Accessible Yoga Podcast

In episode 52, Amber interviews Maya Breuer, yoga teacher, community activist, and Yoga Alliance’s Vice President of Cross-Cultural Advancement. She shares about the work Yoga Alliance is doing for teachers working in marginalized communities as well as her important projects like the Yoga Retreat For Women of Color, Black Yoga Teachers Alliance, and more. Maya talks about the importance of self-care for Black women and how the yoga practice has kept her grounded during challenging times.

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Content warning: this episode contains discussion of death and grief.

In episode 51, Amber and Jivana talk about how they are each navigating grief and loss in their personal and professional lives. We’ll discuss tools that help us from humor to therapy to our yoga practice. We talk about how concepts from yoga philosophy have helped us reduce suffering and embrace the nature of life as it really is. Amber leads us in a simple movement practice that can be done from a chair. And finally, Jivana reads a short excerpt on grief from his book Yoga Revolution, then leads us in a meditation. 

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The information on this Podcast does not constitute medical or other professional advice and should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your physician, psychotherapist, or other health care provider.  Please note, the views, information, or opinions expressed during this program are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of the Accessible Yoga Association, its Board of Directors, and its employees.

Robin Rothenberg, C-IAYT is a long time yoga therapist and yoga researcher. She serves as Chair of the Accreditation Committee for the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) as well as the Advisory Council. She has presented on lower back pain at SYTAR (Symposium for Yoga Therapy and Research) and is considered one of the foremost experts in the area of yoga therapy for lower back pain. Her ability to speak articulately to the way in which yoga impacts the nervous system, mind and emotions has led to her presenting at both NAMA (National Ayurvedic & Medical Association) and SYTAR on the subjects of anxiety and stress.

For the past three years, Robin has immersed herself in a personal study of the breath, of the ancient teachings on pranayama, and the science of respiratory physiology. The result of this inquiry has her calling for a “Breath Revolution” in the yoga community. Her new book, released in 2020, Restoring Prana: A Guide to Pranayama and Healing Through the Breath, suggests a serious re-evulation of the ‘big breathing’ habit, and a scientifically supported return to the roots of yoga which teach us to retain prana, by minimizing breath while increasing breath suspensions. She is currently researching yoga for long COVID. 

In this episode they discuss:

Connect with Robin on her website: Essential Yoga Therapy

Robin's books: 

Restoring Prana: A Guide to Pranayama and Healing Through the Breath 

The Svadhyaya Breath Journal

In episode 49,  Amber and Jivana reflect on how constantly changing circumstances surrounding COVID are shaping their personal and professional lives. We’ll discuss how we are each navigating the burnout and hopelessness that many of us are feeling, as well as ways we are responding. We discuss strengthening community bonds, practical tools for navigating anxiety and uncertainty, and Jivana leads us in a simple breath awareness meditation that can be done while wearing a mask. 

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Jacoby Ballard is a social justice educator and yoga teacher in Salt Lake City, Utah known for his playfulness, heart-opening, and commitment to change from the inside out. As a yoga teacher with 20 years of experience, he leads workshops, retreats, teacher trainings, teaches at conferences, and runs the Resonance mentorship program for certified yoga teachers to find their niche and calling. In 2008, Jacoby co-founded Third Root Community Health Center in Brooklyn, to work at the nexus of healing and social justice. Since 2006, Jacoby has taught Queer and Trans Yoga, a space for queer folks to unfurl and cultivate resilience. Jacoby received Yoga Journal’s Game Changer Award in 2014 and Good Karma Award in 2016. Jacoby has taught in schools, hospitals, non profit and business offices, a maximum security prison, a recovery center, a cancer center, LGBT centers, gyms, a veteran’s center, and yoga studios. He leads workshops and trainings around the country on diversity, equity, and inclusion and consults on DEI for yoga and meditation organizations. He is the author of A Queer Dharma: Yoga and Meditations for Liberation, released in 2021. 

In this episode, Jivana and Jacoby discuss:

Michelle C. Johnson is an author, yoga teacher, social justice activist, licensed clinical social worker and Dismantling Racism trainer. She approaches her life and work from a place of empowerment, embodiment, and integration. With a deep understanding of trauma and the impact that it has on the mind, body, spirit and heart, much of her work focuses on helping people better understand how power and privilege operate in their life. She explores how privilege, power and oppression affects the physical, emotional, mental, spiritual and energy body.

In episode 47, Jivana and Michelle discuss:

Marlysa Sullivan is a physiotherapist and yoga therapist with over 15 years of experience working with people suffering with chronic pain conditions. She is the physical therapy coordinator of the empower veterans program which provides an integrative model in working with people with chronic pain at the Veterans Administration. She is an Assistant Professor in Yoga Therapy and Integrative Health Sciences at Maryland University of Integrative Health and holds an adjunct position at Emory University, where she teaches the integration of yoga and mindfulness into physical therapy practice in the DPT program. She is also the author of Understanding Yoga Therapy: Applied Philosophy and Science for Well-being and co-editor of Yoga and Science in Pain Care: Treating the Person in Pain as well as several peer-reviewed articles.

Marlysa has been involved in the professionalization of the field of yoga therapy through the educational standards committee of IAYT, which helped to define the competencies for the field, and in characterizing the yoga therapy workforce through research. Her research interests focus on defining the framework and explanatory model for yoga therapy based on philosophical and neurophysiological perspectives.

In episode 46, Jivana and Marlysa discuss:

Connect with Marlysa on her website and purchase her book: Understanding Yoga Therapy: Applied Philosophy and Science for Health and Well-Being.

Yoga Therapy and Polyvagal Theory: The Convergence of Traditional Wisdom and Contemporary Neuroscience for Self-Regulation and Resilience

Jeremy Engles, The Ethics of Oneness: Emerson, Whitman and the Bhagavad Gita

In episode 45, Amber and Jivana share tips for keeping students safer in yoga classes. In this episode we’ll explore how the methods we use to teach can contribute to an environment of safety for our community. Amber and Jivana will discuss practical tools they use to help students tap into their personal power and listen to their bodies, rather than striving or competing to keep up with the rest of the class. We’ll talk about strategies for empowering students, how to bring in yoga philosophy and subtle practices to help students connect with their bodies, and we’ll give specific examples of language we use to create a culture of permission and agency for our students. 

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This episode's supporting organization is Garden of Yoga. Learn more about becoming an Accessible Yoga Ambassador at the individual level or as a supporting organization at accessibleyoga.org/ambassador-program

In episode 42, Amber Karnes interviews Jivana Heyman about his upcoming book, Yoga Revolution: Building a Practice of Courage and Compassion. We discuss what a “yoga revolution” means, the relationship between yoga and social justice, the role of self-care in our work, and much more. This interview invites us to take a look at the “why” behind our personal yoga practice and consider possibilities for expanding how we use our yoga in the world on and off the mat.

*Note: Yoga Revolution's publishing date has been pushed back to December 7, 2021.

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In episode 43, Jivana interviews Bill Brown from Prison Yoga Project. 

In this episode, Jivana and Bill discuss: