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afield since 2003 · michael joel hall
Threads
On this day
October 9 in years past

Spiritual Rot Caused By Siloing and Wealth (and how to avoid it)
In his compelling article, “Plutocrat Archipelagos” in MacGuffin Magazine, Jack Self offers an unflinching look into the secluded, fortified worlds of the ultra-wealthy. Through vivid descriptions of razor-wire fences, bodyguards, and gated communities, Self explores how these enclaves of extreme wealth serve as both physical…
Read the essay →The Evolution of an Ashtanga Teacher
The Evolution of an Ashtanga Teacher Introduction Change and iteration? I'm good with those. I started out verbose—talking too much, explaining every little thing. Then I swung the pendulum toward the stereotypical Ashtanga script: minimal instruction, no props, traditional cues only. But ultimately, I came…
Read the essay →The Five Obstacles to Yoga
The Five Obstacles to Yoga Introduction Every yogi, whether fresh-faced on the mat or seasoned from years of practice, eventually bumps into... something. A wall, a plateau, a discomfort, or an inexplicable resistance. In yoga philosophy, these aren’t random speed bumps — they are known,…
Read the essay →Kathy Griffin: Evolution Through Trials and Triumphs
Dive into the intertwined memoirs of Jennifer Lewis and Kathy Griffin for a captivating exploration of a comedian's evolution. Uncover how Griffin's journey, from a near-fatal low to her empowering embrace of a sober community, reveals the complexities of life behind the laughs. This blog delves into the raw, unfiltered narrative of Griffin's career, challenging the norms of feminism in comedy, and highlighting the satisfying connections found between celebrity stories. Join us in unraveling the tapestry of trials, transformations, and resilience that defines the ever-evolving world of a comedian.
Read the essay →
The Fine Line of Humor: Navigating Wit and Wisdom in Comedy
Punching down gets laughs. It's no shocker: being mean and hurtful can be incredibly funny. There’s almost nothing funnier than a perfectly crafted savage takedown. Ask any queer kid 'round these parts-- they'll tell you that read (is what?!) fundamental. Reading is the perfectly crafted…
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Balancing the Scales: Subjectivity versus Objectivity in Ashtanga Yoga Practitioner Development
IntroductionThere’s a certain push-and-pull that lives at the heart of every serious Ashtanga practice. On one side, there’s the deeply personal, lived experience—the hum of your own breath, the way your body feels in Kapotasana today compared to last Tuesday, the private territory only you…
Read the essay →Three Radical Shifts as You Grow in Yoga
Three Radical Shifts as You Grow in Yoga There’s a moment—somewhere between your second Utkatasana and your fourth sun salutation—when you realize yoga is working on more than just your hamstrings. Sure, you came to class for the promise of better posture or to finally…
Read the essay →Fostering Self-Awareness Through Yoga
Introduction The unique intersection of physical and mental in yoga practice Thesis: Yoga offers a powerful mirror for self-discovery by revealing how physical patterns reflect deeper mental models I. The Body as a Messenger How physical sensations carry deeper information Quote: “The body never lies…
Read the essay →Adapting Poses for Individual Needs
Adapting Poses for Individual Needs You know that moment when you cue “step your right foot forward between your hands,” and someone’s foot ends up somewhere between left field and the front row? That’s not failure — that’s anatomy doing its thing. Welcome to the…
Read the essay →Body Awareness and Alignment in Yoga Teaching
The Art of Saying It So They Actually Feel ItIf you've ever stood in front of a room full of yogis and said something like “engage your core,” only to be met with blank stares or wildly different interpretations (someone holds their breath, another tenses…
Read the essay →The Yamas and Niyamas in Modern Practice
There’s something odd about a Mysore room. No blaring playlists. No teacher on a headset shouting “FIND YOUR INNER FIRE!” Just a bunch of sweaty people breathing like Darth Vader and bending like origami — all in near silence. It looks calm. It’s not. Underneath…
Read the essay →Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Individual Breakthroughs Impact Collective Energy
There’s something odd about a Mysore room. No blaring playlists. No teacher on a headset shouting “FIND YOUR INNER FIRE!” Just a bunch of sweaty people breathing like Darth Vader and bending like origami — all in near silence. It looks calm. It’s not. Underneath…
