What a year it’s been! At the beginning of 2009, “blogging” was this annoying task that I had to do in my busy life as an overworked magazine editor. But once the magazine I worked for closed and I was out of a job, I started to spend my abundance of free time reading blogs. And so I decided to start my own. Fast forward to December and not only have I been maintaining my little blog for 9 months, but I have tapped into a dynamic and passionate community of people who think, read and blog about yoga.

I’ve spent a lot of time reading blogs over the past year and there are definitely some voices that stand out. And those voices have produced many fascinating blog posts about yoga. Here are 15 of my favourites, in no particular order.

Linda’s Yoga Journey: this is my real yoga – I’m a huge fan of Linda and her blog, and this post is one of  the most inspiring raise-your-fist-in-the-air-and-say-hell-yeah posts by her or anyone else.

Eco Yogini: Feminist Yoga… – Eco has an amazing ability to think deeply and critically. She’s not afraid to tackle the thorny issue of gender politics and offer up her interesting perspective.

YogaDawg: Yoga Star Hot Scale – Only YogaDawg is capable of such satirical brilliance. This scale made me laugh out loud, and had “B-list” yoginis thanking YogaDawg for being included on the scale.

YogaDork: Selling Out: Yoga Talent Agency Seeks A-list Yoga Teachers Seeking Fame – The title of this one says it all. It was hard to pick just one YogaDork post to feature here, because they are just so awesome. But this one stood out for its good questions and the fascinating discussion it inspired – including a response from YAMA-represented yoga teacher, Sadie Nardini.

Sadie Nardini: Om Scampi: A Top Yogi Comes Out of the Meat-Eating Closet – Sadie herself blogs on HuffPo, and while I have issues with some of her ideas about yoga, I find her articulate, practical and irreverent. This post embodies all that (and isn’t as self-promotional as some of her others).

Yoga Spy: Who the Heck is Tara Stiles? – I used to sometimes get Sadie Nardini mixed up with Tara Stiles (they’re both hot model aspiring-to-be-celebrity yoga teachers in NYC who post a lot of stuff on YouTube). Luckily, this memorable post helped me learn how to tell them apart.

Grounding Thru The Sit Bones: Where’s the Oprah of Yoga? – And on the subject of hot model celeb yoga teachers, Brenda poses an interesting and essential question about yoga. Who is going to step forward and be yoga’s Oprah? Could the world handle it?

Namaste & Knitting: The Image of Yoga… – I was very excited when I discovered Jennifer’s blog after she left some insightful comments during the whole Adidas Yoga fiasco. Another yogi/knitter/blogger out there! Here, she continues the conversation about the presentation and marketing of yoga.

elephant journal: Playboy Yoga – I’m not even going to ask how Waylon Lewis came across Playboy’s instructional yoga DVD featuring 2007 Playmate of the Year, Sarah Jean Underwood. This one was enough for me to declare yoga dead.

Yoga with Nikki Chau: Yoga Jargon Generator – It really works! Very entertaining. I discovered Seattle-based yoga teacher Nikki’s blog through a link to this post, and it had me hooked.

YogaNation: Punk Rock Yoga? from Seattle, My Friend – Speaking of Seattle, NYC blogger Joelle documents the interesting phenomenon of “punk rock yoga” with wit and style. Joelle is also the only person on this list whom I’ve met in RL (when she visited Mtl a few weeks ago), and she’s fantastic!

Yoga for Cynics: The Only Kind of Spirituality I Have Any Interest In… – Dr. Jay drunk blogging = awesome.

Yoga Demystified: In Praise of Jane – Short and sweet post by the irreplacable Bob Weisenberg.

Yogic Muse: Yoga and Empowerment – It was hard to choose which of Brooks reflective and thoughtful posts stood out the most for me this year, but this one really stayed with me.

My Embodiment: Present Moment Living: Horses, Yoga, Therapy &  How They All Come Together – Teresa looks at the world through the lenses of yoga and psychotherapy, and she’s generous enough to share her thoughts with us.

**This post is a response to Daily Blog Tips’ latest group writing project.