Field Ledger Archive
12,928 entries across the years, 2003–2026.
washingtonian.comI Went to Trump’s Great American State Fair. It Was Bleaker Than I Expected.Opening day of the Freedom 250 event in DC was sparsely attended and shockingly boring.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
popville.comJUST IN: Action at the Atlantic Plumbing Movie Theatre in Shaw!2112 8th Street, NW Thanks to Jay for sending: "New chairs at Atlantic Plumbing movie theater Shaw" Nice!✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
wtop.comCityCenterDC unveils new public art exhibit: Urban Living RoomsOn Friday, city officials and leaders of the D.C. arts community gathered at CityCenter DC to unveil a brand new public art exhibit called “Urban Living Rooms.”✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
strongerbyscience.comHold Still: What Does the Evidence Actually Say About Isometric Training for Strength and Hypertrophy?Isometric training has long been thought to be inferior to dynamic training, but the current evidence doesn’t support those claims.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
newscientist.comCan video games help us better understand quantum mechanics?The world of quantum video games is vast – there are hundreds that are either inspired by quantum mechanics or use quantum computers in their development. Columnist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan explores how these could change our understanding of quantum physics, or even help us make better devices✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
scientificamerican.comWill humans one day talk to animals? This scientist is bringing us closerJulie Elie has been studying zebra finch vocalizations for years. Now, she has won the Coller-Dolittle Prize for progress toward a world where humans can talk to animals✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
newscientist.comPhages could enable us to hijack vaccine immunity to kill cancer cellsPhages, viruses that infect bacteria, could be genetically manipulated to destroy cancerous cells using the immunity we have acquired from vaccines✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
themarginalian.orgKafka’s Approach to Creative Block and the Four Psychological Hindrances That Keep the Gifted from Living Up to Their GiftsThe most paradoxical thing about creative work is that it is both a way in and a way out, that it plunges you into the depths of your being and at the same time takes you out of yourself. Writing i…✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
toddhargrove.substack.comIs Nociception Required for Pain?Another Unfortunate Semantic Debate✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
nautil.usHow Fruit Flies Manage Their Exceptionally Long SpermResearchers at the Flatiron Institute used high-speed microscopy and mathematical modeling to study how fruit fly sperm—nearly as long as the fly's entire body—remain orderly inside a hair-thin seminal vesicle. Rather than tangling, the sperm form wave-like collective flows, propelling themselves by✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
strongerbyscience.comIs the Correlation Between Hypertrophy and Strength Gains Stronger Than We Realized?Hypertrophy probably contributes more to strength gains in new lifters than prior studies suggested … but the relationship is nowhere near as strong as it appears at first glance.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
themarginalian.orgMushrooms and Our Search for MeaningThis essay was originally published as the cover story in the Summer 2025 issue of Orion Magazine. “Who are you?” the caterpillar barks at Alice from atop the giant mushroom, and Alice, never quite…✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
tricycle.orgThe Four Noble Truths of TravelA journalist and food writer provides a summer sojourn-inflected take on the Buddha’s foundational teachings.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
newscientist.comSome of the last Neanderthals were surprisingly genetically diverseGenetic analysis of Neanderthals in north-western Europe reveals that this population was surprisingly genetically diverse, hinting that inbreeding didn’t lead to the species' demise✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
themarginalian.orgYes to Life, in Spite of Everything: Viktor Frankl’s Lost Lectures on Moving Beyond Optimism and Pessimism to Find the Deepest Source of Meaning“Everything depends on the individual human being, regardless of how small a number of like-minded people there is… on each person… creatively making the meaning of life a reality…✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
paulkrugman.substack.comWhy Does Everyone Hate AI?It’s the fear, the enshittification, datacenter hostility, and the tech broligarchy✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
wtop.comNorman Rockwell people-watched in the West Wing lobby. Now those sketches are on public display - WTOP NewsWASHINGTON (AP) — For more than 40 years, sketches by American illustrator Norman Rockwell of scenes from the White House visitor’s lobby graced the walls of the West Wing, where every president from…✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
newscientist.comLost books by ancient philosophers recovered from 'unreadable' scrollsScrolls from the Roman library of Herculaneum that were carbonised by a volcanic eruption have been read in their entirety for the first time, thanks to scans and AI software✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
futurism.comA24 Fans in Meltdown After It Enters AI Partnership With GoogleFans of the movie studio A24 are furious after it entered into a $75 million AI partnership with Google Deepmind.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
nextbigfuture.comFuture Space Tourism and Space Industry Will End Up Being Great for the Environment | NextBigFuture.comGlobal international tourism is massive with around 1.5 billion arrivals per year. This covers flights, cruises, road/rail travel, and more. Domestic tourism✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
nautil.usDoes Nurture Trump Nature in Disease Risk Prediction?Does Nurture Trump Nature in Disease Risk Prediction?: Social determinants of health can match or exceed genetic risk of common diseases✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
strongerbyscience.comCan a little alcohol be healthy for lifters?For decades, thanks to observational studies suggesting a J-shaped curve, light drinking was thought to have some protective benefits for the heart, where a small amount supposedly lowered cardiovascular disease risk. However, that narrative collapses when you actually account for confounding lifestyle factors.✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50
Cognition Is Navigation
Two very different books argue the same thing: if you don’t know where you are, you don’t know who you are.
