#199: Honoring the Lineage and Understanding Merit in Ashtanga Yoga
Release Date: 03/28/2025
#220 The Astrology of 2026 - the Year Everything Changes with Gahl Sasson
Yoga Inspiration
In this episode of the Yoga Inspiration Podcast, I sit down with astrologer and teacher Gahl Sasson for a thoughtful conversation on cycles, change, and finding meaning during times of transition. Together we explore how astrology and yoga intersect as tools for self awareness, timing, and personal growth. Gahl shares insights into understanding cycles of challenge and opportunity, the importance of perspective during uncertain times, and how spiritual practices can help ground us when life feels overwhelming. This conversation offers practical wisdom for anyone navigating change, seeking...
info_outline
#219 Healing Through Grief: How Yoga, Practice, and Community Carry Us Forward When Everything Falls Apart
Yoga Inspiration
This episode is a reflection on a year marked by grief, loss, and profound inner reckoning. I share openly about the death of my teacher, the unraveling of relationships I once trusted, and the disorienting experience of being misunderstood, judged, and rejected in ways I did not expect. What began as a single loss rippled outward, touching every area of my life. Along the way, I was forced to confront painful truths about friendship, projection, and the limits of compassion when others are committed to misunderstanding you. Through it all, one thing remained steady: practice. Yoga has...
info_outline
#218 Is Yoga Inherently Healing? Trauma, Activation & the Power of Presence with Terri Cooper and Kino MacGregor
Yoga Inspiration
In this episode, Kino speaks with trauma-informed yoga educator and activist Terri Cooper to explore the deep connection between yoga and healing. What is trauma, really? Is yoga inherently trauma-sensitive? And how can teachers and students use yoga to navigate emotional activation and create space for true transformation? Terri shares her insights from years of work with Connection Coalition, a nonprofit bringing trauma-informed yoga to youth in underserved communities. You’ll also learn accessible tools for emotional regulation, why healing is essential for anyone who teaches, and what...
info_outline
#217 Walking in the Light of the Guru: Lineage, Faith & Living Wisdom
Yoga Inspiration
Each year, under the bright full moon of Guru Purnima, yoga practitioners and seekers around the world pause to honor the timeless presence of the Guru, the teacher who removes darkness and reveals the light that has always been within us. This was written in July 2025, the first Guru Purnima Day, after Sharath Jois passed. Our hearts were still heavy with grief and we contemplated what it truly means to walk in the light of the Guru? In the ancient yoga tradition, the Guru is far more than just a transmitter of techniques or philosophy. The Guru is the living embodiment of wisdom, a...
info_outline
#216 The Importance of a Teacher, the Meaning of Being a Student and the Power of Transmission.
Yoga Inspiration
In a world where information is always within reach, it’s tempting to believe we no longer need teachers. With a few clicks, we can access ancient texts, videos, and tutorials on nearly any aspect of yoga. But there’s something that the internet cannot give you: transmission. Yoga is not simply learned; it is received. And it is only in relationship that this sacred transmission occurs. Our role as yoga teachers is not to entertain or perform. We are not here to serve up a random collection of poses or stories. Our job is to teach yoga to you, to help you understand the significance of...
info_outline
#215 Dialogue and Discipline, Rethinking Authority in Ashtanga Yoga
Yoga Inspiration
In this deeply honest and sometimes difficult conversation, Melissa Matt, Kino MacGregor, Peg Mulqueen, Sarah Nelson, and Greg Nardi take a courageous step into the heart of Ashtanga Yoga’s ongoing reckoning. This episode asks some of the most pressing and uncomfortable questions facing our community today: Who decides what practice looks like? How are poses given, and what happens when power, hierarchy, and silence intertwine? Drawing from recent events and decades of shared experience, the teachers reflect on accountability, lineage, and the urgent need for new models of integrity. The...
info_outline
#214 The Quiet Turning: Meditation, Yoga, and the Truth of Impermanence
Yoga Inspiration
Podcast notes The Quiet Turning: Meditation, Yoga, and the Truth of Impermanence One of the most frustrating instructions I ever received in a meditation class was deceptively simple: Close your eyes and quiet the mind. I remember thinking, if I could do that, I wouldn’t be here learning how to meditate. Like so many others, I was searching for peace amidst the chaos of my own thoughts. Fortunately, I stumbled upon an ancient method that didn’t demand silence from the start. It welcomed me exactly as I was. And over the years, daily meditation has become a cornerstone of my...
info_outline
#213 Abhyāsa: The Sacred Art of Returning, Practice, Repetition, and Inner Cultivation
Yoga Inspiration
What does it really mean to practice yoga not just once in a while, but again and again, across years, through resistance, joy, boredom, and transformation? In this episode, Kino and Tim explore the deeper meaning of abhyāsa, the Sanskrit word often translated as “practice,” but whose roots reveal something far more enduring: the committed, intentional act of returning. They weave this with the concept of bhāvanā, the inner cultivation of the heart and mind, drawn from early Buddhist teachings. Through stories from the Ashtanga method and personal reflections on the power of...
info_outline
#212 Understanding the Ashtanga Yoga Opening Invocation: Etymology, Meaning & Inner Alchemy
Yoga Inspiration
The yoga community is like one big family, not united by fancy poses but by a shared love for this ancient practice. It doesn’t matter what shapes your body can or can’t make; what matters is that you keep showing up and giving your best effort. What binds us is presence, not perfection. The practice calls forth a quiet courage and insight within us and it weaves us into a community of fellow seekers. One of yoga’s subtle gifts is clear seeing, not just of the body but of the mind and heart. Its promise is not mere physical skill, but an inner transformation that dissolves...
info_outline
#211 A Supported Practice: Finding Balance Between Yoga and Strength Training with Kino MacGregor and Wade Oakley
Yoga Inspiration
In this insightful episode of the Yoga Inspiration Podcast, Kino MacGregor sits down with longtime Ashtanga practitioner and teacher Wade Oakley to explore the intersection of traditional yoga practice and modern strength training. Wade shares how an early shoulder injury led him to Ashtanga Yoga at the University of Virginia, and how his journey quickly took him to India to study with Sharath Jois. He reflects on practicing in Mysore, balancing academic research with daily sadhana, and what it means to approach yoga with both a beginner’s heart and a scholar’s mind. The conversation...
info_outlineKino and Tim discuss how to honor the lineage in the absence of our teachers. They further dive into the definition of what constitutes merit in the practice of Yoga. Ending with a Q&A that captures the spirit of the conclusion of their first week of teaching in Bali
Practice LIVE with me exclusively on Omstars! Start your journey today with a 7-day free trial at omstars.com.
Limited time Offer: Sign up for an Omstars+ membership and Get my FREE course: Ashtanga Mechanics.
Stay connected with us on social @omstarsofficial and @kinoyoga
Practice with me in person for workshops, classes, retreats, trainings and Mysore seasons. Find out more about where I’m teaching at kinoyoga.com and sign up for our Mysore season in Miami at www.miamilifecenter.com