I chat with one of my go-to yoga teachers today, Rocky Heron. I found Rocky right after the pandemic hit in 2020. I instantly gravitated towards his approach to asana & movement. I found his classes to be well-structured, playful, mindful & authentic. Even before the podcast was born, I knew I’d have him on someday to chat about his approach. 

Critical thinking is an inseparable part of yoga. Moreso nowadays. Even in our asana.  The physical practice has become the doorway through which millions find their way to yoga nowadays. While it is by no means is the all of yoga. Rocky humor my asana-related questions.

Throughout this interview, you’ll notice he takes my simple questions and spins the answers into a thoughtful, structured, compassionate way while acknowledging how the physical realm of experience is hard to contain with this or that questions. Every person is different. Every experience is unique. 

We explore questions like…

•  What is an effective asana practice? 
• Is there anything problematic in the way we move in yoga?
• What should yoga teachers do other than yoga? 
• Role of regressions & progressions when applied thoughtfully 
• The role of Yoga Drills 
• Yoga Sequencing 

And much more…Rocky is a featured teacher on Yoga International & a host of other platforms. Having dabbled in almost every style of yoga, Rocky has developed an uncanny wisdom to teaching yoga. He has a keen sense of anatomy & alignment that he leverages often in his classes. Having taught all over the world, Rocky is also a musician as well as a yoga teacher.

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I've been fascinated by fascia for a while now.  This week I've found the perfect guest to chat with about all things fascia. 

My guest today is Pooja Virani. She's a Pain-Free Movement Specialist and Social Justice Consultant on a mission to spread joy, foster equality, and help people reach their highest potential. Having practiced for 15 years and taught it all over the world. Pooja specializes in Rehabilitative Yoga for Injury Prevention & Pain Relief, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC Yoga, and Social Justice Education.

Episode Highlights... 

• Pooja's story
• Fascia and its importance to yoga
• Hot yoga and fascia
• Should yoga teachers be diversifying their movements?
• Long-term negative effects of asana practice without regular fascia release
• When to do fascia release
• What is myofascial release?
• The starting point to working with fascia
• How fascia ages in the body
• The age to start a myofascial release
• The type of yoga that favors the health of the fascia more
• Aspects of the asana practice that poses a “red flag”
• Is a massage gun the same as doing myofascial release?
• Why social justice and pain management means so much to Pooja

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There's something so beautiful about the Purushartha system. In English, we could call it, the 4 pillars of life. These principles have existed for 1000s of years in Vedic culture. Guiding people who seek this wisdom. But unknown to most people who practice or even teach Yoga.

My guest today, Savira Gupta started indulging in Yoga at 40. She comes from a family of strong women rooted in the Arya Samaj tradition who wanted to revive the Vedic way of life and the need to create a just society for all despite color, caste, or creed. She is a dedicated Yin Yoga teacher and teacher trainer. Savira’s sessions are created from her own experiences and journey in life where she combines the key principles of compassion, non-judgment, self-reflection, and humor and with perspective. They are combined with stories of yoga mythology and scriptures from the Bhagavad Gita.

We have a fascinating conversation exploring the 4 pillars & how it impacts the life of a modern yoga teacher.

Episode Highlights...

• How yoga became part of Savira’s life
• Yoga in the UK vs Yoga in the US
• How Savira’s practice changed when she moved out of India 
• Savira elaborates on the Puruṣārtha system
• The Dharma of a yoga teacher according to Savira
• Passion vs Purpose for yoga teachers 
• The dangers of using the word “Dharma” loosely
• Artha and how it relates to yoga teachers
• Savira’s advice to yoga teachers earning little money
• Is there a relationship between the age and spiritual maturity of yoga teachers?
• Savira’s take on teaching yoga for free
• Kama, the 3rd pillar, for yoga teachers
• Moksha: how to bring it into our everyday life

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Communication is central to our life. As yoga teachers, we communicate constantly through our words, actions & bodies. Yoga philosophy often shows us how to communicate compassionately. But in today's world of social media & cancel culture it can be very challenging. There's a gap between silent & spoken communication. The 'tone' of how we communicate seems to be getting increasingly hostile online & the yoga world isn't immune to this. 

On the show today, I chat with repeat guest, Judith Hanson Lasater about all things non-violent communication. With 50 years of teaching experience, Judith needs no introduction to people in the yoga world. I had the pleasure of chatting with her about her book, "What we say matters, practicing non-violent communication" co-authored with her husband, Ike Lasater.

In this interview, we keep a specific focus on NVC for yoga teachers. As a student of NVC &  yoga, Judith packs a lot of wisdom about the art of nonviolent communication with grace & humility.

Episode Highlights...

• What is non-violent communication? 
• Is NVC more significant for yoga teachers? 
• NVC is not for others but for us
• How to engage with empathy? 
• Who is NVC for? 
• Where does violence start in communication? 
• Cancel culture in the yoga world 
• Should we respond to cancel culture in the yoga world?
• NVC exercise live on the podcast about cancel culture 
• What are we giving our presence to? Why it matters? 
• How to ground ourselves & act from empathy
• Difference between feeling & judgments 
• Clarity of intension 
• Updates about Judith's latest book 

Whether you teach yoga or not, you will get a lot out of this episode. Hit play if you're keen on learning to communicate clearly & compassionately.

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You can find all the resources mentioned in this episode in the show notes at https://letstalk.yoga/

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Pranayama is the yogic art of breathing. Ancient yogis knew the power & potential of our breath. They gifted us this wisdom through the practice of pranayama. But in the modern asana dominant world we sometimes don't think of pranayama beyond inhales, exhales & ujjayi breathing.

But it is SO much more...

My guest today is Dr. Sundar Balasubramanian, a researcher at the Medical University of South Carolina studying cancer biology, and Yoga. His research provides evidence for how Pranayama could promote wellbeing in health and disease. He is the Founder/Director of PranaScience Institute and was a speaker at TEDx Charleston 2015. He has published several articles, book chapters, audio albums, and books including “PranaScience: Decoding Yoga Breathing”, and “Mind Your Breathing: A Yogi’s Handbook with 37 Pranayama Exercises” 

Tune into this episode if you've ever wondered...

• What is pranayama?
• What are the benefits of pranayama
• How does saliva and pranayama connect 
• Latest Pranayama research 
• Women doing pranayama 
• Pranayama & pregnancy 
• When should you do pranayama? 
• Is asana required before pranayama 
• Upcoming new research for 2021

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You can find all the resources mentioned in this episode in the show notes at https://letstalk.yoga/

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As yoga teachers, we have access to amazing tools in yoga to help in this fight against COVID19. There's so much we can offer our students and ourselves in terms of respiratory health well-being & immunity boosting. 

Doing a special solo episode sharing some of my best advice for this pandemic that seems neverending. Whether you teach or do yoga, today we’re talking about practical tips to improve or restore respiratory health. 

Episode highlights...

• What poses are best to boost immunity? 
• What poses are best for respiratory health? 
• How often to do these yoga poses? 
• What pranayama is best for immunity & respiratory health? 
• What kriya is best for immunity & respiratory health?
• What to do if you have yoga students who have recovered from COVID19?
• Sequences & resources mentioned in the episode available in show notes 

Join our mailing list: https://www.aham.yoga/instagram-2021 for all episodes.

You can find all the resources mentioned in this episode in the show notes at https://letstalk.yoga/

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Exploring the connection between zero waste living & yoga on the podcast today!

Like many of you, I’m big on being a conscious consumer, reducing my carbon footprint, living a low waste lifestyle & most importantly, living my yoga in areas of my life off the yoga mat… For me, there’s no point in doing all the yoga if you can’t take it with you - into different areas of your life every day. And to be honest, I’m not perfect at doing this. But it’s a start.  I hope today’s conversation gives you some insight on how you can get to a low waste lifestyle too. 

My guest today is Stephanie Lentz, owner of Scoop Market Place, a zero-waste grocery store eliminating the need for disposable packaging & significantly reduces the overall environmental impact of our community.  Stephanie took a particular interest in how her family's daily habits were impacting the planet after she became a mom and decided to make some drastic lifestyle changes. 

