Dearest readers,
It's now been 5 years since I stopped blogging regularly. Am I about to return? It's something I'm strongly considering, having gotten to a place where I have a bit more room in my life again. Writing this blog for all those years was such a labour of love, and I have definitely missed it!
In the meantime, something serious has come to my attention that I want to address, and it's regarding the name of the blog. When I named the blog "Yoga Gypsy", I intended it to be a light-hearted reflection of my life as an international traveler. I didn't at the time realize that the word "gypsy" is considered by the Romani people as an offensive slur. I have now been made aware of this, and I'd like to formally apologize for perpetuating the type of romanticized stereotype that appropriates the culture of the Roma people and glosses over the discrimination they face. It's my intent to rename the blog, although I have not yet been able to determine whether I'll be able to change the URL of past articles.
So, there you have it. I am humbly grateful to the anonymous commenter who made me aware of this - thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn and to do better. Part of yoga is a lifelong commitment to learning and educating yourself, in order to combat avidya, or self-ignorance. Any form of prejudice, discrimination or racism is by definition in contradiction of the yogic principle of ahimsa, non-harming. One of the most important ways that we can fight against such ignorance is to recognize it in ourselves, and correct it. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to do just that.
Yours sincerely,
A yogini in search of a new name ;)