167: We Don't Want AI Yoga with Cyndi Lee
I am so honored to be joined on the podcast by my teacher Cyndi Lee. As a senior yoga teacher, author, and Buddhist chaplain—Cyndi talks to us about what’s being gained, lost, and misunderstood as artificial intelligence enters yoga, writing, and teaching spaces.
Cyndi reflects on her five decades of practice and teaching. As the founder of Om Yoga Center in New York City, a global hub for yogis from 1998 to 2012, she has witnessed firsthand how yoga has shifted under the pressures of capitalism, scalability, and speed.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
a discussion of two growing trends: students using AI as a “yoga teacher” and yoga teachers using AI for emails, sequencing, and social media
why Cyndi chooses not to use AI in her writing or teaching
why lineage is vital—not as rigidity or hierarchy, but as continuity, care, and accountability
a hopeful message for yoga teachers about the fast changes in our word
Learn More From Cyndi:
Follow Cyndi on Substack: Drip, Drip, Drip
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As yoga teachers, we spend a lot of time talking about teaching techniques, sequencing, cueing, and professional growth. But there’s another side of this work that often goes unnamed: the hidden labor of teaching yoga.
In this episode, I explore the physical, emotional, mental, and administrative work that happens behind the scenes of a yoga teaching career. From building a business one class at a time to managing finances, marketing, commuting, continuing education, and emotional boundaries, much of the work that sustains a teaching career is invisible to students—and often unacknowledged within the industry itself.