The Flow Artists Podcast by Garden of Yoga

Cora Geroux is a yoga teacher, former studio owner, and the host of the Teaching Yoga podcast.

Cora originally hails from Canada and is now based in Sydney, Australia. Cora has been teaching yoga & leading yoga teacher trainings since 2009. Before which, she obtained a BA in psychology from Simon Fraser University. Cora was also the co-owner of two small yoga studios for 3 years, before she left to create her current business that truly aligned with her values of integrity, inclusivity and accessibility.

In this episode, we learn about how Cora discovered yoga and what lead her to become a yoga teacher.

We also speak about her work now, mentoring teachers and producing her podcast.

We have an important discussion about issues in the yoga industry that devalue teachers and also create challenges for studio owners. We also speak about how the advent of COVID-19 has changed the landscape of the yoga industry.

Links

Website: https://www.corageroux.com/

Teachers club: https://www.corageroux.com/theteachersclub

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

This episode is sponsored by Yoga Australia:

https://www.yogaaustralia.org.au/

https://www.instagram.com/yogaaustralia/

The opinions expressed in this podcast do not reflect the view and opinions of the sponsor.

Jordan Ashley is a yoga teacher and the founder of Souljourn Yoga. Souljourn Yoga Foundation is a non-profit that raises awareness and funds for girls education in lesser economically developed countries by teaming up with both local and international non-profits. They have hosted retreats in Rwanda, Morocco, Peru and more. Souljourn co-designs retreats with their partner organizations on the ground by weaving in local practices of tradition, meditation, and movement so that it's a culturally contextual experience of equality, not hierarchy.

In this episode, we hear about Jordan's childhood growing up in Southern California and how she discovered yoga with her mother. We also hear about her career in journalism and how that informs her worldview today. We learn about the goals and philosophy of Souljourn Yoga and get some insights into running global retreats and working closely with local communities. Finally, we discuss how COVID-19 has affected her life and the Souljourn Yoga project.

Links

Souljourn Yoga: http://www.souljournyoga.com/

Jordan's TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLXAxOnJs2A

This episode is sponsored by Yoga Australia:

https://www.yogaaustralia.org.au/

https://www.instagram.com/yogaaustralia/

The opinions expressed in this podcast do not reflect the view and opinions of the sponsor.

Cate Peterson is a yoga teacher, activist and the driving force behind LovEarth, YogaHive and Get Off Your Asana.

Cate has done a lot of work around building relationships between the yoga community and the Aboriginal community in Australia, helping with projects such as Yoga on Country and the Reciprocity Action Plan group in collaboration with Yoga Australia.

In this episode, we hear how Cate discovered yoga, how she became involved in activism and community work. We talk about how yoga and social justice are inextricably linked, and how Cate practices self-care while juggling all of these different projects.

Links

LovEarth: www.lovearth.com.au

How and where to drop off mats: https://www.lovearth.com.au/donationprogram

IF you are in Melbourne: Enviroshop phone number: 03 8395 3030. EnviroShop: 253 High St, Northcote.

Join YogaHive ! https://www.yogahive.com.au/new_studio_requests/new

Join Get Off Your Asana https://www.getoffyourasana.com.au/

Yoga on Country https://www.facebook.com/Yoga-on-Country-108921913921514/

Reciprocity Action Plan: https://www.yogaaustralia.org.au/about-us/reciprocity-action-plan/

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/534220424045146/?source_id=210164949003832

This episode is sponsored by Yoga Australia:

https://www.yogaaustralia.org.au/

https://www.instagram.com/yogaaustralia/

The opinions expressed in this podcast do not reflect the view and opinions of the sponsor.

We've been seeing all sorts of conspiracy theories posted online lately - from 5g causing coronavirus, to the Plandemic film and more. So we decided to have a chat with Matthew Remski. Matthew Remski is a yoga teacher, a writer and an activist. He has written extensively about cult dynamics in yoga, but recently he has turned his attention to the huge amount of conspiracy discourse that has been spread on Social Media lately.

As well as learning about some of the factors that feed into conspiracy discourse, we get Matthew's point of view on the future of the yoga industry post COVID-19.

Links:

Matthew's Website: http://matthewremski.com/

Article about Qanon: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-nothing-can-stop-what-is-coming/610567/

Conversation between Barbara Cecil & Dahr Jamail: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/last-born-in-the-wilderness-2/e/64642058

Earthrise Podcast conversation with Derek Beres, Julian Walker & Matthew Remski: https://www.earthrisepodcast.com/health/87-conspiracy-theories-cult-dynamics-with-matthew-remski-and-julian-walker/

This episode is sponsored by Yoga Australia:

https://www.yogaaustralia.org.au/

https://www.instagram.com/yogaaustralia/

The opinions expressed in this podcast do not reflect the view and opinions of the sponsor.

