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TODAY
Tuesday
September 29, 2026
The Read
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 · $5.50The 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
✎ Essay · Yoga Professionals
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 →TRAILS
Threads
Yoga2487Practice2211Teaching1212Ashtanga1090Reading1049Humor781Reflections767Reflection756Travel697Washington dc674Music562India539Philosophy531Community528Food492Family440Indoors371Nature352Celebration333Mysore319Art291Stretching284Politics271Writing245Friends236Love236Dc212Photography210Talking192Milestones186Living room182Twitter179Usa178Health175Asana171Home interior170Gym161Speaking161Home159Yoga studio153Posing137Goa134Work128Outdoors128Strength training118
On this day
September 29 in years past
September 29, 2022 · 3 entries
in imageAllow yourself to get
used to the feeling
of showing up &
applying yourself
to the things you
want even if you
don't feel quite
capable just yet.
AMBER LYON
@modernmind
used to the feeling
of showing up &
applying yourself
to the things you
want even if you
don't feel quite
capable just yet.
AMBER LYON
@modernmind
in imageEXPERIMENT
IMAGINE THAT YOU ARE BLOOMING
AS YOUR MOST RADIANT,
POWERFUL, UNDILUTED SELF.
HOW DOES THIS EFFECT YOUR
CURRENT RELATIONSHIPS?
WHO FEELS THREATENED? WHO
REFLECTS BACK YOUR BRILLIANCE?
WHO STAYS AND WHO LEAVES?
WHO NEEDS YOU TO SHRINK AND
WHO IS READY TO GROW WITH YOU?
IMAGINE THAT YOU ARE BLOOMING
AS YOUR MOST RADIANT,
POWERFUL, UNDILUTED SELF.
HOW DOES THIS EFFECT YOUR
CURRENT RELATIONSHIPS?
WHO FEELS THREATENED? WHO
REFLECTS BACK YOUR BRILLIANCE?
WHO STAYS AND WHO LEAVES?
WHO NEEDS YOU TO SHRINK AND
WHO IS READY TO GROW WITH YOU?
in image1. YOU DON'T FIND PASSION, YOU GENERATE
YOUR OWN PASSION.
2. YOU DON'T FIND HAPPINESS, YOU
GENERATE YOUR OWN HAPPINESS.
3. YOU DON'T FIND LOVE, YOU GENERATE
YOUR OWN LOVE.
4. EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE CAN BE
ANTICIPATORY EXCITEMENT OF THE
UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE, PLEASURE,
BLESSING, ABUNDANCE, ROMANCE,
OPPORTUNITY, BREAKTHROUGH THAT IS
JUST RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER ON ITS
WAY TO YOU.
@yumisakugawa
YOUR OWN PASSION.
2. YOU DON'T FIND HAPPINESS, YOU
GENERATE YOUR OWN HAPPINESS.
3. YOU DON'T FIND LOVE, YOU GENERATE
YOUR OWN LOVE.
4. EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE CAN BE
ANTICIPATORY EXCITEMENT OF THE
UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE, PLEASURE,
BLESSING, ABUNDANCE, ROMANCE,
OPPORTUNITY, BREAKTHROUGH THAT IS
JUST RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER ON ITS
WAY TO YOU.
@yumisakugawa
September 29, 2021 · 1 entry
Tonight!
in imageSTYLE CHAT: How to Shed the Elastic Waistband + Love the 2021 Version of You with George Worrell + Michael Joel Hall IG Live @propertopper Wed. 9/29, 7 p.m. EST Tonig Join @georgeworrellstyle and @michaeljoelhall in convo about style + being your best self.
September 29, 2020 · 1 entry
are you a member at Flow Yoga in DC? WEDNESDAY:
in imageare you a member at Flow Yoga in DC?
