Hello Folks, 

I decided to forgo the end of the year wrap up for a start of the year get-up. According to an anonymously sent astrology book I received, Jan 1 and 2 are going to be dicey, but the new year will kick off for real on Jan 3. Get ready. 

But before my kick-off for the year newsletter, a big thank you all the people who responded to my survey! 

Here were the big takeaways: 

• Yoga and science were your favorite topics for the newsletter. 

• The current rate of about once per month is good. 

• Practical information and connection to community are why you keep opening these newsletters. 

• Schedule information came in 3rd. Interesting... 

All in all, this was really helpful, so thank you for taking the time to answer. Now, a few cool stats, just to show you what an awesome community we have on this list, and how proud I am of our engagement (as irregular as I am as a writer.) 

From the internet:

“According to Campaign Monitor, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Hupspot, Mailmodo, and Get Response, the average email marketing open rate in 2023 is 26.76%”

“Mailmunch says that a good email open rate is between 17-28%.”

A general industry open rate for the US government is 28.77%, and health and fitness lists come in at 21.48%. 

Do you know what our average open rate has been for the past year? Our lowest open rate was in July, 64.9%, and the highest open rate was the Anxiety and Yoga post at 74.5% in April. Our average is 70%. I find this super encouraging. We're crushing it. But no hard feelings if you unsubscribe. I’ll do my best to keep sending you things that are worthwhile and won’t waste our time. 

Now... I like to send out a song each year to kind of wrap things up, but I've been on the fence this year. So I decided to send a song and an album. 

The song:

The Perfect Life, Moby. This is an old one, but I keep listening to it over and over the past couple of months because it’s so frigging optimistic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbN-pczrwiw (new version with orchestra)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3ZDqe5j4q8 (original awesome video)

The album:

I was torn between Atta, by Sigur Ros, and New Blue Sun, by André 3000. I decided to go with Atta, simply because the orchestration is so sophisticated and lush, but I definitely recommend New Blue Sun simply to see the direction André 3000 has taken over the past 17 years. It is soothing and layered. Put either on, preferably with headphones, close your eyes, and do nothing but listen for an hour. 

Atta, Sigur Ros https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seQGmak5b7s

Lastly, the schedule: Mysore M-F and Sivananda Yoga only for January. I'll resume teaching at the temple in February. 

That’s all for now, let’s keep it at 500 words! May peace prevail on earth.

Best,

Eddie

PS Workshops in Europe Jan 16th-29th