Avsnitt
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What does it really mean to be a yogi? In this episode, Kino explores the heart of yogic life beyond postures and performance. A yogi, she reminds us, is someone sincerely committed to realizing the Self and who understands that cultivating sattva (clarity, harmony, and balance) is an essential step along the path.
Drawing from Patañjali's Yoga Sūtra and the teachings of the three guṇas (sattva, rajas, and tamas), Kino examines how our daily choices, from the food we eat to the words we speak and the actions we take, either cloud the mind or orient it toward truth. She also explores the eight limbs of yoga (aṣṭāṅga) as a practical framework for living a yogic life, demonstrating how each limb supports the cultivation of sattva.
This episode is a reminder that being a yogi is not about perfection. It is about showing up with sincerity, choosing clarity over confusion, and returning to the practice again and again. In that sincere effort lies the heart of yoga.
Ready to deepen your practice? Explore thousands of classes, courses, workshops, and guided programs with Kino and our community of world-class teachers on Omstars. Practice with us at Omstars.com. -
What does it take to build a successful yoga business while staying true to your values?
In this episode, Kino MacGregor sits down with business leader and longtime mentor Bruce Barkus to explore the intersection of yoga, entrepreneurship, leadership, and service. Drawing on decades of executive experience leading global companies and years of dedicated Ashtanga Yoga practice, Bruce shares practical insights for yoga teachers, studio owners, and wellness entrepreneurs looking to build sustainable businesses.
Together, Kino and Bruce discuss the realities of running a yoga business, from creating business plans and understanding financial metrics to building strong teams, developing company culture, and making strategic decisions for long-term growth. They also reflect on the lessons learned through Miami Life Center and Omstars, and the importance of balancing authentic practice with the demands of business ownership.
In this episode:
Why yoga teachers need to think like business owners
The importance of business plans, KPIs, and financial awareness
Common blind spots that hold yoga businesses back
Building community before opening your doors
Leadership lessons from both yoga and business
How to hire the right people and create a values-based culture
Balancing service, purpose, and profitability
Marketing, growth, and sustainable business practices
Staying connected to your own practice while running a business
Why success is built through relationships, mentorship, and support
Whether you're teaching classes, running a studio, building an online platform, or dreaming of turning your passion into a profession, this conversation offers practical guidance for creating a business that can support both your livelihood and your values.
Practice with Kino and worldclass master teachers on Omstars.
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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Yoga is more than flexibility or physical strength. At its essence, yoga is the training of the mind. In this episode, Kino MacGregor explores how yoga philosophy, breath, and daily practice help steady the mind, re-pattern habitual thinking, and cultivate inner awareness.
Drawing from the Bhagavad Gītā, the Yoga Sūtra, and the teachings of K. Pattabhi Jois, Kino reflects on the deeper purpose of practice beyond physical achievement. Learn how yoga helps us work with fear, emotional patterns, distraction, and the fluctuations of the mind while cultivating steadiness through breath, movement, and concentration.
As Pattabhi Jois often said, "Do your practice and think about God."
In this episode:
• Why yoga is a training of the mind
• How practice reveals subconscious thought patterns
• The relationship between breath, body, and awareness
• What the Bhagavad Gītā and Yoga Sūtra teach about steadiness
• How yoga prepares us for challenge, change, and letting go
• Why the inner work of practice matters more than physical achievement
Practice with Kino on Omstars and explore guided classes, philosophy teachings, workshops, and live sessions designed to support a consistent and sustainable yoga practice.
Start practicing on Omstars.
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What does it really mean for practice to deepen?
It is not a bigger backbend or a more dramatic shape. It is the quiet transformation that comes from showing up day after day.
In this talk, Kino explores how steady effort widens our capacity to feel the full spectrum of life. The highs may feel brighter, and the lows may feel deeper, yet the work is to meet both with awareness rather than attachment.
Think of the mind as a garden. When we tend it with practice, wisdom takes root. When we stop tending it, weeds of habit and reactivity return.
Kino shares a classical view of the path. Asana is a container where we willingly meet a small dose of discomfort and learn to stay. Breath gives us a way to regulate the field of mind and body. Concentration trains attention so we can see clearly. From this triad, wisdom ripens.
