Accessible Yoga Podcast

Welcome to season four of the Accessible Yoga Podcast! Host Jivana Heyman celebrates 30 years of teaching yoga by reflecting on his journey and setting the stage for a season filled with meaningful conversations with dedicated yoga practitioners and teachers. This episode is a heartfelt introduction to Jivana’s personal story, the history of Accessible Yoga, and what to expect from this season. Join Jivana as he shares his gratitude for the yoga teachings, the lineage of practitioners who’ve preserved these teachings, and the powerful impact yoga has had on his life. He also introduces an interactive component for listeners, inviting you to share your stories, questions, and reflections. Topics Include: The season’s theme: 30 episodes, 30 minutes each featuring conversations with 30 different yoga teachers Reflections on Jivana’s books, Accessible Yoga, Yoga Revolution, and The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga and his upcoming book on making meditation accessible An invitation for listener participation   We Want to Hear from You! What story, teaching, or practice inspires your yoga journey today? Submit your answer or any other questions you have for Jivana via Google Form: https://forms.gle/NtijeM82dSgU5jVD7 or leave a voice message here: https://www.speakpipe.com/AccessibleYoga Selected responses may be featured in future episodes! Check out Jivana’s books, Accessible Yoga, Yoga Revolution, and The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about Accessible Yoga at accessibleyoga.org Connect with Jivana: www.jivanaheyman.com |  @jivanaheyman   |  facebook.com/jivanaheyman

In this final episode of the Accessible Yoga Podcast, Anjali and Jivana discuss:  What does it mean to make yoga accessible? The danger of oversimplifying a yoga practice The importance of reflecting on who we see as “experts” in yoga How caste still influences yoga today   The nuances of saying “I’m not the teacher for everyone” Accessible Yoga Association’s newest podcast - For the Love of Yoga with Anjali Rao

Saira (NOT Sara) Rao grew up in Richmond, Virginia, the daughter of Indian immigrants. For forty years, she wasted her precious time aspiring to be white and accepted by dominant white society, a futile task for anyone not born with white skin. Several years ago, Saira began the painful process of dismantling her own internalized oppression. Saira is a lawyer-by-training, a former congressional candidate, a published novelist and an entrepreneur. Saira is the co-founder of Race2Dinner, the New York Bestselling Co-Author of White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How To Do Better and the subject and Executive Producer of the documentary Deconstructing Karen. In this episode, Anjali and Saira discuss: The role of radical honesty in challenging white supremacy How performative activism upholds the status quo How yoga practitioners can actively disrupt racism in yoga spaces The impact of speaking truth to power Connect with Saira on Twitter or on Instagram @race2dinner @sairasameerarao  Purchase Saira's book: White Women Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better Watch Saira's documentary: Deconstructing Karen

Teo Drake is an organizer, a teacher, and an artisan who works in wood and steel. As a queer and trans long-term HIV/AIDS survivor, the practices and philosophies of yoga and Buddhism have been both life-saving and provided the foundation for his organizing and teaching. He is a co-founder of the Transforming Hearts Collective, a collective dedicated to the spiritual care and liberation of queer and trans people, and has served in leadership in several different organizations in the worlds of HIV/AIDS, LGBTQ advocacy, faith and spirituality, well-being, and anti-oppression, including being a founding member of the Transgender Law Center’s project Positively Trans and serving on the faculty and board of Off the Mat, Into the World. His writing can be found in the anthology Yoga and Body Image and at the blog Roots Grow the Tree, and his artisan crafts can be found at The Tinkering Gnome Connect with Teo: www.transformingheartscollective.org | @TeoDrake This week's episode is a recording of Teo Drake's keynote at the Accessible Yoga Conference Online: Practice Isn’t Meant to “Fix”, It’s Meant to Heal. 