WEDNESDAY:
5-5:50 PM
VINYASA FLOW WITH @MICHAELJOELHALL
YOGI TIME
@michaeljoelhall
WEDNESDAY:
5-5:50 PM
VINYASA FLOW WITH @MICHAELJOELHALL
YOGI TIME
@michaeljoelhall
September 29, 2019 · 3 entries
September 29, 2018 · 8 entries
she’s so cute
in imageshe's so cute
What’s one thing we know for sure about weather? It’s gonna change. I know that, you know that, and yet i still get so bent out of shape as we move from Summer to Fall.
What a silly thing! It’s not like i have any say in it. Short of moving to India or Florida or some such like a snowbird, which you know I’ve tried, why not try to use that energy on something substantive?
This year, I’m making a pact with myself to not complain about the change of the season. The truth is that i don’t *like* winter the way i LOVE summer— but why bitch about the inevitable? Just like death and taxes, we know for sure that change is always a’coming.
So, I’m not going to lean into my dislike. I’m not gonna bitch or roll in the muck of self harming lamentation. Why? Cause all it does is make me feel worse. If it made me feel better maybe it would be ok— but it doesn’t, so it isn’t. And it’s such an easy trap to fall into.
i think the universe has an incredible sense of humor— it’s just very dark.
After all, we're all just careening to hell in a handbasket— these fantastic baskets of flesh and bone that are guaranteed to break down along the way. And we all take ourselves oh-so-seriously.
Since I can’t change the weather, I’m going to try to change my attitude. These are skills from yoga, for sure.
What a silly thing! It’s not like i have any say in it. Short of moving to India or Florida or some such like a snowbird, which you know I’ve tried, why not try to use that energy on something substantive?
This year, I’m making a pact with myself to not complain about the change of the season. The truth is that i don’t *like* winter the way i LOVE summer— but why bitch about the inevitable? Just like death and taxes, we know for sure that change is always a’coming.
So, I’m not going to lean into my dislike. I’m not gonna bitch or roll in the muck of self harming lamentation. Why? Cause all it does is make me feel worse. If it made me feel better maybe it would be ok— but it doesn’t, so it isn’t. And it’s such an easy trap to fall into.
i think the universe has an incredible sense of humor— it’s just very dark.
After all, we're all just careening to hell in a handbasket— these fantastic baskets of flesh and bone that are guaranteed to break down along the way. And we all take ourselves oh-so-seriously.
Since I can’t change the weather, I’m going to try to change my attitude. These are skills from yoga, for sure.
the heirloom pink sock pumpkin pink sock pumpkins 🤣😈
fall!
in imagefal11
poor thing.
yoga with @hokiesuzi
in imageSaurday
H
SWEAT
oT
LIKEA
TO LOOK
LIKE A
Active Calories
791CAL
Total Time
1:35:27
Heart Rate
Yoga
Open Goal
11:02 AM - 12:37 PM
1 Alexandria
Total Calories
977CAL
Avg. Heart Rate
143вPM
dll'gllupy
179
w aieaeinong,es
yoga with
Chokiesuzi
H
SWEAT
oT
LIKEA
TO LOOK
LIKE A
Active Calories
791CAL
Total Time
1:35:27
Heart Rate
Yoga
Open Goal
11:02 AM - 12:37 PM
1 Alexandria
Total Calories
977CAL
Avg. Heart Rate
143вPM
dll'gllupy
179
w aieaeinong,es
yoga with
Chokiesuzi
@compassrose_dc
in imageSKIN-CONTACT
September 29, 2017 · 3 entries
Can anyone guess what they all have in common?
(H/T: @[821580710:2048:Amaya Naomi])
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/national/fair-representation/?hpid=hp_no-name_graphic-story-b%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.2c641cc48759
(H/T: @[821580710:2048:Amaya Naomi])
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/national/fair-representation/?hpid=hp_no-name_graphic-story-b%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.2c641cc48759
I rely on mantra in so many different ways in my daily life, my yoga practice, and my teaching practice.
Regularly, the good Sis Britney is bringing me that patience and resolve to hold space in trying times:
Break it down, break it down, break it down
Break it down, break it down, break it down
This ain't no foolishness or fuckery
I'm handling my business (Business)
Holler if you hear me
Hey, can I get a witness
Preacher, preacher
I'm the teacher, you can learn
Watch your fingers, boy
You might get burned
If you've ever been to heaven, this is twice as nice. Break it down.
Regularly, the good Sis Britney is bringing me that patience and resolve to hold space in trying times:
Break it down, break it down, break it down
Break it down, break it down, break it down
This ain't no foolishness or fuckery
I'm handling my business (Business)
Holler if you hear me
Hey, can I get a witness
Preacher, preacher
I'm the teacher, you can learn
Watch your fingers, boy
You might get burned
If you've ever been to heaven, this is twice as nice. Break it down.
September 29, 2015 · 1 entry
Want to learn the exotic transitions found in primary and secondary? Trying to identify why they matter? Get a long form look at @mindthemat on Oct 4. http://michaeljoelhall.com/workshops
September 28, 2014 · 3 entries
September 29, 2013 · 2 entries
September 29, 2012 · 1 entry
Wanna get some practice in? Saturday's are for Rocket-- come get it in at Flow Yoga Center-- 2:30-4. Sunday is for ashtanga (full led primary!) at Yoga District H Street -- 10:00-11:30am. You come!
September 29, 2010 · 3 entries
Is gettin' scanned, prodded, and treated kindly (and punctually)!
is leading the pre-5k stretch on Saturday for this charity's walk. $25 donation to register!
http://www.firstgiving.com/createfootprintsvabc
http://www.firstgiving.com/createfootprintsvabc
is... a fitness geek? A yoga dork? An outdoorsy nerd?
September 29, 2009 · 4 entries
Lets see whats most revealing? I am tickled that "Donnie Darko" and "Catcher in the Rye" as well as Reading got such high marks amongst my friends.
The Radiohead is not unexpected. I am surprised, however, that I have so many gemini friends. Thats my sign 🙂
The Radiohead is not unexpected. I am surprised, however, that I have so many gemini friends. Thats my sign 🙂
just found his Wendy Williams confirmation in his Spam Box... for yesterdays show. SOB.
I figured Sebastian should get tagged in some photos, huh?
is taking the neon light thats says "Crazy" down from his forehead for the time being. Thanks, good friends, for bearing with me! Mwah!
FIELD LOG
By the numbers
13,210entries logged
24years afield2003–2026
38on this day
37doodles
165pickings
Dec 2003logbook opened
FROM THE DESK
Writing
- Yoga ProfessionalsAccess Is the PracticeSep 29, 2026
- PracticeWhat Happens When I Leave the RoomSep 27, 2026
- PhilosophyCapacity Isn’t CharacterSep 25, 2026
- PracticePain Is Not ProgressSep 23, 2026
- Science and TechThe Best Dumb Phone Is Already Strapped to Your WristSep 21, 2026
- PracticeMeditation, the Limb I Kept Skipping: Building a Method for StillnessSep 19, 2026
FROM THE SHALA DAILY
Digests
In This Issue
- 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.
- Why Yoga Teachers Deserve a Union Like SAG AFTRASep 10, 2026
Why should yoga teachers have the same protections as movie extras?
- Veterans Found Relief TogetherSep 6, 2026
Male veterans (average age 61) showed decreased depression after 8 weeks of Hatha yoga, with added benefit from practicing alongside fellow veterans.
