The Next Chapter for Yoga is Dead Podcast
Consciously Uncoupling
Jesal and Tejal here with a long awaited update on all things Yoga is Dead.
The short version:
We are consciously uncoupling. Yoga is Dead has exclusively transferred over to Tejal as of 2024. All future content and communications (social media posts, emails, etc.) will be shared under Tejal’s guidance and direction unless explicitly stated otherwise.
The long version:
A LOT has happened since we launched our podcast back in 2019. We mean globally and also personally and professionally. We have moved in different directions - literally! While we both started out in NYC, Tejal has moved to California and Jesal to Florida. Tejal has grown her work with Tejal Yoga and abcdyogi, both hosting online offerings, providing an important and unique place for South Asian yoga teachers and practitioners alike to feel welcome and included as part of the yoga industry. Jesal has devoted her professional time towards decolonizing movement science education for yoga and fitness professionals. Additionally, Jesal has a young baby and is looking to spend more time with her child during these critical early years.
As our lives evolved and priorities have shifted, it became increasingly difficult for us to coordinate our schedules to come together for this work. Because of all of this and more, the duo decided to adjust the path forward for Yoga is Dead by having Tejal maintain what was already created and Jesal taking the decision to step back from Yoga is Dead.
So what does this mean about the podcast? Well, back in 2020, we had announced that there would be a second season. While we did some preliminary work, unfortunately that work did not come to fruition due to all these major life shifts. We want to thank everyone who was involved in that effort including Jivana Heyman, Pooja Virani, Amina Naru, Pamela Stokes Eggleston, Susanna Barkataki and Nam Chanterrwyn.
We want to thank everyone who listened, supported, reviewed and recommended it. And we sincerely thank you for sharing your stories of growth, change, and disruption because of what you heard from Yoga is Dead. Releasing the podcast led us both on a truly wild and mostly wonderful journey both personally and professionally and we are incredibly grateful for all of it. We are extremely proud of our 6 episode mini series and the impact it had and continues to have on the yoga industry and beyond.
There are currently no plans to resume the podcast. As there are still new listeners discovering the podcast every day, Tejal plans to leave it up on major platforms for the time being though this may be subject to change in the future. Hosting a podcast on all platforms costs money, so thank you to our longstanding Patreon members for the support!
Our other work will also still be available to access for the time being as well, including:
The Yoga is Dead website: where you can access episodes, episode transcripts and all the extensive episode resources we have compiled for you.
Our e-book, The Original Godmothers of Yoga: By highlighting the important godmothers of yoga through history, this book shatters so many stereotypes and falsehoods including the falsehoods that yoga is only 100 years old, the assumption yoga has only ever been a practice for men, the fiction that white women pioneered yoga for women, and the stereotype that there is a specific “right way” to practice yoga.
Our digital workshop for Act Against Appropriation: this workshop is a masterclass on cultural appropriation and the negative impacts it has on each of us individually and collectively. It answers the question “why is appropriation such a big deal, anyway?” and sets the stage for critical thinking on how to act against appropriation in your sphere of influence, without being formulaic or prescriptive.
You may also hear about live workshops on cultural appropriation from either of us in the future as we have agreed that there is nothing like the Act Against Appropriation workshop out there that we’ve seen and it deserves to be shared as much as possible to the extent that we have capacity to do so.
Remember, we created the Yoga is Dead podcast as a way to jumpstart critical conversations, elevate oppressed voices and perspectives and to expose the problems felt by anyone who isn't in the "in" crowd of the yoga industry. Thank you for being part of the journey.
Much Love,
Jesal and Tejal
