Ohana Life Podcast

In this episode I had the honor of interviewing Lama Willa, a teacher at the Wonderwell Buddhist center in Springfield, NH.

I had visited there with my husband years ago and loved the center, so it’s always been in the back of my mind. Lama Willa just recently released a book, and a good friend of mine gifted a copy to me. Reading it made me so happy, as it gives deeper meaning to what yoga is, other than most books which can gloss over the deeper intent. Yoga is about living in awareness at all times. She does a great job of detailing that out with many other concepts more developed for an inquiring mind.

I have wanted to have a Buddhist teacher on the podcast for a while now. Someone I could ask questions that had direct teachers in the lineage. She was gracious to say yes to this interview!

She has much rich history in traveling with monks, being in the mountains, her journey of self discovery, and paying it forward with her teachings.

We spoke about who Buddha is, initial ideas in the teachings of Buddhism, Mindfulness, pathways of habits, somatic awareness, and meditation.

I will include links to her book, the website to the center, her upcoming workshops and about her education in the episode notes.

I hope you enjoy the discussion as much as I did!

About Lama Willa:

https://naturaldharma.org/teachers/lama-willa-miller/

Website:

https://naturaldharma.org/natural-dharma-fellowship/

Schedule of upcoming events:

https://naturaldharma.org/schedule/list/

To order her book:

https://www.amazon.com/Wakeful-Body-Somatic-Mindfulness-Freedom/dp/161180874X/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3FV4Q7XEZWZBZ&keywords=willa+blythe+baker&qid=1652118932&sprefix=willa+blythe+baker%2Caps%2C69&sr=8-3

In this episode I interviewed Kate O’Donnell. Kate specialized in Ayurvedic education, cooking skills, and cleansing programs. She offers online training, residential immersions, and individual consultations. These teachings help others come closer to their true nature.

I have been trying to find someone to speak about Ayurveda for two years now. It is the sister science to yoga and has roots in food, balancing of the elements in the body, noticing when imbalances arise, and to have preventative maintenance in your day to day lifestyle. I think of Ayurveda as a way to be empowered in your rituals, habits, and nutritional choices. It is a way to take control of your health.

We spoke about the 6 steps to illness, why food is so important, what doshas are, and how to manage imbalances. I truly love that she travels to India, yearly, to keep up with her studies, as yoga and Ayurveda are so closely linked.

These are fundamental concepts that I hope you get so much out of. I am including the links to her three books as well as how you can get in touch with her for programs, classes and workshops.

Her first book has the seasons broken out by with a shopping list of foods grown seasonally. The recipes are easy, delicious, and nutritious.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or to share what you learned.

Available Books:  https://www.kateodonnell.yoga/ayurveda-book

Educational programs:  https://ayurvedicliving.institute/

Having had a stroke a year ago, our friend and multi contributor to the podcast Season 1 speaks about her experience of what it was like, how she managed, her recovery, and her today.   I was so pleased to be able to have this candid conversation with Stacey we she walked us through what happened.  She is so positive and informative and we are extremely happy she has had such a great recovery.  She was kind enough to submit lots of resources for us, as well as a picture of the blood clot in her heart.

Stacy’s  website:

www.elysianld.com

Stroke Prevention:

https://www.stroke.org/en/about-strokehttps://www.cdc.gov/stroke/prevention.htm

 

 “We are so magical, we can’t be comprehended.”

In this episode I spoke with Giulia Pline who is a kind, gentle, sweet soul.  She is an excellent, patient teacher, with a large vocabulary of communicating with students.   She really encourages exploration and understanding of why and how we move.   She has the utmost compassion for living well and within a scope that makes sense for each individual.

She has so many credentials that it would take quite a while to list here, so I will let you read them on her website on the ‘About’ page.   Let’s just say, she loves to learn!

Giulia was so patient as we navigated a technical glitch as there was a snow storm while we recorded this, and I was losing connection!  Therefore there are some fuzzy parts in the second half.   I apologize in advance!

We spoke about……

How she got to a place in life of asking herself, “What am I doing for my greater good?”

Staying in our scope of practice.

Recovery and resiliency

Not giving up

The passion to empower people

Living with passion and purpose

The steps she goes through when approaching a client with an injury

Basic breathing mechanics

Some of the drivers for understanding pain

Her own journey of exploration, how she merged her studies and recovery to unlock her use of resistance bands.

We went over some of the modalities she studied including, FRC, DNS, PRI and ELDOA.  If you want to know what these stand for, it will be discussed in the episode.

Give it a listen, and do share what you found resonated the most

Website:

https://www.giuliapline.com

Instagram:

@giuliapline

Email:

“Everyone is hurting in some way.” ~Lois Hermann

Lois is a Board Certified Hypnotist, A certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming Trainer, multi-registered medical professional, has other techniques such as EFT (tapping), and energy clearing and alignment.  Through these techniques she empowers others to expand their lifestyles and offerings to the world.