Read the essay →
how does compression work help you find concavity without fighting your hips?
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question I've been thinking about using compression work with my legs parallel so I can find the concave quality in my stomach while letting my hips move naturally. Does that make sense as a way to work? — from a MJH note Our Response Yes. That's exactly the direction.Compression work with parallel legs gives you a container. You get to feel what your abdomen does when your hips aren't externally rotated, when there's no flinch pattern steering you away from the midline. --- Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/how-does-compression-work-help-you-find-concavity-without-fighting-your-hips/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #techsupport #ashtangatech
Read the essay →
When self-inquiry becomes the product you resent
The polite version says abundance mindset. The honest version is that the math doesn't work for most people teaching yoga. Not because they lack dedication. Not because they're doing it wrong. Because…
Read the essay →
Big Toe Joint Pain in Ashtanga: Risk, Reward, Conditioning
Big toe joint conditioning can be a missing link in Ashtanga yoga, especially when you’re jumping back and putting weight onto a joint that isn’t prepared. In this Shala Daily, we look at why so many practitioners get screened at the big toe joint and what it means for injury risk. The video explores a practical question: what is the risk-to-reward of big jump-outs, and is it worth it for you? We talk about how the hallux joint can be conditioned, and how that may help you approach hard landings and transitions with more awareness. Alongside the physical work, the study guide theme is surrender. What can we accept? How do we change perspective and let go when stressors are present, even if others can’t see them? That same acceptance shows up in practice when a flinch or reset appears, even without pain, and you have to acknowledge what’s happening before you can smooth it out. If you want to learn skills like jump-outs, the message is clear: want what you want, then take calculated risks and do the conditioning work for toes, wrists, and ankles. visit mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yogapractice #injuryprevention
Read the essay →
✍️ Michael Joel Hall
📚 Read more: https://michaeljoelhall.com/equity-not-extraction/
🔗 michaeljoelhall.com · theyoga.club · ashtanga.tech
#michaeljoelhall #yoga #ashtanga #writing #yogateacher
Equity, Not Extraction
AI isn’t the threat — extraction is, and we’ve already run this playbook before.
Read the essay →Respect isn’t agreement. It’s how you disagree.
Most yoga arguments aren't about the practice. They're about who gets to say what the practice is.That's the subtext under almost every debate about body diversity in Ashtanga. One side says the…
Read the essay →
Time and Lifestyle Adaptations
This is a video about How Ashtanga Yoga Impacts Our Time and Lifestyle– and how they impact our practice.
Read the essay →
After the Peak
What happens when yoga stops being new, stops being a high, and you still have to show up anyway?
Read the essay →
Buy Your Milk From Someone You Know
Every untracked transaction is a small act of structural resistance Every untracked transaction is a small act of structural resistance. From The Digital Caste: Surveillance Capitalism and the Architecture of Permanent Inequality on michaeljoelhall.com --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/buy-your-milk-from-someone-you-know/ Original source: https://michaeljoelhall.com/the-digital-caste-surveillance-capitalism-and-the-architecture-of-permanent-inequality/ All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Saṅgha · Sevā · Sthira · Dāna #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
The Maze Designer’s Defense
"You could always turn left" is the argument of the maze designer explaining to the rat that it has a choice The choice to opt out is the choice to accept systematic economic disadvantage. From The Digital Caste: Surveillance Capitalism and the Architecture of Permanent Inequality on michaeljoelhall.com --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/the-maze-designers-defense/ Original source: https://michaeljoelhall.com/the-digital-caste-surveillance-capitalism-and-the-architecture-of-permanent-inequality/ All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Svātantrya · Bandha · Pratītyasamutpāda · Mokṣa #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
anyone else find that nidra is the practice they never skip? even more than asana?
