Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Yoga-nomics: Where are we headed?

Yoga is about seeking truth... about stilling the illusive aspects of mind to see clearly what is. In this video, Meredith Whitney describes what is going on in the economy and let's us see a picture of the next 6-12 months. From all I have been reading, this is an accurate appraisal. Municipal and State governments are cutting back and housing prices continue to be under significant downward pressure.

Additionally, the effects of the Financial Regulations now being put together in Congress will slow the velocity of money, slow down the mania that led to the financial crisis, and be a short term negative for the poor and middle-class. Again, those who can ill-afford it will be making large sacrifices to put the financial system back into shape.
With this pessimistic outlook I have re-shaped all of my finances. It's time.

Specifically for the Yoga teachers and businesses, be ready to mark down your fees, hope your resources will hold out and be ready to re-negotiate rent and lease agreements. It's time.

Of course, nothing of long term value is at stake here. It is our spiritual practice that will sustain us all. I am studying Vivekachudamani and the Bhagavad Gita this summer. Really looking forward to a new teacher and some time in silence.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Yoga-nomics: Ayn Rand and our Market Meltdown

 How much did naïve sentiments color Greenspan's decisions as Fed chairman? (for the full story)
I figured out the problems with the Objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand in my early 20's and am really stunned that our country was taken off course by this inconsistently logical dogma. Argh!
I subscribed to the Objectivist newsletter. I voted for Nixon based on Rand's endorsement. I thought about it all and came to the conclusion that there was too big a divide between the Ideology and the day to day living reality of what is. There, now I've said it...
A main thread running through this insane split in our country is over this issue. Do we trust the people running our Corporations, and to what degree. It's evident from the Tea Party gatherings that people are pissed about any regulations. Liberals, on the other hand, can't understand why good, orderly supervision is denied so vociferously.
Read Ayn Rand's novels to understand what is dividing our country these days. In spite of a mountain of evidence to the contrary, many are sticking to the rugged individualism espoused by Ayn. Come to your own conclusions about her philosophy and talk to others. This is a very serious time in our country, make no mistake.
We all have this idealism to deal with and it is a good thing. Integrity comes from this source. However, when it is misplaced and dogmatic it can only lead to the kinds of excess that we have seen in the past 3 years. 
Each and every one of us should be able to discuss our views on the role of government in our lives from a deep understanding of the underlying issues. It seems that Ayn Rand is a good starting place to delve into the reasons why so many citizens are today talking about exercising "Second Amendment Remedies."
Take this seriously. This debate and the actions that ensue are part of our history. And history, as we say, will repeat itself until it is understood.
"Greenspan's Fed looked the other way while essentially unregulated mortgage brokers churned out bad loans to dreamers, deadbeats, and suckers during the housing boom.
This is the problem in huge proportions. Greenspan's ideology led him to say this:

"...you and I will never agree about fraud," she remembered him saying. "You probably will always believe there should be laws against fraud, and I don't think there is any need for a law against fraud."
Greenspan... believed the market would take care of itself.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Yoga-nomics: Who owns what?



Years ago I began integrating 'Core Strength' into my yoga practice and teaching. However, I have always acknowledged the influences outside of Yoga that gave rise to the changed elements. Satya, i suppose.


This is a tricky issue in Yoga: what are the influences that give rise to 'adjective yoga.' Should they be acknowledged? Whether the influences come from 'inside' yoga tradition or from 'outside,' does this integration allow branding as a 'new' yoga? This is a broad question, not only asked of you, but of all integrators of new elements to Yoga practice.


Well, now the Indian government is taking it seriously. (read the full article)

Dr Vinod Kumar Gupta, who heads the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, a Delhi-based government organisation set up jointly by the ministries of health and science, told the Guardian: "Simple text isn't adequate. People are claiming they are doing something different from the original yoga when they are not."

"Yoga originated in India. People cannot claim to invent a new yoga when they have not."

