love, light, and liberation

I don’t think a lineage is essential for the transmission of the teachings, but we have to do a better job of sharing and supporting each other if the community is going to replace the guru.

White supremacy and systemic racism have poisoned the water to the point that our personal practice alone can’t make it drinkable. But, our practice can give us the clarity to step up to the task of making real political and social change.

The point is, yoga is not just about stopping the mind, as Patanjali advocates, at least not unless our goal is renouncing the world. Instead, it’s about learning how to use the mind wisely, to cultivate discernment. This may seem like a minor point, but I think it has huge repercussions. We have created modern yoga systems around a philosophy of

Intuitive practice values the messages that are constantly arising from the body and mind. We don’t need to push them away with meditation techniques that work like dog training: “Bad mind!” Instead, ask your mind, “What is bothering you? Let’s find the way through. How can we build this life together? Let me listen to you and work with you to

As we move into a time of post-lineage yoga, I think we should celebrate our independence from traditional gurus who were so often abusive. But we can keep in mind that there were benefits to the guru relationship that may be lost—the power of tradition and lineage, the focused attention, the individual support—but this should not keep us from

Remember, spiritual power without service is simply power. Service is an outlet for your energy. It allows the energy that you build in your practice to be used for the greater good—not just for your own personal benefit. This focus on others, and not simply expanding your own ego, is really at the basis of spiritual practice. So, it’s not a matter

Anything that offers success in our unjust society without trying to change it is not revolutionary — it just helps people cope. However, it could also be making things worse. Instead of encouraging radical action, it says the causes of suffering are disproportionately inside us, not in the political and economic frameworks that shape how we live.

Mindfulness is nothing more than basic concentration training. Although derived from Buddhism, it’s been stripped of the teachings on ethics that accompanied it, as well as the liberating aim of dissolving attachment to a false sense of self while enacting compassion for all other beings. What remains is a tool of self-discipline, disguised as

The neoliberal order has imposed itself by stealth in the past few decades, widening inequality in pursuit of corporate wealth. People are expected to adapt to what this model demands of them. Stress has been pathologized and privatized, and the burden of managing it outsourced to individuals.