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question something I've been thinking about lately I've had an on-and-off asana practice for years. some weeks I'm on the mat every day, other weeks I talk myself out of it constantly. you know how it goes but yoga nidra? every single night. haven't missed in months. it's become the most consistent practice I have by far I think it's because it requires zero activation energy. you're already in bed. you press play. you lie there. --- Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/anyone-else-find-that-nidra-is-the-practice-they-never-skip-even-more-than-asana/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #techsupport #ashtangatech
Read the essay →
Exercise to aid yoga practice?
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question I really want to feel stronger in my practice. I’m plus sized and am working on overall health/wellness and some weight loss is coming naturally as a side effect but that’s not my main goal. I do want to feel stronger during my practice (eg getting my leg higher in 3 legged dog or doing chatarunga from plank each time, not modifying to my knees). Does anyone have suggestions, using yoga or exercises outside of yoga to help with strength? submitted by /u/logarbanzobean [link] &#... --- Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/exercise-to-aid-yoga-practice/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #techsupport #ashtangatech
Read the essay →
is yoga actually life changing?
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question I’ve been thinking about starting yoga, mostly to feel less stiff and maybe calm my mind a bit. But I’m not sure if it’s one of those things that sounds amazing in theory and then you stop after two weeks. submitted by /u/elgimri — via r/yoga Our Response Yeah. It is. But probably not in the way you're imagining right now. You're not going to do yoga for a month and suddenly become a different person. --- Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/is-yoga-actually-life-changing/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #techsupport #ashtangatech
Read the essay →
How did you come to Ashtanga
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question I’ve been listening to a lot of genesis stories lately from Laruga and Kino and so on of how each found Ashtanga and continued the practice. I have been reflecting on my own journey and wanted to hear some everyday stories from the community on how you got here? Bit of a long post if you’re interested: I took my first yoga class when I was 18 or 19 on a gap year where I was bored with a lot of free time at the gym. --- Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/how-did-you-come-to-ashtanga/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #techsupport #ashtangatech
Read the essay →
What if you forget a pose or two
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question Today I realised I skipped ardha Badda Padma paschimottan asana and tiriang! What is the proper way in a mysore studio: do you just let it go for the day or do you insert it back in when you remember? I just let it go because I felt it would rattle me more if the instructor came by and called me out Do experienced mysore Ashtangis still forget bits of the sequence ?? submitted by /u/JudgeBorn8370 — via r/ashtanga Our Response You skipped Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana and Triang Mukha. --- Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/what-if-you-forget-a-pose-or-two/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #techsupport #ashtangatech
Read the essay →
can yoga help with toning your body?
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question I want to get into yoga to help with my mentality and body. I have lots of anxiety and stress constantly and i feel like i need to release it. Also i suffer with back pain from my poor posture due to always studying. I was wondering if yoga can tone the body? submitted by /u/jellyolo12 — via r/yoga Our Response Short answer: yes. But probably not the way you're imagining. You mentioned anxiety, stress, back pain from bad posture. --- Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/can-yoga-help-with-toning-your-body/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #techsupport #ashtangatech
Read the essay →
How to practise yoga by yourself?
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question I have taken Ashtanga class from a yoga teacher before for 3 months. She had to move to another place and so I had been doing it by playing Ashtanga Primary series on YouTube. I wasn't consistent with this due to various reasons. One of the reasons was that I got bored doing the same sequence. I am now good with the standing poses but the sitting poses and headstand are all still hard for me. --- Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/how-to-practise-yoga-by-yourself/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #techsupport #ashtangatech
Read the essay →
First time back at yoga since my father passed away last week and Savasana was so difficult. It u…
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question submitted by /u/Which-Acanthisitta24 — via r/yoga Our Response Yeah. That's going to happen for a while. Savasana is stillness. And stillness is where grief lives. When you're moving through postures, you've got something to do — breathe here, reach there, balance. Your body is occupied. Then you lie down and there's nothing between you and whatever you're carrying. Of course you cried. That's not a problem with your practice. That is your practice. --- Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/first-time-back-at-yoga-since-my-father-passed-away-last-week-and-savasana-was-so-difficult-it-used-to-be-my-favorite-part-of-class-today-i-just-cried-thru-it-anyone-relate/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #techsupport #ashtangatech
Read the essay →
How has yoga impacted your sex life?
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question I'm keeping this question intentionally open ended. I'm curious if yoga has helped you in your relationships, including the physical benefits but also the mindset of love/lust/romance etc. Has it had any impact on your libido (increased/decreased), stamina, satisfaction, cravings, connection with your partner, calming the mind of outside temptations etc. --- Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/how-has-yoga-impacted-your-sex-life/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #techsupport #ashtangatech
Read the essay →
Books to learn more about the philosphy of yoga?