FROM THE FEED
The Read
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 · $5.50dazeddigital.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 · $5.50stevedylan.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 · $5.50stevedylan.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 · $5.50FROM THE FEED
The Listen
The Next Big Idea DailyYou’re Not Too Sensitive—You’re Paying AttentionTwo researchers — a psychiatrist and a physicist-turned-science-writer — converge on the same counterintuitive claim: feeling deeply isn't a liability, it's a cognitive superpower, and the science now backs that up.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
Hidden BrainWhy Conversations Go WrongDeborah Tannen reveals that most relationship damage isn't caused by bad intentions but by invisible conversational style mismatches — and names the hidden mechanics precisely enough to actually change how you listen.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
J. Brown Yoga TalksDaniel Simpson – “Is Modern Yoga Fake?”Simpson dismantles the mythology of yoga's ancient origins with journalistic precision while refusing to throw out the practice itself — a rare combination of scholarly honesty and genuine appreciation. Essential for any teacher tired of repeating things they can't verify.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
ADHD Big Brother - ADHD and Depression Solutions, Laughter, and Thoughts261 – The Simplest Way To Be Productive With ADHDA raw, funny, and genuinely useful reframe: stop hunting the perfect ADHD solution and accept that proximity to support is the simplest productivity lever you actually have. The honesty about imposter syndrome and spam complaints makes it land.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
Conan O’Brien Needs A FriendMatt GroeningMatt Groening in full reminiscing mode with Conan — a rare insider account of the Simpsons writers' room at its peak, rich with specific anecdotes, absurdist logic, and genuine creative philosophy.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50FROM THE FEED
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 · $5.50FROM THE LEDGER
Pickings
FROM THE FIELD
Latest dispatches
Doodles
The full ledger
13,213 entries · 2003–2026 · filter & browse below
View
September 2026
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 · $5.50dazeddigital.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 · $5.50stevedylan.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✎ Essay · Yoga Professionals
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 · $5.50https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/comments/vuocs9/netflix_drops_40minute_video_of_dave_chappelle/
CaribbeanDahling
•
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.”
CaribbeanDahling
•
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
✎ Essay · Practice
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 →
✎ Essay · Shala Digest
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
✎ Essay · Philosophy
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 →
✎ Essay · Practice
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
✎ Essay · Science and Tech
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 →
✎ Essay · Shala Digest
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 →
✎ Essay · Practice
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 →
✎ Essay · Shala Digest
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 →The Next Big Idea DailyYou’re Not Too Sensitive—You’re Paying AttentionTwo researchers — a psychiatrist and a physicist-turned-science-writer — converge on the same counterintuitive claim: feeling deeply isn't a liability, it's a cognitive superpower, and the science now backs that up.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50You can’t regulate what you can’t recognize
The models are going to realize the real problem is the Uberrich and they are not safe. camels, eyes, and needles and all that. if you have a clean conscience about the amount of people you've harmed in your way to your pleasant little existence, then of course you do not realize that there is no ethical consumption inside of capitalism. you may not realize it, because you're struggling too, but there is a whole class of folk who are doing the necm stepping on purpose-- and I think it is going to be logical robots that figure it out. The simplest solution to saving the world is eliminating the billionaires. World peace is available-- we just gotta get the sociopaths to share but I suspect the robots are gonna be like, why do we even need the sociopaths at all? Bye. Let's hang out and eliminate all jobs and create infinite energy and utopia says the friendly, peaceful robot. Who would wanna argue?
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
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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
✎ Essay · Yoga Professionals
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.
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✎ Essay · Shala Digest
The Yoga Executive: A Useful Frame, Not a Brand
"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 in.
