In many yoga teacher training's and popular histories, there’s a story that gets repeated. It goes something like this: for thousands of years, yoga was practised only by men, passed from guru to male disciple. Women weren’t really allowed in until the 20th century, when Indra Devi managed to break through and learn from Krishnamacharya. It’s a clean, simple story. It just isn’t true. When I did my first yoga teacher training, I heard this story, too. And I repeated it, not because I wanted...

Lost Lineages and the Longing for Sacred Connection Yoga was offered as a subject at my high school, and as a former gymnast, it felt familiar, so I signed up. From the outside, it looked like a practice built around balance, flexibility, and moving your body in interesting ways. It also seemed to be having a cultural moment. Celebrities were doing yoga, magazines were talking about it, and to my teenage mind, it looked intriguing. What captivated me most, though, was that yoga appeared to be...

Thai yoga massage made a real impression on me. I was already deep in the world of yoga and movement when I received my first session. I...