With just about another month left of summer here in the northern hemisphere, the special series here on the podcast on “women in yoga and meditation” continues. I’m sharing this series in celebration of the creation of my online, 200-hour women’s yoga & meditation teacher training that starts at the end of September. Registration is open for a few more weeks! Today, as part of this series, I’m sharing the replay from a webinar-- called “Embody Your Dharma”-- that I did last week with my long-time yogini sister, Myka McLaughlin, who’s the founder of WINC-Women in Community-- an organization that helps women grow their businesses while staying steeped in sacred feminine culture. The gathering was so sweet and nourishing, that I wanted to share it with our wider community, too. Myka and I met 18 (!) years ago while studying intensively with a wise and radical teacher of feminine embodiment, Sofia Diaz. We both speak very candidly about how our spiritual lineages and feminine embodiment practices inform our “dharmas,” or callings. Plus, there were lots of great questions from the women on the call about how to integrate the two in practical, sustainable ways. Specifically, we discuss: -How embodiment can help you discover & magnify your calling or dharma -Ways to integrate your spiritual practice with your work -Why devotion is essential to building your business -What it takes to stay the course through all of life's ebbs and flows If you are interested in embodiment, yoga, or an integrated approach to building your business, I know you’ll get so much out of this conversation. And, if you enjoy what Myka has to share, she’s offering a free Revenue Revolution Summit on September 1-2, with best-in-class business training for women creatives in business. If you want to start or grow a profitable and soul-centered business, you’ll get a lot out of this training! You can join for free here: https://womenincommunity.com/summit-2109/?oprid=404&ref=23133 Enjoy our conversation! Women's YTT: www.womensyogateachertraining.com Equinox Retreat: www.womensyogateachertraining.com/septretreat WINC's Revenue Revolution Free Summit: https://womenincommunity.com/summit-2109/?oprid=404&ref=23133 Website: www.SaraAvantStover.com Newsletter: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#subscribe Instagram: www.Instagram.com/saraavantstover Facebook: www.Facebook.com/saraavantstoverauthorMentioned in this episode:Sorceress CEO Program Dynamic Ad

I don’t know how it got to be August already! I’m feeling the summer wind-down starting to happen, but, here on the podcast, we’re still enjoying a special summer series on Women’s Yoga & Meditation. I share this series to give you a taste of my 200-hour online women’s yoga & meditation teacher training (which also happens to be the world’s first women's yoga teacher training!), taking place online this year for the first time. And, as our next guest in this series, today we’re welcoming Constanza Eliana Chinea, a Brown Latinx anti-racism educator, producer, and certified Yoga instructor. She began teaching and consulting after noticing a need for diversity and representation in the wellness industry. She now teaches Yoga teachers/practitioners and wellness entrepreneurs how to decolonize their practices, create equity for teachers of color, and build inclusive spaces in the community. There's a wealth of information in this conversation for all of us who want to begin to shed light on our blind spots and bring more inclusivity into our practices and communities. Please enjoy this conversation with Constanza Eliana! Constanza Eliana's website: www.EmbodyInclusivity Sara's website: www.SaraAvantStover.com www.WomensYogaTeacherTraining.com Sara on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/SaraAvantStover Constanza Eliana on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/constanza.eliana Sara on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/SaraAvantStoverAuthor Subscribe to Sara's newsletter: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#subscribeMentioned in this episode:Sorceress CEO Program Dynamic Ad

Over the next several weeks, I'm sharing a special summer series here on the podcast on the topic of Women's Yoga & Meditation. In it, I'll feature interviews with interesting women in the field, as well as replays of well-loved dharma talks I've given on these topics over the years. I’ll share stories from my own life and practice. Hard-won insights and life-changing lessons from my own mentors, answering the most common struggles you asked about when I inquired: “what’s holding you back in your yoga and meditation practice and teaching?” Today’s episode is all about the mysterious path of women’s yoga. In it, I speak about my humble (unexpected) beginnings, the core differences between masculine and feminine approaches to yoga, and how you can trust the zigs and zags of your own journey, too. If you enjoy this episode, please consider joining me for my upcoming 200-hour Yoga Alliance Women's Yoga & MeditationTeacher Training. Happening 100% online this year, it's now open for registration (with early bird discounts until August 12). At this unconventional gathering, I’ll share the under-the-hood techniques and principles I’ve used in my own yoga & meditation for two decades — and taught to thousands of women, worldwide. Whether you’re aching to support other women or just deepen your own practice, you’ll find the feminine heart of yoga and meditation there. www.WomensYogaTeacherTraining.com Women's Summer of Celebration: www.womensyogateachertraining.com/summer Sara's website: www.saravantstover.com Sara's newsletter: www.saraavantstover.com/#subscribe Sara on Instagram: www.instagram.com/saraavantstover Sara on Facebook: www.facebook.com/saraavantstoverauthorMentioned in this episode:Sorceress CEO Program Dynamic Ad