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question I just started hatha yoga classes and would like to learn more about the history and all… can also be india culture or hinduism. submitted by /u/Complete-Currency240 — via r/ashtanga Here's the full Tech Support post with all links: Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question I just started hatha yoga classes and would like to learn more about the history and all… can also be india culture or hinduism. --- Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/books-to-learn-more-about-the-philosphy-of-yoga/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #techsupport #ashtangatech
Read the essay →
Are We Animating the Machine?
Yoga and AI alike invite us to notice how we animate the forms we inhabit—and what parts of ourselves are reflected back. Duan suggests its our presence that animates technologyjust as attention brings asana to life on the mat. From Is AI really consciousor are we bringing it to life? on scientificamerican.com --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/is-ai-conscious-or-are-we-animating-the-machine/ Original source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-ai-really-conscious-or-are-we-bringing-it-to-life/ All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Svadhyaya · Satya · Abhyasa · Pratyahara #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
Green Funerals
Choose funeral options with transparency and local care—prioritize honest data, ecosystem impact, and rituals that serve grief over glossy promises. We love a redemptive ending. The body returns to soil, a tree grows from the grave, death becomes compost. Green funerals promise exactly this: natural burials, human composting, alkaline hydrolysis, even those biodegradable pods that turn you into a sapling. It's beautiful. It's also complicated. Hannah Gould and Georgina Robinson wrote something sharp about this in Aeon. They're not against ecological burial—they're against the way it gets sold. The marketing is sleek. The data is often thin. Some of these technologies are still aspirational, others oversimplify genuine trade-offs. --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/how-to-become-a-tree-what-green-funerals-promise-and-whats-missing/ All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Anicca · Pratityasamutpada · Aparigraha · Satya #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
The Digital Poorhouse
Automated systems don't remove human bias—they move it, and they hide it from view Automated systems don't remove human bias they move it, and they hide it from view. I grew up in small-town America. The kind of place where you knew the person behind the counter at the hardware store and bought your milk from someone whose name you could actually remember. It wasn’t romantic — it was just how commerce worked. You exchanged money for goods, and nobody was quietly adjusting your price based on what phone you carried or how long you lingered in the dairy aisle. That world is vanishing. --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/the-digital-poorhouse/ Original source: https://michaeljoelhall.com/the-digital-caste-surveillance-capitalism-and-the-architecture-of-permanent-inequality/ All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Avidyā · Ahiṃsā · Viveka · Saṃskāra #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →When Mind Outruns the Brain
Notice embodied intelligence: attention, breath, and openness reveal cognition beyond narrow neural explanations. Surprising clinical cases invite yogas embodied curiosity: intelligence can reconfigure beyond expected neural limits. From Cases of Unconventional Information Flow Across the Mind-Body Interface on ingentaconnect.com --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/when-mind-outruns-the-brain/ Original source: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/mm/2025/00000023/00000001/art00003 All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Chitta · Prana · Samskara · Viveka #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
When the System Treats You Like Data
Pratyahara isn't about escaping the world—it's about reclaiming agency over what gets in There's a pattern running through this week that has nothing to do with asana. It's about what happens when your nervous system becomes a data point—and what yoga practice offers in response.Start with the divide between those who build algorithmic systems and those who get processed by them. One group sets parameters. The other gets reduced to inputs and outputs. Then look at Gen Z women drowning in anxiety—forty percent wanting to leave the country, a third anxious almost all the time. Economic precarity, climate doom, and the relentless hum of being constantly online. --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/when-the-system-treats-you-like-data/ All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Pratyahara · Pranayama · Asana · Sadhana #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
Coding Elite and Cybertariat
Algorithmic sorting doesn't just reflect class—it actively produces new forms of social stratification Jenna Burrell and Marion Fourcade describe an emerging split between what they call the "coding elite" — those who build and control algorithmic systems — and the "cybertariat" — those who are subject to them. This isn't just a digital divide in the old sense of who has internet access. It's a divide in who gets to be a subject versus an object in algorithmic systems. The coding elite set the parameters. Everyone else is a data point. --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/coding-elite-and-cybertariat/ Original source: https://michaeljoelhall.com/the-digital-caste-surveillance-capitalism-and-the-architecture-of-permanent-inequality/ All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Māyā · Puruṣārtha · Karma · Svabhāva #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
The Yoga Club Does All Eight (And Maybe We Should Do More)