Read the essay →Decolonizing Yoga Practice
Honoring Roots, Dismantling BarriersYoga is a practice of liberation — of body, mind, and spirit. But when we look closely at the modern global yoga scene, especially in the West, we find a paradox: a practice rooted in freedom that is often taught, consumed, and…
Read the essay →Balance Between Tradition and Evolution in Yoga
In every Mysore room, behind every counted vinyasa, and underneath every cue to “fold forward,” there’s an unspoken question humming through the breath and bodies: How do we honor the roots of yoga while making it relevant and accessible in today’s world? This isn’t just…
Read the essay →Peer Support as a Living System: Tending the Roots of Practice
In the ecosystem of Ashtanga Yoga, peer support isn’t a side dish. It’s the mycelium under the forest floor — the network of connection, communication, and shared resilience that keeps the whole thing alive. When done with intention, peer support can shift the dynamics of…
Read the essay →Creating Safe Spaces for Practice
“Creating safe spaces isn’t about perfection – it’s about consistent commitment to embodying the respect we claim to value.” Introduction: The Sacred Vulnerability of Practice Every time someone steps on a yoga mat, they bring their entire being with them — heart, body, history, hope.…
Read the essay →Reimagining Ashtanga Community Leadership
Introduction For nearly two decades, I’ve witnessed the profound impact that leadership styles have on yoga communities. As both student and teacher in the Ashtanga tradition, I’ve experienced firsthand how the decisions, behaviors, and communication patterns of those in positions of authority shape not just…
Read the essay →Notes on Physical Assists
https://dcashtanga.com/portal/course/decentralized-ashtanga/lessons/assisting-as-spiritual-practice/view https://dcashtanga.com/portal/course/scope-of-practice/lessons/strength-conditioning-best-practices-for-yogis-copy-1759266519/view https://dcashtanga.com/portal/course/scope-of-practice/lessons/strength-conditioning-best-practices-for-yogis-copy-1759266519/view https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6chi4KadlO8&pp=ygUbTWljaGFlbCBqb2VsIGhhbGwgYXNzaXN0aW5n https://ashtanga.tech/portal/course/teaching-arts/lessons/asana-adjustment-assisting-guidelines/view https://michaeljoelhall.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=14789&action=edit
Read the essay →and we go through the the why, why, why process.
So many of our values are in service of other values.
eoens
A high school started
offering hikes instead
of detention. Teachers
are seeing results.
(Leslie Trundy)
@washingtonpost
To fill in the gaps that institutions and
power structures of dominant culture
overlook or deliberately avoid:
• TRUTH when there are lies or silence
* CARE where there is neglect
* RADICAL IMAGINATION where there is
stagnation, dead ends, and repitition of
oppression
• LIBERATION where there is oppression
• CONNECTIVITY where there is isolation
& HOPE where there is despair
* SALVE for wounds
* ACKNOWLEDGEMENT for those who feel unseen
Üü-
YUMI SAKUGAWA
@yumisakugawa
If I fail, it's no big deal.
Dolly Parton and Patti LaBelle harmonizing using their acrylic nails in 1987
1987
Mama's little children loves short'nin', short'nin',
1992
and all I had was myself.
@evanrosskatz
I had memorized all of my teachers faves, and so of course she encouraged me to take his workshops. I was making less than 30k in DC in 2008, ya know? I couldnt really afford it, so I saved. And those recordings helped reach me where I was. When I finally got to the workshop, John complimented “an intelligent lift in the side chest”— to see the pride in my teachers eyes in that moment… I’ll never forget.
I was nervous and i learned so much about boundary setting as a teacher by using some of the moments from the workshop as reflection points— like when he told me i didn’t need to thank him for his instruction as he was instructing. Looking back, it gives me a kind of second hand embarrassment and also the warmest smile
I dont think ive ever bad chance to thank him publicly. His good name opened doors for me with teachers that I admire and respect— simply by being a student of one of his students.
Thanks for making sure your teachings could reach those with a sincere interest in learning. Hope to pay the same forward.
davidgarriguesyoga and asanakitchen
THIS
davidgarriguesyoga and asanakitchen
A HARNESS AS A HALLOWEEN COSTUME?
GROUNDBREAKING.
