How does it feel to hold space while moving through a powerful change? So many of us are working through this as teachers, parents, siblings, partners and friends. What is the role of yoga in helping us not just to weather the storm, but to be fully present and learn through it? We explore these questions and so much more with our guest Kelley Palmer, yoga teacher, activist, coach and creator of Race & Equity in Yoga: Disruption As a Practice, an online training course for yogis and yoga teachers in the principles and practices of dismantling white supremacy in yoga and the world.

Episode highlights...

• Kelley shares how feeling hopeful and deeply sad coexist in her life and work.
• The history of Kelley’s activism and work in over turning racism
• How different generations agree and differ on the issues of black lives matter
• Kelley’s work to make sure other people, people of colour have access to yoga practice
• Why yoga and social justice go together
• Kelly’s dismantling racism course: https://www.accessibleyogatraining.com/race-equity
• The complexity of integration in America.
• What black people should be doing right now
• Perceptions of safety and of the police for black mothers and white mothers

RESOURCES

• Kelley’s website
• Instagram: @peacefilledmama
• Kelley’s Dismantling Racism course
• The story of Mansa Musa, the 14th Century West African ruler who was so rich his generous handouts wrecked an entire country's economy.
• Sanctuary in the City; the history of creating a yoga space for black and brown people outside of white gaze. Daily online classes, meditation and panel discussions.
• Dr. Gail Parker - inspired Kelley and guided the set up of Sanctuary in the City
• Jivana Heyman
• Our podcast episode with Jivana Heyman
• Accessible Yoga Training
• Coretta Scott King: “Every generation has a responsibility to liberty and liberation.” https://www.bustle.com/p/8-coretta-scott-king-quotes-the-resistance-needs-to-read-54043
• Reverend angel Kyodo Williams
• Michelle Cassandra Johnson
• Our podcast episode with Michelle Cassandra Johnson
• Octavia Raheem
• Ilya Parker Decolonising Fitness
• Maria’s Yoga for Mental Health Course

What is yoga and how does it support our dharmic path? These are some of the questions that Emma Balnaves from Shadow Yoga set out to answer in the process of bringing her first ever film, AgniYogana to the screen. Maria and Chara talked with Emma about the journey and meaning of the film and its impact on her life, her yoga and her understanding of who we are... and who we can be!

Highlights from the episode include...

• The key requirements for practicing Hatha Yoga according to the Shiva Samhita
• Should we teach yoga in a secular way?
• How to teach and access the universal aspects of yoga without losing the essence.
• The roles that yoga and Ayurveda play in a balanced life
• Classical practices of Hatha yoga that you don’t typically see in yoga classes
• The significance of Agni
• The four times a day to do sadhana
• The importance of the seasons to yoga
• Cleansing practices in yoga and ayurveda

Resources and Mentions:

• Shadow Yoga
• Agniyogana: Lower the head and invoke the fire film
• On SBS
• Agniyogana Study Guide
• Film Press Kit
• Pashupatinath Temple
• Sadhana
• Dr Robert Svoboda
• Seasonal Mandala for Women
• Elements of Yoga: Ayurveda for Yoga Teachers & Students w/Chara Caruthers

If you’ve ever thought that accessible yoga was all about tailoring the practice for older or less “able bodied” folks, you’re gonna wanna listen to this one. Maria and Chara talk with Jivana Heyman, teacher, activist and founder of Accessible Yoga. And in this conversation we learn why all yoga teachers have a responsibility to make yoga accessible and what that means we need to do both on the mat and off. Jivana shares what decades as an activist have taught him about people and pandemics and he leaves us with some deep questions that have changed how we think about and share the practice of yoga.

