The Heart of Yoga EP 19 - From Yoga as escape to Yoga as embrace — Mark Whitwell and Ana Berry
In this episode, Mark sits down (over Zoom) with his dear long-time friend Ana Berry: musician, media presenter, actress, Yoga teacher and mother.
Ana describes growing up in Oklahoma and the saving influence of jazz and gospel, and the imprint of culture upon her mother as a beauty queen and TV personality.
From Hollywood to New York, her search for Yoga that didn’t just exacerbate body self-hatred culminated in meeting Mark in a class in LA, followed by initiation into the ancient roots of Yoga with Mark at the Kumbh Mela in India.
- What does Yoga look like when taken out of these deep usual patterns of “I’m not good enough, I need to be skinnier / fitter / stronger / younger / smoother / more flexible / happier / better”?
- What is missing from the vast majority of Yoga classes in terms of NOT breaking these social patterns?
- Ana tells the story of becoming a mother and embracing the unexpected twists and turns of life — how when it doesn’t go to plan, sometimes it goes better.
- Yogis are not made on assembly lines — what does it look like to be a genuine teacher and practitioner in Oklahoma?
- What does it look like to release the mind’s plans, and embrace the unexpected?
- And the thing that everyone needs to know, how do we communicate Yoga to our partners, and why is that so important?
Ana Berry Yoga Teacher, Singer, Mantrika and co-owner of the Bhakti House, Tulsa IG and FB: @wholebodyprayer
Encounters at the Kumbha Mela with Mark Whitwell:
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