She is an award winning author AND if that wasn’t enough, she has a Radio show called ‘Inspiring Hope’  on WSMN  Radio 1590……Which coincidentally I will be a guest on – on March 6th at 9am!

I was introduced to her when I was involved in the Summit Health program several weeks ago and she was one of other speakers.  I was drawn to her immediately and reached out as soon as I started watching her video.  I felt her guidance and energy as something I wanted in my life.   I knew she was someone we ALL needed to know more about.

I could have talked to her for hours.   We talked a lot about energy and how it affects us through all that we do.  We also talked about life and its challenges and going through circumstances with more grace, and to attract more of what we do want.

She has written three pretty incredible books, and I have already read two of them since our interview.   I have enormous respect for the way she puts herself out there, doing things that could be difficult for many people.   She hasn’t  let fear stop her along her journey.  She listened to the signs of where she was being pushed to go, and did it gracefully.  When she works with someone she asks brilliant questions, during sessions, to ensure we get the most out of our short lives here.  She doesn’t cut any corners. She wants each person to feel whole again.   Yes, part of this is her intuition, but also  her intelligence, experience and knowledge is helpful too.

I can’t wait for you to learn more about Lois.  Sit back, enjoy, and check out her books, radio show, websites, offerings and programs and groups.

Websites: www.loishermann.com

Chronicles of Hope Website: https://www.chroniclesofhope.net/

You can order the books here too.

Spirits of Amoskeag Website: http://spiritsofamoskeag.com

Radio Show

Inspiring Hope – Sundays at 9am:

https://www.loishermann.com/inspiring-hope-show/

https://wsmn.live

https://www.youtube.com/c/loishermannassociates

In this episode I interviewed Deb Connor.  Deb is a student of Ohana.  She came to class initially in June of 2021 being a little hesitant about what we did and what yoga was all about.   I am always so appreciative of people stepping outside of their comfort zone and trusting me with their physical and mental health.

I had had an idea about wanting to be available to answer questions from a student’s perspective and air it for you all.    She was new enough that she didn’t have any prior experience, but took enough classes to really have a good idea of the mix and flavor of what we offer.    I had figured she would be a perfect candidate to have a nice candid informational session about what I do in classes, in case people were unsure or scared to try.    I like to serve the greater good, work with people on a long term care plan, explain in detail the mechanism of our nervous system, and gather ways to ground and reduce physical and mental stressors.

I enjoyed this quite a bit and think we will do it more often.    It was easier for me to take the time to sit and explain more of what I do, instead of trying to fit it all in while teaching, moving, looking around at students in class, and managing Zoom.

This will officially be a series where we will continue to unfold what I do and the whys.   If you want to ask her questions anonymously to ask me during the interview, please email her at [email protected].  That way you can get the most out of this series.

I am excited to veer off a bit and sprinkle these in, so I can continue to help people in another avenue.

Our website is ohanayoganh.com for the class schedule or you can use our app Ohana Yoga NH to see the listing of available classes.  I am also available for private session on Zoom or in person.

In this episode I spoke with Peter Van Twuyver who managed a Self Care Summit for Healers the week of January 24th.   It was called, ‘Empowering the Healer Within’. It was a panel of 30 speakers, who were in the health and healing field.  Six speakers, were revealed, each day.  I was actually one of the speakers on the first day!

There is still time to register for the Online Summit replay, you can Register Here!

Peter managed the process of getting interviews from everyone, all of the background work that you can imagine goes into featuring it, and now sorting through all of the questions, emails, and day to day work.

His interviews had a great mix of different healing modalities, while staying on topic of how caregivers can avoid burnout.

 I really wanted to immerse myself  in the week.  Of leaning into and learning more about things I didn’t know, but also fill some gaps of what I did, and ‘meet’ new people.

I committed to spending the days listening, absorbing, taking notes, and researching the ideas and people further.  I even reached out to some, during that week.  Anyone that knows me, knows that I like to go all in on anything I learn or do.  I was happy I kept my mindset on spirituality and self -care all week with very little gaps for letting any negativity in.

Throughout, my mind did wander to wondering what went into creating summit this and why.  So I reached out to Peter, and amidst his busyness, he agreed to record a podcast with me, so we could all be part of the process behind the process!

We talked about all that it entailed, his purpose, his takeaway, his role in it all, and his gratitude.   You can consider this a behind the scenes making of Season 2 of this Health Summit.

You still have time to register because Peter is giving a 48 hour window of time to replay this event February 5th and 6th.  You can register at  https://summit.selfcareforhealerssummit.com/lgarside 

If you are new to me, and want to try a class, please message me at [email protected] and I will send you a class that is pre-recorded to try.

