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Written by : <a data-mce-href="https://dannyspeakspeace.com/" href="https://dannyspeakspeace.com/">Danny Angelo Fluker Jr&nbsp;</a> <figure id="figure-jo7q4fqjghmj7s5333" class=""><img id="jo7q4fqjghmj7s5333" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/20kVRRTkRUPt7NQlyiMgC3vtbh4MCWmGiM4lqTzq9ldhziiRNz8Wj9SLoJ0k3KJP.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-2xl md:rounded-3xl lg:rounded-4xl" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/20kVRRTkRUPt7NQlyiMgC3vtbh4MCWmGiM4lqTzq9ldhziiRNz8Wj9SLoJ0k3KJP.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure> Chapter 13 : Possible Futures (Excerpt) The Yoga Teachers Guide to AI: Second EditionI am a futurist.That sentence surprises people sometimes, especially when they meet me through yoga, meditation, or wellness spaces. The popular image of a futurist is often someone tracking tech trends, predicting markets, or speculating about gadgets that have not yet been invented. That work is real, but it is not the whole of it.A futurist is someone who studies patterns, signals, and systems in order to imagine what could come next. Not just what is likely, but what is possible. A futurist asks how today’s choices ripple forward. Who benefits. Who is harmed. Who is left out. A futurist understands that the future is not a destination we arrive at, but a process we are actively shaping through attention, values, and collective action.My commitment to futurism begins with community wellbeing. I believe the future of Black people is intimately tied to our collective healing. Not metaphorically. Literally. Our nervous systems, our cultural memory, our spiritual technologies, and our capacity for rest and imagination all determine what futures we can access. When a community is stuck in survival, its future narrows. When a community is resourced to heal, its future expands.Another expression of my futurist practice is storytelling. I educate and entertain through speculative <a data-mce-href="https://dannyspeakspeace.com/awalkinthenightsun" href="https://dannyspeakspeace.com/awalkinthenightsun">Afro Futurist fiction in my three book series A Walk in the Night Sun</a>. The series imagines a world five hundred to nine hundred years from now, seen through the lens of Black people across the globe and their lived experience of a world ruling AI. Fiction allows me to ask questions that data cannot answer alone. What does liberation feel like under algorithmic governance. How does memory survive. What spiritual technologies endure. Who gets to define intelligence when machines hold power.So part of my futurist practice is tending to the conditions that allow Black people to imagine themselves in the future at all. Yoga, meditation, breathwork, storytelling, and communal care are not escapes from the future. They are training grounds for it.At the same time, I am paying attention to the future as a whole. Humanity is in the middle of a collective reckoning with artificial intelligence. AI will disrupt everything. Work. Education. Creativity. Health. Governance. Spiritual authority. Identity itself. There is no opting out of this moment, only choosing how consciously we engage it.My lane in that everything is yoga teaching and wellness. I am not here to predict stock prices or design neural networks. I am here to ask what intelligence means in a world increasingly shaped by machines, and what kinds of intelligence we must protect, cultivate, and remember if we want a future that is livable.That brings us to the idea of alternative intelligence.When most people hear the word intelligence, they think of IQ, logic, speed, and verbal fluency. This narrow definition has shaped education systems, hiring practices, and now AI development. But intelligence has always been broader than that.Psychologist Howard Gardner offered a different framework through his theory of multiple intelligences. He proposed that humans express intelligence in many distinct ways. Logical and linguistic intelligence are only two among many. Others include musical intelligence, visual and spatial intelligence, bodily and kinesthetic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, and naturalistic intelligence. Some scholars also suggest pedagogical or digital intelligences.This matters deeply for yoga teachers and wellness practitioners. Yoga is not primarily a linguistic or logical practice. It is embodied. Kinesthetic. Intrapersonal. Interpersonal. It relies on pattern recognition in sensation, breath, emotion, and energy. When we honor multiple intelligences, we validate the ways wisdom already moves through the body and through community.Alternative intelligence also shows up in how AI itself is imagined. The dominant model today is based on large language systems that predict patterns in text. Powerful, yes. But not the only possible path. Researchers and thinkers are exploring embodied robotics, artificial life, and systems that emphasize physical perception, social context, and multimodal learning rather than disembodied computation alone.There is also a growing emphasis on augmented intelligence. These systems are designed to support human judgment rather than replace it. In behavioral health and wellness, this can look like tools that help clinicians notice patterns while still centering human empathy, ethics, and lived experience.This distinction is crucial. The future does not have to be humans versus machines. It can be humans with tools that respect the fullness of human intelligence.Wellness sits at the center of this conversation. AI already intersects with mental health through apps, diagnostics, and research tools. At the same time, there are real concerns about regulation, bias, overreliance, and the outsourcing of self awareness. No algorithm can replace intrapersonal intelligence. No model can meditate for you. No system can feel your breath shift in savasana.Yoga philosophy has always taught that intelligence lives within awareness itself. Not just in thinking, but in perceiving. In listening. In integrating.So as we step into possible futures, I want to offer this chapter as an educational moment. A pause. An invitation to expand how we define intelligence, how we relate to AI, and how we locate our own authority as teachers and practitioners. The future is being written right now, and your nervous system, your pedagogy, and your presence are already part of it.Let’s explore what kind of future we are practicing into being.The Yoga Teachers Guide to AI: Second Edition will be available December 31st. Learn more : <a data-mce-href="https://dannyspeakspeace.com/" href="https://dannyspeakspeace.com/" data-mce-selected="inline-boundary">dannyspeakspeace.com﻿</a>

