Journal & Field Ledger
Handpicked. Curated. No ads. No spam. Cozy and real, made daily by Michael.
Read MichaelFilter
Get the hand-curated daily edition and follow the Journals. No feed, no algorithm, no slop.
afield since 2003 · michael joel hall
Sunday
October 25, 2026

Samadhi on a Tuesday
Samadhi lives in a particular part of the spiritual imagination — somewhere between mountaintop and miracle. You picture it arriving after years of austere practice, maybe in a cave, definitely in silence. When it finally comes, it announces itself with appropriate ceremony. This is wrong…
Read the essay →Yogic Agency: The Practice on Purpose
There's no secret to a transformative practice. Anyone selling one is selling something else. What there is: yogic agency.
Read the essay →Threads
On this day
October 25 in years past
pass away, they're just going
to post your position and talk
about how nice you were. ...
Do what you can. Do it well,
but that's it."
Lauryn Jiles, 26, South Carolina
@washingtonpost
Trying to contact the universe's customer support to ask what the fuck is going on
DUCK IT IT'S YOURS
Billionaire Survival Skills
FLIGHT ATTENDANTS
Billionaire Survival Skills
HOSPITALS WILL BE FULL
you're going to do
already having,
Vegan cafe in Nepal— owned by trans woman 🙂
Vegan cafe in Nepal— owned by trans woman 🙂

Spiritual Rot Caused By Gated Communities 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 →michelle as Brit as dolly
michelle as Brit as dolly
people whose
Kindness isnt
a strategy but
a way of life.
@gayunclemario2
NICKI
$20,160
ERIC
$2,000
BERTHA
$4,650•
.
0
S
AA
a
S
A
R
eS
A
c
R
A
OCCUPATION
abc
A
@dchobert
@OteghaUwagba • Follow
X
(white) Michelle Williams doing an
impression of Britney doing an
impression of Justin Timberlake doing
an impression of a Black person - this is
art.
• alex @alex_abads
ijbol
BRITNEY
SPEARS
•
THE
OMAN
IN ME
READ BY
MICHELLE WILLIAMS
with an introduction
by the Author
Track 14
jed) - Britney Spears
The Woman in M
11:52 AM • Oct 24, 2023
2.4K
Reply
1,
Share
Read 16 replies
O
lra
@iramadisonthree • Follow
Fo shizz fo shizz
X
POLIRT
About ten years ago, i set a goal for myself to be on the cover of yoga journal. Today, i made it to the homepage.
10 years in, I think that's about right. Time and dreams change. Markers of success evolve.
Back then, I imagined that my perfect form and smiling face would make a valuable representation -- and mark an internal validation.
As practice is wont to, I eventually had a realization: I could do better. I wanted to share something more substantive than just form. The marker for validation had shifted dramticay.
I wanted to share some part of what practice had shared with me-- something that has helped me grow and thrive and that I have seen do the same for others time and time again.
Well, here we are. I talk about resilience. I share a modified primary series. I tried to use explicit language so as to maximize value and minimize confusion. .
I'm honored and thrilled. Simply in existing, it represents those who might feel marginalized.
I'm out, I'm queer, and I'm big. I'm a yoga practitioner. What I've shared is what I know to be a powerful and potent practice steeped in tradition and that has a veracious efficacy.
I hope you find it useful, for yourself or for others
About ten years ago, i set a goal for myself to be on the cover of yoga journal. Today, i made it to the homepage.
10 years in, I think that's about right. Time and dreams change. Markers of success evolve.
Back then, I imagined that my perfect form and smiling face would make a valuable representation -- and mark an internal validation.
As practice is wont to, I eventually had a realization: I could do better. I wanted to share something more substantive than just form. The marker for validation had shifted dramticay.
I wanted to share some part of what practice had shared with me-- something that has helped me grow and thrive and that I have seen do the same for others time and time again.
Well, here we are. I talk about resilience. I share a modified primary series. I tried to use explicit language so as to maximize value and minimize confusion. .
I'm honored and thrilled. Simply in existing, it represents those who might feel marginalized.
I'm out, I'm queer, and I'm big. I'm a yoga practitioner who shares a powerful and potent practice steeped in tradition and that has a veracious efficacy.
I hope you find it useful, for yourself or for others
W
n
ta o
- Camarón : 3:30
~ ChuleTa
Pollo
~Carne
INCLUYE
→ Pescado
Arroz MenesTra
, Lechuga
Patacón Jugo
- Carneo lentejas
Tomate
- Cebolla
Queso
$
5
+
PaPas - Bebida
26.
Settle Inn'
& CONF
ENTER
our plane had caught fire
and they dropped us in Texas
instead of Mexico.
By the numbers
Writing
Digests
- Yogic Agency: The Practice on PurposeOct 25, 2026
There's no secret to a transformative practice. Anyone selling one is selling something else. What there is: yogic agency.
- Overcome Cognitive Biases with YogaOct 24, 2026
Discover how Ashtanga yoga acts as a powerful ally in confronting our deepest cognitive biases and illuminating a path towards clear perception.
- Vulnerability and Risk in PracticeOct 22, 2026
Vulnerability is one of the most overused words in self-help. The underlying idea is real. The marketing version mostly isn't.
- Complimentary Forms of Exercise for Ashtanga YogaOct 18, 2026
In this video, Michael Joel Hall discusses the ongoing debate within the Ashtanga yoga community about incorporating complementary exercises, such...
- Meditation and Panic DisorderOct 17, 2026
An 8-week mindfulness program produced clinically significant improvements in anxiety and panic symptoms for 22 people with diagnosed anxiety disorders.
- The Debate Around Practice IntensityOct 11, 2026
Michael Joel Hall discusses the paradox of Ashtanga Yoga, highlighting how it demands effort while requiring patience.
- Thirty Minutes a DayOct 10, 2026
A Johns Hopkins review of 47 clinical trials with 3,515 participants found that 30 minutes of daily meditation improved anxiety and depression symptoms, with effects lasting at least…
- 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,...
The Read
popville.comHeads Up: The Marine Corps Marathon is Sunday and there will be parking restrictions and street closuresA PoPville alert about the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday, October 25, 2026, listing extensive parking restrictions (2AM-2PM) and street closures (5:30AM-3PM) throughout DC, including major arteries like Wisconsin Avenue, Independence Avenue, and several bridges. The notice is purely logistical, in✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
popville.comYO!! Movies and More opening in SW Tomorrow!! “The Revada Arts Center to Open in Southwest DC, Providing a New Home for the Arts”A press release announces the October 2026 opening of the Revada Arts Center in Southwest DC, a multidisciplinary arts hub co-stewarded by Theater Alliance, IN Series, and 4EYE Film Center. The center features performance spaces, a cinema, rehearsal studios, and community engagement areas, positioni✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
theguardian.com‘We are beyond heartbroken’: Cindy Crawford, Rande and Kaia Gerber share tributes to PresleyA Guardian article reports the Gerber family's first public Instagram tributes to Presley Gerber, who died aged 27 at a rehab facility in September 2026. Cindy Crawford, Rande Gerber, and Kaia Gerber each shared emotional statements remembering Presley as a 'sweet, beautiful soul.' The piece documen✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
theguardian.com‘We are beyond heartbroken’: Cindy Crawford, Rande and Kaia Gerber share tributes to PresleyCindy Crawford and Rande Gerber's son Presley died at 27 at a rehab facility in September. The family shared tributes describing him as kind, vulnerable, and deeply loved, with sister Kaia Gerber writing about learning to love him in absence. Presley had spoken openly about struggles with depression✦ 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
13,251 entries · 2003–2026 · filter & browse below

