Supporting Creativity: Yoga for Good with Moira Gordon

In our latest episode, we sit down with Moira Gordon, Director of the Yoga for Good Foundation, for wide-ranging chat that weaves together personal storytelling and practical advice. Moira shares how she first discovered yoga as a teenager in rural Staffordshire, England through library books featuring Indra Devi. She was 12 or 13, teaching herself postures from photographs on her family's lawn. That self-directed curiosity never left her. Moira shares about her unique fusion practice, Yatoga, which combines visual art-making with yoga — "putting art in yoga, or wrapping yoga around art." She talks about the deep meditative states that creative work like collage and painting can unlock, and why this approach offers an accessible doorway for people who struggle with traditional sitting meditation. Jo, who received a Yoga for Good grant herself to fund photography for her book Eight Limbs of Aerial Yoga, brings her perspective to the conversation as both host and former recipient. The heart of the episode is a frank, practical look at how the Yoga for Good Foundation works — and how you can apply. Moira explains how the foundation grew from the difficult closure of the Satyananda Yoga Academy and its Mangrove Mountain Ashram, transforming grief into something generative. Her insight was simple but powerful: "Yoga's just as creative as being an artist or a dancer or a playwright or whatever. Why can't we have grants for yogis?" She walks through the grant process, the SMART framework for building a strong proposal, common application mistakes to avoid, and why even unsuccessful applicants often walk away with something valuable — clarity about their own vision. Whether you're a seasoned teacher with a project idea gathering dust, or someone just starting to imagine what you might create, this episode is full of encouragement and actionable guidance. As Moira puts it, anything done from the heart is worth pursuing, and now, there might just be funding to help you do it.