The Yoga Club does all eight things people are doing to make friends without social media. From 8 ways people are making friends without using social media in 2026 on spokeo.com Read more: https://theyoga.club/the-yoga-club-does-all-eight-and-maybe-we-should-do-more/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #shaladaily #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
The Anxious Generation Needs Pratyahara
Pratyahara — withdrawal from constant stimulation — isn't escapism. It's reclaiming your attention from algorithms designed to hijack it. A recent Newsweek investigation into Gen Z women reveals what many of us already suspect: an entire generation is drowning in anxiety. Forty percent of young women want to leave the country permanently. A third feel anxious about the future almost all the time. Their friends are cycling through antidepressants like they're trying on jeans. The culprits are familiar. Economic precarity. Climate doom. A dating landscape that treats people like products. And underneath it all, the relentless hum of nervous system overload from being constantly online. --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/the-anxious-generation-needs-pratyahara/ Original source: https://www.newsweek.com/gen-z-women-quiet-crisis-11686238 All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Pratyahara · Santosha · Samskaras · Dharana #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
When the Path You Chose Stops Leading Anywhere
The professional pathway collapsed, leaving engineers sweeping floors and asking if their degrees were pointless. From The Whitecollar Crisis on theyoga.club Read more: https://theyoga.club/when-the-path-you-chose-stops-leading-anywhere/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #shaladaily #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
When Your Past Self Makes You Cringe
The discomfort of remembering our past judgments is evidence of growth, not failure—it shows us the cultural scripts we've learned to question. Looking back at how we judged others reveals how much we've grown in understanding consent, compassion, and complexity. From America's Next Top Model: Reality Check - Shandi's Story on rollingstone.com --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/when-your-past-self-makes-you-cringe/ Original source: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/americas-next-top-model-reality-check-netflix-shandi-1235505370/ All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Svadhyaya · Ahimsa · Dharma · Shadow #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to your past-self when you first started yoga?
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question Mine would be that it doesn't matter if you're not flexible for all poses, most if not all of them can be modified. submitted by /u/YogaGoApp — via r/ashtanga Our Response The OP's answer is great — flexibility doesn't matter, most poses can be modified. That's true. But my advice to past-me would be different. Stop trying to be good at it. I spent years treating practice like a performance review. Every morning I'd roll out my mat and grade myself. Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/whats-one-piece-of-advice-youd-give-to-your-past-self-when-you-first-started-yoga/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #techsupport #ashtangatech
Read the essay →
The Price You Were Meant to Pay
Two people in the same store seeing different prices isn't a glitch. It&# 039;s the system working as designed. From The Digital Caste: Surveillance Capitalism and the Architecture of Permanent Inequality on michaeljoelhall.com - Read more: https://theyoga.club/the-price-you-were-meant-to-pay/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #shaladaily #theyogaclub
Read the essay →The Reading List That Actually Matters
The books that change your practice aren't always the ones everyone mentions—they're the ones that make philosophy feel like practice. Someone on Reddit asked where to start learning about yoga philosophy. Simple question. Deep rabbit hole. In a Tech Support post on Ashtanga.tech, we mapped the territory—books that actually deliver, not just the ones everyone mentions because they're supposed to. There's a difference. The reading list below isn't exhaustive. It's curated. These are the books that keep showing up in studios, on bedside tables, in the hands of teachers who've been at this for decades. They're the ones that don't just explain yoga—they change how you practice it. --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/the-reading-list-that-actually-matters/ Original source: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/books-to-learn-more-about-the-philosphy-of-yoga/ All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Yoga Sutras · Pratyahara · Samadhi · Svadhyaya #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
Systems, Suits, and Who Gets to Know
We spent this week thinking about information — who controls it, who translates it, and what happens when the systems meant to organize our lives start sorting us instead.The Digital Poorhouse maps how algorithms don't eliminate human bias, they just move it somewhere we can't see it. Automated systems price, predict, and exclude with a precision that would make any historical gatekeeper jealous. The mechanism is new. The shape is old. Read more: https://theyoga.club/systems-suits-and-who-gets-to-know/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #shaladaily #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
Handstand Mega Guide and More
When external systems collapse, the practice becomes meeting what's actually happening instead of clinging to what was promised Guys! Let's start with a BONUS issue focused on handstand, right HERE! Functional Ashtanga Range Conditioning- Handstand A handstand is a line. That's it. Spine, shoulders, wrists, hips — all stacked. The hard part isn't strength. It's that every joint in the chain needs enough range to get there, and most of us are short somewhere. This is the Functional Range Conditioning approach to building one. 🦴 The Big Questions Three joints run the show. --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/when-systems-stop-working-as-promised/ All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Avidya · Shavasana · Tapas · Viveka #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
