When Yoga Studios Sell Belonging: Community, Power, and MLM Culture in the Yoga World

Have you ever felt like your yoga studio was a little... intense about getting you to recruit friends? Or wondered where the line is between genuine community and transactional belonging?

In this episode, we're going somewhere a lot of people in the yoga world aren't ready to go — and we're bringing a commercial cult expert with us.

Brandie Hadfield joins the podcast to unpack the uncomfortable overlap between MLM culture and how many yoga studios, teacher training programs, and even large chains like CorePower operate. We talk about the ethics of selling belonging, the reality of dual relationships (when your teacher is also your boss), and why yoga professionals need explicit training in recognizing power dynamics.

This episode grew out of the host's deep dive into cult documentaries, podcasts, and her article The Business of Belonging for Inside Yoga Magazine — and it might just change how you see your studio community.

Taking Yoga Beyond the Studio: Building Community Care in Schools with Shelly Auld

What does it look like to take your yoga training beyond the studio and into real community care work?

In this episode, Rebecca talks with returning guest Shelly Auld, a wellness coordinator working in a North Minneapolis school district. Shelly shares how she built a program that supports educators and staff through nervous system regulation, co-regulation, and accessible movement—and how that work is already impacting staff retention and wellbeing.

This conversation is a powerful reminder that yoga professionals are needed in schools, healthcare, corporate environments, and beyond. It’s not about the perfect certification—it’s about applying your skills where people actually need them.

Burnout, Belonging, and the Future of Yoga Work with Suzie Carmack

In this episode of Working In Yoga, host Rebecca Sebastian is joined by Suzie Carmack for a wide-ranging conversation on burnout, wellbeing, and the future of yoga and wellness professions.

Together, we unpack why yoga work can be uniquely isolating, how that isolation fuels burnout, and why traditional “self-care” often misses the mark. Suzie shares insights from her book The Wellbeing Ultimatum, and talks about how wellbeing lacks a shared definition, why social support is essential for burnout recovery, and how identifying joy can be a powerful professional practice.

This episode also explores professional identity, creative autonomy, fairytale thinking, and why yoga professionals exist at the intersection of healing and artistry. It’s an invitation to rethink burnout not as personal failure, but as a systemic issue — and to imagine careers that are bespoke, sustainable, and rooted in real belonging.

Community, Standards, and the Future of Yoga with Rebel Tucker

In this episode of Working In Yoga, we take the conversation global with Rebel Tucker, Vice President of Yoga Australia. Rebel shares how Yoga Australia actively incorporates member feedback, supports both teachers and students, and maintains “common sense standards” that protect practitioners and the public alike.

We explore what it looks like when a professional organization truly represents its community, why connection among yoga professionals is essential, and what the U.S. yoga industry can learn from international models. We also dive into big-picture questions about yoga’s place in wellness vs. healthcare systems, training standards around the world, and whether the future of the industry lies in one major organization or many niche ones.

This episode is an invitation to think beyond borders — and imagine what’s possible when yoga professionals are heard, supported, and connected.

I'm Every Woman. A Feminist Resistance and Yoga Deep Dive with Anjali Rao

This week we dive into who gets to tell yoga’s history—and why that matters. Anjali reminds us that when only white male scholars write the story, women’s contributions vanish. We explore the difference between practitioner-first and scholar-first histories, the danger of only celebrating the “exceptional,” and the power of quiet, everyday acts of resistance and love. Because, as Anjali and I agree, every pebble counts in building a more just, beautiful world.

A podcast for us, the yoga professionals.

Our experience, our love of yoga, our challenges, our community.