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  • Shanna Small
    • Contact Shanna Small
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    • Living Yoga
    • My Daily Yoga Practice
    • Privates
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  • ableism,  Coronavirus,  Diversity,  Privilege,  Social Media,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Uncategorized

    Why I Am Not Interested in Your Virtual Ashtanga Course

    May 12, 2020 /

    During this Shelter in Place, I signed up for 4 virtual courses…none of them Ashtanga. I am so tired of the same interviews with the same hand full of people who have the same perspective. I am tired of the same workshops by the same few super flexy people on the same subjects. I am tired of the same tutorials by the same genetically gifted people on the same techniques that no one but genetically gifted people can even do. I am tired of this homogenous picture that the Ashtanga world insists on painting. When Ashtanga comes under fire for being a shallow elitist practice for skinny genetically gifted circus…

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    Shanna Small
  • Social Media,  Uncategorized

    True Community on Social Media

    March 30, 2020 /

    Social media can be used for connection but you have to be very purposeful about who you follow. There are many on social media that are just looking to sell something or get you to engage simply to build their own profiles. If your social media feeds are full of these types of people, but you want to move more towards a true community feel on Instagram and FaceBook, keep reading. There are three different types of accounts that I tend to follow: Educational Entertainment Community I will break these down in a moment. But first, if you want to build community, the bulk of the people you follow should…

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    Shanna Small

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    February 15, 2016

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    November 15, 2016

    Learning Ashtanga From the Internet: A Cautionary Tale

    September 24, 2015
  • ableism,  Adventures in Mysore India,  Alignment and Injuries,  Ashtanga Adaptability,  Guru,  History,  Privilege,  Social Media,  Teaching Ashtanga

    “Calling In” the Ashtanga Community

    July 12, 2019 /

    “Calling in” is a term coined by Ngoc Loan Tran, a Viet/mixed race disabled queer writer who champions for justice in oppressed communities. “Calling in” is holding members of the community responsible for their actions, not as an act of punishment, but as an act of accountability. “I start ‘call in’ conversations by identifying the behavior and defining why I am choosing to engage with them. I prioritize my values and invite them to think about theirs and where we share them. And then we talk about it. We talk about it together, like people who genuinely care about each other. We offer patience and compassion to each other and…

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    Shanna Small
  • Diversity,  Guru,  Privilege,  Social Media,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    With Me or Against Me

    July 3, 2019 /

    People are asking, “Why is there a culture of silence in Yoga?” Something that often makes people go silent is “all or nothing” and “with me or against me” thinking. It is the idea that everything is black or white and you have to choose a side. If folks don’t want to choose a side, they will often just go silent. When the person speaks up, they get crucified by both sides for not choosing. This results in shutting down the conversation and shutting down the person. You can hate someone’s choices around a particular event but totally still love and respect everything else about them. You can love your…

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    Shanna Small

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    Taking Away Attention, Taking Away Power

    November 30, 2019
  • ableism,  Ashtanga Adaptability,  Diversity,  Privilege,  Social Media,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Uncategorized,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    My Answer To Kino: Would You Still Love Me If I Don’t Handstand Anymore?

    May 21, 2019 /

    Kino posted an article today, “Would You Still Love Me If I Don’t Handstand Anymore?” My answer is “yes” because I do not choose teachers based on the poses they can do. Even though the yoga world at large has not followed suit, I outgrew that years ago. If someone believes that achievement in physical asana constitutes dedication to practice or greater knowledge of yoga, they either don’t really practice that much or they change studios, styles of yoga or teachers too often. It only takes a few years of hanging around in the same yoga rooms with the same students and the same teachers to see that this is…

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    Shanna Small
  • Adventures in Mysore India,  Diversity,  Social Media,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    It Is So Much Easier To Tell You To Change

    April 20, 2019 /

    It is so much easier to tell someone else or an organization to change than to actually change ourselves. How many times have you made a statement that Ashtanga, the government, your job, your yoga studio should change but you cannot even clean out your closets without having a meltdown? For most people, switching careers, cities, boyfriends or hairstyles is a harrowing ordeal, but your democracy, that should change overnight. Not only should everyone change but they should do it smoothly and quickly without disrupting YOUR life. Hmm…how realistic is that? I have been yearning for change in my own life and I have made no steps in any direction.…

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    Shanna Small

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    Just an Average Girl: The Gift of Ashtanga, Authorization and Illness

    September 12, 2016

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    May 7, 2018

    Is Sharath getting up at 12:45AM?