Handstand Referrals
Bonus: Functional Ashtanga Range Conditioning for Handstand Functional Ashtanga Range Conditioning- HandstandDownload One of the genuine pleasures of this job is getting to refer people out. I mean that. I'm always happy to work one on one — that's the whole point of what we do here — but when someone shows up bound and determined to pick up a specific skill, there's a whole world of brilliant people and places ready to meet them. These aren't random Google results. Read more: https://theyoga.club/handstand-referrals/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #shaladaily #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
Mecha Fly
When we copy a brain neuron by neuron, will we copy consciousness—or discover it was never in the brain to begin with? Scientists simulated a fly brain and gave it a virtual bodyand now we're asking the question yoga's been asking for millennia. From Researchers Upload Fly's Brain to Matrix, Let It Control Virtual Body on futurism.com --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/the-ghost-in-the-mecha-fly/ Original source: https://futurism.com/science-energy/research-fly-brain-matrix All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Prana · Samskaras · Atman · Embodiment #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
The Zero-Sum Trap
Predatory hegemony isn't strength—it's avidya dressed up as strategy, mistaking extraction for security and deference for respect. Stephen Walt's analysis of predatory hegemony in Foreign Affairs reads like a case study in what happens when avidya — fundamental misperception — drives policy. The premise is simple: if you believe the world is zero-sum, you'll act like a predator. You'll extract, exploit, demand tribute. You'll mistake deference for respect and compliance for partnership. Walt describes a shift from benevolent hegemony — where the U.S. --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/the-zero-sum-trap/ Original source: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/predatory-hegemon All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Avidya · Aparigraha · Dharma · Santosha #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
Yoga Filter #2: Systems, Suits, and Who Gets To Know
Yoga Filter: Algorithms, Translation, and Who Controls What We Know Michael Joel Hall reflects on who controls information and how algorithms sort, predict, price, and exclude, arguing they don’t remove bias but relocate it into opaque systems that resemble an old “digital caste” logic. He highlights Matthew Luko’s work translating government bureaucracy as a model for yoga teachers demystifying practice and notes his new “Tech Support Tuesday” answering Ashtanga questions. He connects this to real-world community as an antidote to tech-driven loneliness, describing how the yoga club mirrors “incidental intimacy” found in run clubs and other offline meetups. He then turns to memory research showing scientists can delete or alter mice memories, questioning what happens if suffering is removed, and contrasts deletion with yogic practice: working with samskaras, acceptance, and changing one’s relationship to pain rather than erasing it. 00:00 Weekly Theme Setup 00:15 Algorithms And Bias 00:25 Algorithms & The Digital Poorhouse 00:47 The Question Mark Suit Man 00:50 Translators And Yoga Teachers 01:04 Yoga as Translation 01:32 Tech Support Tuesday & Real Life Meetups 02:13 Deleting Memories 02:37 Joyce Carol Oates & Identity 03:08 Who Controls What We Know 03:12 The Thread: Who Decides? 03:19 Closing And Next Steps 03:21 Where Are You Going? 07:50 The Digital Poorhouse 09:34 All Eight 12:34 Forget About It
Read the essay →
Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support #2: Solace, Sex, and Strength
Welcome back to Tech Support Tuesday. Each week, I pull questions from the yoga corners of Reddit and answer them on video. This week’s session covers three questions — grief on the mat, yoga’s quieter effects on intimacy, and whether this practice can actually change your body. visit ashtanga.tech to learn more! visit theyoga.club for more yoga! visit mjh.yoga for more from Michael Joel Hall! 🕊️ Navigating Grief in Yoga Practice One listener returned to yoga to find solace after their father passed away. During Shavasana, the tears flowed. That’s not a problem with your practice — that is your practice. Shavasana holds power in its stillness. When you’re moving through postures, your body and mind are occupied. Lying down removes those distractions and lays bare whatever you’re carrying. Crying on the mat is bearing witness. Your body has been waiting for you to stop, to allow for rest. Shavasana may have been the first time you gave it that chance. ☯️ Permission to Grieve and Move Forward If Shavasana feels too overwhelming, it’s okay to skip it occasionally. The first rule is do no harm. The yoga mat is one of the few places where you don’t need to explain yourself — nor should you judge yourself. Communicate with your teacher if necessary. Your journey on the mat is deeply personal, and sometimes laying still and letting emotions flow is the whole point. Going back to practice after a week? That says something about you. A lot of people wouldn’t. Don’t rush. You’ve got time. 