I am a Futurist

Written by <a data-mce-href="https://dannyspeakspeace.com/" href="https://dannyspeakspeace.com/">Danny Angelo Fluker Jr</a> One of the biggest take aways I reflected on during my time in Thailand is that Yoga as a Science has uncountable permutations.Yes there are lineages and styles of Yoga.Also there are individuals who are so transformed by it that it touches and moves through them back into the world into something entirely new, or if not new, uniquely expressed through the individual it transformed.An example of this is Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, revered as the “Father of Modern Yoga,” who revitalized Hatha traditions while integrating postural elements inspired by the fitness culture and physical training methods of his time. He emphasized breath-linked movement, therapeutic application, and disciplined practice, and his students, Pattabhi Jois, B.K.S. Iyengar, Indra Devi, and his son T.K.V. Desikachar, carried these innovations into distinct schools that shaped global yoga culture.Another example is Nevine Michaan, a woman who created Katonah Yoga, a syncretic practice rooted in Taoist theory, sacred geometry, and metaphor to reorganize the body for greater function and joy. It blends traditional yogic postures with precise mapping, measured angles, and archetypal imagery to help practitioners see themselves more clearly and inhabit their lives with greater agency.There are so many examples, there’s Face Yoga, Thai Yoga, Chinese Yoga, Christian Yoga and so many other permutations.One of my own teachers, Brandon Copeland, owner of Khepera Yoga married his love of Ashtanga Yoga with Trap music while a student at Howard University and created Trap Yoga.Recently I’ve been allowing myself to navigate and document the history of Black Boys OM in a series of posts, I have written it in three parts, you can read the first here and the second part here, there’s at least one more part I have yet to write, maybe two.&nbsp;When I decided to turn Black Boys OM into a School of Yoga I had to ensure that a specific yoga lineage and a specific philosophy were articulated in the curriculum. The Krama Lineage of Yoga was chosen and the philosophy of Non Dual Kashmir Shivaism was chosen.The Krama lineage offers a progressive and intentional approach to practice that honors steady unfolding, integration, and the refinement of awareness over time. Non Dual Kashmir Shivaism teaches that the divine is fully present within each of us and that liberation comes from recognizing our inherent wholeness rather than striving for it outside ourselves.The Krama lineage arose in medieval Kashmir as a tantric school focused on the step by step expansion of awareness through stages of practice. Kashmir Shaivism developed alongside it as a non dual tradition shaped by teachers like Abhinavagupta who taught that all of life is the expression of one living consciousness.I started to think though, twenty years from now, if someone stumbled across Black Boys OM website would they say Black Boys OM was a type of Yoga?I don’t know. There’s no way to know.But it got me thinking, if Black Boys OM was a type of Yoga what type of Yoga would it be?On the official Black Boys OM School of Yoga webpage it states:To Remember WholenessTo Awaken through YogaTo Prioritize Black Healing Finish this post on <a data-mce-href="https://dannyangelo.substack.com/p/permutations-of-yoga" href="https://dannyangelo.substack.com/p/permutations-of-yoga">Substack&nbsp;</a>Visit the Ori &nbsp;Yoga Webpage : <a data-mce-href="https://blackboysom.org/ori-yoga" href="https://blackboysom.org/ori-yoga">https://blackboysom.org/ori-yoga</a>

