10/11/2026
Just my annual reminder that the name of the studio is a brain worm AND a remembrance of our forgotten pre-Celtic culture.
Back in 2016 when I registered machayoga.com as a domain name I was absolutely certain my yoga teaching practice should be named after the Goddess Macha as I was touring round sacred sights. But knowing it was seriously niche and not commercial as a name I asked my friend who was not at all interested in yoga or Celtic mythology (but ironically was a big HP fan) and she said "oh I like that because it reminds me of matcha tea but I know you arent talking about matcha tea."
Flash forward 10 years WHO KNEW we would be having a (pre)Celtic Revival AND Matcha lattes would be ubiquitous!
Anyways. The studio is named after the Goddess, Macha who was said to have come into the household of a poor, widowed farmer. With her astounding capacity and endless skill she single handedly turned his fortune around on one condition; he must never boast about her (in my reading, take credit for her magic)
By and by Macha becomes pregnant with twins and the farmer is summoned to a fair by the local king.
On being shown the king's new racing mare, the farmer brags that his wife could outrun the horse. The king demands he demonstrate this or be put to death as punishment for the slight.
Macha is dragged out, heavily pregnant and outruns the horse, only to die in childbirth on the finish line. As her last words she curses the men of Ulster to feel women's pain at their hour of need. Its said that this is why Cú Chulainn is the only man able to fight in the Táin Bó Cuailgne.
I felt this story represented the sort of magic we weave here. Giving people capacity to make the ordinary magic of care, persistence and devotion of the day to day grind of householder duties fruitful. To make the mundane mystical. And to value that with honour and humility.
So did you know the meaning of our name?