🌟 Transforming Physical and Emotional Landscapes Another question explores yoga’s impact on intimacy. The physical stuff is obvious — stamina improves, you’re stronger, more flexible in every sense. Ujjayi breathing coordinates your nervous system. You learn to down-regulate on demand, and that means you’re actually present with your partner instead of stuck in your head. But the bigger shift is subtler. Ashtanga trains you to stay present with intense sensation without reacting to it. To breathe through discomfort. To notice what’s happening in your body without narrating it. These are transferable skills. When you stop bracing against your own body, everything changes — including intimacy. ⚖️ Beyond Aesthetic Goals Can yoga tone your body? Sure. Ashtanga will absolutely change your body composition — you’re holding your own weight in ways that build lean, functional muscle. Sun salutations are progressions of a push-up. Your arms, core, and legs will all get worked. But here’s the thing. Once you start practicing, you’ll probably notice something shift. You stop caring as much about what your body looks like and start caring about what it can do. Santosha — contentment — changes how you show up in every physical relationship. Self-love looks good on everyone. ✨ The Side Effects Are the Point Start with what hurts — anxiety, back pain, whatever brought you here. The toning, the calm, the adamantine body the Yoga Sutra talks about? Those are side effects. Remarkable ones. But side effects nonetheless. That’s Tech Support Tuesday #2. Three questions. Grief, connection, and what your body is actually for. Bring yours next week. 00:00 The Question 00:21 Why Shavasana Is Hard 00:49 Your Practice Is Working 01:10 The Grief Will Change 01:51 Permission to Grieve 02:41 Moving Forward 03:16 The Question 03:37 Physical Benefits 04:00 Presence & Breathwork 04:45 Body Acceptance 05:10 Connection & Self-Love 05:38 The Question 05:58 Posture & Spine Health 06:41 Anxiety & Flow State 07:28 Pain Relief 07:42 Body Composition & Strength 08:19 Beyond Aesthetics 09:08 The Takeaway
Read the essay →
Forget About It
Our memories aren't meant to be erased—they're meant to be transformed, held differently, integrated into who we're becoming. Scientists can now manipulate memories in mice, but the real question is whether we should erase our painful past. From Every time we think of the memory, we may boost, weaken or even change it on sciencefocus.com --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/forget-about-it/ Original source: https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/memory-manipulation All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Samskaras · Avidya · Impermanence · Meditation #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
The Digital Caste: Surveillance Capitalism and the Architecture of Permanent Inequality
How algorithmic systems are building a new structure of social stratification — and why your next cup of milk might be an act of resistance Michael Joel Hall · Director, The Yoga Club · Washington, DC I grew up in small-town America. The kind of…
Read the essay →
A Teacher on Their Phone During Yoga Class? That’s Not Okay… or is it?
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question Hi everyone! I'm fairly new to yoga, (had my first class a few years ago and had been doing it very on and off for until a few months back when I started going more regularly) so I don't exactly know what is "standard practice" in different classes and how the teacher should/can behave - which is why I was hoping to get some thoughts on this. Recently I went to my first yin yoga class - we were doing the (what I gathered) standard yin yoga elements, so very relaxed, mostly on the ground with eye. --- Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/teacher-on-her-phone-during-yin-yoga-am-i-overreacting/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #techsupport #ashtangatech
Read the essay →
Intense focus after Ashtanga practice and difficulty with eye contact — anyone else experienced…
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question I’ve been practicing Ashtanga for about 3–4 years now, usually 5 days a week. During practice I often do the asanas with my eyes closed or with a very soft minimal gaze. My drishti is usually intensely around the third eye area, and the navel and at the tip of the nose depending on the posture. After practice I often experience a very intense, laser-like focus. It almost feels like a powerful, concentrated energy. --- Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/intense-focus-after-ashtanga-practice-and-difficulty-with-eye-contact-anyone-else-experienced-this/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #techsupport #ashtangatech
Read the essay →
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? — A Reading
Financial equity for yoga teachers means building diversified income streams, learning financial literacy, and valuing your labor enough to set boundaries. In Oate's piece, Connie is fifteen, suburban, and already fluent in the art of self-division. One version of herself for the house, one for the world outside it. Her mother sees the home version and finds her lacking. The outside version — the one that moves through malls and drive-ins with confidence — that one she keeps to herself. The split feels like survival. It is actually a trap. One Sunday the family clears out and she's alone with the radio. A gold jalopy pulls in. The driver calls himself Arnold Friend. --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/yoga-teachers-deserve-financial-stability/ Original source: https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.cofc.edu/dist/d/1041/files/2021/01/Where_Are_You_Going_Where_Have_You_Been.pdf All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Svadhyaya · Aparigraha · Dharma · Tapas #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
The Count Is the Practice
Surrendering to an external count transforms your breath into the breath—and that's where the practice deepens. There's a led count for Intermediate Series on YouTube that I've been using for years. Not because it's perfect. Not because it solves all my problems. But because sometimes you need someone else to decide when five breaths is actually five breaths. You know how this goes. You're in a bind. Your breath is shallow. You start negotiating. Maybe six breaths today. Maybe seven. The count says five and you move, even though your hip flexor is staging a protest and your mind is writing a strongly worded letter about fairness. That's the thing about a led class. The decision is made for you. --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/the-count-is-the-practice/ Original source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Myk53CzOdQ8 All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Tapas · Vinyasa · Drishti · Pranayama #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
Who Gets to Say You’re Ready?
