In this episode of the Yoga Inspiration Podcast, Tim Feldmann explores what it means to live yoga beyond the mat through the Bhagavad Gītā's teachings on yajña, dāna, and tapas.

Yoga is sometimes interpreted as a withdrawal from thought, action, and the responsibilities of ordinary life. Tim looks at why the Gītā offers a different perspective: living a yogic life does not mean stepping away from the world, but learning how to participate in it with greater awareness, responsibility, generosity, and discipline.

Through everyday examples, Tim breaks down yajña as selfless action or offering, dāna as generosity and giving, and tapas as the discipline and inner effort required to cultivate positive change. These practices are not limited to formal spiritual rituals. They can be expressed through doing our work well, caring for others, sharing our time and knowledge, practicing kindness, and developing the steadiness to respond more skillfully when life challenges us.

At the heart of the episode is a simple shift from selfish behavior toward selfless awareness. Tim explores how yajña, dāna, and tapas can reduce inner and outer conflict while helping us live in greater harmony with dharma, bringing the philosophical teachings of yoga directly into daily life.

Join Tim every Wednesday for live Pranayama practice on Omstars.

In this episode, we explore what it really means to be ready for Ashtanga Yoga's Intermediate Series.

Second Series is often approached through its physical landmarks: deeper backbends, leg-behind-the-head postures, arm balances, inversions, and demanding strength transitions. But the deeper preparation for Nadi Shodhana is not only physical. It is the development of a mind that is steady enough to meet intensity without becoming overwhelmed.

We look at the difference between being able to perform an asana and truly integrating it into daily sādhana, why Primary Series and Intermediate Series have different energetic intentions, and how nervous system regulation, mental steadiness, and consistent practice become essential as the work deepens.

The episode also explores readiness for Second Series beyond rigid physical benchmarks, the role of Kapotasana, leg-behind-the-head postures, Karandavasana, the seven headstands, and why the closing sequence is such an important part of integrating the intensity of Nadi Shodhana.

Ultimately, the question is not simply whether the body can perform the postures, but whether the practitioner can maintain the thread of practice with patience, consistency, steadiness, and compassion.

Join us September 1 to 21 for the Ashtanga Yoga Intermediate Series Challenge on Omstars. Explore Second Series through step-by-step tutorials, targeted drills, counted vinyāsa classes, and guided practices designed to help you understand the method behind the postures.

Enter your email on the challenge page to receive a free downloadable Second Series practice chart, get the first three days of the challenge free if you are not already an Omstars member, and enter for a chance to win a one-year Omstars membership.

You can also join the challenge on Instagram. Follow @omstarsofficial, @kinoyoga, @lottasebzdayoga, @chandanabhowmickyoga, and @heidikayoga. Share your daily practice, tag the hosts, and use #theworkofsecondseries.

From Gross to Subtle: The Journey of Ashtanga Yoga Practice

In this episode, Kino MacGregor and Tim Feldmann explore the two ends of the yoga spectrum: the gross and the subtle, the dynamic and the still, the effortful and the refined. Ashtanga Yoga asks us to inhabit both worlds, jumping through, sweating, moving the body with strong discipline, and then turning inward, softening into breath, subtle sensation, and the quietude of mind.

Drawing from Sanskrit roots and classical teachings, Kino and Tim explain how sthūla, gross or dense practice, and sūkṣma, subtle or refined practice, are not opposites but complementary gateways into yoga. They discuss how the foundational tools of the practice, āsana, prāṇāyāma, and dṛṣṭi, can carry practitioners from surface-level sensation toward deeper layers of awareness.

The conversation unfolds around Patañjali's timeless definition of yoga, yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ, the stilling of the mind's movements. Kino and Tim share stories, personal reflections, and practical lessons on balancing abhyāsa, steady practice, with vairāgya, letting go. Along the way, they remind us that contentment, santoṣa, is not resignation but a doorway into clarity, and that every choice plants seeds in the soil of karma.

Whether through strong postures, subtle meditation, or the quiet discipline of daily practice, this talk invites us to see yoga as both gross and subtle, both active and still, always guiding us toward the inner horizon of awareness.

Practice with Kino, Tim, and our global community on Omstars. Explore thousands of yoga classes, in-depth courses, live practices, meditation, prāṇāyāma, and more at Omstars.com.