Tejal Patel is a first-generation Indian American yoga teacher, writer, podcaster, and community organizer. She advocates for yoga through a social justice lens and educates and empowers individuals and groups around the world to do the same. She accomplishes this with the Tejal Yoga online studio, the abcdyogi global community, and the Yoga is Dead Podcast. In this live episode, Jivana and Tejal discuss: The Yoga is Dead podcast How to go from having a concern or awareness and turning it into action The importance of service in yoga Taking yoga off your mat Yoga and politics Tejal's opening Accessible Yoga Conference keynote - "The Audacity of Hope for Yoga" Connect with Tejal: @tejalyoga Enjoy one free class at Tejal Yoga, now through Dec 31, 2022 Use code: 100PP-AYCTY at tejalyoga.com Tejal Yoga offers accessible movement and continuing education in a warm online environment. Our knowledgeable South Asian instructors are committed to the authentic and spiritual practice of yoga. Join us for any of these community-focused practices: Meditation: All Beings, Meditation: BIPOC Centered Pranayama & Breath Control Pranayama & Breath Slow Poses & Philosophy, Meditation: On Philosophy, Meditation & Sun Salutations, Restorative Poses & Poetry Readings, Science & Spirituality Satsang, Go Beyond The Asanas Learn more at tejalyoga.com  

Anusha is the Wellness Consultant for Hoag Hospital, one of the top rated hospitals in the USA where she leads on integrative medicine and implementing mindfulness and meditation practices for maternal mental health programs, early risk assessment for breast & ovarian cancer prevention programs and breast cancer survivorship programs. Anusha is very passionate about her work in STEM and is one of the first people to create a meditation program to be used in clinical research at Hoag Hospital. Anusha is a sought after motivational speaker around the world on the science of mindfulness and meditation and the intersection of wellness and social justice. She has delivered keynotes for health and wellness conferences, Universities, Fortune 500 companies and corporate events across North America and the UK. Anusha has over 15 years of international senior management experience working for Fortune 50, 100 and 500 global corporations, social justice non-profit organizations & private companies in three continents. She holds a BA, MA, Diploma in Mentoring, Certified Professional Life Coach qualification, Yoga Teacher E-RYT and is a Meditation Practitioner. Anusha is an Adjunct Professor at San Diego State University on the intersection of wellness and social justice, a Contributing Editor at Yoga Journal, the world’s largest Yoga magazine, a Faculty Member with Off The Mat and a community partner with the Yoga and Body Image Coalition. Anusha is also a Teacher and Presenter at Kripalu, North America’s largest Yoga Center and Retreat, Ambassador with Yoga International and an Ambassador with the Food + Wellness Equity Collective. Women’s health and social justice is at the heart of all that Anusha is involved with. Anusha is on the Medical Advisory Board of the national non profit Living Beyond Breast Cancer and an Advisory Board Member with Yoga Ed, an organization focused on merging science and Yoga and introducing these practices to children and teens in educational settings around the world. Anusha co-founded the movement Women of Color + Wellness @wocandwellness which is focused on decolonizing wellness and making yoga and wellness more equitable, accessible, and inclusive. Anusha’s first book Meditation with Intention: Quick & Easy Ways to Create Lasting Peace was released in January 2021 by Llewellyn Worldwide. You can order your copy today HERE. In this episode, Anjali and Anusha discuss: Insight into Anusha’s path as a consultant for hospitals and institutes integrating research regarding meditation for cancer care and survivorship Dimensions and role of collective care for those going through diagnosis and treatment The importance of disrupting misinformation  Dominant culture, politics, and health care at the intersections How we can support loved ones, colleagues, and friends going through cancer treatment?