This month I'm starting a special, summer series here on the podcast, where I'm featuring interviews and talks about the path of women's yoga & meditation. I'm sharing these in celebration of my soon-to-open (later this month!) online, 200-hour Yoga Alliance Women's Yoga & Meditation Teacher Trainiing. To start this series out, I'm sharing an interview with Angela Farmer, one of my yogini-heroines for the past two decades. A luminary in her field, she's studied with some of the world's greatest spiritual masters: B.K.S Iyengar, Patabhi Jois, H.H. the Dalai Lama, and more. But it wasn't until she stepped out of all traditions and dropped into the yoga of listening closely to her own body that she finally found what she was looking for– the experience of feeling at home in herself. This intimate conversation with Angela, which I recorded several years ago, truly feels like sitting at the feet of a wise, female elder. She shares with tremendous honesty and clarity how she has arrived at this place in her life of truly accepting and loving herself as she is, while helping others to do the same. You'll likely want to take some notes while listening to this, as there are so many rich nuggets to remember. Enjoy! Angela's website: www.Angela-Victor.com Women's Summer of Celebration: www.WomensYogaTeacherTraining.com/Summer Women's Yoga & Meditation Teacher Training: www.WomensYogaTeacherTraining.com Sara's website: www.SaraAvantStover.com Sara's newsletter: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#subscribe Sara on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/SaraAvantStover Sara on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/SaraAvantStoverAuthorMentioned in this episode:Sorceress CEO Program Dynamic Ad

Summer is officially here in the northern hemisphere. Huzzah! Bike rides, swimming, hikes, picnics: this is the season of pleasure. Yet, living in a (mostly) pleasure-adverse culture–- and emerging from the underworld of the pandemic-- can make feeling good feel hard at times. Today I'm sharing an excerpt of a dharma talk I gave a couple of months ago during an online course I taught called "The Book of SHE Club." In this course, we covered one chapter of my second book (The Book of SHE) per week. I gave this particular talk when we covered chapter ten, “Turning on Your Brights.” Since The Book of SHE outlines the 13 stages of the heroine’s journey-- or a woman’s path to turning crisis into opportunity-- This chapter was the first chapter in the “ascent” portion of the heroine’s journey. I felt like this was a relevant talk to share right now given that we’re in the midst of a collective ascent. We’re coming out of the descent of the pandemic and adjusting our eyes to the light and our senses to more joy and pleasure. And, on that note, later this summer I’m hosting a free, online gathering to support us all in coming together to cultivate more pleasure, more connection, and more fun in our lives. It’s called “Women’s Summer of Celebration,” and it spans over 5 weeks, from July 21 to August 18. We’ll meet for 45 minutes via Zoom each Wednesday during that time. And, each week, a new guest teacher will join us to lead us through experiences from creative writing to sensual dance to devotional music therapy and more. You can join us (for free) at www. WomensYogaTeacherTraining.com/Summer. I’d love to see you there to celebrate with you this season! And, for now, enjoy this dharma talk on "Opening to More Pleasure." Women's Summer of Celebration: www.WomensYogaTeacherTraining.com/Summer Sara's website: www.SaraAvantStover.com Subscribe to Sara's newsletter: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#subscribe Sara on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/SaraAvantStover Sara on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/SaraAvantStoverAuthorMentioned in this episode:Sorceress CEO Program Dynamic Ad

Today I have another important conversation to share with you. It’s for women who are childless(not by choice), women who are childfree (childless by choice), and for women who DO have children, so you can better understand and empathize with women who do not. In her mid-forties, after years of trying to get pregnant, Jody Day found herself still childless– and overcome with grief and unsure how life could go on. Now, at the age of 56, Jody has found genuine happiness and embraced her life of involuntary childlessness by transforming her own suffering into service to other childless women. The British founder of Gateway Women, a global friendship and support network for childless women with a social reach of over 2-million, Jody is the author of "Living the Life Unexpected: How to Find Hope, Meaning and a Fulfilling Future Without Children." Chosen as one of the BBC’s 100 Women in 2013, she’s a global thought leader on female involuntary childlessness, integrative psychotherapist, TEDx speaker, and more. We speak about the problem with living in a pronatalist culture (especially when most people don't realize that we do), the fetishization of motherhood, the unconscious bias many hold towards childless women (and the historical roots of this), and how we can come together as women to begin to bridge the divide between those of us who have children and those of us who do not. Whether you have children, don’t have children (but want/wanted them), don't want children, or still want children, this conversation is an important one to listen to and contemplate deeply. Please also share this with those who need to hear it. Enjoy! Jody Day's website: www.Gateway-Women.com Jody's upcoming "Reignite" Weekend: www.gateway-women.com/event-directory/ Jody on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/GatewayWomen Jody on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/GatewayWomenUK Sara's website: www.SaraAvantStover.com Women's Yoga & Meditation Teacher Training: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#teachertraininglist Sara's newsletter: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#subscribe Sara on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/SaraAvantStover Sara on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/SaraAvantStoverAuthorMentioned in this episode:Sorceress CEO Program Dynamic Ad