    February 17, 2014
  • Social Media

    The Real Shit

    March 19, 2019 /

    Guest Author: Aude Moatti I am disappointed with the Ashtanga community. Which is hard to admit. Struggle is polished by a fake glow of expensive leggings and post-practice diet talk. An image of non-suffering, of, “ it’s all behind me now. “  Seriously. And what was it like when it wasn’t? Why aren’t you telling me? Did it just all happen in one night? Of course not. Then how long? What helped? I want answers. I’m 23, recovering from eating disorders, severe insomnia, paralyzing anxiety and, on top of that, I smoke. Soon I will have had three years of practice. Former rock-climber, now in the circus, I am hyperflexible…

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    Aude Moatti

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    Different Yoga Styles: You Got It All Wrong

    March 23, 2016

    How To Prevent Ashtanga Crazy Making

    September 28, 2015

    It Wasn’t Starbucks and It Wasn’t Ashtanga

    April 20, 2018
  • Adventures in Mysore India,  Alignment and Injuries,  Diversity,  History,  Ladies Holday,  Social Media,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    What You Don’t Know, Makes You Dangerous

    March 9, 2019 /

    Before you make that statement on social media, before you write that blog post, stop. Ask yourself, do you have all the information? Do you understand the subject outside of your own cultural biases? Are you listening to only one side? Every day, I gain more of an understanding of why some teachers and Patanjali tell us to pick a method and stick with it. Reason 1-so we don’t dig shallow wells. Reason 2-so we don’t get confused. Yoga is not one long unfractured story where the facts perfectly follow one after the other. That is like saying that American history is White history and just following the line of…

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    Shanna Small

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    “You Stop” are these words dreaded or welcome?

    February 10, 2014

    Yoga Sutras For Modern Day Life: Why Are We Here?

    January 2, 2017

    Can Rolfing Help Your Ashtanga Practice?

    February 17, 2014
  • Social Media,  Uncategorized,  Yoga Philosophy

    The Gift of Not Fitting In

    November 22, 2018 /

    Not fitting in makes you question life and it wakes you up. Usually, it is not until we see or experience something outside of the norm that we question normalcy in the first place.  I have never questioned whether I am a woman or not.  I have all the things society considers to be normal for a woman like a vagina and breasts. I have a uterus. I do all the things society sees as normal for women like wearing dresses, make up and birthing a child. My shape is considered womanly.  I have never been mistaken for a man.  However, if I would have been born transgendered, less curvy,…

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    Shanna Small

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    The Spirtual Side of Yoga w/ Kino MacGregor

    April 1, 2016

    Ahimsa: Non Harming for Positive Change

    February 9, 2018

    Trigger….Unhappy

    June 14, 2018
  • Adventures in Mysore India,  Ashtanga Adaptability,  Social Media,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Uncategorized,  Yoga Philosophy

    Ashtanga Community or Your Community?

    September 13, 2018 /

    Your circle of friends and acquaintances does not represent the whole human race. A few weeks ago, my daughter talked about how she doesn’t understand how McDonald’s is still in business because no one eats there. I explained to her that just because her vegan upper middle class friends don’t eat there, it does not mean that no one eats there. I see similar conversations about Ashtanga. Big blanket statements about what is going on in the Ashtanga community. Ummm…maybe that is happening with your circle. It is not necessarily happening in mine or India or Chicago or down the street at the next yoga studio. We draw to us…

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    Shanna Small

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    Random Ashtanga Stuff That Has Been Driving Me Up The Wall

    December 7, 2018

    A.P.P Goes To Mysore: Dazed and Confused

    October 16, 2016

    Unfollow the Leader

    March 1, 2018
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