I choose you
I mean that. As our primary readership, you are my focus.
Our average newsletter open rate is 50%, well above industry standards of 15-25%. I see you interested and engaging every week with our newsletter and blog. Our core students practice the Yoga of Krishnamacharya, wherever they are, daily, and that is my 2026 goal for as many of you as possible. Most of our openers are not in our classes.
That's why I need you to talk to me. Yoga Foundation is built upon personal connection, exactly how Yoga is transmitted as a transformation tool. A new monthly subscription may be in the works, and to optimize it for your needs, tell me, why are you here? Why do you read this newsletter?
What do you intend on gaining, even if in your wild Yoga imagination?
Is it a weekly burst of refection?
Community?
Are you seeking more empowerment, through Yoga, to maximize your potential in this brief and potentially powerful life?
Would you appreciate to simply listen to chanting once a week, to start off your week?
Do you want a 1:1 or a group call once a month?
How about a monthly topic and meditation to clear your mind and orient yourself in a positive direction, emailed at the start of each month?
This year, I gave up on saying the cliche Happy New year. Honing in on what is deeper, let’s set an intention for an auspicious beginning. Yoga is an auspicious beginning. I didn’t even know that was a thing until I spent my time in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, South India, where I learn Yoga. Even before studying the Yoga Sutra text, Yoga’s defining text, something struck me as both curious and inviting. From the most casual to the most formal occasions, the most mundane to the most sacred acts, something felt optimistic. Almost as if even if it did go wrong, it was blessed and sanctified.
For example, a street vendor setting up a stand that sells flower garlands lights an incense and chants some mantra-s. A woman uses rice powder to hand draw elaborate sacred geometry on her front stoop after washing it with a bucket of water. The statue of Patanjali at the KYM has fresh flowers at his feet. The large, framed photograph of T Krishnamacharya has a gigantic garland of flowers surrounding it. My teachers chant mantra-s before eating. Purchasers of a new car bring it to the temple to be blessed by the presiding priest. It’s beautifully ubiquitous, and was unfamiliar in our own culture, that I still have to remind myself it is an option.
The very first word of the Yoga Sutra-s is atha, which translates in one of its four main definitions to an auspicious beginning. As the year begins, whatever note it has begun on, we can carry this valuable ancient Indian concept into 2026. As Yoga practitioners, we carry this into our practice every time we begin, simply by chanting Yoga’s first word, Atha, or first sutra, Atha Yoga Anusasanam.
The good news is, you may already be doing this on occasion. The better news is that we do it in every class here at Yoga Foundation, so you don’t have to travel to India for consistent exposure to the faithful beginning. The best news is that when you practice at home, we can incorporate a simple ritual into your practices and seemingly mundane life functions so they are infused with good energy from the get-go. This is our wish for you.