I hated anatomy when I studied it at uni (can anyone else relate?). So when Leila Stuart reached out about coming on the podcast again to chat about her work with embodied anatomy, I was a little unsure about whether it would be interesting! But this episode is anything but boring!

Leila spoke about burnout on the podcast last year, and it was such a popular episode and resonated for so many people. Leila is a pioneer in the field of embodied movement education, she’s a retired clinical massage therapist, a yoga teacher and therapist and the author of the new book Experiential Anatomy: Therapeutic Applications of Embodied Movement and Awareness.

In this episode, Leila shares how in writing her book on experiential anatomy and refining all the practices, she wrote herself back to health after years of burnout. What a testament to this work! 

In our discussion we explore the importance of interoception and embodiment on our mental health and sense of self in the world, and how having both a top-down and bottom-up approach to anatomy can help us to not only be safe and stable in our bodies, but also to understand ourselves better.

Leila also shares a simple but really effective way to get back into your body and cultivate interoceptive awareness.

It’s a wonderful episode, and I cannot wait to share it with you!

Connect with Leila Stuart at https://www.leilastuart.com and get a 20% discount on her book here using the code LEILA20.

Join the Embodied Yoga for Nervous System Regulation Workshop in Brisbane in February 2025 at https://www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com/calendar

Get the early bird price for the hybrid Mullumbimby Mental Health Aware Yoga training at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/hybrid 

Get on our awesome email newsletter to stay up to date with all our offerings at https://www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com/join

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia, at https://yogaaustralia.org.au 

This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or training. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute for professional training.

Om swastiastu, greetings from Bali!

I first heard about Umā sitting in a women’s circle in Byron Bay, Australia, and the way my friends described her made me want to meet her immediately. You'll understand why when you listen in!

Umā is the founding director of SATYA - the Synergistic Alignment of Tantra, Yoga & Ayurveda, and lives in Bali, Indonesia. Born in Kenya of Indian descent to a Hindu family of Freedom Fighters, at 20 Umā moved to Bali and entered into a 14 year apprenticeship in seclusion with her Shaivite guru in his hermitage.

In our conversation today Umā shares about her extraordinary life experiences, as well as generously answering my questions about whether she believes that we all need to go into seclusion with a guru like she did to live a deeply spiritual life and how she balances living in the world and running a business with her spirituality.

Connect with Umā at https://umainder.com/.

Get your free ticket to the Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) Mental Health Aware yoga book launch at https://www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com/calendar. 

Find out more about the Embodied Yoga for Nervous System Regulation Workshop in Brisbane in February 2025 at https://www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com/calendar. 

Sign up for the hybrid Mullumbimby Mental Health Aware Yoga training at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/hybrid.

Get on our email newsletter to stay up to date with all our offerings at https://www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com/join.

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia, at https://yogaaustralia.org.au.

This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or training. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute for professional training.

There’s been a lot of attention about the menstrual cycle and perimenopause in the media in the last few years, but what happens after we cross the threshold of menopause?

Today’s episode with Ana Davis (she/her) is the final installment in this three-part series on the cycles of a woman's life. In the first episode, we spoke about menstruation, in the second episode we explored perimenopause and in this episode we’re pulling back the curtain on post-menopause.

Listen in as Ana talks about menopause as an important rite of passage, how you know when you’re through menopause, how we can still live in a cyclical way of life even when we’re no longer menstruating, and how we can live and practice yoga in a way that is deeply supportive of this time of our lives.

Connect with Ana Davis at https://www.anadavis.com 

Connect with Bliss Baby Yoga at https://www.blissbabyyoga.com

Join one of our in-person events, including a book launch at Radiantly Alive Yoga in Ubud (Bali) and Yoga Pod Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) at https://www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com/calendar. 

Sign up for the hybrid Mullumbimby Mental Health Aware Yoga training at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/hybrid 

Get on our email newsletter to stay up to date with all our offerings at https://www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com/join.

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia, at https://yogaaustralia.org.au 

This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or training. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute for professional training.

Ana Davis (she/her) wrote a ground-breaking book on yoga and menstruation, and she was one of the first women I ever heard talking and writing openly about perimenopause.

Today’s episode is part two in a three-part series on living and practising yoga in tune with the different seasons of a woman's life, and in this episode, we’re looking at perimenopause.

My guest, Ana Davis is a feminine yoga teacher and trainer from Bliss Baby Yoga, and the author of the seminal book, Moving with the Moon.

Join us for this conversation where we explore what perimenopause actually is, when you might first expect the early signs of perimenopause to arrive (much earlier than expected!), what these signs might be, and what we can do, from both a lifestyle and yoga perspective to really support this phase of our life.