Ori Yoga

Written by <a data-mce-href="https://dannyspeakspeace.com/" href="https://dannyspeakspeace.com/">&nbsp;Danny Angelo Fluker Jr</a> <figure id="figure-6hq5kt8k2mib3o6il" class="selected"><img id="6hq5kt8k2mib3o6il" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/63zoM9LCXGPq83W6giNCqfGl1K92IJADwLgeyK3mXXguk5lSGeOt3ErWQGOqrIWl.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-2xl md:rounded-3xl lg:rounded-4xl" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/63zoM9LCXGPq83W6giNCqfGl1K92IJADwLgeyK3mXXguk5lSGeOt3ErWQGOqrIWl.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure> I had been practicing yoga for few years. I started because my chest was tight and I was holding my breath for extended moments throughout the day, every day, and having to remind myself to breathe. I had anxiety because I had lost my dream job and missed several mortgage payments on my condo. This was 2015 into 2016.At the suggestion of a friend I had gone to a Chinese herbalist who told me that I had a lot of energy blockages and recommended Tai Chi and Yoga. I think I may have taken one or two Tai Chi classes and months later I stumbled on free Yoga in the park.From that first yoga session in the park (near the skatepark on the Beltline in Atlanta specifically ) I noticed I was breathing better. I ended up returning to the free park sessions for as long as they lasted that summer.My first teachers after Tai Chi and the Yoga Park session were a Black man at a major franchise yoga studio that I would later end up taking my first yoga teacher training at. I deeply appreciated the fact that both my Tai Chi teacher as well as my Yoga Teacher in that major franchise studio were both Black men. I saw myself in them and felt comfortable attending their classes as I explored these modalities that felt foreign.Another Black male teacher I was blessed to learn up under was, Brandon Copeland. Brandon had these phenomenal Trap Yoga classes that was the most embodied and connected I felt at the time. The music, paired with Brandon’s teaching and the energy of the full warehouse where we all practiced just elevated my experience and love of yoga. I also deeply enjoyed practicing with Black people, led by a Black teacher , with Black music. Brandon would just casually drop yogic wisdom that would literally change my experience of life. We would be in the middle of a challenging pose and he would say“Don’t want anything”I remember thinking, “wow, imagine not wanting anything, what freedom!”I would later learn that Brandon was the creator of Trap Yoga as he found it life giving as he married his Yoga asana practice to Trap music during his time as a student at Howard University. Finish Reading this post on<a data-mce-href="https://open.substack.com/pub/dannyangelo/p/it-started-as-an-idea-part-1?r=49dy7&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=false" href="https://open.substack.com/pub/dannyangelo/p/it-started-as-an-idea-part-1?r=49dy7&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=false" title="It Started As an Idea : The How and Why of Black Boys OM" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Substack</a>&nbsp;

The Idea that created Black Boys OM

On August 8th, we are releasing a powerful new resource on Yoga and Black Healing.&nbsp; "To be Black is to be both outcast and mystic—a living tapestry of embodiment, breath, and sacred memory."In this new resource, meditation teacher Danny Angelo Fluker Jr. reclaims yoga as a practice of liberation, offering ancient wisdom through a Black lens for modern healing.This is a people's yoga training in one book—all the roots of traditional training, none of the gatekeeping. Part spiritual testimony, part embodied guide, this crash course in liberation invites you into:<ul><li>Black yogic traditions that span continents and centuries</li><li>Practices that honor both our trauma and our transcendence</li><li>Sacred rest as resistance and ancestral remembrance as power</li><li>The revolutionary act of coming home to your own body</li><li>Whether you're stepping onto the mat for the first time or teaching for years, this book meets you exactly where you are—and reminds you of the sacred ground you've always been standing on.</li></ul><figure id="figure-zycxo815ljrme0f8z86"><img id="zycxo815ljrme0f8z86" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/1asLm2vglS4TrILPUJOmmZiyaT8lYq1zats2y41YLbIXeJULupsASbMaK5SFwlgo.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-2xl md:rounded-3xl lg:rounded-4xl" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/1asLm2vglS4TrILPUJOmmZiyaT8lYq1zats2y41YLbIXeJULupsASbMaK5SFwlgo.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure> Portion of resource unrevealed cover. This is yoga wisdom for the people: portable, powerful, and your invitation home. Join our<a data-mce-href="https://mailchi.mp/4e4ea695bd50/black-boys-om-support" href="https://mailchi.mp/4e4ea695bd50/black-boys-om-support"> mailing list</a> <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: calc(16px * var(--body-fontSize, 1)); font-style: var(--body-fontStyle, normal); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;" data-mce-style="font-family: inherit; font-size: calc(16px * var(--body-fontSize, 1)); font-style: var(--body-fontStyle, normal); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">to be notified when the resource becomes available.&nbsp;