@thegayguyposts
l am once again asking
you to unclench your jaws
@adhd_memetherapy
AWAY BUT SOMETHING TO YES THERE IS SADNESS IN LIFE AND MY
Had an amazing time at Birmingham Yoga @birminghamyoga , owned by the wonderful Heather Sullivan @magiccityyogi 🧡 Teaching Ashtanga, hanging with my dear friends (Hi, Cory Bryant @coryyoga !!) - we filled our days with invigorating practice and filled our bellies with delicious tacos. 🌮✨
Yoga, friends, and good food - what more could you ask for? 😄 #AshtangaYoga #BirminghamYoga #YogaLife #YogaCommunity #GoodTimes #TacoLove #ashtangayoga
Vishvamitra had a heck of a comeback-- kind of a dick move to try to steal Vasistha's magic cow and all-- but he really worked super hard to atone. It's through his efforts at making up for his really lousy behavior that he became a great sage.
We should all be so lucky to have our name live on past our death for our efforts at improving ourselves. Heck, it's good to know that you can make up for being a total dick if you really mean it and try. **i'll point out that this posture is named for Vasistha, the sage who defeated Vishvamitra when he came to steal the magic cow o' plenty. Fun fact: even Vasistha came to recognize that Vishvamitra made up for his shit attitude. ...
The Gayatri Mantra
om bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
tát savitúr váreṇ(i)yaṃ
bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
dhíyo yó naḥ prachodayāt
– Rigveda 3.62.10
Swami Vivekananda: "We meditate on the glory of that Being who has produced this universe; may He enlighten our minds.
Monier Monier-Williams(1882): "Let us meditate on that excellent glory of the divine vivifying Sun, May he enlighten our understandings." William Quan Judge (1893): "Unveil, O Thou who givest sustenance to the Universe, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, that face of the True Sun now hidden by a vase of golden light, that we may see the truth and do our whole duty on our journey to thy sacred seat."
God is a DJ being better to fuck to than Fatty Boo, but, uh, duh.
By the numbers
Writing
- PracticeWhat Do You Enjoy Doing?Oct 9, 2026
- Personal NotesSafety Is Not Real: Why the Alarm Is Not a FireOct 7, 2026
- Personal NotesHalf Cocked in the Fuck You RoomOct 5, 2026
- Personal NotesPostal PeopleOct 3, 2026
- Yoga ProfessionalsAccess Is the PracticeSep 29, 2026
- PracticeWhat Happens When I Leave the RoomSep 27, 2026
Digests
- Vinyasa Yoga: Breath & MovementOct 4, 2026
Brahmari Pranayama: The Bee Breath Technique for Calm and Clarity This video introduces Brahmari Pranayama, also known as Bee Breath,...
- One Session, Better MoodOct 3, 2026
A single 1-hour yoga session increased positive engagement, revitalization, tranquility, mindfulness, and body consciousness in 144 participants.
- Making Yoga InclusiveSep 27, 2026
Research identified specific teaching practices, including authentic leadership, inclusive language, and health focus, that make yoga spaces more welcoming for all body types.
- Transformation Through Consistent EffortSep 20, 2026
In this video, Michael Joel Hall discusses the transformative power of consistent effort in yoga practice, particularly during the early...
- Depression Scores Cut in HalfSep 19, 2026
A German study found that two yoga classes per week for three months cut depression scores by 50% and improved overall well-being by 65% in emotionally distressed women.
- The Yoga Executive: A Useful Frame, Not a BrandSep 17, 2026
"Yoga executive" sounds like a LinkedIn invention. It half is. The frame is useful as a side door — until people stop at the door and never get…
- Six Months Changed Everything for SeniorsSep 13, 2026
A 6-month randomized trial of 135 seniors found yoga improved balance, flexibility, well-being, and energy compared to both exercise and wait-list control groups.
- Gray Matter and the Yoga BrainSep 12, 2026
Yoga practitioners showed greater gray matter volume and prefrontal cortex activation compared to fitness-matched controls, suggesting yoga offers unique brain benefits beyond exercise.
