In this Joyful living episode we connect with Devorah Brous, an experiential educator, urban homesteader, writer, and founder of FromSoil2Soul. We look at the role of how laughter and the insights of regenerative agriculture and nutritional cleansing support us to process the constant grief of being human, and specifically the grief of what just happened in a stampede in Israel at a Lag B’omer celebration. We see how laughter frees us up to literally digest the unexplainable and incomprehensible as well as take responsibility for our privilege in systems of oppression. Devorah speaks to the need for us to slow down, breathe, and create spaciousness in this time of COVID birth canal.  Listening and pauses are needed in order to recognize the deeper inner callings for real nutrition and to care for our environment as an extension of our own bodies.

Look her up at: www.fromsoil2soul.com Instagram: @devbees @fromsoil2soul

Welcome Kia Miller the Wonderful! An internationally celebrated yoga teacher and human being.  Founder of Radiant Body Yoga, a holistic approach that honors the healing and transformational potential within yoga. 

She is radiant and joyful and brings a unique uplifting perspective to life.  

In this Joyful podcast, we explore "living in the wow", being joyful, be responsible, and being a contribution in life. 

Kia translates kundalini yoga: What is it? What it does?  And Why is so effective in accessing joy in the midst of fear and uncertainty.  

She takes on questions of social etiquette, privilege and limiting beliefs, tenacity in yoga practice, and the great reminder to see life as extraordinary and not take the yoga path or ourselves too seriously!

Kia's thoughts:

By releasing mental projections, the subtle little wows are more lasting and joyful than needing the big Wows.

The beauty of Kundalini yoga is we use the physical body to access our energy/prana (life force).  We work the physical body and amplify the wattage of the physical body to access the mental and emotional body and ultimately land in joy and gratitude.  The game of kundalini is to meet our conditioned beliefs like "this is too hard" or "why am I doing this? and then  overcome them and choose whether to continue with the story or let it go.  

  "There are two waves happening in the collective: one of fear and the other that is taking deep dive and looking inside.  The yoga texts say the outer joys are fleeting, whereas the inner joy is enduring.

She encourages us to take one consciousness breath and step at a time, to forge a path with our consciousness actions and to show up to life in the best way we possibility can.   We must surface distractions and the fluctuations of the mind,  apply steady dedicated focus (apyasa) and attention over time while remembering not to take ourselves and the path too seriously even though we need to start with building devotion (energy in motion).

In this Podcast, Daniel Roth, founder of Healstory Podcast, and hosts Brian Grafstein and Shimon Darwick Birnbaum speak about the impact that connecting with their ancestors has made on their present relationships and how it can help shape future relationships.  They talk about the importance of investing in our past selves in an effort to dig deep and contextualize relationships with parents with that of our ancestors.  Daniel advocates for going to the places where their family comes from, and spending time learning and experiencing their ancestors lives to understand our parents and essentially, our own patterns in life.  The healing that happens when we focus on our ancestors may allow us to move beyond the hiccups in our family systems, and helps us to be present and make progress within our current and future lineage.  They also discussed how Covid has brought many people home and how Daniels journey back to Albany, to live in his childhood home, continues to reveal more and more aspects of his history and how that journey has been tremendously healing.

In this podcast, Shimon Darwick Birnbaum and Getzel Davis, Harvard Hillel Rabbi, speak their perspectives on Joy, and share some ideas to revitalize and energize Jewish traditions.  They reflect on the past month where they met for 3 days a week for 20 minutes to do Laughter Yoga in celebration of Adar and take a quick, deep dive into the power of ritual.  Getzel gives a unique perspective on the transformations we go through individually and as community while traversing through ancient calendars in the Jewish tradition, the spirals of time, seasonality and emotions.  He also sheds some light on the upcoming holiday of Passover and the celebration of Seder, and how these consistent religious rituals can connect us through the times of our lives, aiding in our growth and reflection both spiritually and physically.  

They also take a moment to visit the idea of using COVID 19 as a lens for all people to explore their freedom. 