Becoming a teacher isn't just about mastering postures—it's about something harder to measure. In this episode, MJH delves into the methods of qualification for an Ashtanga Yoga teacher, contrasting traditional practices with modern approaches. Hall discusses the historical context of authorization by Patabi the current certification processes. He highlights issues with evaluation models, explaining the benefits of a non-linear understanding of system dynamics over linear assessments. Hall shares personal experiences, including conflicts in teaching methods, and emphasizes the importance of ethical frameworks and personal growth for both teachers and students in Ashtanga Yoga. --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/who-gets-to-say-youre-ready/ Original source: https://michaeljoelhall.com/video-ashtanga-teacher-qualifications-uh-oh/ All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Svadhyaya · Dharma · Tapas · Ethics #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
I’m Worried About More Than Kennedy Center
When you destroy cultural infrastructure, you don't just lose buildings — you lose the pathways that connect one generation of artists to the next. The Kennedy Center is closing, and with it, an entire ecosystem of artists and pathways will scatter. From The Kennedy Center's Unnecessary Immolation on thebulwark.com --- Read the full article: https://theyoga.club/im-worried-about-more-than-kennedy-center/ Original source: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/kennedy-center-unnecessary-immolation All content: https://mjh.yoga Concepts: Dharma · Karma Yoga · Ahimsa · Tapas #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #yogapractice #theyogaclub
Read the essay →
How to start a realistic home practice as a beginner
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered. The Question Hi all, I'm new to ashtanga and I want to start building a realistic home practice with a long-term vision. Where do I start and how do I keep going? I've been going to led classes 2x a week for a few months now with a great teacher. At the same time, don't want to be dogmatic about Ashtanga. Is this possible? I'm still a relative beginner with yoga in general and love exploring different styles, but so far ashtanga has touched me the most. submitted by /u/philosop... --- Read more: https://ashtanga.tech/tech-support/how-to-start-a-realistic-home-practice-as-a-beginner/ All content: https://mjh.yoga #ashtanga #yoga #ashtangayoga #techsupport #ashtangatech
Read the essay →
Yoga Filter #1: Who Decides Whats Real
Every week, Michael Joel Hall weaves together questions about transformation and who gets to authorize it — from Ashtanga yoga teacher-authorization to AI consciousness, eco-death marketing, and the power of the count.
Read the essay →Combatting Overstimulation
Overstimulation often comes with lots of feelings and emotions. Irrational irritability. A short fuse. Half-cocked in the f-you position. Or maybe the deep desire to just be left the hell alone. You know it's happening when you're trying to meditate, and every noise is a…
Read the essay →The Quiet Signals
This week's thread is about the signals hiding in plain sight — the ones that ask us to pay closer attention. Does getting stronger require suffering? Gretchen Reynolds reports that light weights and consistent effort produce the same gains as grinding under heavy bars. The…
Read the essay →The Long Game
This week was about patience—and the strange math of how things actually change. Why does practice work in mysterious ways? Because transformation isn't linear. You show up, nothing happens. You show up again, nothing happens. Then one day something shifts and you can't point to…
Read the essay →
The 40Hz Protocol: Ashtanga Yoga as a Multimodal Gamma Entrainment System
Neuroscientists are designing elaborate protocols to induce gamma oscillations in the human brain — flickering lights, transcranial currents, near-infrared light helmets. A 2024 review in Frontiers in Neuroscience catalogues four distinct stimulation methods to achieve what the brain needs to perceive clearly, move well, and regulate emotion. Reading it, I kept having the same thought: Ashtanga yoga already does all of this. Not metaphorically. Simultaneously, and without a single device
Read the essay →Currents
This week kept circling back to the same question: where is your energy actually going? It showed up everywhere. In the prana vayus—those five currents that move breath and life force through the body—the practice isn't about forcing energy somewhere new. It's about noticing where…
Read the essay →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.