The Flow Artists Podcast by Garden of Yoga

Ann Swanson is a yoga teacher, holds a Masters of Science in Yoga Therapy and is the author of the recently released book Science of Yoga. We were lucky enough to get an advance digital copy of the book and we loved it. It’s full of great information and beautiful illustrations, and it really marries together the worlds of science and yoga quite wonderfully. Rane genuinely wishes he had a copy of this book when he was doing his teacher training, and we ordered a physical copy once it was released. We can definitely recommend that you do the same.

In this conversation we learn about how Ann grew up the daughter of a NASA Scientist, but had an early love of art and illustration. We learn how Ann found her path of Yoga, how she came to specialise in yoga for arthritis, and her inspirations for writing the book. Finally, we hear how Ann's loves of art, science and yoga all combined to make writing and developing this book a wonderful experience.

Bio

Ann is a yoga therapist, mind-body science educator, and author of Science of Yoga. She is part heart-based healer and part science nerd. Ann supports people living in living happier, healthier lives by making wellness non-intimidating and accessible to everybody. With a Master of Science in yoga therapy and roots studying yoga in India and qi gong China, Ann uniquely applies cutting-edge research to mind-body practices while maintaining the heart of the traditions. She internationally speaks and teaches on the science supporting yoga’s benefits to both the public and yoga professionals. Ann trains yoga professionals in workshops on yoga anatomy, Yoga for Arthritis, and accessible yoga. In her private practice, Ann specializes in helping busy people worldwide relieve pain, manage stress, and find ease through one-on-one online yoga therapy online .

Specialties: Yoga for Arthritis + Chronic Pain Relief • Research Science Supporting Yoga • Neuroplasticity + Mindfulness • Accessible Yoga • Office Yoga

Links:

For more on Science of Yoga, including the book and courses: www.scienceof.yoga

Science of Yoga on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2ST9gJV

For free videos, including a relaxing meditation for pain relief, and more on one-on-one yoga therapy online with Ann: www.AnnSwansonWellness.com

Follow Science of Yoga on Instagram: bit.ly/instagramSOY

Follow Ann's Youtube Channel: bit.ly/youtubeann

Jo Tito is an artist, photographer, meditator and generally amazing person, and we're not just saying that because she is related to Rane!

Jo's work has a real sense of nature, Maori spirituality and groundedness which is why Jo and Rane have some of her photography in their studio Garden of Yoga.

In this episode, we learn about Jo's background growing up in rural New Zealand. We learn how she discovered meditation and how it informs her art and life. We learn how she found a global following while working on her Hand Painted Rocks project - painting a rock, photographing and writing every day for a year.

Jo has much wisdom and has been lucky enough to travel the world sharing her art and collaborating with other Indigenous artists.

Links:

Wondering Earth: http://wonderingearth.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wonderingearth/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ARTISTinNATURE/

Hand Painted Rocks: http://www.handpaintedrocks.com/

Hand Painted Rocks on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoTito/media_set?set=a.496280546552&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/JoTito/media_set?set=a.10150258314371553&type=3

Walking in Circles Project: http://walkingincircles.org/

Dhamma Medini Vipassana Meditation: http://medini.dhamma.org/

Anthony and Dominique Salerno are the individuals behind iconic Melbourne Yoga studio Australian Yoga Academy. We were very excited to catch up with them at their beautiful new studio in Prahran because Australian Yoga Academy is where Rane did his yoga teacher training, and he has many fond memories of taking classes with both of them.

Past guests of the podcast Karina Smith, Mark Pheely and Jo Buick all cite Anthony and Dominique as some of their key teachers and we estimate that AYA has trained hundreds of yoga teachers since they established their teacher training program in 2005, so they have been a huge influence on the Melbourne (and Australian) Yoga landscape.

We knew some of their story before speaking with them, but they really opened up and shared some fascinating aspects of their personal and professional history.

In this episode, they share some great advice about finding your voice as a Yoga teacher, the power of vulnerability and the importance of being an eternal student.

