kean chronicles anthropologist Sabine Hyland’s quest to decode the mysterious khipus of the Inca—bundles of knotted cords, hidden for centuries in the Peruvian Andes. The story of the khipus—fragile cords holding secrets of a lost civilization—echoes a deeper yogic truth: not everything can be unraveled by force or intellect alone. It asks for patience, humility, and awe at the unknown. 🧶 The Hero’s Knotted Path Hyland’s journey, and the collaborative optimism among khipu scholars, is a fresh chapter in the hero’s journey—one that embraces both the thrill of discovery and the humility of not-knowing. Like seekers on a yogic path, they face tangled challenges, fragile hopes, and the slow work of deciphering what ancestors left behind. We…

Imagine opening your favorite website and believing you’re seeing the same stories, posts, and news as everyone else. In a recent piece for GCFGlobal, the hidden reality of ‘filter bubbles’ is revealed: algorithms quietly tailor what you see, isolating you from unfamiliar information and perspectives. This subtle separation isn’t just about media, it’s about how our minds shape reality. Yogic philosophy invites us to step beyond the confines of our preferences and question what’s truly real—just as we question an asana’s alignment or the source of a passing thought. 🔍 Noticing the Bubble Algorithms are designed for convenience, but their side effect is division. Each click, like, or search tightens the feedback loop, guiding us toward content we already agree with and away from chance…