Connect with Ana Davis at https://www.anadavis.com

Connect with Bliss Baby Yoga at https://www.blissbabyyoga.com

Join the Mullumbimby hybrid Mental Health Aware Yoga training on the 12-13th April 2025 at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/hybrid/

Find our global directory of Mental Health Aware Yoga Teachers at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com

Find out about the next book launch event at https://www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com/calendar/

Join our free Mental Health Aware Yoga Facebook community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mentalhealthawareyoga

Download the free Patañjali's Eight Limbs of Mental Health Aware Yoga ebook by Dr Lauren Tober at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/8limbs

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia, at https://yogaaustralia.org.au 

This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or training. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute for professional training.

Moving with the moon is a way of living and practising yoga in tune with our menstrual cycle.

Today’s podcast episode is part one of a three-part series on living and practising yoga in tune with the different seasons of a woman's life, and in this episode, we’re looking at menstruation.

My guest, Ana Davis (she/her) is a feminine yoga teacher and trainer from Bliss Baby Yoga, and the author of the seminal book, Moving with the Moon.

In our intimate conversation, Ana shares about menarche as a rite of passage, and the importance of honouring this stage of a young woman's life.

And then she talks us through the four phases of the menstrual cycle, including the dark moon (menstrual phase), waxing moon (pre-ovulation/follicular phase), full moon (ovulation) and the waning moon (premenstrual/luteal phase), with some really valuable ways to live our lives, and adapt our yoga practice, to be in sync with our cycles.

This episode is for everyone. It’s for menstruating women, and it’s for all humans who live or work with someone who has a menstrual cycle, including partners, friends, therapists and yoga teachers. This is information we all need, whether we are currently menstruating or not.

Find Ana Davis’ book Moving with the Moon at https://www.ana-louisa-davis.com/books 

Sign up for the online Mental Health Aware Yoga training at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/online

Get on the waitlist for the 2025 Mullumbimby Mental Health Aware Yoga training at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/hybrid 

Find our global directory of Mental Health Aware Yoga Teachers at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com 

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia, at https://yogaaustralia.org.au

This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or training. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute for professional training.

If you’re a yoga teacher, or have ever thought about becoming one, this podcast episode with Shannon Crow (she/her) is for you!

This episode is a full circle moment for me. 

After I was interviewed on Shannon’s podcast, the Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast a few years ago, my publisher, Singing Dragon, reached out to ask me if I would be interested in writing a book on yoga and mental health. I had actually already written the first draft of the book at the time, so it was such perfect timing. And so now, to be interviewing Shannon on my podcast, just as the book has been released into the world, feels like perfect timing too. I love how these things happen!

Shannon Crow is a yoga teacher and trainer, the host of The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast, the founder of Pelvic Health Professionals and a Mom to her three best teachers. 

In our conversation today, Shannon shares with us all about how to choose a yoga teacher training course, including some important red flags to look out for, whether this is your first yoga training, or you’re looking for ongoing professional development. 

We also explore how to sustainably keep teaching to prevent burnout, love what you do, and be nice to the planet.

Connect with Shannon Crow at https://www.theconnectedyogateacher.com/

Download a free chapter of my book Mental Health Aware Yoga: A Guide for Yoga Teachers at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/book 

Join the free workshop Five Ways to Make Your Yoga Classes Mental Health Aware at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/workshop  

Sign up to the online Mental Health Aware Yoga training at  https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/online

Get on the waitlist for the 2025 Mullumbimby Mental Health Aware Yoga training at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/hybrid 

Find our global directory of Mental Health Aware Yoga Teachers at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com 

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia, at  https://yogaaustralia.org.au 

This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or training. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute for professional training.

Delamay Devi (she/her) followed the sun and skipped out on winter for many years by travelling around the world teaching yoga.

Born and raised in Australia’s yoga mecca, Byron Bay on Bundjalung Country in Australia, Delamay started her teaching journey in the late 90s as a dance teacher, which progressed over the years to teaching yoga and sharing embodied practices around the world, with Shiva Rea as her long time mentor.

Delamay is passionate about sharing movement as medicine and yoga philosophy in sync with the natural cycles of existence, and it’s for this reason that I invited her to today’s podcast episode.

In the episode, we hear about what it was actually like to live without winter for years on end, and why she eventually decided to settle down. We also explore the four seasons of the year and how we can shape and adapt our lives and our yoga practice to live in accordance with these seasons.

Delamay is also a graduate of the very first Mental Health Aware Yoga training in Mullumbimby, Australia, and she shares a little about her experience of the training and how it continues to inform her yoga teaching.

Connect with Delamay Devi at https://www.delamaydevi.com

Download a free chapter of my book Mental Health Aware Yoga: A Guide for Yoga Teachers at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/book 

Join the free workshop Five Ways to Make Your Yoga Classes Mental Health Aware at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/workshop  

Sign up to the online Mental Health Aware Yoga training at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/online

Get on the waitlist for the 2025 Mullumbimby Mental Health Aware Yoga training at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/hybrid 

Find our global directory of Mental Health Aware Yoga Teachers at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia, at https://yogaaustralia.org.au

This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or training. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute for professional training.