Links:

Australian Yoga Academy: https://australianyogaacademy.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/australianyogaacademy/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AustralianYogaAcademy/

Vote for us in The Australian Podcast Awards: https://auspodcastawards.awardsplatform.com/entry/vote/VWzRQJWw/EZgPLXPM?search=e6a9c8a02f345621-18

Gina Macauley is a Yoga teacher, a qualified yoga therapist, and the owner of YogaHara, a yoga studio based in Bendigo, Victoria. In this conversation, we learn about Gina’s background, how she discovered yoga and decided it was the path for her.

We see Gina's commitment and love of Yoga philosophy in the way that she runs her business and lives her life. She also has a lot of really practical suggestions and great ideas including how she has used Facebook live to create an at-home practice option for her students.

We also discuss Gina's Adrenal healing workshops. As we learn in this episode, modern life can be very taxing on the adrenal system, so the kriya practised in this workshop can be really valuable.

Links

Yoga Hara: http://www.yogahara.com.au/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/yogahara

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/yogaharabendigo

Jo and Rane's Annual Review: https://www.facebook.com/gardenofyoga/videos/529952310851907/

Suspended Sound: https://www.gardenofyoga.com.au/workshops/suspended-sound/

Beyond Asana with Kara-Leah Grant: https://www.gardenofyoga.com.au/workshops/beyond-asana-journey-awakening-tantra-yoga/

Claire Cunneen is a Sydney based Yoga and Pilates Teacher, a yoga therapist and has a Bachelors degree in Exercise Science. She also facilitates teacher trainings in LV Chair Yoga - the subject of this episode. Like us, Claire is passionate about making yoga more accessible, so we had a lot to talk about!

In this episode we learn about Claire's background growing up in Sydney, and how the classic TV show Aerobics Aus-style instilled a passion for exercise and fitness. We learn what drew her to yoga, and chair yoga in particular.

Claire tells us what Chair Yoga is, and why it's so important to be able to provide a style of yoga that is accessible for people of all body types and abilities. We also discuss some of the challenges and rewards that come from working with people who may be going through big changes in their bodies.

Finally, Claire tells us about her new Chair Yoga DVD that is available now!

We are also very excited to talk about an upcoming Chair Yoga Teacher Training hosted by Claire at our Studio Garden of Yoga!

Links

Claire's Website: https://www.getfitwhereyousit.com.au/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lvcyau/

Chair Yoga Teacher Training at Garden of Yoga: https://www.facebook.com/events/318214292104253/

Beyond Asana • The Journey of Awakening via Tantra Yoga with Kara-Leah Grant: https://www.facebook.com/events/319077415366688/

Claire and Jo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BroD1QRDf7Y/

Coco Nkrumah is a Meditation teacher, podcaster and the man behind Reality Based Mindfulness.

In this episode, we learn about Coco's background growing up in inner city Melbourne. We hear how he discovered meditation through martial arts and Qi Gong. We learn how Coco developed his reality-based style of teaching and practising meditation, and how he facilitates his sessions, both in the community and the corporate sector.

Coco also shares about his work as a volunteer live-in mentor for an at-risk youth program with Concern Australia.

Coco is of West African descent and is passionate about creating accessible spaces for people of colour to explore mindfulness and meditation. Jo and Rane both truly believe that practices such as yoga and meditation should be both welcoming and accessible to everyone, so we were really excited to talk to Coco and get his perspective on this and many other issues.

Links:

Reality Based Mindfulness: http://www.realitybasedmindfulness.com.au/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realitybasedmindfulness/

The Meditation Collective - A Safe space for people of colour - all welcome: https://www.artswellbeingcollective.com.au/events/the-meditation-collective/

Concern Australia: https://www.concernaustralia.org.au/

Reality Based Mindfulness on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/realitybasedmindfulness

Mei Lai Swan is a yoga teacher, musician, former social worker, and the creator of Yoga for Humankind, a Yoga School and Social Enterprise dedicated to bringing the benefits of yoga, mindfulness and movement therapies to communities all over the world.

Mei Lai is a wonderful teacher and an inspiration. Her work and how she lives her life provides a practical example of how the yoga philosophies taught in many yoga teacher trainings can be applied to life, so we were really excited to get the chance to speak with her while she was in Melbourne recently.

In this episode we learn about Mei Lai's background, growing up in inner-city Melbourne. We learn how she discovered yoga and meditation and how she moved into social work. We learn how a love of music developed into a powerful sharing of Nada Yoga and Kirtan.

