Pilgrimage To Power (Forking My Yoga Repository)
I've forked my yoga repository.
A fork is a new repository that shares code and visibility settings with the original “upstream” repository.
Last year a friend asked me if I would recommend taking a training course with the leader of the yoga school I'd trained in. I'd seen some questionable content in his podcast channel on YouTube, as well as being wary of those he's recently aligned himself with professionally (ex-Landmark Forum personnel). Initially, I couldn't quite put my finger on what was off, but I'm going to gather some links here so I can find them in the future. Link Link Link Link Link || Link Link Link Link Link Link.
As I watched a few of his videos, I was dismayed to hear him referencing articles on NewsMax (a far-right digital media company), opining on toxic feminism, and referring to the Patriarchy with air quotes, as if Patriarchy is a myth.
"the toxic feminism that's like imbued our culture that wants to tear down men, strong men, good men, this toxic femininity, a part of it is it gossips about you, it dresses itself up as a victim, it's got to tear down men, tear down the, you know, the patriarch, it's patriarchy, it's patriarchy. [ed- He's using his hands here to make air quotes]"
The transcript of the last few minutes of that video is here. If you want to see the whole video, I've archived it as an unlisted YT video in case the original gets deleted.
As I composed my email reply with my thoughts, it was clear to me that after I sent the email, I would have to create a split between myself and the school of yoga I was trained in. This split was something I'd been avoiding. There have been many red flags in the past few years. His words and actions were not aligned with my personal ethos or my worldview. It took several hours to edit the artwork for my website, podcast and social media presence and remove all the verbiage that I'd used to associate myself with that yoga school.
I then started the slow process of figuring out what words I wanted to use to describe the name of the yoga sequence and the concepts around how I teach yoga. After giving it a lot of thought and trying a few different phrases out, I settled upon Pilgrimage To Power. I like the alliteration and the simplicity of the phrase. I like that one way to define a pilgrimage is 'a journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life.'
Words are powerful, and I needed a way to teach yoga without the trappings of trademarked words and phrases. I submitted for a Wordmark on the phrase "Pilgrimage To Power" to have a phrase that was mine and not subject to litigation. The cost of the Wordmark application was $250, and the process takes 8-14 months to complete on average. Wordmarking the phrase "Pilgrimage To Power" is largely symbolic for me as I do not intend to generate revenue with this terminology. I see it as a turn of the phrase that I can use in my teaching and not fear being sued over it.
Stripping out the Trademarked verbiage from my documentation, my speech and my writing has been an arduous task. What should I call each section of the asana sequence if I am going to refer to it, if I am to teach students how to teach it? Which poses should I add in or take out now that I am at liberty to prune or graft to this yoga tree? I left a majority of the sequence in place as the structure is good, but. I needed new words to use. I noted where poses can be swapped in or left out as needed.
It is well documented that yoga poses or sequences cannot be trademarked (thanks, Bikram!). 'Only the selection, coordination, and arrangement of photographs, drawings, or writings that depict the exercises may be entitled to copyright protection, but not a compilation of physical exercises itself. Yoga sequence is rather construed as a functional system, procedure, or process under 17 U.S.C §102 (b).'
Therefore, I devised new terminology to represent the energetic qualities of the yoga sequence I'll refer to as Pilgrimage To Power.
- noun; the action or fact of forming a united whole.
- gerund or present participle: kindling; light or set on fire.
- arouse or inspire (an emotion or feeling).
- (of an emotion) be aroused.
- become impassioned or excited.
- noun; physical strength and good health.
- effort, energy, and enthusiasm.
- Sisu is a unique Finnish concept. It is a Finnish term that can be roughly translated into English as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity. Sisu is not momentary courage but the ability to sustain that courage. It is a word that cannot be fully translated.
- noun; firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.
- the continued or prolonged existence of something.
- Agni, the god of fire, sacrifice, and divine knowledge.
- noun; great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle.
- adjective; 1. (of a substance or object) giving way under pressure; not hard or rigid. 2. giving a product or generating a financial return of a specified amount.
- noun; the act or process of freeing someone or something from another's control: the act of liberating someone or something.
- noun; 1. the action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition. 2. the return of a hereditary monarch to a throne, a head of state to government, or a regime to power.
- noun; a state of rest, sleep, or tranquility. verb; be lying, situated, or kept in a particular place.
