Yogaland Podcast

It was such a delight to have Jivana Heyman back on the show to talk about his latest book, The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga. (You can listen to our first chat at yogalandpodcast.com/episode176). The episode explores: What it means to be more collaborative in your teaching, how being more collaborative could help break down traditional hierarchical power dynamics that have led to teacher-student abuses in the past, the importance of overcoming impostor syndrome (especially if you don't think you look the part of the "typical" yoga teacher), his love of asana because of how accessible it makes the spiritual practice of yoga, and the importance of de-stigmatizing chair and bed yoga.For shownotes, go to: yogalandpodcast.com/episode320Jason's 2024 training schedule is up! You can find it at jasonyoga.com/scheduleYou can support the podcast by joining my Substack community at yogaland.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to a new season of Yogaland! Jason is my inaugural guest this season and our conversation focuses on the hips:What are the five compartments of the hip?Why is it important to strengthen them?How do you strengthen them in yoga?Jason lays it all out for you step-by-step. Take a listen and take notes!Also: Jason will be leading his Preventing Injuries online course very soon! Join the waitlist and we will send you all the details as soon as they become available: learn.jasonyoga.com/injuries Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This time of year is often so fraught with busyness, overwhelm, expectations, even loneliness that we forget the goal: To feel present, joyful, connected. Here are my thoughts on how to gather up all of the skills that you cultivate on your mat (and cushion) and utilize them to navigate the challenges of this time of year. Check out the shownotes fo rmore helpful episodes: yogalandpodcast.com/episode318 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So thrilled to have Daya Grant join me again on the podcast this week! You may remember Daya from episode 258 (This is Your Brain on Yoga). In her role as a mental performance coach, Daya utilizes tools from her background as a neuroscientist, athlete, and yogi. On this episode, Daya shares some of the fascinating research that shares in her online course, Mind-Flow Masterclass. She shares:Which mental performance tools she used to finish a half marathon (less than a year after giving birth to her second child!)How exercise upregulates BDNF and the ways this is beneficial for the brainHow exercising during high stress times can mediate our stress response and create more resilience for our future selfHow mantra and dristhi have been studied and shown to help settle the mindThe neuroscience of flow states and the four stages of flowSamadhi -- Daya and I have a similar interpretation on this for householders Check out more about Daya's offerings on the shownotes page: yogalandpodcast.com/episode317 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know what feels really terrible? Teaching yoga when you don't feel inspired. And yet, realistically, we all encounter dry spells in our own practice. This week's conversation with Jason will give you ideas for reigniting your inner spark and feeling inspired to practice again. If you'd like even more inspiration, join us in January for our newest online course, Mind-Body Reset! Get all the details here: learn.jasonyoga.com/reset Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back! This week we're talking through four life skills for every yoga teacher to master. These four skills are attributes that we work on in our own work and personal lives through our practice. They are also the four pillars around which our upcoming January program -- Mind-Body Reset -- is built. The four skills are:Self-compassion -- the skill of being an ally to yourself and accepting yourself, as you are.Self-awareness -- taking a look inward and acknowledging your areas of strength and your areas of challenge.Self-regulation -- understanding the science behind the different stress responses and learning what you need to do in your practice to have a balanced response to stress and adversity.Self-direction -- harness your creative energy, kick imposter syndrome to the curb, and embrace an entrepreneurial spirit.If you'd like to learn more about the program, go to learn.jasonyoga.com/reset and jump on the waitlist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fall doesn't just mean pumpkin spice lattes. It means that you will likely start to hear a cacophony of sniffles and coughs when you're ordering said pumpkin spice latte -- or wherever you go. It's a great time to thinking about your yoga practice as a tool for building your resilience. Iyengar Yoga teacher Lisa Walford joins me this week to talk about her approach to immune health and how to use asana, pranayama, and meditation as part of your support system. Lisa also opens up about her own personal immune health challenges since she was diagnosed with HIV in 1985. This conversation was a beautiful reminder of the many ways that yoga can help us to heal when we start from a place of care and attention.About Lisa:Lisa Walford holds a Level III (formerly Intermediate Senior II) Iyengar teaching certificate and has been teaching yoga in Los Angeles since 1982. She continues her studies annually with the Iyengars, in Pune, India, and teaches worldwide. Lisa is the curriculum director for the Teacher Training Program at The Center for Yoga in Los Angeles. Previously, she co-created the Teacher Training Program at YogaWorks. She is on the advisory board of the International Association of Yoga Therapists and the Yoga Studies program at Loyola Marymount University. For shownotes for this episode, got to yogalandpodcast.com/episode314Thank you, as always for listening and sharing. If you'd like get regular updates from us, join our mailing list at jasonyoga.com/newsletter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Inversions can be fun, empowering, and strength-building -- if they are introduced thoughtfully and systematically. On this episode, Jason walks through how to introduce four key inversions to beginners: Handstand, Forearm Balance, Headstand, and Shoulderstand. He shares the building blocks that will create a blueprint for each pose, keeping them safe and beneficial. We have companion sequences for these poses on our website! Find them on the shownotes page here: yogalandpodcast.com/episode313Jason has also created a tutorial on his Youtube channel so that you can see the variations he refers to in the episode. Check it out here: youtube.com/@JasonCrandellYoga Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carving out a place for yourself as a yoga teacher is no easy task. It was such a treat to have multi-hyphenate Neeti Narula on the show to hear how she has done it. Neeti is an NYC-based yoga and meditation teacher, as well as a mother of two, a contributor at Yoga Journal and now, a freshly minted contributor on the lifestyle platform, Melissa Wood Health.Neeti shares so many helpful gems on this episode including:How yoga came into her life and helped her begin to heal from lossThe thing that surprised her most when she left investment banking to become a yoga teacherHow the pandemic helped her reassess her teaching schedule and pursue other avenues to share yogaHow intuition and persistence have led to the biggest leaps in her careerThe necessity of being willing to fail as she pursued opportunities in her teaching careerHow she pitched Melissa Williams Health and what she will be sharing there.You can now take classes with Neeti Narula on Melissa Wood Health ! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we continue on with our series for beginners (and those teaching beginners): Our focus is the best arm balances for beginners. Arm balances are typically poses that beginners really enjoy playing around with, because they offer shapes that we don't typically do in other disciplines (unless you're a gymnast or a pro skateboarder). Arm balances can build stability, balance, strength, mobility. They're also aesthetically beautiful and novel -- unless you're a gymast or a pro skateboarder, you won't likely encounter shapes like these in your daily life. So, they're fun! And fun is truly valuable in life and in yoga. A little bit about what we mean by "best" -- these are families of arm balances that are accessible and emphasize stability and strength. They are poses that can be broken down into steps so that you feel your confidence grow as you progress. As with anything in life, we want to offer ourselves or our students just enough challenge, but not too much. That's what these families of poses do.To get some sequences where you can work on the arm balances mentioned in this episode, go to the shownotes page here: yogalandpodcast.com/podcast/episode311Also: We're closing early bird registration for Jason's 200-Hour Online Teacher Training this Saturday! You can learn more and enroll at learn.jasonyoga.com/200 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.