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 clarity, or wanting to deepen their relationship with practice as a source of stability and insight.

What You'll Learn in This Episode • How astrology can be used as a tool for self reflection rather than prediction • Understanding life cycles and why periods of difficulty often precede growth • The relationship between yoga practice and navigating personal transitions • How awareness and timing can support wiser decision making • Finding meaning, resilience, and perspective during uncertain times • Using spiritual tools to stay grounded while embracing change

As this conversation reminds us, timing matters. When we understand the cycles we are moving through, we can meet them with intention rather than force. If you're feeling called to begin the new year with greater awareness and consistency, the January 30 Day Flexibility Challenge on Omstars offers a supportive way to do just that. Through just 20 minutes a day of guided practice, you can align your body and mind with the rhythms of change and start the year grounded, steady, and connected. https://omstars.com/courses/30-day-flexibility-journey-with-kino-macgregor

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 never been performance or achievement for me. It is where effort becomes prayer, where breath becomes an offering, and where I reconnect with something deeper than circumstance. Practice did not erase the pain of this year, but it gave me the strength to keep standing inside it.

In this episode, I explore:

• Grief as a force that reshapes identity, relationships, and belief

• The difference between honest feedback and cruelty rooted in unprocessed pain

• Why some people react with hostility to joy, light, and devotion

• The limits of persuasion when someone has decided who you are in their story

• How social media amplifies judgment, outrage, and division

• Why tending the "garden of the heart" is the only real work we can do

• Falling and rising in practice as training for resilience in life

• Strength as the courage to keep the heart open rather than shutting down

• The power of speech, intention, and conscious listening

• Community as imperfect, fractured, and still sacred

• Why yoga remains unbroken even when people and institutions feel divided

I also reflect on the teachings that continue to guide me, including the idea that the true practitioner remains steady in praise and blame, friend and foe. I am not there yet. The words still sting. The grief still enters. But I am learning what strength actually means.

This episode is an offering to anyone who has felt shaken, misunderstood, or tempted to dim their light in order to belong. It is a reminder that joy and sorrow can coexist, that devotion does not require approval, and that the practice lives on through sincere breath, effort, and presence.

As long as yoga is practiced with honesty, the lineage has a future. And within that future, there is light.

Continue the Practice

If you are looking for a steady place to practice, I invite you to join me on Omstars for the January 30 Day Flexibility Challenge. In just 20 minutes a day, we return to breath, movement, and consistency as a way to build strength, flexibility, and resilience on and off the mat.

Omstars members can join the challenge at no additional cost. If you are new, you can sign up for the Omstars email list and try the first three days of the challenge free.

https://omstars.com/courses/30-day-flexibility-journey-with-kino-macgregor

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 society gets wrong about trauma. Listen in to discover how yoga can become a path of profound presence, self-inquiry, and collective healing. Resources & Links: The Connection Course on Omstars Connection Coalition

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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.

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 steady flame passed from teacher to student, generation after generation.

The Guru: Not Just a Teacher, but a Living Embodiment

Our ancient texts speak clearly about this. The Mundaka Upanishad (1.2.12) tells us:

तद्विज्ञानार्थं स गुरुमेवाभिगच्छेत समित्पाणिः श्रोत्रियं ब्रह्मनिष्ठम् ॥ Tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet Samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nishtham

"To realize that Supreme Knowledge, one must approach a Guru alone, carrying fuel in hand, who is learned in the scriptures (srotriya) and firmly established in Brahman (brahma-nistha)."

These two qualities, srotriya and brahma-nistha, reveal the heart of the true Guru.

Srotriya (श्रोत्रिय) comes from sruti (श्रुति), meaning "that which is heard," the revealed wisdom of the Vedas and Upanishads. Etymologically, sru means to hear and -triya means possessor of. A srotriya is one who has fully mastered the sacred teachings, the outer mastery of scripture, tradition, and precise method.

Brahma-nistha (ब्रह्मनिष्ठ) brings us deeper still. Brahman is the undivided reality, the ultimate truth. Nistha means "firmly established," from nis (down, firm) and stha (to stand). A brahma-nistha is one who stands unshakably rooted in the living truth of Brahman. This is the inner realization that breathes life into the outer knowledge.

