Never tried hot yoga? New Jersey residents can learn for free

You've heard me talk about getting into the hot room for years on the morning show.

Since the campaign ended and I'm back on the air, Jodi and I have been able to practice between 3 and 5 times each week.

There are classes where I'll lose 4 pounds in an hour. It's healthy, invigorating and at the same time relaxing.

It's the one hour a day when I do not have my cell phone next to me.

Our friends Mori and Michael, who own Breathing Dragon studio in Montgomery and Doylestown, Pennsylvania, have been a real foundation for our community.

Yoga is great for physical and mental health. It took some convincing for me to start, but once I got in, I was hooked.

Our friend James, who is one of the smartest and most effective instructors on the team, is offering a free class for anyone who wants to learn more about the history of the practice and what Bikram-style hot yoga can do for you.

Here are the details of the free, online course which kicks off this coming weekend. If you are interested, please email James at theunifyschool@gmail.com

Here's the Course Explanation from James:

• A 9-Week Live Online Course
• Dates: Jan. 31 – March 29, 2026
• Schedule: Sundays, 6–7:30 PM (Live on Zoom)
• Format: Live sessions + recordings available
• Fee: Donation-based (no required reading)

What This Course Is (and Is Not)

Yoga history is often flattened into timelines, buzzwords, and oversimplified origin stories.

This course moves beyond surface-level summaries to explore yoga as a living, contested, and evolving tradition, shaped by philosophy, politics, religion, colonialism, and modern global culture.

Beginning with modern yoga as it is practiced today, we work backward through medieval, classical, and early Vedic worlds to uncover how ideas of yoga were formed, transformed, and reinterpreted across centuries.

This is not a memorization-based course. It is an inquiry-driven exploration designed for practitioners, teachers, scholars, and curious minds who want nuance, context, and depth.

Rather than asking “Where did yoga come from?” this course asks:

Who defined yoga, for whom, and why?

By tracing yoga history backward, from the modern studio to early Vedic contexts, we uncover how yoga has continually been reimagined in response to cultural needs, spiritual goals, and social forces.

Along the way, we question ideas of authenticity, lineage, and tradition itself.

Each session weaves together historical sources, philosophical frameworks, and contemporary scholarship, presented in an accessible but intellectually rigorous way.

You will leave with a clearer understanding of yoga’s complexity—and the tools to critically engage with how yoga is taught, practiced, and marketed today.

What You’ll Explore

• How “modern yoga” emerged in the 19th–20th centuries
• The influence of colonialism, nationalism, and global exchange
• Tantra, Haṭha Yoga, and medieval embodied practices
• Classical formulations of yoga and their philosophical aims
• Early Vedic roots and pre-classical concepts of discipline and liberation
• Myths, misconceptions, and what the texts actually say
• How power, authority, and interpretation shape yoga history

Course Features

Live weekly discussions (not lectures only). There is no required reading, all material is introduced and contextualized.

Recordings available for later viewing

It is Donation-based to keep the course accessible, and designed to support critical thinking, not dogma

Who This Is For

These classes are for Yoga teachers and advanced practitioners, scholars and students of religion, philosophy, or South Asian studies.

Anyone interested in yoga beyond posture and slogans, and those ready to challenge inherited narratives with curiosity and care

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Spadea. Any opinions expressed are Bill's own.

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