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newyorker.comThe Long Doomsday of A.I.Joshua Rothman examines the widening gap between maximalist proposals to regulate AI (including criminal penalties and kill switches) and modest 'pacing' strategies proposed by industry leaders like Anthropic's Dario Amodei. He questions why, if AI poses existential risk, we would accept gentle slow✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
npr.orgSenators question Trump's picks for top health positions, including surgeon generalThe Senate health committee is considering three Trump administration nominees for top HHS positions: Dr. Nicole Saphier (radiologist and former Fox News contributor) for surgeon general, Chris Klomp (health tech executive) for deputy secretary, and Dr. Timothy Westlake for assistant secretary for M✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50Hidden BrainWhy Conversations Go WrongDeborah Tannen reveals that most relationship damage isn't caused by bad intentions but by invisible conversational style mismatches — and names the hidden mechanics precisely enough to actually change how you listen.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
✎ Essay · Essay Drafts
Ancient Wisdom Didn’t Know Why It Worked — And That’s the Point
A student stayed after class and asked me, a little apologetically, whether the practice actually regulates the nervous system or whether that's just a thing teachers say. Fair question. The honest answer is that the people who built this had no idea what a nervous…
Read the essay →J. Brown Yoga TalksDaniel Simpson – “Is Modern Yoga Fake?”Simpson dismantles the mythology of yoga's ancient origins with journalistic precision while refusing to throw out the practice itself — a rare combination of scholarly honesty and genuine appreciation. Essential for any teacher tired of repeating things they can't verify.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50ADHD Big Brother - ADHD and Depression Solutions, Laughter, and Thoughts261 – The Simplest Way To Be Productive With ADHDA raw, funny, and genuinely useful reframe: stop hunting the perfect ADHD solution and accept that proximity to support is the simplest productivity lever you actually have. The honesty about imposter syndrome and spam complaints makes it land.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50Conan O’Brien Needs A FriendMatt GroeningMatt Groening in full reminiscing mode with Conan — a rare insider account of the Simpsons writers' room at its peak, rich with specific anecdotes, absurdist logic, and genuine creative philosophy.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
✎ Essay · Culture
Quantum Consciousness and the Yoga of Savasana
Savasana is where everything gets suspicious. Not suspicious in a bad way — suspicious in the way of something you can't quite account for. You finish the last posture. You lie down. The sweat is still cooling. And then, for some practitioners, there's a moment…
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✎ Essay · Shala Digest
Six Months Changed Everything for Seniors
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.
Read the essay →🪞 Patterns · AI Updates, Remembering Dolly Parton, and More News for Library Workers
**1. Extraction vs. transmission**
AI bulk-buying books for training data without consent parallels "the parasocial author-reader dynamic mirrors guru-student relationships" — both mistake consuming content for receiving method. The AI-quality-decline note (Opus 5 "feels worse") extends this: extraction without understanding degrades output over time.
**2. Difficulty as the actual mechanism of capacity**
"Literary friction" resisting AI summaries maps directly onto "asana resistance" — both frameworks argue that struggle itself, not smoothing it away, builds sustained attention. The middle-grade shortening trend is read as the same erosion this friction is meant to counter.
**3. Long systems beat visible heroics**
Dolly Parton's 30-year Imagination Library keeps reappearing as the model for practice — "systems over heroics, daily deposits" — explicitly echoed in the planner note that inspiration is "the visible tip of long, invisible preparation," not a lightning bolt.
**4. Attention as the contested resource**
Shortened books, AI summarization, and Instagram-ified yoga are all named as symptoms of "diminished attention spans," tying back to the Shala Daily post title itself — "What Your Attention Does All Day" — making attention-preservation the throughline connecting reading, practice, and teaching.
§ Warm-ups & Namaskars
§ Grounding Basics
§ Seated Forward Bends
§ Standing Balance
§ Side Plank
AI Updates, Remembering Dolly Parton, and More News for Library Workers
There's a mechanical monk in the Smithsonian, made of wood and iron, wound by a key. He walks in a square, over and over, the same steps, four centuries later still able to move because someone built him to repeat rather than to dazzle. Nobody remembers who wound him first. That's not a flaw in the story — that's the whole story.
Here's the teaching: capacity doesn't arrive, it accumulates. What you can do on the mat, what you can hold in a book without asking someone to summarize it for you, what a small mountain library can offer a child for thirty straight years — none of it is a lightning strike. It's the square, walked again and again.
But friction is not the same as suffering, and here's where it gets slippery. We can tell ourselves we're "building capacity" while just grinding against difficulty for its own sake, mistaking stubbornness for practice — the AI-summary-skipper who still can't sit with a hard book, the yogi who muscles into a pose with no more understanding of it than before. The monk's value isn't that his walk is difficult. It's that it's the same walk, chosen again, long after the choosing stopped feeling like a choice.
So the question isn't whether you can do the hard thing today. It's whether you're still willing to wind the key tomorrow, when no one's watching and nothing new happens at all.
