Yogaland Podcast

On this episode, I reflect on one of the most important reads of the year for me -- Kelly McGonigal's book, The Upside of Stress. A psychologist and yoga teacher, Kelly's book is filled with compelling research about how the way we think about stress may be more harmful for our health than stress itselfShownotes: yogalandpodcast.com/episode28/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before jetting off on his most recent trip to Hong Kong, I sat with Jason to answer more listener-submitted questions. This time we just happened to get questions that all centered around the lower body. So, we talk about:* How to best work with tight hamstrings?* How to best recover when your hamstring has been overstretched?* How to find stability and strengthen the low back, quadratus lomborum (QL), and sacrum after pregnancy? * What's up with hearing about yogis having hip replacements? How can you keep your hips safe in yoga?Shownotes: yogalandpodcast.com/episode27/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I chat with Kate Holcombe of The Healing Yoga Foundation in San Francisco. Kate has an amazing story to tell -- and I asked her to tell it in the top half of the interview -- about how a life-threatening accident while studying abroad in India during college set her on the path of becoming a student of TKV Desikachar. The second half of the interview focuses on a few of the sutras that helped Kate navigate the difficulty of going through breast cancer treatment. I've never known a teacher who has as much reverence for Patanjali's Yoga Sutra as Kate does. She lights up when she talks about them and her enthusiasm is contagious. Shownotes: yogalandpodcast.com/episode26/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, Jason answers questions submitted by listeners:* What are your views on what it means to be a yoga student today?* What's the difference between a yoga student and a yoga consumer?* How do you deal with the yoga community where there is so much inconsistency and fakeness?* What do you think will be important for yoga teachers to focus on in the next decade?* What do you think about yoga hybrids like Yoga HIIT, Pi-Yo, etc.?* How do you and Andrea work together and find a balance between work and family time?Shownotes: yogalandpodcast.com/episode25/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's episode is like a shot of happy for your soul. I spoke to Dana Trixie Flynn, co-founder of Laughing Lotus about her new project: Dana is working on opening a donation-based yoga studio in the seventh ward of New Orleans. If you know Dana at all, you know how much she lives, breathes, and loves music -- so this new center will have live New Orleans jazz music. In this interview with Dana, I felt how uniquely suited she is to set up this studio and to nurture her students. She is all at once gutsy, big-hearted, charismatic, empathic, and bad ass. Shownotes: yogalandpodcast.com/episode24/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode Jason answers three of our listener questions and it just so happens that they all focus on some aspect of shoulder anatomy. We also talk about cats a lot. Here are the questions:* Why do we flex the ankle in poses like Reclined Pigeon?* Is "pull the shoulder blades down" a "bad" alignment cue?* In Plank Pose, do you push strongly through the arms and upper back? Or soften the shoulders?For practice inspiration, go to the shownotes page for links to shoulder-focused blog posts with illustrations: yogalandpodcast.com/episode23/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You might know Rachel Brathen as "Yoga Girl" on Instagram -- she's one of the original yoga insta-stars and has 2 million followers. Two million! That's crazay! And yet, despite this quick rise to fame, Rachel is incredibly down-to-earth and not afraid to say that the superficial side of social media can suck the life out of a person from time to time. I wanted to know what makes Rachel tick, so I tried to dig into how she's become the teacher (and student) she is today.Shownotes: yogalandpodcast.com/episode22/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode Holly Whitaker of the Home Podcast talk about how yoga and meditation can be helpful tools for recovery.Holly is a life coach and spiritual teacher, kundalini and vinyasa yoga and meditation instructor, writer, and speaker. She's also the founder of Hip Sobriety, which aims to provide a modern, holistic, accessible and desirable path to sobriety, and to remove the stigma associated with addiction (and sobriety).Shownotes: yogalandpodcast.com/episode21/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Seane Corn is an internationally celebrated yoga teacher known for her impassioned activism and inspirational style of teaching. She utilizes her national platform to bring awareness to humanitarian issues—in 2005, she was named “National Yoga Ambassador” for YouthAIDS, and in 2013 was given the Global Green International Environmental Leadership Award. Since 2007, she has been training leaders of activism through her co-founded organization Off the Mat, Into the World®.I talked to Seane about how she came to be an activist and how she mentors others to do the same. Shownotes: yogalandpodcast.com/episode20/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week my guest is holistic therapist and senior Prana Vinyasa Flow teacher Coral Brown. Coral and I talked about one of her passions -- the Hindu deity stories. She's deeply knowledgeable about them and she's also down-to-earth and practical in her approach, which I appreciate. She also (when appropriate) weaves them into her one-on-one therapy practice, which I find fascinating. Shownotes: yogalandpodcast.com/episode19/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.