I Don’t Take Spiritual Advice from Men
In this opening episode of Magnolia Sez So, I share a personal written piece that marked a turning point in my spiritual path. It’s about the moment I stopped bending to systems built by men—and started reclaiming what was mine.
This is the foundation for everything that follows.
I Don’t Take Spiritual Advice from Men
When Slogans Replace Thinking
I've been off social media for a while. I came back after seeing what's been happening in Minneapolis and around the country. I've been watching yoga and spiritual spaces scramble for certainty through slogans.
"Yoga is my resistance." "Yoga is not resistance." "Rest is my resistance." "If your spirituality doesn't include anger, you're bypassing."
This episode isn't about picking the right slogan. It's about what gets lost when slogans replace thinking and what we actually need to be doing right now.
In this episode:
- Why regulation is infrastructure for resistance, not resistance itself
- The bipartisan history of mass detention: from Clinton-Bush-Biden-Trump
- How Israeli military tactics and surveillance technology were imported to use on immigrant, Black, Brown, and Muslim communities
- The difference between performative protests and disruptive action
- What liberal proximity panic looks like and why it matters
- Concrete organizing steps you can take right now
Resources for Albuquerque:
- Text ABQMIGRA or ABQICE to 58910 to report raids
- New Mexico Immigrant Law Center: 505-247-1023 | nmilc.org
- Santa Fe Dreamers Project: 505-490-2789
- Mexican Consulate: 505-270-7009
- Find detained adults: locator.ice.gov/odls
- Find detained children: 1-800-203-7001
If we want to resist what's happening, actually resist, we need less certainty and more capacity. Less performance and more discernment. Less sloganizing and more thinking together.
And we need to act. Not eventually. Now.
At one point I say "pregnancy" instead of "presidency" a Freudian slip about what the administration is birthing, maybe. Either way, it stays.
About Magnolia Zuniga:
Magnolia Zuniga is a former Certified Ashtanga yoga teacher and one of only 20 women worldwide who were certified by the K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute (KPJAYI) before publicly walking away from the lineage. After abuse allegations against Pattabhi Jois became public, she stopped teaching Ashtanga sequences and lost her certification—choosing survivor solidarity over professional advancement.
She now teaches at ABQ Yoga Lab in Albuquerque, New Mexico, focusing on decolonizing yoga practice, recognizing cult dynamics in spiritual communities, and building accountability in yoga spaces. She speaks publicly about institutional abuse, guru culture, and what yoga becomes when you remove the harmful power structures.
Find me at www.magnoliazuniga.com and https://www.youtube.com/@MagnoliaSezSo