This May marks the 10-year anniversary of the publication of my first book, The Way of the Happy Woman. One of the ways I'm celebrating is to share two episodes here on the podcast, where I reflect on the ten things I've learned since then. Those of you who have been part of this community during this time know that I've been on quite a journey. A journey of tremendous heartbreak, healing, and transformation. In every sense, I've had to learn at the deepest level what I've been teaching and writing about. As a result, I'm a very different person than I was ten years ago. And, at the same time, I'm still very much– and even more of– myself. It was hard to distill all I've learned into just ten things, but I did my best! I hope you enjoy part two of this conversation. Online 200-Hour Women's Yoga & Meditation Teacher Training: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#teachertraininglist Changing with Grace: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#change Website: www.SaraAvantStover.com Newsletter: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#newsletter Instagram: www.Instagram.com/saraavantstover Facebook: www.Facebook.com/saraavantstoverauthorMentioned in this episode:Sorceress CEO Program Dynamic Ad

This May marks the 10-year anniversary of the publication of my first book, The Way of the Happy Woman. One of the ways I'm celebrating is to share two episodes here on the podcast, where I reflect on the ten things I've learned over this past decade. Those of you who have been part of this community during this time know that I've been on quite a journey. A journey of tremendous heartbreak, healing, and transformation. In every sense, I've had to learn at the deepest level what I've been teaching and writing about. As a result, I'm a very different person than I was ten years ago. And, at the same time, I'm still very much– and even more of– myself. It was hard to distill all I've learned into just ten things, but I did my best! I hope you enjoy part one of this conversation. Online 200-Hour Women's Yoga & Meditation Teacher Training: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#teachertraininglist Changing with Grace: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#change Website: www.SaraAvantStover.com Newsletter: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#newsletter Instagram: www.Instagram.com/saraavantstover Facebook: www.Facebook.com/saraavantstoverauthorMentioned in this episode:Sorceress CEO Program Dynamic Ad

One of the (many) shadow sides of living in a patriarchal world is the idealization of motherhood. Women are expected to be– and to want to be– intrinsically all-loving, all-nurturing mothers, regardless of our circumstances or individual dispositions. The inevitable failure to live up to this ideal leads to feelings of shame, inadequacy, and wonderings of "what's wrong with me?". My conversation today with author, scholar, and speaker, Daniela F. Sieff, Ph.D., serves as a salve for these feelings. Through her studies of "The Death Mother" archetype (which she first discovered through working with the Jungian analyst Marian Woodman), Daniela helps to normalize these darker feelings that women can have towards their children- ranging anywhere from ambivalence to disgust. Daniela and I also speak about the impact this archetype has on those who are at the receiving end of it. This conversation will particularly interest you if you were adopted, felt unwanted/neglected/or unloved by your mother or caregiver, grew up with a mother who was physically or emotionally abusive or absent, if you’re struggling with cancer, an addiction, eating disorder, or autoimmune disease, or if you have had an abortion, given a child up for adoption, or have felt ambivalent, or even resentful about being a mother at times. It’s time to dispel the myth of the all-loving mother and to bring this shadow side of motherhood to the surface so we can give women the support and resources they need when they're struggling. Daniela's website: www.DanielaSieff.com Daniela's newsletter: https://sieff.pro/subscribe Sara's website: www.SaraAvantStover.com Sara's newsletter: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#newsletter Sara on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/SaraAvantStover Sara on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/SaraAvantStoverAuthor Changing with Grace: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#changeMentioned in this episode:Sorceress CEO Program Dynamic Ad

For this month’s meditation, I’m sharing one that I led a little bit ago in an online course I’ve been teaching this winter and spring called The Book of SHE Club (which, you guessed it is a book club for my second book, The Book of SHE). This is a meditation I led during the week when we unpacked the chapter on Unlocking the Magic in your SHE Cycles (your SHE Cycle is also your moon cycle). I lead an activation of a woman’s subtle energy body, for, as, with so many other areas of life, we’re often taught about our subtle energy anatomy through a male lens. This one lets you tap into your energy body in a more feminine and accurate way than you may have been taught through other yoga and meditation traditions. I hope you find this supportive. The Holy Mother Retreat: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#communityretreats Sara's website: www.SaraAvantStover.com Subscribe to the newsletter: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#newsletter Sara on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/SaraAvantStover Sara on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/SaraAvantStoverAuthorMentioned in this episode:Sorceress CEO Program Dynamic Ad