The Read
sciencedaily.comVagus Nerve Stimulation Could Help New Skills StickResearchers at Tohoku University found that stimulating the vagus nerve in mice after motor training sessions strengthened long-term skill retention, even though it did not improve performance during practice itself. The effect appears to work through rhythmic changes in brain blood volume rather th✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
popville.comEND OF AN ERA: DUKEM Ethiopian Closing after almost 30 Years on U Street next month.Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant on U Street NW in Washington, D.C. is closing permanently after nearly 30 years, with final service on November 7. The closure marks the end of a longstanding community institution in a neighborhood that has undergone significant transformation over the past three decades.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
popville.com“The African American Civil War Memorial Museum Is Reopening!”The African American Civil War Memorial Museum reopens September 30, 2026 in the renovated historic Grimke School building in DC's U Street Corridor. The museum honors the 209,145 United States Colored Troops who fought in the Civil War and explores the journey from Civil War to Civil Rights through✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
dazeddigital.comI tried Readme, the dating app for book loversReadme is a dating app from the Co-Star team that matches users based on their relationship to language and literature, not just book lists. It builds a 'taste profile' from how people relate to writing, framing connection through literary sensibility rather than conventional swipe mechanics.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50The Listen
The Watch
TEDIs AI Turning Us All into the Same Person? | Sandra Matz | TEDMatz reframes the AI risk conversation away from jobs and misinformation toward something quieter and harder to argue with: the slow algorithmic erasure of the self. The 'dial' proposal is genuinely actionable, not just rhetorical.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
Washington Week PBSWashington Week with The Atlantic full episode, Aug. 28, 2026A sharp, sardonic dissection of Trump's inversion of alliances — hating Canada, respecting Kim Jong-un — with a Canadian reporter at the table and real trade mechanics underneath the absurdity. The Dolly Parton coda lands harder than expected.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
TODAYMeet the Couple Behind Panda ExpressA rare look at the Cherngs' unsentimental, clear-eyed philosophy on building an empire — immigrant grit meets shrewd business candor. The orange chicken origin and their unapologetic 'American Chinese food' framing alone make this worth returning to.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
StarTalkHow The Brain Perceives Time, with David EaglemanEagleman dismantles the brain's greatest myths — that memory records, that senses are fixed, that slow-motion fear is real — with experiments wild enough to match the claims. The dream-as-real-estate-defense theory alone is worth the price of admission.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
Tale FoundryThe Book of Dead FairiesA genuinely weird artifact — pressed fairy corpses as Victorian psychosexual metaphor — that earns its darkness and lands a quietly profound point about preserved imagination and the shame of looking back at who you were.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50Pickings
Latest dispatches
Doodles
The full ledger
13,223 entries · 2003–2026 · filter & browse below

What Do You Enjoy Doing?
The first twenty minutes go the same way every time. A new client comes in and we inventory the damage. Where it hurts, how long it's been hurting, what they've tried, what failed, what the doctor said. It's useful information. I need it. But after…
Read the essay →
sciencedaily.comVagus Nerve Stimulation Could Help New Skills StickResearchers at Tohoku University found that stimulating the vagus nerve in mice after motor training sessions strengthened long-term skill retention, even though it did not improve performance during practice itself. The effect appears to work through rhythmic changes in brain blood volume rather th✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
Safety Is Not Real: Why the Alarm Is Not a Fire
If you feel unsafe, you’re either in danger or your alarm system is broken — and it helps to know which.
Read the essay →Half Cocked in the Fuck You Room
On burnout, compassion fatigue, and the slow return to cavalier — a reflection on holding a family through hard seasons and the karma yoga of starting over.
Read the essay →
Vinyasa Yoga: Breath & Movement
Brahmari Pranayama: The Bee Breath Technique for Calm and Clarity This video introduces Brahmari Pranayama, also known as Bee Breath,...
Read the essay →
Postal People
On mail slots, burning buildings, a dog in a mail truck, and why knowing your mail carrier matters more than you think.
Read the essay →
One Session, Better Mood
A single 1-hour yoga session increased positive engagement, revitalization, tranquility, mindfulness, and body consciousness in 144 participants.
Read the essay →
popville.comEND OF AN ERA: DUKEM Ethiopian Closing after almost 30 Years on U Street next month.Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant on U Street NW in Washington, D.C. is closing permanently after nearly 30 years, with final service on November 7. The closure marks the end of a longstanding community institution in a neighborhood that has undergone significant transformation over the past three decades.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50All of which led to the success of Scorpion. I was a huge fan of all genres of music, from Biggie Smalls to No Doubt, and when I wrote Let Me Blow Ya Mind I knew we should get Gwen Stefani to feature on it. I was the only girl in the boardroom in those major label meetings and that Philly girl often had to come out. They were initially resistant because I was a rapper and she was a rock star, but I said: “Guys, this will work. Trust me.”
Even though I won that particular fight, the response to a lot of my suggestions was often: “Oh, that’s cute. We’re not doing that.” I felt I couldn’t be my full, excited self because there were so many miserable motherfuckers around me in those boardrooms. The atmosphere made me feel like I had to suppress myself and stay small. Decades later, my old A&R actually called up and apologised. He said: “I really wish we listened to you a little bit more – you had some good ideas.” That was validating.

The Coercers Are the Ones Who Fear Being Seen
I was trying to describe someone — a teacher, a manager, the kind of authority figure who issues a lot of direction without doing much of it themselves — and I kept landing on a word that surprised me. Not incompetent. Not lazy. Afraid. Fear…
Read the essay →
popville.com“The African American Civil War Memorial Museum Is Reopening!”The African American Civil War Memorial Museum reopens September 30, 2026 in the renovated historic Grimke School building in DC's U Street Corridor. The museum honors the 209,145 United States Colored Troops who fought in the Civil War and explores the journey from Civil War to Civil Rights through✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
dazeddigital.comI tried Readme, the dating app for book loversReadme is a dating app from the Co-Star team that matches users based on their relationship to language and literature, not just book lists. It builds a 'taste profile' from how people relate to writing, framing connection through literary sensibility rather than conventional swipe mechanics.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
stevedylan.devThe Nuance of ToleranceSteve Simkins examines the paradox of tolerance through Karl Popper's original formulation and a community moderation case, arguing that popular discourse flattens nuance into binary thinking. He explores how Popper's actual position was more conditional and context-dependent than the meme version s✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
Access Is the Practice
What it really means to build access as a yoga teacher inside institutions that were never built for you.
Read the essay →
TEDIs AI Turning Us All into the Same Person? | Sandra Matz | TEDMatz reframes the AI risk conversation away from jobs and misinformation toward something quieter and harder to argue with: the slow algorithmic erasure of the self. The 'dial' proposal is genuinely actionable, not just rhetorical.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50CaribbeanDahling
•
4y ago
And not even making Netflix money! His specials have horrible ROI. This was why that Netflix employee was fired, because he leaked that intel to Bloomberg.
“The comedian’s popularity comes at a cost. Netflix spent $24.1 million on the “The Closer,” slightly more than the $23.6 million it paid for Chappelle’s 2019 special, “Sticks & Stones.” By comparison, the streaming service spent $3.9 million for “Inside,” Bo Burnham’s recent hour-and-a-half special. The nine-episode “Squid Game,” which delivered the best debut in Netflix history, cost $21.4 million.
By Netflix’s own measurement, “Sticks & Stones” had an “impact value” of $19.4 million, meaning it cost more than the value it generated, according to internal documents reviewed by Bloomberg. The company also evaluates its programs by “efficiency,” which balances a show’s reach with its price-tag. On that scale, Chappelle’s special scored 0.8 — less than the break-even score of 1. By comparison, Burnham’s “Inside” scored 2.8.”
stevedylan.devThe Nuance of ToleranceSteve Simkins examines Karl Popper's paradox of tolerance—that unlimited tolerance enables intolerance—but argues the common "don't tolerate the intolerant" slogan misses crucial nuance. Popper advocated suppression only when rational argument fails and violence begins, not at the first hint of disa✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
What Happens When I Leave the Room
There is a student I have in mind. She’s been practicing for three years. In class, she’s steady. She follows the sequence. Her breath is mostly even. She adjusts when I adjust her. When I watch her, I see someone who knows what she’s doing.…
Read the essay →
Making Yoga Inclusive
Research identified specific teaching practices, including authentic leadership, inclusive language, and health focus, that make yoga spaces more welcoming for all body types.
