where has all the good yoga gone?
Good Yoga #1
Week after week, I get asked about where to find quality classes and teachers. And to be honest… I don’t know. I can’t point to a specific style or studio system anymore.
There are bright spots of integrity. Like Padma in Marin. Yoga Shala in Bend. If you’re lucky, you find innovators like Lotsie Cash at Tula, August Whittaker at Headwaters. Or true healers like Djuna Devereaux and Diana May.
But if you’re looking for good yoga, it’s gone underground. It might even have a different name, something intentionally vague, like “movement”. Because the yoga you fell in love with… where you were learning and growing and transforming (not just sweating and moving)... doesn’t fit the modern studio mold.
Why?
Because capitalism is corrosive to tradition.The bottom line can squish the big vision.
Even with the best intentions, we’re all swimming in the currents of consumer culture. And yoga is inherently bad business. Practice done well makes you more and more free. Less and less desirous. But that doesn't sell anything... And practice was meant to be simple and deeply personal. Nothing flashy. But that doesn't get you anywhere on social media...
See how this gets sticky?
Because time, distance, and availability make it challenging to find and connect with qualified teachers, we have Office Hours each week to tackle rarely-touched topics and unpack unwieldy questions.
Last week a student asked what I'll summarize as “how do I have a sustainable practice and still make progress?” In other words, where are the best places to exert effort? What (and when) do you give up? How do you measure progress (especially as you age)?
The answers rub up against alllllllll the capitalist conditioning. But the friction might set you free. We posted the recording so everyone can listen.
May your practice be really, really good,
Alison
Admin note: Before we dive into the questions, I cover the reading syllabus for 2025. If this doesn’t make you giddy with excitement, fast forward to the slide you see below.
