Kamala Rose Yoga

Rebecca Solnit said that changing the world looks more like caregiving than war.
That a huge amount of the important work is done by "nice ladies."
The Bhagavad Gitā has been saying this for two thousand years - in a verb most translators pass over in half a sentence.
Sambhavāmi. I arise. I come into being from within the conditions of the age.
Not a hero descending to save us. The divine emerging through community. Through the ones who kept showing up, kept holding the rooms, kept carrying something they could feel was profound — often without the language to name it.
Yoga teachers in strip-mall studios. Women on Zoom at 6am. The gopīs of Vṛndāvan, who knew Krishna before the philosophy, before the battlefield, in the dailiness of tending.
They were sambhavāmi all along.

New essay on Substack or here: https://kamalaroseyoga.org/the-avatar-is-not-who-you-think/

If you're interested in discussing this with other women, join us for the Women's Gitā Circle here: http://kamalaroseyoga.org/gita-circle

Women’s Gita Circle - with Kamala
This month's theme: Decision, Doubt, and Dharma

For women in seasons of change. Times are hard, girl - let's support each other!

The Bhagavad Gita isn’t a book of easy answers.
It’s a companion for moments when you’re unsure what to do next.

This is a small, live circle:
– a short teaching
– quiet reflection
– real conversation

You don’t need to know the Gita.
Just come with what you’re actually living.

Free for now as I build this community.
Link in bio or http://kamalaroseyoga.org/gita-circle

This Mercury retrograde I’ve been reclaiming things.

Old intentions. Old parts of myself I had set aside.

One of those intentions was to create a space where women could study the Bhagavad Gita together — not as something distant or scholarly, but as a living text that continues to shape how we move through the world.

What happens when women read this text together?
What insights emerge when lived experience meets philosophy?

I wrote a reflection about why this kind of space still matters.

🌺 Link in bio to read the essay and learn about the circle.

Many women know yoga philosophy intuitively — but hesitate to speak it aloud.
Not because they lack devotion or insight, but because real access to Sanskrit, Sāṃkhya, and the Yoga Sūtra has been withheld or filtered.

This “threshold of voice,” as Carol Gilligan names it, is structural — not personal.
And it’s one of the most urgent issues in modern yoga.

My newest essay explores why women hesitate, how gatekeeping persists, and how direct access to philosophy restores agency, clarity, and voice.

Full blog in bio.
https://kamalaroseyoga.org/threshold-of-voice-yoga-philosophy/

In many spiritual and yoga spaces, “compassion” quietly becomes a mandate for women to disappear — to be endlessly available, endlessly patient, endlessly accommodating.

When compassion is severed from philosophy, it becomes emotional labor without agency.
But the Yoga Sūtra offers structure, discernment, and voice — not self-erasure.

If you’ve ever felt the pressure to “be compassionate” at the cost of your own boundaries, this piece is for you.

Full blog linked in bio.
https://kamalaroseyoga.org/threshold-of-voice-yoga-philosophy/

A year ago, I made a decision that changed nearly everything in my life — where I lived, how I worked, and who I was in the world. This week, I wrote about that year of starting over, and what it really took to rebuild my teaching life from scratch.

If you’re navigating transition, reinvention, or a new beginning… I celebrate your courage. It takes a lot to change...

🔗 Link in bio
“Was It Worth It? A Year of Starting Over”
on Substack

Hey friends! This Thursday I’m offering a free live workshop:

Compassion You Can Teach Tomorrow

We’ll explore how Yoga Sūtra 1.33 becomes practical in real classrooms — including regulation tools and language you can use immediately. I'd love to see you there!

Live + replay provided.

Register here: http://kamalaroseyoga.org/compassion-you-can-teach-tomorrow

My newest Substack is live.
It’s about what it really means to hold ground together when the world feels unsteady — from mutual aid on a snowy mountain to yoga studios stepping up for their communities.
If you need a reminder that care is still possible, this one’s for you.
Read here:https://open.substack.com/pub/kamalaroseyoga/p/finding-our-ground?r=1l1qq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Teaching yoga right now asks a tremendous amount of presence, nuance, and courage.

Our yoga rooms are not homogenous. They’re not all progressive. They’re not all “on the same side.” And for years I’ve held space for students whose political views directly contradict one another—and sometimes contradict my own values.

In my newest Substack essay, I write about the realities of teaching yoga in divisive times:
• navigating politically mixed rooms
• choosing when to allow conversation and when to set boundaries
• how to hold space without collapsing into silence
• why ahiṃsā is not passive
• and how we support the long arc of justice without alienating the communities we care for

I also created a free PDF for yoga teachers on bringing ahiṃsā into the classroom in grounded, practical ways. These are tools I’ve used for years to cultivate calm, clarity, and safety—especially when the world outside feels volatile.

🕊️ Read the full article on Substack and download the free guide here:
Ahiṃsā in Practice: Tools for Yoga Teachers
(link in comments)

Yoga teachers: Ahiṃsā isn’t passive.
It’s not softness, niceness, or avoiding what’s hard.
Ahiṃsā is a skill.

So many of our students are practicing in a world that feels tense, polarized, and overwhelming. When we teach from ahiṃsā, we help them settle, breathe, and move from clarity rather than reactivity. This matters more than ever.

I created a free guide on how to bring ahiṃsā into your classes in ways that are practical, grounded, and rooted in the tradition. These are the same tools I used for years to create steadiness and safety in the room.

If you’re a yoga teacher wanting to hold supportive, sane, compassionate space in challenging times, this is for you.

✨ Download the free guide: Ahiṃsā in Practice — Tools for Yoga Teachers
(link in the comments)

If your teacher training said
“Bhagavad Gītā (any translation)”
and left you feeling underprepared —

you’re not behind.

You were given a text without its world.

I teach yoga philosophy for people who want depth without pretending certainty.

I’m teaching a free class this week for teachers and practitioners who want a clearer way in.

Link in bio.