She also reflects on teachings that point to the universality of suffering and the freedom that comes from understanding its causes, along with the courage to respond with compassion, joy, and equanimity.
The episode closes with a reminder of the daily frame of practice: begin with devotion and end with peace for all beings. Keep coming back. Depth is not an accident. It is the natural result of consistent practice and a gentle heart.
To practice with Kino and other amazing teachers, head to Omstars and explore your practice with us. -
Recorded at Nøsen Yoga Retreat in Norway, Kino and Tim explore the deeper benefits of traditional Ashtanga Yoga practice. Together, they reflect on Yoga as both a drop of nectar and an ocean, drawing on the Yoga Sūtra, the Bhagavad Gītā, and the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā.
From strength and vitality in the body, to balance in the nervous system, to the quiet of meditation, they share how tradition transforms practice into a path of peace, humility, and self-realization.
If this conversation resonates, you can continue your practice inside Omstars. Explore full-length classes, guided series, and teachings from master instructors rooted in tradition. Begin your journey with a 7-day free trial and experience the depth of practice for yourself. -
Srivatsa Ramaswami is one of the last direct students of the legendary yogi Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, often regarded as the father of modern yoga. He studied with Krishnamacharya for over three decades, receiving a deeply traditional education in āsana, prāṇāyāma, chanting, and classical yoga texts.
He is widely respected as a teacher and scholar of yoga, known for preserving and sharing the Vinyāsakrama method. His work emphasizes thoughtful sequencing, breath-led movement, and adaptation for the individual practitioner.
Through decades of teaching, writing, and lecturing around the world, Ramaswami continues to carry forward this living lineage with clarity, precision, and depth.
Continue your study with Srivatsa Ramaswami on Omstars!
Join our live Vinyasakrama class on Sunday, April 19 on Omstars.com.
Then deepen your practice in Ramaswami's 100 Hour Training, May 11–30, available online through Omstars and in person at Miami Life Center.
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Avidyā: Lifting the Veil of Ignorance in Yoga
Ignorance is rarely felt as ignorance. In yoga, this root affliction is called avidyā, the veil that causes us to mistake impermanence for permanence, suffering for joy, and the non-self for the Self.
In this episode, Kino MacGregor explores the meaning of avidyā through the Yoga Sūtras, the Upaniṣads, and Buddhist teachings. Rather than a simple lack of knowledge, avidyā is revealed as an active misperception, a distortion that shapes how we see ourselves and the world.
Drawing on Patañjali's teaching that ignorance is the field from which all other afflictions arise (YS II.4), this episode unpacks how subtle and pervasive avidyā can be. It appears not only as confusion, but also as false certainty, attachment to identity, and the clinging to ideas that have not yet ripened into direct experience.
Kino also reflects on the Buddhist understanding of avijjā, where ignorance is defined as not seeing the Four Noble Truths. This points to the idea that ignorance is not a lack of information, but a blindness to reality itself.
Through classical teachings and contemplative reflection, this episode invites you to consider how perception shapes experience. Like mistaking a rope for a snake, avidyā projects fear and misunderstanding onto what is already whole.
Yoga becomes the path of undoing this misperception. Through steady practice, breath, and stillness, moments of clear seeing begin to dissolve the veil of ignorance, revealing a deeper truth that has always been present.
In this episode you will explore:
What avidyā means in the Yoga Sūtras
How ignorance functions as misperception rather than absence of knowledge
The role of avidyā as the root of suffering
Parallels between yoga philosophy and Buddhist teachings on avijjā
The rope and snake analogy as a model of mistaken perception
How practice gradually dissolves ignorance into wisdomPractice with Kino on Omstars and continue your journey on the path of yoga.
Listen and subscribe for more episodes on yoga philosophy, practice, and inner transformation.
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Grief is a powerful teacher. It doesn't ask for permission before it arrives—it simply comes, dismantling everything we thought we knew about love, faith, and permanence. It turns the familiar inside out, leaving us raw and exposed to the mystery of loss.
In this heartfelt episode, Kino MacGregor, Tim Feldmann, Joseph Armstrong, Edgar Navarro, Frances Cole Jones, Heather Serna, and many others come together to share stories, memories, and reflections about SharathJi; their teacher, guide, and spiritual anchor. Together, they explore how grief becomes part of the path, how lineage continues through love and practice, and how the teachings live on even when the teacher is gone.
As Elizabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler remind us, "The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not 'get over' the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again, but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same, nor would you want to."
SharathJi's sudden departure left a void that words can't fill. When we lost our teacher, we also lost the reflection of who we were in his eyes. There was a certain refuge in being a student, the comfort of knowing that someone stood before us as a mirror, a guide, a guardian of our path. Now, that mirror asks us to see ourselves. The guidance turns inward.
"SharathJi, there's so much left undone, so much left unfinished," Kino reflects. "So many questions we still wanted to ask, so many mornings we thought we'd share in the quiet rhythm of practice. We will have to walk on, sometimes and often along a lonely path, without you standing before us, but always with you in our hearts."
Through shared stories and moments of remembrance, this episode is both a eulogy and an offering, a testament to the lasting presence of a teacher whose spirit continues to live through every breath, every bow, every act of devotion. -
Yoga has never been a path of withdrawal from the world. It is a path of learning how to stand within it without losing clarity.
In this episode, we explore the yogic concept of viveka, the capacity to see clearly and discern what is essential from what is transient. Drawing from the Yoga Sūtra, the Bhagavad Gītā, and traditional teachings, we look at how viveka-khyāti, steady and luminous discernment, allows practitioners to act in the world without becoming overwhelmed by it.
Through the stories of Arjuna and Virabhadra, this conversation explores how clarity is restored in moments of confusion and how powerful action can arise without hatred, reactivity, or collapse. Yoga teaches that ethical action begins with perception. When the mind becomes steady through practice, discernment naturally emerges.
In a world that rewards outrage and confusion, the cultivation of viveka-khyāti becomes a radical and necessary practice.
If you want to go deeper into the study and practice of yoga, explore the full library of classes, philosophy, and courses available on Omstars, the practice platform created by Kino MacGregor. From daily yoga classes to in-depth workshops and trainings, Omstars is designed to support practitioners at every stage of the path. Share this episode with a teacher, studio owner, or mentor who would benefit from the conversation.
Start your practice at Omstars.com.
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Episode Description
In this conversation, Kino sits down with Dr. Raj Balkaran to explore the deeper dimensions of yoga practice beyond physical postures. Together they discuss mythology, meaning, and the role of story in shaping how we understand and embody yoga.
Dr. Balkaran shares the origins of The Stories Behind the Poses and explains how myth functions as a living teaching tool rather than symbolic decoration. Through stories of Ganesha, Kurmasana, Hanumanasana, and the churning of the cosmic ocean, he reveals how yoga practice is fundamentally about removing ignorance, cultivating wisdom, and learning to meet difficulty with clarity rather than force.
The discussion moves through themes of inner transformation, the role of the teacher student relationship, the subtle and gross bodies, and why yoga continues to work on us even when we believe we are only practicing for physical reasons. This episode invites listeners to consider yoga as a lifelong inward journey, where practice becomes a way of refining perception, deepening responsibility, and remembering our connection to something much larger than ourselves.
Topics Covered
Yoga as inner practice rather than performance
Mythology as a teaching tool in yoga
The story of Ganesha and the true meaning of obstacles
Poison, difficulty, and transformation in practice
Kurmasana and the still point within chaos
Physical and subtle dimensions of yoga
Teacher student relationships and authentic transmission
Yoga as a lifelong journey rather than a destination
About the Guest
Dr. Raj Balkaran is a scholar of Sanskrit narrative literature, Hindu mythology, and yogic philosophy. He is the author of The Stories Behind the Poses and teaches internationally through courses, lectures, and retreats, bridging academic scholarship with lived spiritual practice.
Practice with Kino on Omstars
Continue the conversation on the mat. Omstars is Kino's online yoga platform, offering thousands of classes, workshops, and in-depth courses designed to support a sustainable, lifelong practice. Members can explore teaching, philosophy, strength, mobility, and mindful movement from anywhere in the world. Share this episode with a teacher, studio owner, or mentor who would benefit from the conversation.
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In this episode of The Yoga Inspiration Podcast, Kino MacGregor sits down with hospital chaplain, writer, and grief expert J.S. Park for a deeply grounding conversation about grief, presence, and what it means to live with an open heart in a world that can feel overwhelming.
