I don’t want to end Yoga Alliance – I want to make them better… and make them better I certainly have, precisely because of my efforts with yoga regulation and legislation
Chronicles of Being Accountable
I was born on December 17th, 1973, in Decatur, Georgia, at 11:35 am.
I was adopted at two weeks of age by my loving parents, Edward and Hazel Castellani. I have one adopted brother, David Castellani, an estranged adopted sister, and one half-birth sister, Vera Anne Stover.
Luckily and quite self admittedly… almost naively, I have always been a “fearless” person. Jumping from the roofs of houses. Taking leaps in life, dedicating myself to lost causes and standing up for what I thought was right. Some people are just like that, I guess. And then they move away from being forthright, become more apprehensive, are afraid of consequences and just keep quiet. Things don’t apply to them, so they don’t make a decision. Well… sometimes life deals you a hand you can’t avoid, so you find out one way or another.
December 4, 1993
I was at Harborview Hospital in Seattle for over a month doing physical therapy and speech therapy. I eventually left the hospital in a wheelchair, later graduating to a walker, and then for some time after, a cane. The doctor’s prognosis of my injury was devastating for my parents and friends, and it was probably one of the lowest points of my life. We were told that physical rehabilitation would most likely be of little use, and even if it did help, it would be a life long process. They said that people with traumatic brain injuries have little to no hope of really significantly changing.
Life deals tough breaks, and in many head injury cases, the situation is much worse. How was I to know what would happen in the future? How is anyone supposed to know, for that matter? The doctors didn’t, and no one really can foretell the future.
Each Day Is A New Beginning.
(Later, it caused an “accept nothing at face-value” attitude that allows me to ignore most corporate blanket statements and engineered marketing)
What I could do was accept these things as part of who I am and move to a different place. I have carried so much rage over the circumstances of December 4th and it’s affected me to such an extent, that for an entire decade everything has the marks of the head injury shadow.
This is the Yoga that Changes Lives
I started yoga in 2006 when I first started working at Yoga Journal Magazine as a temporary employee. I was then hired on permanently, and my practice continued to flourish. Today, with regular and consistent practice, I have seen huge improvements in my physical, mental and emotional abilities, in every area, but particularly on my left side.
It’s because of the profoundly positive influence yoga has had on my life, opening up the world to me again, that I have devoted myself to giving back to the yoga community I now call home.
In 2009, I left Yoga Journal
In just one short year
Pictured Above: Actual Picture from the InfoTek group website that was contracted by Yoga Alliance… specifically John Matthews & Lynn Bushnell for $336,325.00 for website work that was never started, or completed.
Yoga Alliance USA
Facts Check:
Healthcare Based Yoga in the state of Louisiana Profit and Loss
- Amount yoga costs by the hour cost a Louisiana hospital.
- $250.00 / hour
- The amount a yoga teacher is paid for teaching yoga at the Louisiana hospital?
- Answer: $50.00
What is a 501(c)(3) corporation?
501(c)(3) — Religious, Educational, Charitable, Scientific, Literary, Testing for Public Safety, to Foster National or International Amateur Sports Competition, or Prevention of Cruelty to Children or Animals Organizations
Yoga Alliance CAN:
- Be the National directory for people who agree to the MINIMUM number of Yoga teaching certification of either 200 or 500 hours.
- Yoga Alliance can, in theory, emphasize mutual respect, sensitivity, and support of different yoga styles and traditions.
-
- However, the fact is that Yoga Alliance did respond by saying that regulation was inevitable, to New York, Virginia, Texas, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri or Arizona. Without any further comments to anyone… especially to me, who happened to be the only person asking them direct questions specifically pertaining to their credentialing.
- In the middle of the Virginia Legal battle to stop the misguided Legislation of Yoga teachers and Studios, Yoga Alliance found it necessary to move from Virginia to Maryland.
- Yoga Alliance now resides back in the original State of Virginia, using the membership dues to pay for both moves.
- Sells their subscriber lists to other businesses and non-profits for profit which they don’t find it necessary to explain to you as a subscriber.
- Pay money to other large yoga corporations supporting their conferences.
- Make FALSE statements of “setting the standards for yoga”
- Avoid words, or commenting on things publically because that would make them more transparent and accountable as a 501c3.
-
Yoga Alliance CAN NOT:
- Represent yoga teachers or yoga studios in a court of law (Until they became a 501c6)
- Lobby on behalf of yoga studios or yoga teachers because of their 501c3 legal status.
- Set Credentialing, licensing or minimum Standards of Yoga legally due to their 501c3.
- Support localized yoga events that are put on by studios or teachers.
- Legally set the “Standards of Yoga.”
- Adhere to the traditional yoga principles as written in the Yamas and Niyamas
Why does this matter?
Does Yoga Alliance actually perform Charitable Acts?
I Never Wanted to End Yoga Alliance
I Wanted to Make Them Better
But… How Long Do You Wait?
All rights reserved.
