This final interview in our AI & Tech series is one of my faves. It isn’t often I meet someone so decidedly pro-tech in the yoga space, so chatting with Ram Bhakt was a true breath of fresh air.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

*AI can undoubtedly help us with our businesses.  Ram listed a whole lot of things AI can help with–marketing, emails, scheduling, and more.  Which ones do you feel confident in implementing sooner rather than later?

*Colleagues who are using AI are going to pass you by.  This is undeniably true.  If you consider our market saturated or competitive, you might want to consider exploring how AI can help you stand out in your business.

*While AI yoga teachers are not prevalent now, they absolutely do exist.  If you didn’t catch that article from NPR on nursing home facilities using AI yoga teachers in Colorado, I will link that in the show notes.  And what I want you to think about is how you will offer something different than those AI teachers.

*Wearable AI and yoga is SUCH a good idea!!  Is anyone doing this already?  Dr. Steffany Moonaz, I am looking at you.  Could we get Ora rings for everyone to measure biomarkers as they practice yoga from anywhere in the world?  That could potentially have a huge impact on our research wing of the industry. 

*Our orgs could help us with some of this!!  They could be building chatbots for us to help folks looking for resources about yoga.  I am giving a solid side-eye to you, International Association of Yoga Therapists.  But let’s be honest, the org most likely to give us this is the American Yoga Council, the new kid on the block.  So if you are listening, we want you to build us chatbots that help practitioners find their way to teachers, yoga therapists, and more.  DM me, Andrew, and Scott–I could go on for a while on this.  In fact, maybe I will do a final wrap-up episode and add more details. 

*Self-actualization in business and yoga is something we need to talk about.  Because we need to be careful as sincere yoga practitioners AND business owners.  The improvement of both of these requires a path of self-actualization.  I feel like I have made this joke on the podcast, but certainly I have said it in talks and in person–when you run a yoga business, it feels like you cannot escape self-improvement.  And sometimes I just want to eat chips and scroll TikTok.  So it is worth building up some practices to give yourself a break.  Yoga folks, as I have experienced them, are often intense people, and we need to make sure that we are balancing out this dual journey of self-discovery with some hobbies (yoga is not your hobby, babe) and relaxation.

*Ram made a couple of comments on the over-intellectualization of yoga, and those folks who are deep sticklers for traditional yoga, and I want to mention that I have been, at one time, both of those things.  For me, personally, some of that came from a place of feeling like I had learned all I needed to from yoga–a sure sign I hadn’t learned nearly as much as I thought; and the fact that it feels good to think we are morally superior to other people.  That is a trap in thinking that I see a lot in the West.  If you want to think your way out of it, then go ahead and wrestle with the idea that you and I have the same job as anyone who teaches hot, Buti, goat yoga with wine chasers.  I am gonna gently hold your hand and remind you we all have the same job.  K, love you. Truly.

RESOURCES

Working In Yoga Website

Working In Yoga Newsletter

Tell Us A Story!  Funny Stories via SpeakPipe

Ram’s Website

AI & Tech Discussion Guide

NPR Article on AI in senior living facilities