How can understanding our doshas support our mental health?

In today’s podcast episode, I’m delighted to introduce you to Jody Vassallo. 

Jody has been a recipe writer and food stylist for over 20 years, working with some big names like Marie Claire, Donna Hay, Jamie Oliver and Vogue. She’s also a yoga teacher and ayurvedic practitioner. I love Jody’s cookbooks, and her book Beautiful Food is a staple in my kitchen.

In this episode, Jody and I talk about food as medicine through the lens of ayurveda, including the different doshas, how we can figure out what our predominant dosha is, how this relates to mental health and how we can use food as medicine to support our mental health.

There were so many things dropping in for me while Jody was talking about the different doshas, and I probably overshared a little bit about what was resonating for me!

Connect with Jody Vassallo at https://jodyvassallo.com.

Get your free ticket for the Mullumbimby Mental Health Aware Yoga book launch on the 28th of September 2024 at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/booklaunch. 

Join the free online workshop for yoga teachers on the 12th of October to learn five simple (but profound) ways to make your yoga classes more mental health aware at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/workshop.

Sign up to the 60-hour online Mental Health Aware Yoga training starting on the 31st of October 2024 at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/online. 

Be the first to hear when registration opens for the March 2025 Mullumbimby hybrid Mental Health Aware Yoga Training at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/hybrid.

Visit our global directory of Mental Health Aware Yoga graduates at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com. 

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia, at https://yogaaustralia.org.au.


This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or training. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute for professional training.

How do we bring polyvagal theory into our yoga practice and teaching to support healing and growth?

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Dr Arielle Schwartz (she/her), a fellow clinical psychologist and yoga teacher, and a leading voice in the healing of trauma, to dive into this fascinating topic.

Arielle is an internationally sought-after teacher and author of seven books including The Complex PTSD Workbook, The Post-Traumatic Growth Guidebook, EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology, and Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga. As the founder of the Center for Resilience Informed Therapy, she offers a mind-body approach to therapy for trauma and mental health.

Arielle had just finished reading my new book, Mental Health Aware Yoga: A Guide for Yoga Teachers before our conversation, and she shared that there were so many parallels in our journeys, particularly in how we came to integrate yoga and psychology into our work. In the interview, we hear Arielle’s story about how she started yoga and how she eventually integrated it into her work as a clinical psychologist, and we also dive into some really juicy topics around polyvagal theory, trauma, how yoga can support our mental health through both a top-down and bottom-up approach, and how trauma recovery is an awakening of the spiritual heart.

Connect with Dr Arielle Schwartz at https://drarielleschwartz.com

Reserve your free place for the online Mental Health Aware Yoga book launch event on the 13th of September 2024 or the in-person event in Mullumbimby Australia on the 28th of September 2024 at https://www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com/calendar/ 

Join the online Mental Health Aware Yoga training starting on the 31st of October at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/online

Get on the waitlist for the March 2025 hybrid Mental Health Aware Yoga training in Mullumbimby Australia at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/hybrid 

Find a yoga teacher who really understands mental health in our global graduate directory at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia, at https://yogaaustralia.org.au 

This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or training. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute for professional training.

Pull up a cushion, pour yourself a chai and join Dr Raj Balkaran and I around the virtual fire for storytime.

Raj is a scholar of Sanskrit narrative literature, wisdom teacher and online educator. He's the founder of The Indian Wisdom School, author of the book The Stories Behind the Poses: The Indian Mythology that Inspired 50 Yoga Postures and runs a thriving one-on-one spiritual guidance practice.

In our discussion today, Raj shares about the importance of stories to impart and receive wisdom, and why understanding the stories behind the yoga asanas we know and love gives our practice a new depth.

While Raj has written a book about the stories behind the poses, the yoga tradition is actually an oral one, handed down verbally from teacher to student. And so in the second half of the episode, Raj takes us on a storytelling journey, and shares a few of the stories from his book, including Pranāmāsana (Reverence Pose), Sūrya Namaskārā (Sun Salutations) and Vīrabhadrāsana (Warrior Poses).

While I had read these stories in Raj’s book already, there was something profound about hearing them spoken, and I already know that my yoga practice is going to feel different as a result.
Listen in right to the end where Raj does a little giveaway!

Connect with Dr Raj Balkaran at https://rajbalkaran.com

Join the online Mental Health Aware Yoga training, opening for registration today, at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/online

Join our Mental Health Aware Yoga Facebook community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mentalhealthawareyoga

Find our global Mental Health Aware Yoga directory at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/directory

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia, at https://yogaaustralia.org.au

This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or training. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute for professional training.