Yoga and Black Healing

Black Boys OM was born out of necessity. The problem was clear: Black boys and men were being systemically shut out of spaces for mind-body health. Barriers—some historical, some deeply entrenched in the present—made it difficult for Black men to access the tools and practices that could support their emotional, mental, and physical well-being.Representation was lacking. Access was limited. And in a world where Blackness is too often pathologized, the idea of Black men embracing stillness, softness, and self-care was rarely nurtured. We saw a gap. We stepped in.Since our inception in 2018, Black Boys OM has been dedicated to shifting this landscape. What started as a grassroots initiative has since grown into a global movement. By 2020, we established ourselves as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and by late 2024, we transitioned into a School of Yoga—an evolution that reflects our deepest commitment to education, healing, and embodied living.To date, we have cultivated a network of over 400 certified Black Male Wellness practitioners who hold space for Black boys and men worldwide. Through equanimity practice, rest, and self-discovery, we have facilitated over 2,300 spaces for healing. Our work is a testament to the power of collective transformation and the undeniable impact of Black men reclaiming their well-being. <figure id="figure-pz29rwp1ftm6vfvmz5"><img id="pz29rwp1ftm6vfvmz5" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/32JppRFOzuH7Bl763P6fkuxrkQRYSe3t1c04mMpNCVs5A9axYUKz99YHPQelL9HR.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-2xl md:rounded-3xl lg:rounded-4xl" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/32JppRFOzuH7Bl763P6fkuxrkQRYSe3t1c04mMpNCVs5A9axYUKz99YHPQelL9HR.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: calc(16px * var(--body-fontSize, 1)); font-style: var(--body-fontStyle, normal); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;" data-mce-style="font-family: inherit; font-size: calc(16px * var(--body-fontSize, 1)); font-style: var(--body-fontStyle, normal); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">Black Male Healing is the convergence of multiple touchpoints of intersecting energies: the energy of masculinity, the energy of Blackness, and the energy of rediscovering and embodying innate wholeness—what many call healing and well-being. Masculinity emerges as a concept of nurture, provision, leadership, strength, integrity, vision, and protection. It holds strength and softness in equal measure, existing in harmony rather than in opposition. It embodies complementarity while embracing qualities often attributed to femininity—compassion, intuition, fluidity, and care.Blackness is both ancestral and infinite, an uncontainable creative force that shapes culture, history, and the very fabric of existence. It is vast, it is rich, and it carries within it the imprints of our ancestors—their wisdom, their resilience, their dreams for something more. It is not simply an identity but an embodied legacy.Healing is the process of remembering, of reclaiming, of moving in the world with the fullness of mind, body, and spirit as one. It is the radical act of being whole in a world that has worked tirelessly to keep us fragmented. It is the understanding that our wellness is a birthright, not a privilege.These forces, when woven together, create something entirely new. Like healing waters moving through the earth, they merge and amplify one another, forming a current of transformation that is undeniable.There is no singular definition for Black Male Healing. It is vast, fluid, and deeply personal. Yet every Black man who has felt it—whether in solitude or in the embrace of community—knows it as truth. It is a frequency that cannot be denied.May this work continue. Without permission. Without limitation. Without end. written by <a data-mce-href="https://dannyspeakspeace.com/" href="https://dannyspeakspeace.com/">Danny Angelo Fluker Jr.&nbsp;</a>Become a Yoga Teacher with us. <a data-mce-href="https://blackboysom.org/blackboysomyogateachertraining" href="https://blackboysom.org/blackboysomyogateachertraining" title="Self Paced Yoga Teacher Training " target="_blank" rel="noopener">Learn more here</a>Donate to our School of Yoga Scholarship Fund : <a data-mce-href="https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/blackboysom" href="https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/blackboysom">Give Securely Here</a>Photo by &nbsp;Bradford Singley : Esalen Workshop : Healing, Rest, and Embodied Liberation for Men of Color -January 2025

