21 Ways Bitcoin and Yoga Are Aligned in their Values

Most people file Bitcoin and yoga in completely separate mental folders. One is money and technology. The other is movement and breath. But as a yoga teacher and bitcoiner, I see the common threads they share.

I was inspired after appearing on Siadah Gomez's podcast, Ask a Bitcoiner 21 Questions, to share my list of ways in which yoga & Bitcoin are congruent.

Here is what I mean. Let's start with my list of the 21 ways:

1. YOU are the architect of your own destiny. This means YOU take personal responsibility. Life isn't "happening to you." You're the driver.
2. Sats = Satya
3. Both Bitcoin and yoga exist on Proof of Work (PoW)
4. Both harness energy (money and life stop happening TO you).
5. Both are misunderstood while having stigmas and misinterpretations.
6. Both Bitcoin & yoga are for ALL people—the path requires no pre-requisites. There is also no belief system required for either.
7. Both are for the greater good of humanity and a better way of life that starts with you.
8. Both let you choose your own path. You don't have to be a finance bro or even do asana. There are other paths in both.
9. Bitcoin and yoga are both practices.
10. Both build community.
11. Both are technically a-political, but people tend to politicize them anyway.
12. Both will transform you and your life, even the world around you.
13. Both heal you and the world.
14. Every practitioner of both is an activist.
15. Both sharpen the mind because they require study (as much study as you wish).
16. Both teach hope and counteract nihilism.
17. Both attract weirdos.
18. You can do bitcoin and yoga wrong. They are perfect systems often done imperfectly.
19. Both are a personal journey and each will lead you to more journeys.
20. Both are deep rabbit holes. Yes, often there are Bitcoin charlatans and yoga false gurus. Some aren't in it for the right reasons.
21. Each has its own language.

Now, let's begin a deeper dive. I think I'll make this a long-running series here and on TikTok

I could endlessly dive into Bitcoin & yoga for the rest of my life, so I think I will!

Both exist on proof of work.

There is no shortcut in yoga and there is also no shortcut in Bitcoin. You show up, you do the work, and you get out what you put in. This is covered in the yoga sutras and in most of the great Bitcoin books written to date.

Both also shift the way you relate to energy, whether that is money or life force. Once you start practicing either one, things stop happening to you. You become the architect of your own destiny instead of a passenger in it.

Both are wildly misunderstood and carry stigmas that have nothing to do with what they actually are.

When I tell people I am into Bitcoin, some of them picture a speculator in front of twelve monitors, trading on a whim. Bitcoin isn't this at all. Seeing it just like another stock to trade misses the entire point.

When I tell people I teach yoga, some of them picture someone chanting and burning sage. Or they think yoga = fitness. Or they think of "hot yoga," which also does the art & science of yoga a disservice. Yoga is so much more than "just a workout" or an excuse to wear athleisure. It's more than just a style or aesthetic and I can't believe we're in a time where I even have to mention that!

Both Bitcoin and yoga are for everyone.

There are no prerequisites. No belief system is required. You do not have to be a finance person to stack sats, and you do not have to do a single asana to practice yoga. There are many paths in each, and none of them require you to look like someone else doing it.

Both meet you where you're at.

Sats are Satya

I found it meaningful that the Sanskrit word satya means truth, and I keep thinking about how sats, the smallest unit of Bitcoin, carry a similar weight. Both are pointing at something real underneath all the noise. 1 sat will always = 1 sat, regardless of what the price of bitcoin is in any currency. Sats are always truth. Sats are satya.

Both build community in ways I did not expect.

I have met some of the most thoughtful, curious, and strange people of my life through both practices, and I mean strange as the highest compliment. Both attract people who are willing to go down a rabbit hole and stay there. Both also have their share of charlatans. False gurus exist in yoga studios and on Bitcoin Twitter (and Nostr) alike. That is not an argument against either practice. It is an argument for doing your own research and trusting your own experience over someone else's hype.

Yoga people grasp Bitcoin and Bitcoiners seem to gravitate towards yoga. Both have ways of building community on their own, organically. Yogis seek out other yogis like Bitcoiners also want to find like minds. Shared values and world views are important. Again, all views are valid and both are for EVERYONE.

Hope.

Both are technically apolitical, but people politicize them constantly. Both sharpen the mind because they reward study, and you can go as deep as you want. Both teach hope. In a world that trends toward nihilism, that matters more than it sounds.

Both will transform you, and I do not say that lightly. I say it because I have watched it happen to myself and to people around me. Both can also be done wrong. They are perfect systems that humans practice imperfectly, which is fine. Imperfect practice beats no practice every time.

Both are a journey with no fixed destination, and both will keep leading you to more journeys. I am still at the beginning of understanding what each one has to teach me. I think that is the point.

Both Bitcoin and yoga, above all, make you face yourself. They hold up a mirror. Only one other thing in this world has made me do that and it's sobriety.