Outspoken and sometimes controversial yoga teacher and blogger J. Brown has sparked broad discussions in the yoga community via his award winning blog, known for thoughtful criticism of established ideas and heartfelt insight.
It was a year ago that I wrote a blog post, entitled "Keeping the Dream Alive," and launched a fundraising campaign to see if it might still be possible to open a small community yoga center in my neighborhood. Much to my amazement and joy, a few hundred people decided to pitch in and give me just enough money to go for it right when all the odds seemed stacked against the viability of a brick and…
I have never been very good at asking for help. Probably because at a formative time in my life when I needed it, there was none to be had. That experience conditioned me to stop asking altogether. I determined that I couldn't rely on anyone else so I convinced myself that I didn't need anything from anyone. But, inevitably, there comes a time when it becomes clear that everyone needs help…
Up until recently, I had no need for God. Certainly not the apocryphal modernized conception I was exposed to in my youth. I considered a belief in God to be small minded. That's why I rejected organized religion altogether and became interested in eastern ideas of spiritual inquiry where the relationship between self and beyond is questioned, and sometimes blurred.
How many people do you know who have completed a 200, 300, 500, or 800 hour yoga teacher or yoga therapist training program? My bet is more than a few. How many of those people are making a living solely through the work they do as a yoga teacher or yoga therapist? My bet is almost none. And yet, the premier offering of any respected teacher today tends to be a certificate training program. So…
Another many months have gone by without me managing to set any words down here. The intention is there but the execution loses all steam when the potential moment arises. I think it's because the only things that feel worth writing about not only don't lend themselves to words but are also utterly linked to overwhelmingly painful circumstances currently playing out in my life.
Many times I have lamented and decried the rampant commercialization of yoga. A multi-billion dollar industry of yoga-related products, built on the allure of both a lithe body and enlightened mind, seemed like the primary obstacle to authentic yoga transmission. Myself and others have struggled to find ways of mitigating the economic realities and barriers to making a living through yoga with…
There are moments when the maelstrom becomes transparent enough for me to see through the tragedy, hypocrisy, and injustice. In the quietude beyond the burning horizon, there is a circle of people gathered around a fire, chanting to the moon. As I approach, the circle opens to embrace me and I am enveloped into an ancient song of communal heart wisdom. Tears of joy cleanse my soul and I call out…
Up until a few days ago, I was one of the dreaded "hesitant." Most of the people I know in the staunchly blue county I live in are already fully vaccinated and I had been going back and forth for weeks. When I mentioned my hesitancy to some fellow parents, it was clear that we could not talk about it. Anything other than "hooray for the vaccine" was immediately met with surprise and judgement…
Even before the pandemic, there was always a strained relationship between yoga teachers and yoga center owners over the loyalty of students and the distribution of profits. As the culture of yoga centers evolved from church basements with cigar boxes to multiplex spa environments with online recurring memberships, yoga centers were forced to adopt more exploitative policies. The lockdown has…
Hello Yoga Land. It’s me, J. You know, that guy who has been taking pot shots at you all these years with his punk-ass blog writing and podcasting. Well, I feel like I owe you an apology. Now that you are in tatters, I can see that in my zeal to challenge you, I took so much for granted. What I would give to have you back again, even with all of your flaws. In my disenchantment over the injustice,…
Despite the term generally being considered derogatory, all yoga practice and teaching is “performative.” The fundamental nature of yogic learning requires the performance of some act of mind, posture, word or deed. There is nothing inherently superficial or disingenuous about a performance. In fact, it is precisely the performance element that invites access to the liminal space most conducive to…
I have long touted a narrative of yoga going from underground to mainstream but, now that the pandemic has brought the industry to its knees, it’s clear that the legitimization of the profession was always in appearance only. Despite the hype of Instagram glorification, and corporations capitalizing on yoga’s popularity, the revolutionary underpinnings of yogic require true teachers to remain in…
Despite our reliance on scientific data and reasoning to keep us safe, there is nothing naive or misguided about having a devotional practice of yoga. Rationalism that supposes to provide answers to life’s uncertainty is grossly insufficient in helping people manage themselves through a pandemic. Listening for messages that come from a felt sense of both the unknown and the empirical, may well…
Most of the important decisions I have made in my life were governed more by gut feeling than empirical data. Potentially, this indicates a tendency towards magical thinking that makes me more vulnerable to manipulation by charismatic figures and conspiracy theories. Or possibly, I am tapping into an inner wisdom that shapes my experience of reality in ways that better align with a cosmic order…
My ten year old daughter is becoming a better writer than I will ever be. As her vocabulary continues to grow, she seems to be able to access her words with the same level of abandonment that children have when scribbling with crayons. The reckless freedom of her expression is like a salve amidst the paralyzing reality of our worlds being shut down.
I could never have imagined a day when all the yoga centers would be closed. How could that possibly happen? A global pandemic that requires social distancing to stem the tide of contagion, that’s how. In the course of only a few weeks, the entire world has been turned upside down and the already shaky ground on which Yogaland was built is at serious risk of complete collapse.
Eastern traditions and lineages, transposed onto western cultures in the mainstreaming of yoga, have been romanticized and commodified to an extent that there no longer seems to be clear authoritative sources for yogic knowledge and education. The abuses of charismatic teachers have so tainted the field of study that it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between beneficial teachings…
Regardless of the details of what happened, I believe that Mark Whitwell abused Christie Roe and his behavior was unacceptable. I think yoga teachers need to set high standards for themselves and Mark has failed to live up to his ethical obligations. He wrote that all of his relationships have been “consensual and mutual” but there was nothing mutual about Mark’s relationship with Christie. They…
The yoga industry is experiencing a diseconomy of scale. Those clinging to conventional ways of doing business are scratching their heads as the bottom appears to be finally dropping out of what has been a cushy ride up until now. Corporate players, wielding a late-stage capitalist playbook, are doing their darndest to line their pockets while they stave off the inevitable by sticking it to…
Questions around consent and touch in yoga classes boiled over this month into a high profile feature article and video documentary by the NY Times. More than just profiling the abuse scandals of Patabhi Jois, the author puts a generational gap in how yoga teachers view what they do, and why, on full display. Most people agree that the old ways of doing things are no longer acceptable, but what do…