Getzel mentions that he is a resource for those who are in the process of "Remembering that they've forgotten."  He helps people who are the path to awakening, if this sounds like you, reach out to him at [email protected] or visit his website www.zivugtogether.org 

We would also love to hear from you! Visit us at facebook.com/jyflliving or shoot us a message at [email protected]

Joyful Living Podcast is a series of conversations in which hosts Brian Grafstein and Shimon Darwick Birnbaum explore various paths to living a Joyful life.  In this episode they speak with Human Design System Analyst, Elad Sky. What is Human Design? It's a logical system that brings together principles of The I Ching, astrology, Kabbalah, Hindu-Brahmin chakra system, and quantum physics. ... Human Design offers a map, or a manual, that indicates how you are unique as a person, and guides you in living in a manner that is in sync with who you are.  Elad describes his experience with his experiment of 12 years, and offers some insight into what can be gained from beginning your own Human Design experiment. Brian also offers some insight into his experiment of just over 1 year with Human design and of 6 years working with the Gene Keys, an off shoot system that works with similar principals but an alternative path.  For both Elad and Brian these systems have been an amazing resource for finding direction in life, and helping to connect them with their community and ideal environments to thrive and survive.  25:33 Elad says "The magic is in the invitation to an experiment with your own decision making process and grounding that experiment in the genuine reflection on whats happening in your energy."   In the episode Elad references this talk in which Richard Rudd, pioneer of Gene Keys, describes how Human Design and Gene Keys can interface: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kms3sRoWJhg  Start your Human Design Experiment at https://www.mybodygraph.com/  The Gene Keys book by Richard Rudd can be purchased through Amazon, you can also hear some great talks via the gene keys youtube channel here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO7-rNNMA0NCGgY8xb9Tqxg

In this episode, we talk to the world renowned Dr Madan Kataria, Laughter Guru, MD, and creator/founder of the original Laughter Yoga Club! Madan tells the listeners all about how Laughter Yoga came to fruition, and we explore the benefits, physiologically, mentally, and community wide that Laughter Yoga brings to its students. We explore the impact that integrating Laughter Yoga has on your environment, both internally and externally. Madan also gives the listeners insight into what he's sees to be the future, both pandemic wise, and the advances our society can make.

Laughter Yoga is an exercise where students actively cultivate unconditional joy. Things don't have to be funny to laugh, and the laughter yogi doesn't have to be genuinely laughing to experience the benefits. The term "Fake it 'til you make it" really applies here, and also the term "laughter is contagious" also carries a lot of weight, even if in the beginning the student feels uncomfortable ease is not far behind. The action of deep, belly laughs, helps the body to excrete CO2 from the lungs while simultaneously hyper oxygenating the body. More oxygen equals a better internal environment for the organs to do their work, and it also creates a more hostile environment for pathogens, making it harder for disease to thrive in the body. Laughter Yoga also helps the body naturally create feel good hormones, even when the laughter yogi doesn't think things are truly funny. 

Creating environments for the body to thrive also lowers stress, which is a major cause for disease. Laughter yoga can help people suffering from all sorts of ailments find more ease and can even help reverse disease. Tune into this episode to learn more! If you like what you hear, or have an experience that you'd like to share, we'd love to hear from you, email us at [email protected].

In this episode Shimon and BriÜn are joined by Ayurvedic practitioner Asif Ullah. 

In this episode, BriÜn and Shimone talk about having a baby, becoming a parent, self analysis, connecting with our elders and youth, and cultivating a sense of connection with our emotions. Join us as we saunter about joyfully.

In this episode, BriÜn and Shimon chat with Judy Rowe, a leadership consultant for personal, professional and organizational development based out of Ithaca New York http://juditharowe.com/.  Judy shares her strength based approach to coaching individuals, businesses and organizations to achieve their highest potentials, and BriÜn and Shimon chime in about their experiences while developing their businesses and lifestyles.  They also touch in on the impacts felt of the current political and global health crisis, and share some of their recipes for dealing with stressful times.

In this episode, Shimon and his sister Stacey talk about their heritage, familial coping mechanisms, worthiness, whiteness, maleness and privilege, and their felt responsibility moving through COVID and the times.  Join us as we entertain ourselves and hopefully you too.