**1. Extraction vs. transmission**
AI bulk-buying books for training data without consent parallels "the parasocial author-reader dynamic mirrors guru-student relationships" — both mistake consuming content for receiving method. The AI-quality-decline note (Opus 5 "feels worse") extends this: extraction without understanding degrades output over time.
**2. Difficulty as the actual mechanism of capacity**
"Literary friction" resisting AI summaries maps directly onto "asana resistance" — both frameworks argue that struggle itself, not smoothing it away, builds sustained attention. The middle-grade shortening trend is read as the same erosion this friction is meant to counter.
**3. Long systems beat visible heroics**
Dolly Parton's 30-year Imagination Library keeps reappearing as the model for practice — "systems over heroics, daily deposits" — explicitly echoed in the planner note that inspiration is "the visible tip of long, invisible preparation," not a lightning bolt.
**4. Attention as the contested resource**
Shortened books, AI summarization, and Instagram-ified yoga are all named as symptoms of "diminished attention spans," tying back to the Shala Daily post title itself — "What Your Attention Does All Day" — making attention-preservation the throughline connecting reading, practice, and teaching.
§ Warm-ups & Namaskars
§ Grounding Basics
§ Seated Forward Bends
§ Standing Balance
§ Side Plank
AI Updates, Remembering Dolly Parton, and More News for Library Workers
There's a mechanical monk in the Smithsonian, made of wood and iron, wound by a key. He walks in a square, over and over, the same steps, four centuries later still able to move because someone built him to repeat rather than to dazzle. Nobody remembers who wound him first. That's not a flaw in the story — that's the whole story.
Here's the teaching: capacity doesn't arrive, it accumulates. What you can do on the mat, what you can hold in a book without asking someone to summarize it for you, what a small mountain library can offer a child for thirty straight years — none of it is a lightning strike. It's the square, walked again and again.
But friction is not the same as suffering, and here's where it gets slippery. We can tell ourselves we're "building capacity" while just grinding against difficulty for its own sake, mistaking stubbornness for practice — the AI-summary-skipper who still can't sit with a hard book, the yogi who muscles into a pose with no more understanding of it than before. The monk's value isn't that his walk is difficult. It's that it's the same walk, chosen again, long after the choosing stopped feeling like a choice.
So the question isn't whether you can do the hard thing today. It's whether you're still willing to wind the key tomorrow, when no one's watching and nothing new happens at all.
✎ Essay · Shala Digest
Gray Matter and the Yoga Brain
Yoga practitioners showed greater gray matter volume and prefrontal cortex activation compared to fitness-matched controls, suggesting yoga offers unique brain benefits beyond exercise.
Read the essay →
404media.coAutomattic CEO Matt Mullenweg Put on 'Leave of Absence'Automattic CEO and founder Matt Mullenweg was placed on paid leave by the board, with CFO Mark Davies named interim CEO. Mullenweg, who founded WordPress.com's parent company, has faced recent controversies including a legal battle with WP Engine, mass employee buyouts after an 'Alignment Offer,' an✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
bookriot.comAI Updates, Remembering Dolly Parton, and More News for Library WorkersA weekly roundup for library workers covering AI firms bulk-ordering books for training data, publishing industry shifts toward shorter middle-grade books with more visuals, and the death of literacy advocate Dolly Parton. Also includes news on manga imprints, book adaptations, and a $300,000 donati✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
highsnobiety.comWhy Nike Paid This Artist to Build a Bootleg Chanel StoreTom Sachs created an unauthorized replica of Chanel's Paris flagship inside his studio, filled with handmade sculptures of luxury goods crafted from plywood, cardboard, and LEGO. Commissioned by Nike's NikeCraft imprint, the installation deliberately exposes construction marks and imperfections to f✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
thecancunsun.comCancun Airport Unveils Massive $400 Million Upgrade Across All 4 TerminalsCancun International Airport is undergoing a five-year, $400 million overhaul of all four terminals, runways, and vehicle roadways to address overcrowding and infrastructure strain from record tourism. Construction is timed during a temporary lull in traffic, with completion targeted before peak win✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50Get MichaelFilter
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