We talked about

• How online teaching supports accessibility.
• The overlap of epidemics, accessibility and social justice movements
• How can we take the philosophical teachings of yoga out of the academic realm and make them more practical and accessible.
• When social justice feels overwhelming, how yoga helps us identify what we can do.
• What is the practice of service?
• How yoga teachers can help their students to come into a place of safety and belonging to access the practices of yoga
• What it means to create safety and accessibility as yoga teachers
• Why svadhyaya is how we make anything into yoga
• How you can tell you are doing your practice.
• Why self care is service to yourself

RESOURCES

• The first online version of the Accessible Yoga Training: https://www.accessibleyogatraining.com/courses
• Jivana’s book Accessible Yoga
• Embodying the Yoga Sutras Book by David Charlton and Ranju Roy Here's the podcast we did with them
• Michelle Cassandra Johnson. Her book Skill in Action. The podcast we did with her.
• Elements of Yoga: Ayurveda for Yoga Teachers & Students w/Chara Caruthers

They say that the subtle aspects of yoga are the most powerful and transformative. Our guest this week knows all about this… and more. Chara and Maria talk with Kristine Kaoverri Weber, a dear friend of Maria’s who knew her as a fledgling self-care evangelist back in graduate school. It was a wonderful and very wide-ranging conversation about everything from self care and social justice, to marketing and weight loss with a touch of neuroscience and generous sprinkling of yogic wisdom for good measure!

Highlights from our chat include:

• How Kristine has been coping with these strange times
• The importance of creating safe communities online - “watch parties”
• The reason Kristine teaches yoga to behavioural health professionals
• How subtle yoga can address the crisis of self loathing in the world
• How the systems of racism are toxically intertwined with the systems of trauma.
• How self care for clinicians will create a foundation for offering trauma informed care
• Self care beyond Netflix, wine and a mani-pedi.
• What is the actual work of yoga?
• How subtle is different from gentle.
• Why active relaxation is more effective for losing weight than exercise
• How do we make yoga more accessible?
• Kristine defines the challenge of public health.

We decided to take a deeper look at the process of digesting experiences that challenge our beliefs and what we know about ourselves. Neither of us could stop thinking about the conversation we had with Michelle Johnson on the subject of social justice, racism, yoga and politics. It brought up so many new feels and inspired lots of talks, and the beginnings of new beliefs. So we decided to sit together (as we do) to talk about the impact of that conversation and how we’re each carrying it in our bodies, minds and yoga!

Social justice is ultimately everyone’s responsibility. Yoga philosophy and practice can be a foundation for seeing and advocating for a more just world. Chara and Maria talk with Michelle C. Johnson, a yoga teacher, clinical social worker and dismantling racism educator about the unique challenges for people of color in the current global uprising related to the Black Lives Matter movement. We unpack terms like “spiritual bypassing” and “cultural appropriation” and talk about the personal and collective tools we’ll need to keep this vital conversation moving in the direction of change.

Maria and Chara sit down with yoga teacher and podcaster J. Brown to talk about his work, motivations and what he’s managed to learn in his time on the planet, thus far. We talk about how yoga informs J’s politics and parenting, why he started a podcast, and the not so silent influence that provides the balance he needs to engage in the business of yoga.

We’re talking to yoga teacher and yoga business mentor Mado Hesselink! She’s the host of the Yoga Teacher’s Resource podcast, but also a mother, and holder of space. She’s built a growing community of yoga teachers online who are looking to connect and better understand how to live your yoga while making a living from it! Mado is a master of life and business wisdom, and in this conversation we get to hear where she’s come from, what she’s passionate about and what she believes yoga has to teach us... especially now.

This week we are talking with Shannon Crow, the host of The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast and Facebook group about the connections between yoga and politics and the challenge of how to support communities of color and ALL communities through these challenging times. A fantastic conversation with heartfelt vulnerabilities and heartwarming openness.

Change is in the air… can you feel it? As the world slowly begins to come to grips with reopening, a lot is coming up! Chara and Maria chat about what this NEW transition looks like for them right now and what they’ve learned from yoga and Ayurveda that is helping to support them through the precarious process of figuring out what’s next!

We talk about:

Chara’s upcoming Solstice Retreat: https://bit.ly/2zC2osu

Chara’s ONLINE Classes: https://www.blissbodyandsoul.com/yoga/

Kate Pell on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz4UVYlaPw5avbFkHn_ehxw/videos

Maria’s teacher Judy Krupp in Sydney on Zoom: https://www.theyogaroom.com.au/timetable.html

Maria’s Online Yoga for Mental Health Teacher Training: https://www.yogaforgrownups.com/online-yoga-for-mental-health-training.html

Maria’s online classes: https://www.yogaforgrownups.com/online-classes.html