J. Brown Yoga Talks Podcast Feature
J. Brown Yoga Talks
“Can We Shape A Better Yoga Profession?”
Listen to Bari Gratton in conversation with J. Brown on the Yoga Alliance, the depth of teaching, and the future of practice. “We can’t bypass what practice is trying to teach us.”
In my conversation with J. Brown on his podcast, we explored the urgent questions surrounding Yoga Alliance and its role in shaping the yoga profession. Framed as an open letter, the episode asked whether the registering agency is supporting the field or stifling it through ambiguity, ga.tekeeping, and performative regulation. J was initially reluctant to host me, given how divisive the certification debate has become, but the conversation revealed a deeper need for courageous, clear-eyed discourse. At moments when J challenged me, perhaps expecting defensiveness, I instead pointed to the reality: unless we confront these systemic issues head-on, we risk binding the future of yoga to a framework that inhibits innovation and prioritizes compliance over integrity. I don’t believe yoga is inherently political—but we, as human beings shaped by increasingly constructed political identities, are. In an era of hyperconnectivity and deepening isolation, it’s vital we interrogate how institutional systems reflect the very tensions we seek to dissolve through practice.
