Handstand Mega Guide and More

We spent this week thinking about information — who controls it, who translates it, and what happens when the systems meant to organize our lives start sorting us instead.The Digital Poorhouse maps how algorithms don’t eliminate human bias, they just move it somewhere we can’t see it. Automated systems price, predict, and exclude with a precision that would make any historical gatekeeper jealous. The mechanism is new. The shape is old.

Read more: https://theyoga.club/systems-suits-and-who-gets-to-know/
All content: https://mjh.yoga

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Yoga Filter: Algorithms, Translation, and Who Controls What We Know

Michael Joel Hall reflects on who controls information and how algorithms sort, predict, price, and exclude, arguing they don’t remove bias but relocate it into opaque systems that resemble an old “digital caste” logic. He highlights Matthew Luko’s work translating government bureaucracy as a model for yoga teachers demystifying practice and notes his new “Tech Support Tuesday” answering Ashtanga questions. He connects this to real-world community as an antidote to tech-driven loneliness, describing how the yoga club mirrors “incidental intimacy” found in run clubs and other offline meetups. He then turns to memory research showing scientists can delete or alter mice memories, questioning what happens if suffering is removed, and contrasts deletion with yogic practice: working with samskaras, acceptance, and changing one’s relationship to pain rather than erasing it.

00:00 Weekly Theme Setup
00:15 Algorithms And Bias
00:25 Algorithms & The Digital Poorhouse
00:47 The Question Mark Suit Man
00:50 Translators And Yoga Teachers
01:04 Yoga as Translation
01:32 Tech Support Tuesday & Real Life Meetups
02:13 Deleting Memories
02:37 Joyce Carol Oates & Identity
03:08 Who Controls What We Know
03:12 The Thread: Who Decides?
03:19 Closing And Next Steps
03:21 Where Are You Going?
07:50 The Digital Poorhouse
09:34 All Eight
12:34 Forget About It

This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question Mine would be that it doesn't matter if you're not flexible for all poses, most if not all of them can be modified. submitted by /u/YogaGoApp — via r/ashtanga Our Response The OP's answer is great — flexibility doesn't matter, most poses can be modified. That's true. But my advice to past-me would be different. Stop trying to be good at it. I spent years treating practice like a performance review. Every morning I'd roll out my mat and grade myself.

Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/whats-one-piece-of-advice-youd-give-to-your-past-self-when-you-first-started-yoga/
All content: https://mjh.yoga

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Predatory hegemony isn’t strength—it’s avidya dressed up as strategy, mistaking extraction for security and deference for respect.

Stephen Walt’s analysis of predatory hegemony in Foreign Affairs reads like a case study in what happens when avidya — fundamental misperception — drives policy. The premise is simple: if you believe the world is zero-sum, you’ll act like a predator. You’ll extract, exploit, demand tribute. You’ll mistake deference for respect and compliance for partnership. Walt describes a shift from benevolent hegemony — where the U.S.

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Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/the-zero-sum-trap/
Original source: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/predatory-hegemon
All content: https://mjh.yoga

Concepts: Avidya · Aparigraha · Dharma · Santosha

#ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub

Welcome back to Tech Support Tuesday. Each week, I pull questions from the yoga corners of Reddit and answer them on video. This week’s session covers three questions — grief on the mat, yoga’s quieter effects on intimacy, and whether this practice can actually change your body.

visit ashtanga.tech to learn more!
visit theyoga.club for more yoga!
visit mjh.yoga for more from Michael Joel Hall!

🕊️ Navigating Grief in Yoga Practice
One listener returned to yoga to find solace after their father passed away. During Shavasana, the tears flowed. That’s not a problem with your practice — that is your practice. Shavasana holds power in its stillness. When you’re moving through postures, your body and mind are occupied. Lying down removes those distractions and lays bare whatever you’re carrying.

Crying on the mat is bearing witness. Your body has been waiting for you to stop, to allow for rest. Shavasana may have been the first time you gave it that chance.

☯️ Permission to Grieve and Move Forward
If Shavasana feels too overwhelming, it’s okay to skip it occasionally. The first rule is do no harm. The yoga mat is one of the few places where you don’t need to explain yourself — nor should you judge yourself. Communicate with your teacher if necessary. Your journey on the mat is deeply personal, and sometimes laying still and letting emotions flow is the whole point.

Going back to practice after a week? That says something about you. A lot of people wouldn’t. Don’t rush. You’ve got time.

🌟 Transforming Physical and Emotional Landscapes
Another question explores yoga’s impact on intimacy. The physical stuff is obvious — stamina improves, you’re stronger, more flexible in every sense. Ujjayi breathing coordinates your nervous system. You learn to down-regulate on demand, and that means you’re actually present with your partner instead of stuck in your head.

But the bigger shift is subtler. Ashtanga trains you to stay present with intense sensation without reacting to it. To breathe through discomfort. To notice what’s happening in your body without narrating it. These are transferable skills. When you stop bracing against your own body, everything changes — including intimacy.

⚖️ Beyond Aesthetic Goals
Can yoga tone your body? Sure. Ashtanga will absolutely change your body composition — you’re holding your own weight in ways that build lean, functional muscle. Sun salutations are progressions of a push-up. Your arms, core, and legs will all get worked.

But here’s the thing. Once you start practicing, you’ll probably notice something shift. You stop caring as much about what your body looks like and start caring about what it can do. Santosha — contentment — changes how you show up in every physical relationship. Self-love looks good on everyone.

✨ The Side Effects Are the Point
Start with what hurts — anxiety, back pain, whatever brought you here. The toning, the calm, the adamantine body the Yoga Sutra talks about? Those are side effects. Remarkable ones. But side effects nonetheless.

That’s Tech Support Tuesday #2. Three questions. Grief, connection, and what your body is actually for. Bring yours next week.
00:00 The Question
00:21 Why Shavasana Is Hard
00:49 Your Practice Is Working
01:10 The Grief Will Change
01:51 Permission to Grieve
02:41 Moving Forward
03:16 The Question
03:37 Physical Benefits
04:00 Presence & Breathwork
04:45 Body Acceptance
05:10 Connection & Self-Love
05:38 The Question
05:58 Posture & Spine Health
06:41 Anxiety & Flow State
07:28 Pain Relief
07:42 Body Composition & Strength
08:19 Beyond Aesthetics
09:08 The Takeaway

Bonus: Functional Ashtanga Range Conditioning for Handstand Functional Ashtanga Range Conditioning- HandstandDownload One of the genuine pleasures of this job is getting to refer people out. I mean that. I’m always happy to work one on one — that’s the whole point of what we do here — but when someone shows up bound and determined to pick up a specific skill, there’s a whole world of brilliant people and places ready to meet them. These aren’t random Google results.

Read more: https://theyoga.club/handstand-referrals/
All content: https://mjh.yoga

#ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #shaladaily #theyogaclub