Together, they remind us: Without srotriya, the teaching drifts. Without brahma-nistha, the teaching is lifeless.

How the Guru Lives in Our Lineage

In the Ashtanga Yoga tradition, we have seen these qualities alive in the teachers who came before us. Sri T. Krishnamacharya was a true a srotriya and brahma-nistha, deeply rooted in Sanskrit, the Vedas, and the subtle method of yoga: his whole life was devoted to the practice. His student, K. Pattabhi Jois was my teacher and he dedicated his life to teaching. While K. Pattabhi Jois' scholarship as a Sanskrit Vidwan was widely recognized, he unfortunately did not fulfill the role of a perfect endowment of the teachings due to the harm done to female students at his hands. Ashtanga Yoga still seeks to account for those actions.

Sharath Jois, K. Pattabhi Jois' grandson, embodied the living thread of the practice with all his heart and sought to steady the lineage and make space for healing. His srotriya shined through in the precise count, the unwavering discipline, the commitment to preserve the parampara, the unbroken lineage. But what touched people most was his brahma-nistha: the quiet steadiness, the humility, the simple, living truth that shows through his presence and service to this path.

Both of my Ashtanga teachers are gone now. To me, they will always be a light on the path. I still sit with much grief, sorrow and loss about their passing.

A yoga Guru is a yoga master teacher, not necessarily a spiritual embodiment. The word Guru has many levels and my teachers cultivated a light in me that continues to shine today. I would not be who I am today without them both.

A true Guru (or teacher) does not make you a follower. A true Guru (or teacher) shows you how to find the light that has always been yours.

The Guru Cultivates the Inner Flame

As Patanjali reminds us in the Yoga Sutra (1.20):

श्रद्धावीर्यस्मृतिसमाधिप्रज्ञापूर्वक इतरेषाम् ॥ १.२० ॥ Sraddha-virya-smrti-samadhi-prajna-purvaka itaresam

"For others, samadhi comes through faith (sraddha), vigor (virya), remembrance (smrti), deep absorption (samadhi), and wisdom (prajna)."

These qualities are the hidden garden the Guru, our teacher, nourishes in us:

Sraddha: faith, the quiet trust that steadies us when doubt arises. Virya: courageous effort, the strength to keep going. Smrti: remembrance of who we really are and why we practice. Samadhi: deep absorption, the merging of mind, breath, and heart. Prajna: clear insight, the wisdom that sees through illusion.

The outer Guru lights this lamp. The inner Guru, which is our own guidance and light, keeps it burning.

A Prayer on Guru Purnima

When we bow on Guru Purnima, we do not bow only to a person, we bow to the entire living thread that connects us to truth: our teachers, our daily practice, our inner wisdom.

May our lives be our offering back, our sraddha, our virya, our willingness to stand firm in the truth when the world wavers.

May we carry this flame forward, bright and steady, for all those who will come after us, seeking the same light that our Gurus kept alive for us.

ॐ श्रीगुरुभ्यो नमः। Pranam to all Gurus, visible and invisible, past, present, and yet to come.

May Guru Purnima remind us all that the Guru is not far away. The true Guru lives in daily breath, sincere effort, and the quiet voice inside that whispers, keep going. May we keep this light alive, together.

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 the method. Especially in Ashtanga Yoga, where lineage matters and precision holds meaning, we offer a comprehensive system, not a fragmented sampler. What we offer is not just technique; it is a way of being. And that way of being is passed down through a living thread.

To understand the teacher-student relationship in yoga, we must return to its roots, in the Sanskrit tradition, in the oral teachings of the Upaniṣads, and even in the deep etymology of the words we use in English.

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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 dialogue is raw, vulnerable, and imperfect but necessary.

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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.

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 spiritual path, a way not to escape my thoughts but to learn how to be with them, honestly and gently.

Many people believe they can't meditate because their minds are too restless. But that's precisely why meditation works. You don't need to be naturally calm to benefit from the practice, in fact, it's often those with the most inner turbulence who stand to gain the most. The very effort to sit, to observe, to try, even if imperfectly, is itself transformative. Every sincere attempt to concentrate, even for a moment, changes the texture of our awareness. Presence deepens. Stillness peeks through.

In this way, meditation becomes a necessary companion to the physical discipline of yoga āsana. While āsana strengthens and opens the body, meditation refines the mind. Both are limbs of the same eightfold path and thrive in relationship to each other. If you're immersed in a strong physical practice, I invite you to explore the quiet power of sitting. If you already sit, but haven't stepped onto a mat, consider how movement might deepen your awareness. It's in the meeting of stillness and motion, of breath and body, that yoga reveals its deepest gifts.

There is a turning that happens in every sincere moment of meditation: a turning inward, a turning away from distraction, and when we're ready, a turning toward truth.

Seeing the Dhamma in Impermanence

The Buddha's path is experiential, not theoretical. In the Saṃyutta Nikāya (SN 22.45), he says:

"Yo aniccaṃ passati, so dhammaṃ passati. Yo dhammaṃ passati, so aniccaṃ passati."

"One who sees impermanence sees the Dhamma. One who sees the Dhamma sees impermanence."

To walk the path is to see clearly—moment by moment—that all things arise and pass. This insight is not depressing, but liberating. It opens the heart to compassion, to presence, and to the letting go that leads to peace.

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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 repetition, Kino and Tim share how practice is not about performance or perfection, but about shaping who we become through presence.

This episode is an invitation to see practice not as a means to an end, but as the path itself. The pose is not the point. Returning is the point. Cultivating presence, breath by breath, day by day, becomes the living path of yoga. When we stop running and return to the moment, we remember, this is the place we never truly left.

Practice LIVE with me exclusively on Omstars! Start your journey today with a 7-day trial at omstars.com. Registration is now open for Yogaversity! Join us for a transformative 12-month yoga education program. 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.

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 confusion and reveals freedom.

At the start of every Ashtanga practice, we chant an invocation. It's not just ritual, it's a reminder of why we practice and what we're really here to transform.

Key Line:

Saṃsāra Halāhala Mohaśāntyai

"For the pacification of the delusion (Moha) that is the poison (Halāhala) of Saṃsāra."

Quick Word-by-Word Meaning

Saṃsāra (संसार): From sam- (together) + √sṛ (to flow) - the endless cycle of birth and death. Literally "the continuous flowing together."

Halāhala (हलाहल): Deadly poison - like the mythic poison Śiva contained in his blue throat. Symbolizes the toxic nature of worldly entanglement. Moha (मोह): Delusion - the ignorance that clouds clear seeing. Sāntyai (शान्त्यै): "For pacification" - calming the poison of confusion.

Why It Matters This ancient line reminds us: the real work of yoga is inner alchemy. The Guru and the practice help neutralize the poison of confusion so we can see clearly and live freely.

When we chant, we remember: the obstacles aren't just outside, they live inside us as fear, attachment, and illusion. The path of yoga transforms poison into nectar, chaos into calm, confusion into clarity.

Listen in as we explore more hidden meanings behind this beloved chant and how it can deepen your practice.

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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 dives into Wade's personal evolution, from golf and weightlifting to yoga, from serious injury and reconstructive surgery to rehabilitation and "prehab" strategies that sustain long term practice. Together, Kino and Wade discuss the sometimes controversial topic of cross training, highlighting how mobility, strength, and yoga can complement each other for healthier movement and more sustainable teaching.

Listeners will gain practical insights on the difference between flexibility and mobility, the physical demands of assisting in Mysore style classes, and how weight training can protect hypermobile bodies while deepening the yoga journey.

Whether you are an Ashtanga student, a yoga teacher navigating injuries, or a practitioner curious about integrating gym training with yoga, this episode offers inspiration and practical wisdom for building a supported practice.

Highlights from the episode

• Wade's first encounter with Ashtanga Yoga and his early teachers

• Stories from his first trips to Mysore and practicing with Sharath Jois

• Recovering from major knee surgery through physical therapy and yoga

• The difference between flexibility and mobility

• How gym training can support safe assists and prevent injury

• Strategies for bridging yoga, strength training, and long term practice

Practice with Kino and Wade on Omstars.com

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Stay connected with us on social: @omstarsofficial and @kinoyoga @wadeoakley Join Wade on Omstars for his upcoming Ashtanga Prehab Masterclass October 24th.

Practice with me in person for workshops, classes, retreats, trainings, and Mysore seasons. Learn more at kinoyoga.com