Chronicles of Being Accountable
I don’t want to end Yoga Alliance – I want to make them better… and make them better I certainly have, precisely because of my efforts with yoga regulation and legislation
I was born on December 17th, 1973, in Decatur, Georgia, at 11:35 am.
I was adopted at two weeks of age by my loving parents, Edward and Hazel Castellani. I have one adopted brother, David Castellani, an estranged adopted sister, and one half-birth sister, Vera Anne Stover.
Luckily and quite self admittedly… almost naively, I have always been a “fearless” person. Jumping from the roofs of houses.
Taking leaps in life, dedicating myself to lost causes and standing up for what I thought was right. Some people are just like that, I guess. And then they move away from being forthright, become more apprehensive, are afraid of consequences and just keep quiet. Things don’t apply to them, so they don’t make a decision. Well… sometimes life deals you a hand you can’t avoid, so you find out one way or another.
December 4, 1993
On December 4, 1993, I suffered a head injury as the result of being beaten up. I flatlined and was then revived, but then lingered in a coma for four days. When I came to, my eyes had crossed, I had trouble speaking, I had lost all equilibrium and mobility on primarily my left side, and could not walk unassisted.
I was at Harborview Hospital in Seattle for over a month doing physical therapy and speech therapy. I eventually left the hospital in a wheelchair, later graduating to a walker, and then for some time after, a cane. The doctor’s prognosis of my injury was devastating for my parents and friends, and it was probably one of the lowest points of my life. We were told that physical rehabilitation would most likely be of little use, and even if it did help, it would be a life long process. They said that people with traumatic brain injuries have little to no hope of really significantly changing.
Life deals tough breaks, and in many head injury cases, the situation is much worse. How was I to know what would happen in the future? How is anyone supposed to know, for that matter? The doctors didn’t, and no one really can foretell the future.
Each Day Is A New Beginning.
I had never been in a position where my reality had been so altered. There was nothing I could do but accept and adapt. For 8 years I found myself off balance, quite literally. I practiced pronouncing words in a mirror for years. (Even today, I will stop talking mid-sentence and start over if I feel I am saying it improperly.)
My eyes were crossed and my left foot would not “sync” with a regular pattern of walking. For years, I couldn’t understand half of what people said to me. There was nothing I could do about it, and so I had to focus on what I could do.
(Later, it caused an “accept nothing at face-value” attitude that allows me to ignore most corporate blanket statements and engineered marketing)
What I could do was accept these things as part of who I am and move to a different place. I have carried so much rage over the circumstances of December 4th and it’s affected me to such an extent, that for an entire decade everything has the marks of the head injury shadow.
I worked hard to regain range of motion on my left side, to be able to walk without a cane and to speak again, but it wasn’t until I started practicing yoga that I saw the most dramatic results.
the Yoga that Changes Lives
I started yoga in 2005 when I first started working at Yoga Journal Magazine as a temporary employee. I was then hired on permanently, and my practice continued to flourish. Today, with regular and consistent practice, I have seen huge improvements in my physical, mental and emotional abilities, in every area, but particularly on my left side.
I am now doing things that I never thought I would be able to do again…like regaining range of motion in my left leg, getting better with balance and (oddly enough, because I don’t wear my glasses when I practice) my depth perception. Yoga humbles me on a regular basis and I am constantly amazed by how my life continues to change. I would encourage anyone to start today.
It’s because of the profoundly positive influence yoga has had on my life, opening up the world to me again, that I have devoted myself to giving back to the yoga community I now call home.
In 2009, I left Yoga Journal
In 2009, I left Yoga Journal to chart my own course with Yoganomics. Yoganomics is an online resource bringing you breaking news in the world of yoga, and asking questions about our yoga industry some are afraid to ask. The intention of Yoganomics is to ensure that everyone has access to yoga, that individual teachers are free to teach according to their own beliefs and backgrounds, that individual studios have the resources and the freedom they need to teach yoga as they see fit, and that we something something something like this!
I read your blog and I can not stop. I feel like I’m a maniac:) Even my poor english can’t stop me. First of all I want to say that probably you know the secret of youth, or drink the elixir of youth, because I thought that you are not older than 36 years:))
I heard many times that we don’t appreciate what we have and begin to appreciate it only when we lose it. Now I know what it means, just like you.
I know a few people in Ukraine, to whom the doctors said that they will never be able to recover fully. But as we know, God works in mysterious ways. I believe that we all have some kind of program of our lives and what should happen- will happen, whether we like it or not. Everything has its reason.
Your life has been difficult, but I’m sure that you find something good in all this difficulties. The best lessons of life we get only when life hit painfully (figuratively or not).
Now I’m starting to think about yoga:)
Thank you Catherine! I did not know you had written a response, or I would have written you sooner.
Going through what life has brought me only forces me to examine my own life. It takes time, but there is always joy to be found even if it is halfway around the world.
I hope we meet one day soon, Catherine.
– Brian