Black Male Healing

Sanskrit Mantra: Ugram viram maha-vishnum Jvalantam sarvato mukham Nrisimham bhishanam bhadram Mrityur mrityum namamy aham Word-by-word Meaning: Ugram (उग्रम्) – Fierce, intense, terrifying in powerViram (वीरम्) – Heroic, valiant, mighty warriorMaha-Vishnum (महाविष्णुम्) – The great and supreme VishnuJvalantam (ज्वलन्तम्) – Blazing, shining like fireSarvato mukham (सर्वतो मुखम्) – Facing in all directions, omnipresentNrisimham (नृसिंहम्) – Narasimha (the half-lion, half-man form of Vishnu)Bhishanam (भीषणम्) – Fearsome, terrifying to enemiesBhadram (भद्रम्) – Auspicious, protective, benevolentMrityur mrityum (मृत्योर् मृत्युम्) – The death of death itself, the one who overcomes mortalityNamamy aham (नमाम्यहम्) – I bow down, I surrender Full Meaning:"I bow to the fierce and valiant Maha-Vishnu, the blazing one who faces all directions. Narasimha, the fearsome yet auspicious protector, the destroyer of death itself—I surrender to You."This mantra is a powerful invocation of divine protection, fearlessness, and triumph over all forms of destruction, including death itself. It calls upon Narasimha as the ultimate force against darkness and oppression, ensuring strength and courage for the one who chants it. Modern Re-Imagining&nbsp;"Fierce and mighty, boundless presence,Radiating fire in all directions,The fearless protector, the guardian of truth,I bow to the conqueror of death itself." "Unshakable power, unstoppable force,Blazing light in every direction,The fearless protector, the fierce liberator,I honor the one who triumphs over death." Creating Your Own Mantra: A Living Expression of Power and Presence The Sacred Tradition of MantraFor centuries, mantras have been passed from Guru to student, not merely as words but as living vibrations—embodied expressions of Divine energy. Each mantra carries a specific resonance, invoking strength, protection, healing, or expansion. These sacred sounds were revered as direct channels to higher consciousness, shaping the reality of the one who chants them. Modern Mantra Creation: Reclaiming Your PowerTraditional mantras, like the one dedicated to Vishnu above, have served as powerful tools for spiritual connection. However, the essence of mantra is not limited to any single language or tradition. The invitation here is to create your own mantra—one that speaks directly to the energy you need in this moment. This is not about simply making affirmations. A mantra is a call to energy—a vibration you invoke with devotion, presence, and deep inner knowing. The Process of Creating Your Personal MantraSit with Your Present Energy Needs Find a quiet space. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Ask yourself: What power, energy, or healing do I need right now?What inner force needs to be awakened?What do I want to call into my life? Feel It in Your Body Instead of thinking intellectually, allow yourself to feel the energy. Notice where it arises—your heart, your solar plexus, your throat? Let the vibration of the words come from your body's wisdom, not just your mind. Inquire in Stillness As you sit with this presence, let the words come naturally. This might be a phrase, a short sentence, or even a single powerful word. Examples:“I am strength. I am light. I am boundless.”“Peace surrounds me, power moves through me.”“I call in fire to burn away everything that does not serve me and to ignite everything that does. I move in grace.” Write Your Mantra with Intention Once the words come, write them down with devotion. Treat them as sacred. Your mantra is now a living force—a vibrational key to unlock your desired energy. Chant, Embody, and Activate Spend at least 15 minutes chanting your mantra, either silently or aloud. Feel its resonance in your body. Let it shape your being with each repetition.You may chant it in devotion (as a sacred prayer).You may chant it in peace (as a grounding practice).You may chant it in strength (as an activation of power). The more you repeat it, the more it becomes you. Final Thought:Your mantra is not just something you say; it is something you become. It is your declaration to the universe and to yourself. Trust what arises. Speak your power. Embody your mantra. This teaching from the Black Boys OM School of Yoga 200HR Yoga Teacher Training, written by <a data-mce-href="https://dannyspeakspeace.com/" href="https://dannyspeakspeace.com/">Danny Angelo Fluker Jr.</a>&nbsp;Become a Yoga Teacher with us. Learn more<a data-mce-href="https://blackboysom.org/blackboysomyogateachertraining" href="https://blackboysom.org/blackboysomyogateachertraining"> here</a>

Blog

I am a Futurist

Ori Yoga

The Idea that created Black Boys OM

Yoga and Black Healing

Black Male Healing

Fearless Mantra