Breaking Free - A Body, Mind, Spirit Approach to Mental Health

In this podcast, I interview Dora Gyarmati, a seasoned  teacher of mindfulness-based yoga for nearly 20 years, about how yoga has benefitted her life and that of her many students. I was able to complete my 200 hour yoga teacher training with Dora this past year and together we explore the lessons learned in life from the practice of yoga as well as how yoga can link our mind, body, and spirit in an intentional daily practice. We discuss why yoga has the capacity to add to the quality of our daily lives through helping us embody ourselves through mindful motion, self-awareness through meditation, and further connection with our spiritual selves through breath and heart space connection. We also discuss how not all yoga programs are the same. Many yoga studios seem to be loosing their holistic roots and perhaps loosing some part of the value that yoga provides in mirroring in the yoga room the same challenges we face in life such as dealing with discomfort, emotional regulation,  finding balance, and keeping our focus where we desire to hold it. Whether you are a seasoned yogi or new to the practice of yoga, this podcast offers some beautiful wisdom and tools for how to bring mindful awareness to our lives and how to live a more self-examined life. 
For more information about Dora, her teacher training, and her upcoming "40 Days workshop" on mindfulness and nutrition go to: https://www.spirapoweryoga.com/

In this episode I invite Dr. Sarah Campbell to discuss her soul work prompted by her graduation from her Doctoral Program in naturopathic  medicine and a master's in Chinese medicine. Sarah finally gave herself space to feel the cycles of anger, grief, and finally joy at the retrieval of lost parts of Self she had dissociated in order to "fit in" to her programs that did not value her perspectives on healing.  Sarah, who is a powerful teacher on the integration of body, mind, and spirit in our healing journey, shares how she uses free form movement such as dance, walking, intuitive touch, and other somatic therapies to "unwind" the emotions that get stuck in her body. She both celebrates the mind work of conceptualizing our trauma that has been done with traditional talk therapies and calls for a new season of growth that incorporates the mind-body connection through somatic therapies. She also celebrates slowing down and being present with her body-felt experience and re-parenting herself by celebrating herself for "being Sarah" and not for her achievements while giving her nervous system a needed rest after such a long season of producing.  Sarah and I explore the universality of the body-stored trauma that people have when cutting off parts of themselves in order to fit into systems rather than living from authenticity.  We further explain the joy that can be felt as we create intentional space to pause in our lives and connect to our body-felt wisdom that knows what is needed to retrieve these lost part of Self.
 

Journey with me on my most vulnerable podcast yet as I share what has truly healed and continues to heal me and what obstacles I needed to breakthrough on my path of expansion in spiritual growth and development.  Ask the deep questions with me such as:  What systems support your growth and development and which hold you back? What mirrors do you have in your life that give you glimpses of who you really are? What courage and fortitude do you need to gather as you choose your personal expansion in the face of possible rejection and abandonment?  Is it possible to choose your own growth journey and still find peace when others may not understand or even try to hold you back because of their own fear and dogmatic positioning?  Is personal expansion really worth it?  In my experience, the answer is a resounding YES!