Samadhi on a Tuesday
Samadhi lives in a particular part of the spiritual imagination — somewhere between mountaintop and miracle. You picture it arriving after years of austere practice, maybe in a cave, definitely in silence. When it finally comes, it announces itself with appropriate ceremony. This is wrong…
Read the essay →Yogic Agency: The Practice on Purpose
There's no secret to a transformative practice. Anyone selling one is selling something else. What there is: yogic agency.
Read the essay →
popville.comHeads Up: The Marine Corps Marathon is Sunday and there will be parking restrictions and street closuresA PoPville alert about the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday, October 25, 2026, listing extensive parking restrictions (2AM-2PM) and street closures (5:30AM-3PM) throughout DC, including major arteries like Wisconsin Avenue, Independence Avenue, and several bridges. The notice is purely logistical, in✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
popville.comYO!! Movies and More opening in SW Tomorrow!! “The Revada Arts Center to Open in Southwest DC, Providing a New Home for the Arts”A press release announces the October 2026 opening of the Revada Arts Center in Southwest DC, a multidisciplinary arts hub co-stewarded by Theater Alliance, IN Series, and 4EYE Film Center. The center features performance spaces, a cinema, rehearsal studios, and community engagement areas, positioni✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50Overcome Cognitive Biases with Yoga
Discover how Ashtanga yoga acts as a powerful ally in confronting our deepest cognitive biases and illuminating a path towards clear perception.
Read the essay →test from b6