“Intuition is our birthright.” ~ Peter Van Twuyver

Quote: “No one is immune to injury and life happening.  Your training should help mitigate injury.”

Sara-Clare is so much more incredible than I could have ever thought.  It’s hard to convey how much I enjoy doing podcasts and learning about the spirit of humans, who could either give up, or give into their life path, and being strong enough to do something about getting there.

You will love hearing about her story, her history, and how she approaches working with people.    It’s genuine how much she wants people to go throughout their day feeling safer,  to build a body more well rounded to meet life demands and challenges.   In her words….to live in grace and power… for survival.

We talked about her family, her background and history.  We spoke about her stages of approaching a client, weight training, adaptability and mitigating life.   She talks about making the workouts fun and different: how to adapt and improvise, getting into a flow state.  How to live in safe margins or landmarks, then building from there.   She likes to meet people where they are at, and then let the students have some responsibility to forge through trial and error, and allow for personal responsibility with what they are given.

She believes in communicating well, working with a team of individuals to improve someone live life.  Being patient, she strives to be joyful, kind, and intelligent in her approach.    We broke down movement concepts and talked about increasing stimulus to movement patterns in safe ways with different types of muscle contractions, different tempo, and added weight.

I can’t wait for you all to give it a listen and tell me your favorite part!

Websites:

Agatsu website:

https://www.agatsu.com

Agatsu is for people who are trainers

Follow Fitness Pros Website:

https://followfitnesspros.com/s/mobility-routines/

https://followfitnesspros.com/u/Sara-Clare/user/profile/home

Fitness Pros is for people who are fitness enthusiasts

Instagram:

@agatsufitness

@saraclarefitness

@shawnmozen

In this episode I chatted with Robert Moses.

If you want to know details about Roberts life and all the amazing events that led him into yoga, we did a podcast in the first season all about it.  It was so fascinating.  I will link the episode in these show notes.   Even so, his bio is worth reading.

Robert Sankara Moses has 50 years’ experience as a teacher of yoga. Born in South Africa, Robert studied architecture, travelled abroad and, in 1972, discovered yoga in the tradition of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, India. He served in the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers for 22 years, teaching yoga teacher training and advanced training courses worldwide. He founded and continues to co-publish Namarupa: Categories of Indian Thought, a magazine about the philosophies and arts of India.

Robert leads annual pilgrimages to sacred places of India.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic,  Robert has been teaching Pranayama and philosophy courses on Zoom to students from around the world.

Robert took us through how he begins his day of a puja/ritual/habit, then some of the pillars of a good yoga practice for a beginner wanting to get into it deeper.  asana (postures) and pranayama (breathing exercises or breath work), Mantra (chanting) and meditation (concentration).

Robert is so easy to talk to, and we got a little deep at the end.   He is extremely knowledgeable about the energy of consciousness.

Again, I feel so lucky that these amazing humans are available to us all.

Please take a listen, and let us know if you have any questions.

Website:  https://namarupa.org

Instagram:  @rmosesnamarupa

What is a Puja article:

https://www.hinduwebsite.com/symbolisminpuja.asp

https://www.lotussculpture.com/my_articles_puja.html

(previous podcast) Robert Moses : Who he is and his journey into Yoga:

https://ohanayoganh.com/podcast/interview-with-robert-moses-episode-3/

“The practice of yoga is a constant remembrance that we are consciousness only” ~ Robert Moses

In this episode I was able to chat with Michelle Sengara of Toronto, Canada   I absolutely love Michelle. It’s so easy to converse with her as she connects the dots on higher thinking ideas, helping us put those ideas into perspective.  She holds pure joy in everything she does.

I’ve worked with Michelle on several projects, over some years now, and she does NOT disappoint.   No project is too small (or big), and she can really help organize the thoughts that float around in our brain, so we can see the bigger picture.

We talked about the current learning environment of online and in person, the pros and cons of each, what motivates people to learn, what 90 minute chunks of learning time are, the need to feel seen, evaluating skill sets, steps towards exploring a new career, our mindset, and the importance of self care.

She is so easy to talk to and a gem in the world of education, business, respect, yoga and organization.  I just love and respect her nature of continuous drive and aptitude of helping others.

Just a reminder that we did a podcast together in Season 1 that you can check out : Educational Landscape in the Changing World

And her website is done so well done, it will be fun to take a look around.

BIO:

Michelle is a COGNITIVE SOCIAL SCIENTIST:

Someone who understands how our mental structures relate to our attitudes and actions. She has helped individuals, institutions and organizations optimize their performance through the design and delivery of cutting-edge skill systems that leverage technology to build compassion, connection and community.

​

She has worked as an educational consultant for over 10 years and across 4 continents, and 1 fact remains the same:

EDUCATION IS THE KEY to cultivating sustainable results.

Website:

https://www.michellesengara.com

Instagram:

@michellesengara