Finally, we hear about Mei Lai's work with Aboriginal Communities and how this work has influenced her trauma-informed approach to Yoga.

Links:

Yoga for Humankind: https://yogaforhumankind.org/

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yogaforhumankind/

Mei Lai on Instagram: http://instagram.com/meilaiswanyoga

This episode is an interview with Simone Busija and Michelle Lykokapis. These are amazing individuals who are like Rane, living (and thriving) without stomachs. Michelle is an artist, a meditation teacher, and the main admin and creator of the Support Group for Partial and Total Gastrectomy on Facebook, a group with over 2000 members that helps support individuals and the families of individuals without stomachs. Simone is a Community and Corporate Fundraising Coordinator at Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation (where Rane received his treatment), a board member for No Stomach For Cancer, and organiser of the Melbourne No Stomach For Cancer walk, which is happening on November the 18th. This is a great cause to help raise funds for stomach cancer awareness, and as we will hear, some of the money even goes to local researchers. As we will also hear, stomach cancer is the 5th most common form of cancer, yet is the 3rd leading cause of death amongst cancer - this is mainly because it is not detected until too late, so we can really help the cause by raising awareness.

In this episode, we learn about Michelle's backgrounds, what they do to support others without stomachs, and why their stomachs were removed. We learn some misconceptions around cancer, and about living without a stomach. We also hear about No Stomach Cancer, the upcoming walk and what people can do to help.

This episode is very special for Rane as it marks 3 years since his stomach was removed via a Total Gastrectomy, just a few months after he was diagnosed with stomach cancer.

NOTE: There is some discussion on topics that some might find disturbing.

Links:

No Stomach for Cancer: https://www.nostomachforcancer.org/

No Stomach for Cancer Walk 2018: https://www.mycause.com.au/events/teamaustralianostomachforcancerwalk

Gastrectomy Connections: https://www.gastrectomyconnections.com/

Support Group for Partial and Total Gastrectomy: https://www.facebook.com/groups/supportgrouppartialtotalgastrectomy/

Family Ties: http://familyties.org.au/

Rane and Jo's Yoga For Digestive Ease workshop: https://www.facebook.com/events/746304519039860/

Paul Majewski is a Melbourne based meditation teacher, the director of Meditation Solutions, and the vice president of Meditation Australia, Australia’s peak body for meditation teachers. Paul has a long history of both practising and teaching meditation, having taught for well over 20 years.

In this episode, Jo and I speak with Paul and learn about his background growing up in Perth, Western Australia. We learn about how he was dissatisfied with the Christianity he was raised with and set on a path of learning about other religions. We hear about how Paul discovered Buddhism, and how meditation helped him with chronic health issues he was facing.

We discover how Pauls meditation practice evolved into teaching meditation and his approach to teaching meditation to others. Finally, we ask Paul many questions about Meditation and Mindfulness, including the multiple definitions of the word, and the potential for the confusion this may bring about.

Links:

Meditation Solutions: https://www.meditationsolutions.com.au/

Mental Health Awareness for Meditation Teachers:

https://www.facebook.com/events/518799945251766/

A Potential Answer to the question - "Is Enlightenment Real?" - https://www.facebook.com/BigThinkScience/videos/235803447099448/

Join the Flow Artists Podcast Community!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1698795386857843/

The podcast has been going for a whole year! We thought that was worthy of an anniversary episode, so here we are!

In this episode, we talk about the podcast, why we started it, and what we enjoy about making it. We also share some of the surprises and challenges that come from making it, and a few things that we have learned along the way. We share what goes into putting out the podcast and how it has changed the way we teach yoga!

Rane has been teaching for a few months now, so we learn how his teaching has evolved in the last year

We also hear from Jo her reasons for starting a home studio, how the podcast has influenced the direction of the studio, and Jo shares some advice on running your own Yoga space from home.

We would both like to sincerely thank all of our guests and our listeners for sticking around for they year. On to another!

Links:

Garden of Yoga Website: https://www.gardenofyoga.com.au/

Top Tips for Running a home studio: https://podcast.flowartists.com/news/top-tips-running-home-studio/

No Stomach for Cancer Fundraiser Class: https://www.facebook.com/events/746304519039860/

No Stomach for Cancer Walk Donation Page: https://www.mycause.com.au/page/178988/garden-of-yoga