The Name Creates the Gap
Jordan wanted a handstand for two years. Every class. He watched other people float up, watched himself not. Something grinding and grasping in his chest, increasingly desperate. He got the handstand. That's not the interesting part. The interesting part is what happened six months before…
Read the essay →
Vulnerability and Risk in Practice
Vulnerability is one of the most overused words in self-help. The underlying idea is real. The marketing version mostly isn't.
Read the essay →
The Eight Limbs Aren’t a Ladder
There's a version of yoga instruction that goes like this: master the ethics first, then the postures, then the breath, then the senses, then the concentration, then the meditation, then the union. Eight rungs. Bottom to top. Do the lower ones right and eventually you…
Read the essay →
theguardian.com‘We are beyond heartbroken’: Cindy Crawford, Rande and Kaia Gerber share tributes to PresleyA Guardian article reports the Gerber family's first public Instagram tributes to Presley Gerber, who died aged 27 at a rehab facility in September 2026. Cindy Crawford, Rande Gerber, and Kaia Gerber each shared emotional statements remembering Presley as a 'sweet, beautiful soul.' The piece documen✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
theguardian.com‘We are beyond heartbroken’: Cindy Crawford, Rande and Kaia Gerber share tributes to PresleyCindy Crawford and Rande Gerber's son Presley died at 27 at a rehab facility in September. The family shared tributes describing him as kind, vulnerable, and deeply loved, with sister Kaia Gerber writing about learning to love him in absence. Presley had spoken openly about struggles with depression✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
Stop Trying to Stop Thinking
Everyone who has tried to meditate has failed the same way. You sit down, close your eyes, and try to stop thinking. Then you think about trying to stop thinking. Then you think about how bad you are at not thinking. Then you wonder if…
Read the essay →
Complimentary Forms of Exercise for Ashtanga Yoga
In this video, Michael Joel Hall discusses the ongoing debate within the Ashtanga yoga community about incorporating complementary exercises, such...
Read the essay →
blog.scottstevenson.netPattern Matching Beats Narrative ReasoningThe author argues that narrative reasoning—simple, compelling stories—leads to poor bets in business and investing because reality is multi-causal and illegible, not reducible to clean explanations. Instead, effective decision-making relies on pattern matching and intuition developed through digesti✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50Slop is "low-grade creative output because there's an incentive to do so," and narrative is the legible thing markets overvalue — so is yoga's story-slop (the clean arc, the alignment cue, the guru myth) a content problem or an incentive problem, and what would changing the incentive actually look like at your shala?
Your ledger just surfaced a protest in Mérida, Albanian riot police, and a Reform candidate's "concentration camps" next to an animated short about depression — what is the pattern your reading is matching on that no narrative you'd write about it would capture?
❖ Synthesize
(empty reply)

The Building Failed. Not You.
Somebody you know left. Maybe it was a yoga studio. Maybe a job, a team, a community they’d given years to. They left quietly, a little ashamed. They told a story about how they just couldn’t handle it. Weren’t disciplined enough. Too sensitive. Not the…
Read the essay →
Meditation and Panic Disorder
An 8-week mindfulness program produced clinically significant improvements in anxiety and panic symptoms for 22 people with diagnosed anxiety disorders.
Read the essay →
futurism.comMeta Glasses Said to Be Recording Even When They’re in Sleep ModeMeta's AI-enabled glasses are reportedly recording conversations even when in sleep mode, activating without the required 'Hey Meta' wake phrase. Multiple users across different device generations have observed this behavior, raising serious privacy concerns about devices designed for discreet recor✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
The Point Is to Need Less
You've probably noticed that the need doesn't resolve. You take the workshop, do the training, get the certification, find the better teacher, discover the right lineage, and six months later you're still looking for the next thing. The gap between you and sufficiency never quite…
Read the essay →Pose Categories & Families Intro
Pose Categories Overview
Standing Poses
Core Strengthening
Twisting
Forward Bends
Backbends.
Lateral / Side Bends & Asymmetrical Poses
Balancing
Arm Balancing
Inversions

If AI Is Doing the Work, Who Owns the Upside?
If AI takes the labor, we either tax the winners harder or make everyone a shareholder.
Read the essay →
winther.sysctl.dkQ3 2026 notesA personal quarterly review covering blogging (including hosting IndieWeb Carnival), a shift toward genre films and classic Hollywood melodrama, summer reading including Bill Gates' autobiography and Danish philosophy of art, completing a major legacy code migration at work, and a repeat family road✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
borretti.meNo Man Is an IslandThe author argues that sustained individual intellectual work depends on a community that provides shared knowledge and motivation (both intrinsic and extrinsic). AI dissolves these communities by making contributions feel pointless—no one reads your blog post, uses your library, or benefits from yo✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
Why Beginners Quit: Replacing the Wall of Poses With an On-Ramp
For years I handed new practitioners the entire sequence on day one and watched most of them quietly disappear. The problem was never their discipline — it was my dosage. So instead of writing one more post about consistency, I built the thing that enforces it.
Read the essay →
The Debate Around Practice Intensity
Michael Joel Hall discusses the paradox of Ashtanga Yoga, highlighting how it demands effort while requiring patience.
Read the essay →I didn't mean to creek
anew rose.
Get MichaelFilter
Enter your email. We'll send a one-tap link to read today's edition free, in your browser — the link works for 24 hours. Membership unlocks every issue, PDFs, and transcripts.
Already a member of theyoga.club or ashtanga.tech? You're already on file — no re-registration. We won't add you to any list.






