Read the essay →
dazeddigital.comI tried Readme, the new dating app for book loversThe article reviews Readme, a dating app designed for book lovers, contrasting idealized bookstore meet-cute fantasies from romantic comedies with the reality of modern dating. It explores whether shared literary interests can serve as a foundation for romantic connection in an app-based dating land✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
Capacity Isn’t Character
Rachel had been practicing eleven years when she hurt her shoulder. Doctor said no advanced poses for six weeks. Standing postures. Sun salutations. Basics. She came back to the mat and cried for three days. Not from pain. The pain was manageable. She cried because…
Read the essay →
Pain Is Not Progress
There's a moment most practitioners know. Something in your shoulder says stop. The teacher calls the next vinyasa. You go anyway. That choice — made in a fraction of a second, almost without noticing — is the entire problem. Not the shoulder. The going anyway.…
Read the essay →
wtop.comCan ‘A Different World’ sequel change lives like the original series? Hillman is back in sessionNetflix's sequel to 'A Different World' returns to the fictional Hillman College, following Deborah Wayne (daughter of original characters Dwayne and Whitley) and a new generation of students. The original series (1987-1993) influenced viewers' college choices, career paths, and self-perception; the✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
tadaima.bearblog.devI tried Pedro Almodovar's recipe for creative energyA writer tests Pedro Almodovar's recipe for creative energy—double espresso cooled with sugar plus a full Coke, consumed like medicine. The experiment yields a brief buzz followed by a hard crash, prompting reflection on stimulant shortcuts versus sustainable energy sources like Peru's coca tea or p✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
The Best Dumb Phone Is Already Strapped to Your Wrist
The cellular Apple Watch gives you everything a phone is for and none of what makes it toxic.
Read the essay →
Transformation Through Consistent Effort
In this video, Michael Joel Hall discusses the transformative power of consistent effort in yoga practice, particularly during the early...
Read the essay →
Meditation, the Limb I Kept Skipping: Building a Method for Stillness
For years I treated meditation as the part of the practice you get to eventually. Here is why I finally built it a real curriculum, on a platform I own — and who it is for.
Read the essay →
Depression Scores Cut in Half
A German study found that two yoga classes per week for three months cut depression scores by 50% and improved overall well-being by 65% in emotionally distressed women.
Read the essay →Reply
functionalyogi • 1m ago
ask someone if they believe in all people faring well-- then ask if they believe in welfare -- if the answer to the first is yes, and the answer to the second is no, the robots might get 'em for being selfish and narrow-minded and part of the problem. I bet the sociopqths are saying to slow down
On its face, the Kennedy Center has long been a symbol of the District’s high society. But even Andersen says the storied institution is a “really important symbol” to the entire local arts scene, and that its destruction is a scary indication of what’s to come.
“The vision that he [Trump] is putting forward is a scary one — it is a fascist vision,” Andersen said. “It’s celebrating something that is at odds with the best of the American experiment; it is in service for something that is at odds with democracy.”
“Donald Trump wouldn’t know art if it bit him on the behind,” he added.
Fascist governments love to shut down art and music,” Mullins said. “It is like the number one thing. Look at the Franco regime. Look at Nazi Germany. They love to shut down art and music and expression in every form.”
Volume, Overload, Specificity, and Progression
Learning Objective: Understand how to quantify and manipulate training variables to create effective, sustainable progress in strength, endurance, and overall fitness.
Description: You'll learn how to measure the work you're doing—whether in reps, sets, time under tension, or distance—and how to adjust volume and intensity to keep making progress without burning out. Discover why progressive overload matters, how specificity shapes your results, and why periodization prevents plateaus and injuries. For personal practice, this gives you a framework to train smarter, not just harder. For teachers, trainers, and therapists, it's essential knowledge for designing programs that meet people where they are and guide them forward safely and effectively.
Overview: In this lesson, we introduce the core principles of volume, overload, specificity, and progression in strength and conditioning, and how they apply to training and yoga practice.
→ Open the course: Yoga Techniques
→ Read the full study guide
Epigenetics & Lifestyle Research
Learning Objective: Cite research that shows how stress relief, words, frequencies and other factors change the DNA, and thus our experience of illness and wellness.
Description: Cite research showing the role of genes and lifestyle in health and wellness, including the 2021 randomized controlled trial showing diet and lifestyle changed DNA, reducing its "age." Explain the profound results of the 2013 Benson-Henry research showing that reducing stress changes genetic expression. Discuss observations on this research published by Harvard Medical School. Discuss research that showed in utero exposure to common toxic chemicals changed genetic expression. Explain the role of telomeres and the 2008 research that showed how lifestyle improvements impacted DNA as evidenced by telomerase activity. Describe in detail the findings of Russian biophysicist and molecular biologist Pjotr Garjajev regarding DNA.
Overview: In this lesson, we explore research showing the undeniable impact of lifestyle on DNA and wellness.
→ Open the course: Anatomy & Physiology

What Happened to the Fourth Series Practitioners
How advanced Ashtanga turned into a status ladder—and why so many who climbed it forgot how to support anyone else.
Read the essay →Get MichaelFilter
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