The Accessible Yoga Podcast is back for Season 3 with a live podcast recording as a part of the grand opening of the new Accessible Yoga Community! In this special episode, Jivana and Anjali discuss: The new Accessible Yoga Community How Anjali started practicing asana How yoga intersects with social justice The relationship between yoga and politics Binaries in yoga spaces What to expect during the upcoming season of the Accessible Yoga Podcast

In this Season 2 finale, Amber and Jivana discuss: Their lives and current challenges How our activism and practice is showing up for us in this moment Amber’s bike reels on instagram Themes from Season 2: Community Care/Sharing Power/Community Collaboration Shift from top down teaching to community led Jivana’s remixes on instagram The current contemporary yoga world is complex, shifting to local Not getting caught up in a binary of “advanced” vs gentle How Accessible Yoga is often misused to make us fit in rather than to celebrate our differences and individuality Encouraging students to find individuality in community Marginalized folks are some of our greatest innovators Your difference is your superpower Safety and inclusion in yoga Be sure to visit past episodes with our amazing guests like: Matthew Sanford, Nischala Devi, Michelle Cassandra Johnson, Octavia Raheem, Jacoby Ballard, Marlysa Sullivan, Reggie Hubbard What Accessible Yoga Association is up to: New online Accessible Yoga Community, ambassadors get first access (join here) Accessible Yoga Community Studio - online studio where people can study with teacher leaders from the AY community, dedicated AY content Conference coming up, Moving from Me to We, October 14-16 Pre-conference intensive on Increasing Accessibility - Matthew Sanford, Natalie Tabilo, Ryan McGraw, Donna Noble, and Jivana Upcoming monthly themes: August: Yoga & Environmental Justice, September: Yoga & Cancer Amber’s term as President of AYA’s board of directors is up, Anjali Rao stepping up as our new president

Shannon Crow is the host of The Connected Yoga Teacher podcast and a consultant for yoga teachers. She shares what she has learned (and continues to learn) as a yoga entrepreneur. She’s also the founder of Pelvic Health Professionals.  Shannon is passionate about this work so that yoga teachers have more time and energy to share the yoga that lights them up. She became a yoga teacher in 2006 and continues to teach weekly group and private classes in Owen Sound, Ontario, with a specialty in Yoga for Pelvic Health. Shannon is dedicated to helping yoga teachers define their niche and thrive at marketing. She thrives in a community that is playful, diverse, and supportive. This is what inspired her to create The Connected Yoga Teacher Facebook group. Shannon offers in person and online teacher training. She is the co-founder of the MamaNurture Prenatal Yoga School and developed the Yoga for Pelvic Health Teacher Training. Connect with Shannon on her website, at https://pelvichealthprofessionals.com/, or on Instagram @theconnectedyogateacher. In this episode, Jivana and Shannon discuss: Supporting and connecting yoga teachers Learning in public Being in the mess as a way to evolve as a practitioner and teacher How Pelvic Health Professionals evolved Cisgender men and pelvic health Yoga and gender  the Pelvic floor                           Trauma informed teaching and anatomical language Pelvic health awareness in yoga classes Fear-based language vs. clear contraindications How to teach with this information What does “engage the pelvic floor” “engage the core” mean? Weak vs relaxed pelvic floor What is the core? More subtle is more advanced Shannon also offers a discount code for Pelvic Health Professionals!

A community organizer, wellness activist and author of the book American Detox: The Myth of Wellness and How We Can Truly Heal, Kerri is recognized across communities for her work to bridge transformational practice with social justice. She’s been teaching yoga for over 20 years and is known for making waves in the wellness industry by challenging norms, disrupting systems and mobilizing people to act. Her leadership has inspired CTZNWELL, a movement to democratize wellbeing for all and is committed to creating the conditions where everyone can thrive. In this interview, Jivana and Kerri discuss: the process of writing a book and finding your voice Kerri’s personal transformation which started with the death of her step father in the 9/11 attacks. the myth of wellness and its intersection with ableism, healthism, and the dangers of the concept of “cure.” Kerri's upbringing and how she struggled with perfectionism and the ways perfectionism steals us of possibility and true healing. Kerri describes the ways that we can’t be well when others are suffering and the work she has done politically to address this disparity the challenges for the yoga community in making wellness equitable white supremacy and the ways it has informed wellness Kerri’s new book, American Detox: The Myth of Wellness & How We Can Truly Heal