Finding Harmony Podcast

Are You Actually Practicing Yoga? A Yoga Therapist's Honest Answer


Listen Later

What does it actually mean to practice yoga — and are any of us really doing it? In this rich and unhurried conversation, Harmony sits down with Tara Mitra: Ashtanga teacher, yoga therapist, and devoted Vedic chanting practitioner who has spent decades tracing the practice back to its roots.

Tara's path moved from high-stress corporate life in Toronto to studying Ashtanga with dedicated teachers in Canada and California, then four years assisting in the Mysore shala, and finally into the Krishnamacharya lineage in Chennai — where yoga therapy, pranayama, Vedic chanting, and philosophy became her deepest studies. Today she works with everyone from cancer patients to hospice clients, with the simple premise: if you can breathe, she can teach you something.

This conversation is a slow, deliberate unwinding of everything we think we know about yoga — and an invitation back to what it actually is.

 

In this episode you'll explore:

  • Why 'nobody is really practicing yoga' — and what that actually means
  • The journey from Ashtanga to yoga therapy: what made Tara go deeper
  • How chanting and philosophy naturally shift the inner landscape
  • Samasthiti as 'the pregnant pause' — and why skipping it misses the point
  • The monkey mind: drunk, stung by a scorpion, and haunted — and what practice does to each layer
  • Chitta vritti nirodha and what the Yoga Sutras actually say about the mind
  • Spiritual bypassing: the 'good vibes only' trap and premature transcendence
  • The radical practice of doing nothing — no phone, no tea, just thirty minutes at a window
  • Ayurveda and the body's natural rhythms in the age of artificial light and screen time
  • The pancha vayus and why pranayama is far subtler than it looks
  • The breath as the great friend — and its connection to spirit in every tradition
  • Redefining the guru: someone who isn't caught in your own distortions
  • Sangha: why community isn't optional on the path
  • How beginners should start: not by thinking
  • The butterfly mind vs. the stability of genuine practice
  • Boundaries as an expression of love, not a closing off
  • Equanimity (upeksha) as a lifelong practice, not a destination
  •  

    Connect with Tara Mitra:

    • Website: taramitrayoga.com
    • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taramitrayoga/
    • Offerings: Yoga Sutras classes, Vedic chanting, Upanishad study, mentorship program
    •  

      Resources mentioned:

      • Yoga Sutras of Patanjali — chitta vritti nirodha (YS 1.2); the nine obstacles; YS 1.33 brahmaviharas
      • Shanti mantra: Purnamadah Purnamidam (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)
      • Krishnamacharya lineage (Mysore & Chennai / Desikachar branch)
      • Ashtanga trishthana — breath, drishti, bandha
      • Ayurveda and the concept of natural daily rhythms (dinacharya)
      • Harmony's upcoming Portugal workshops — harmonyslater.com/events
      • The Inner Rejuvenation Codes: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/inner-rejuvenation-codes-mc

        Join the Lightworker Mastermind:  https://harmonyslater.com/lightworker-mastermind


        FIND Harmony online: https://harmonyslater.com/
        Harmony on IG: https://www.instagram.com/harmonyslaterofficial/
        Finding Harmony Podcast on IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingharmonypodcast/

        FREE Manifestation Activation: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/manifestation-activation

        ...more
        View all episodesView all episodes
        Download on the App Store

        Finding Harmony PodcastBy Harmony Slater

        • 4.8
        • 4.8
        • 4.8
        • 4.8
        • 4.8

        4.8

        72 ratings


        More shows like Finding Harmony Podcast

        View all
        J. Brown Yoga Talks by J. Brown Yoga

        J. Brown Yoga Talks

        571 Listeners

        The Rich Roll Podcast by Rich Roll

        The Rich Roll Podcast

        11,887 Listeners

        Insight Hour with Joseph Goldstein by Be Here Now Network

        Insight Hour with Joseph Goldstein

        944 Listeners

        Yogaland Podcast by Andrea Ferretti

        Yogaland Podcast

        1,262 Listeners

        The Daily by The New York Times

        The Daily

        112,191 Listeners

        From the Heart with Rachel Brathen by Rachel Brathen

        From the Heart with Rachel Brathen

        4,462 Listeners

        Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel by Esther Perel Global Media

        Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel

        14,925 Listeners

        the goop podcast by gwyneth paltrow

        the goop podcast

        6,663 Listeners

        Yoga Inspiration by Kino MacGregor

        Yoga Inspiration

        169 Listeners

        Keen on Yoga Podcast by Adam Keen

        Keen on Yoga Podcast

        48 Listeners

        IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson by Higher Ground

        IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson

        13,085 Listeners

        The Yogi Within Podcast by Jamie Henderson

        The Yogi Within Podcast

        0 Listeners

        We Can Do Hard Things by Treat Media and Glennon Doyle

        We Can Do Hard Things

        41,350 Listeners

        What Now? with Trevor Noah by Trevor Noah

        What Now? with Trevor Noah

        4,300 Listeners

        The Oprah Podcast by Harpo

        The Oprah Podcast

        1,882 Listeners