From the information at hand, I am in agreement. The problem isn't one of having access to practicing Yoga, rather the issue is individuals laying claim to the right to own some parts of Yogasana practice and name it as their own. The phenomenon of 'adjective yoga.'





"There is no intention to stop people practising yoga but nobody should misappropriate yoga and start charging franchise money," said Gupta, who, like many Delhi residents, practises the ancient art in a park near his home. "As for hot yoga, power yoga, or whatever I have no views to comment. Our job is to provide the evidence and let others decide."
The campaign to preserve yoga as Indian has its roots in a bid several years ago by Bikram Choudhury, the self-proclaimed Hollywood "yoga teacher to the stars", to get his Bikram yoga style patented in the US.
"They are creating brands," said Guru Singh, who has himself invented what he calls "Urban Yoga".

In our culture, Pilates has really brought the whole issue of 'Core' into popular consciousness. Joe Pilates used these principals, which he acknowledged were influenced by gymnastics, yoga, etc., as foundational. In turn, yoga teachers have begun to emphasize the core in recent years. Many teachers are strong, like Dharma Mitra, but the whole core emphasis is of a different kind. 


Today it seems yoga teachers are straining credulity. They do this by finding the slightest connection with bandhas and/or mudras to bring in innovations of other modalities or by selecting one aspect of the broad teaching of Yoga and creating what they call a new style of yoga.


Satya, Yogi's and Yogini's.

Sate hitam satyam. Which translates to "The path to ultimate truth or Sat  is satya (i.e. the real truth).


Download a partial listing of the various Styles of Yoga in the USA... all 'adjective' Yoga's.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Yoga-nomics: Is Yoga a business or a practice?


If you come to Yoga through a local studio or yoga class where you do the physical practice, welcome! You've begun to follow a tradition that is very old, revered and spiritual.

There is the anecdote about a group of people in a dark room trying to identify an elephant by each one feeling different parts. That's kind of like what this question is about: practice or business. When you come into Yoga through the business of teachers, classes and studios, which are business oriented, it might be evident that is what Yoga is. Not really. That's just the current and popular face of Yoga.

Yoga is vast. It has survived for thousands of years by integrating practices and philosophies and, as has been talked about here before, has no "college of yogi's" directing it. One of the key elements of all of this has been to encourage newcomers to enter in and do Yoga. It seems to have worked well over the years.

Right now, in America and the western world, Yoga is synonymous with asana; that is the physical practice, one of the eight limbs of Yoga practice. Asana lends itself very well to being commoditized and sold in classes. This is the business of Yoga today. Selling of the meditation limbs has been done before, as in the popularity of Transcendental Meditation many years ago. But the real money-maker is in asana. Oh, and the clothes and stuff you need to do it!

If you are attracted to Yoga, any part or 'limb', simply do it. I've learned over the years that Yoga has a power to attract and illumine people. All by itself. So however you enter, however you practice, Yoga will invite you to more, and perhaps deeper practices.

The nature of those deeper practices is not so mysterious. Many old, sacred texts lay them out so that they can be explored. If that interests you, start by asking your present asana teacher. If they don't know, ask who they can refer you to that can answer your questions.

So, to answer the question directly, in my opinion and experience Yoga is not a business. In fact, the business gets in the way. Yoga teachers that own studios find that they have less time for practice because the business demands attention. It is inevitable. There are business people doing Yoga and I trust the Power of Yoga will transform them. To some degree. In time.

To see some other takes on question this visit: Yoganomics™

Monday, May 24, 2010

Money, the Power of


I've been reading Liars Poker, a book about the Bond Traders by Michael Lewis. He lived the life of a bond trader on Wall Street in the 1980's and recounts his experiences with great clarity.

In his concluding remarks he says:

For me, however, the meaning of making dollars crumbled; the proposition that the more money you earn, the better the life you are leading was refuted by too much hard evidence to the contrary. And without that belief, I lost the need to make huge sums of money. The funny thing is that I was largely unaware how heavily influenced I was by the money belief until it had vanished.

To me, this is the under-pinning of greed. To consciously be aware of the structure of belief that actions are based on. Rarely does this happen, and is transformative. Seeing clearly this 'hard evidence' can come slowly, over a period of years, or in a flash.

The adventure begins when one alters behavior based on this kind of insight.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Understanding the Blues

Understanding the Blues is part of life. Age and experience are key to singing the Blues. It's a mode of being. It's not Yoga, but needs to be understood in a Yogic life, like the background in a picture. The Blues is the smoke from the fire of samskara burning...
The following was borrowed from anonymous internet postings:
1. Most Blues begin with: "Woke up this morning..."

2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues unless you stick something nasty in the next line like "I got a good woman with the meanest face in town."

3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes, sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher, and she weigh 500 pound."

4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch. There ain't no way out.

5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or SUVs. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.

6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.

7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or anyplace in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City are still great places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues anyplace that don't get rain.

8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the Blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg 'cause you were skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg 'cause a alligator be chomping on it is.

9. You can't have no Blues in a office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go out to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.

10. Good places for the Blues:
a. Highway
b. Jailhouse
c. Empty bed
d. Bottom of a whiskey glass

Bad places for the Blues:
a. Nordstrom's
b. Gallery openings
c. Ivy League colleges
d. Golf courses

11. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be an old ethnic person, and you slept in it.

12. Do you have the right to sing the Blues?
Yes, if:
a. You older than dirt
b. You blind
c. You shot a man in Memphis
d. You can't be satisfied

No, if:
a. You have all your teeth
b. You were once blind but now can see
c. The man in Memphis lived
d. You have a 401K or trust fund

13. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the blues. Sonny Liston could. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the blues.

14. If you ask for water and your darlin' give you gasoline, it's the Blues.
Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. Cheap wine
b. Whiskey or bourbon
c. Muddy water
d. Nasty black coffee

The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. Perrier
b. Chardonnay
c. Snapple
d. Slim Fast

15. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a broken-down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction.

16. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling

17. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie

18. Persons with names like Amber, Jennifer, Tiffany, Debbie, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

19. Make your own Blues Name Starter Kit:
a. Name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.)
b. Choose a fruit (Lemon, Lime, etc.)
c. Last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.) Examples: Blind Lime Jefferson, Jackleg Lemon Johnson.

20. No matter how tragic your life, if you own a computer you cannot sing the blues.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Yoga-nomics: Structuring the Business

With the wave of social awareness cresting in the Blue states, how can individuals and groups bring "Change" that is necessary. With current structures of ownership, it can be difficult at best.

So, as the pitfalls of unbridled capitalism are uncovered around us, we require new ways of organizing socially responsible activities.

Social enterprises that have a clearly defined mission often don't fit neatly into existing ownership structures. Those that register as nonprofits have trouble tapping private capital to expand, while for-profit companies risk compromising their missions because they must put shareholders' returns first. But growing interest in hybrid business models has brought about efforts at the state level to create new corporate structures that allow entrepreneurs to combine nonfinancial goals into for-profit businesses.

One new form, known as the Low-profit Limited Liability Company (or L3C), is intended for companies that put their missions before profits. The structure lets them qualify for loans or investments that further a foundation's goals and also may yield financial returns. First adopted in Vermont in April 2008, the L3C is now also on the books in Michigan, Utah, and Wyoming. There are 53 L3Cs in Vermont and a handful in other states so far.

For now, however, social ventures must find creative ways to straddle the line between nonprofit and for-profit. All of these entail complex combinations of for- and not-for-profit corporate structures, attorneys for each organization, property right and intellectual property agreements and clear-cut equity and debt arrangements. Putting together these solutions can be time consuming and cumbersome.

Excerpted from Business Structure Article