Today she’s educating others who want to get started on their zero-waste grocery store dreams and much more. I’m really excited to have her chat with us about what it means to live this lifestyle & practical things you could start doing today…with zero fuss and very little effort. 

In this conversation, you’ll hear us talk about…

• How I connect yoga & zero waste living
• What is a zero-waste lifestyle? Who is it for?
• Where does one start? 
• Does it cost money to live this way? 
• The reality of recycling 
• Easy ways to cut waste in different areas of your home 
• Mistakes to avoid 
• Adopting the hassle-free approach 
• Understanding what it means to consume mindfully 
• Easy swops for your kitchen 
• Easy swops for cleaning products 
• Women’s menstrual health 
• Oral care swops 
• Zero waste for kids 
• Stephanie’s personal story 
• What low waste living is like in other places? 

There’s so much in this conversation. I really hope you listen & share this with others. There are plenty of resources too. We highlight how doing zero waste living imperfectly is better than a few of us trying to do it perfectly.  

You can find all the resources mentioned in this episode in the show notes at https://letstalk.yoga/

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#yoga #yogapodcast #yogateachers #zerowasteliving

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I’m delighted to share my podcast guest today. Dr. Shyam Ranganathan is a field-changing researcher, scholar, author, and teacher of philosophy, and an expert in the neglected traditions of Indian moral philosophy, including Yoga. He’s also a trained scholar, researcher of philosophy, and an author, editor, and translator of over 50 peer-reviewed, scholarly works. 

If you’re a yoga teacher trying to get a grasp over what is yoga philosophy, hit play now. Here are some of the highlights of our conversation…

💥What all are we referring to when we say yoga philosophy? 

💥The dangers of interpretations vs explication. When nonexperts act as experts. 

💥What’s the end goal of learning yoga philosophy? 

💥How do we measure whether we are making true progress? 

💥Dr.Shyam’s story & his definition of yoga 

💥What’s the start point in studying yoga philosophy for a yoga teacher? 

💥Are South Asian yoga teachers & Sanskrit scholar works a pre-requisite in studying philosophy 

💥His interest in Patanjali’s yoga sutras

💥What is Hinduism? 

💥How are yoga & Hinduism connected? 

…. & much more. 

If you enjoy the content we put out, get on our newsletter by clicking the link below. And if you're a super fan, please review and share this podcast with your yoga friends. 

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You can find all the resources mentioned in this episode in the show notes at https://letstalk.yoga/

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My guest today needs no introduction. Andrea Ferretti & her podcast, Yogaland are beloved names in the yoga industry. Standing at 4 million downloads Andrea is the queen of content creation in the industry. Recently, she launched her own content creation course to help yoga teachers understand and navigate the world of content creation. 

In our conversation today, Andrea shares her insight on the nitty-gritty of what it means to develop content. Free content versus paid content, where to get started, what to focus on, social media versus email newsletter, what needs to go into a newsletter, where to start, what holds teachers back, taking the long view of the goal of content creation, important statistics  & more. 

If you're a yoga teacher, Andrea wants you to get started today! Happy Listening. 

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You can find all the resources mentioned in this episode in the show notes at https://letstalk.yoga/

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Restorative yoga is a hidden gem of modern yoga Adelene Cheong,  a London-based senior yoga teacher who specializes in restorative yoga. When I met Adelene in a recent training I instantly knew that I wanted to have her chat with you about all things restorative yoga as she's steeped in it from years of experience.

This conversation weaves through many layers of restorative yoga. Bringing you clarity & a deep understanding of the impact of the practice. We cover a wide range of questions in this episode including the new world of teaching restorative yoga online and exploring a "propless" practice.

Whether you teach or practice yoga - this episode will enlighten you about rest & rejuvenation in the most simple yet profound way.

You can find all the resources mentioned in this episode in the show notes at https://letstalk.yoga/

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#restorativeyoga #letstalkyoga #yogapodcast

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