They explore why grief is not something to fix or overcome, but something to honor, carry, and let transform over time. Kino reflects on communal grief in the Ashtanga world after the loss of a spiritual teacher, and J.S. offers compassionate insight into why we reach for solutions, why closure can be a myth, and how grief changes shape rather than disappearing.
Together they talk about treasured objects and rituals as anchors when words fail, the ways spirituality and community can either support or collapse under real-world suffering, and how spiritual practice must include our shared humanity and collective responsibility. J.S. also shares his path from atheism toward faith through witnessing love in community, and they unpack the tension between the teachings of Jesus and the harm done in the name of religion.
This episode is for anyone holding loss, navigating a crisis of faith, feeling exhausted by "move on" culture, or looking for a spiritual practice that helps you show up with tenderness and integrity.
Guest:
J.S. Park is a hospital chaplain, writer, and grief educator. He is the author of As Long As You Need: Permission to Grieve.Topics covered
• Grief as something to honor, not solve
• Why "closure" is not the goal and grief changes shape
• Grieving the dream, not just the person
• Treasured objects and ritual as grief anchors
• When words fail and the role of art, music, and practice
• Faith crises and spiritual seasons
• From atheism to faith through love and community
• Spiritual practice, justice, and resisting dehumanization
• Boundaries, self care, and what actually sustains us
• Mortality as an invitation to live more tenderly, nowResources
As Long As You Need: Permission to Grieve by J.S. ParkPractice with Kino on Omstars
Continue the conversation on the mat. Omstars is Kino's online yoga platform, offering thousands of classes, workshops, and in-depth courses designed to support a sustainable, lifelong practice. Members can explore teaching, philosophy, strength, mobility, and mindful movement from anywhere in the world. Share this episode with a teacher, studio owner, or mentor who would benefit from the conversation.
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In this episode of the Yoga Inspiration Podcast, Kino MacGregor is joined by Andrew Tanner, yoga teacher of over 20 years, founder of the American Yoga Council and the Berkshire Yoga Festival, and author of So You Want to Open a Yoga Studio.
Together they explore what it truly means to be a yogipreneur and how to build a sustainable livelihood in yoga without losing the heart of the practice. Andrew shares why service is the foundation of meaningful work, why the yoga industry has shifted in recent years, and what many teachers and studio owners are navigating right now.
A central focus of the conversation is the vision behind the American Yoga Council, including competency-based standards, lineage-respecting accreditation, mentorship pathways, and accountability structures designed to better support teachers, schools, and the future of yoga.
This episode is a thoughtful, honest discussion for anyone who teaches yoga, runs a studio, mentors students, or cares deeply about the integrity and evolution of the yoga community.
In this episode, you'll hear about:
What "yogipreneur" really means in today's yoga landscape
Why service is the spark behind sustainable yoga businesses
How and why the yoga industry has changed since 2017
The limitations of traditional accreditation models
The vision and mission of the American Yoga Council
Competency-based standards and lineage transparency
Mentorship, accountability, and trust in yoga education
Supporting teachers and schools without forcing one-size-fits-all systems
Practice with Kino on Omstars
Continue the conversation on the mat. Omstars is Kino's online yoga platform, offering thousands of classes, workshops, and in-depth courses designed to support a sustainable, lifelong practice. Members can explore teaching, philosophy, strength, mobility, and mindful movement from anywhere in the world.
About the Guest
Andrew Tanner is a yoga teacher of over 20 years, founder of the American Yoga Council and the Berkshire Yoga Festival, and author of So You Want to Open a Yoga Studio. He has owned and sold multiple yoga studios and is dedicated to creating ethical, transparent systems that support yoga teachers, schools, and lineages.
Listen, Reflect, and Share
If this episode resonates with you, consider joining the Omstars community to deepen your practice with Kino and explore yoga as a path of study, movement, and self-inquiry. Share this episode with a teacher, studio owner, or mentor who would benefit from the conversation.
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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 changeAs 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
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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
Practice LIVE with me exclusively on Omstars! Start your journey today with a 7-day trial at omstars.com.
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.
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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.
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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.
Practice LIVE with me exclusively on Omstars! Start your journey today with a 7-day trial at omstars.com.
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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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. - Visa fler