Ria Tirazona is a yoga facilitator/education and licensed Psychologist from Manila. She manages a branch of a local yoga studio brand, YogaPlus.

As a self-confessed emotional eater, Ria struggled with weight issues for most of her life. Through yoga, she found that she deserved to celebrate her body and treat herself with love and compassion. This is what she wants everyone to also discover. Her passion as a yoga facilitator and therapist is to support and empower others in discovering their personal path to wellness through trauma-informed, accessible, mental health aware practices such as yoga, meditation and mindfulness. She likewise wants to let people know that indeed, yoga is for EVERY BODY.

Ria draws from her clinical psychology training in working with beginners, the older and less active students, and people with injuries, chronic illnesses, and weight, emotional or mental health concerns. Her nurturing yet playful classes are relaxing yet surprisingly challenging. She emphasizes building strength and functionality in movement while harnessing softness in the body and mind.

In this episode, we learn about Ria's background growing up in Manila and what drew her to yoga. We learn about the yoga scene in the Philippines and how it has been affected by COVID-19. Ria fills us in on some of the economic realities of life in Manila and we also learn about how The Philippines has the highest social media engagement in the world!

We also talk about how social isolation may lead to emotional eating, toxic productivity and toxic positivity.

Links

Ria's website: https://yogaplus.ph/

Ria's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biggerbodyyogaph/

Nurturing Yoga and Pilates Video Course: https://www.gardenofyoga.com.au/learn/nurturing-yoga-and-pilates/

This episode is sponsored by Yoga Australia:

https://www.yogaaustralia.org.au/

https://www.instagram.com/yogaaustralia/

The opinions expressed in this podcast do not reflect the view and opinions of the sponsor.

Kelly DiNardo is a Yoga teacher, studio owner, podcaster, writer and author of the book Living The Sutras.

Living the Sutras is an accessible and fun guide to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The sutras contain teachings on how to deal with loss, pain, dissatisfaction, and alienation as well as providing guidance on how to cultivate joy and lead a healthy, happy, fulfilling life. We feel that they are more important than ever.

As well as learning about Kelly's background growing up in New York, we hear how she discovered yoga, how she became a writer and what inspired her to write Living the Sutras.

We also discuss Kelly's book 'Gilded Lili: Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique', a fascinating biography of burlesque performer Lili St. Cyr.

Links

Kelly's website: https://kellydinardo.com/

Living the Sutras: https://kellydinardo.com/books/living-the-sutras/

This episode is sponsored by Yoga Australia:

https://www.yogaaustralia.org.au/

https://www.instagram.com/yogaaustralia/

The opinions expressed in this podcast do not reflect the view and opinions of the sponsor.

In this episode, we speak to the amazing Aleisha Leonard about kirtan, yoga, trauma-informed practice and LGBTIQ+ Leadership.

A lot has changed since we originally spoke to Aleisha for the podcast, so we begin the episode with a quick check-in from her current residence in London.

We learn how Aleisha found a love of yoga despite initially finding it boring. We hear how she discovered kirtan and talk about the process of leading a sound meditation. We also learn about her participation in Victoria's LGBTIQ+ Leadership program and how she made lifelong friends during that time.

We also announce our Mentoring and support program - learn more about it here: https://www.gardenofyoga.com.au/learn/mentoring-and-support/

This episode is sponsored by Yoga Australia:

https://www.yogaaustralia.org.au/

https://www.instagram.com/yogaaustralia/

Links

Homesong's Website: https://www.homesong.love/

Homesong on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/homesong.love/

The opinions expressed in this podcast do not reflect the view and opinions of the sponsor.

In this episode we speak to Dr Gail Parker. Gail Parker is a psychologist and a certified yoga therapist. She is a nationally and internationally renowned media personality, educator, author, and thought leader.

 

Dr. Parker is the author of the upcoming book Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-Based Stress and Trauma, and current president of the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance (BYTA) Board of Directors. Her broad expertise in behavioural health and wellness includes forty years as a practising psychotherapist. We speak to her about how she weaves together knowledge from these different fields in her book, the parallels between her psychology practice and restorative yoga teaching, and how she appeared on the Oprah show seven times!

Dr. Parker is a lifelong practitioner of yoga and is well known for her pioneering efforts to blend psychology, yoga, and meditation as effective self-care strategies that can enhance emotional balance, and contribute to the overall health and well-being of practitioners.

This episode is sponsored by Yoga Australia:

https://www.yogaaustralia.org.au/

https://www.instagram.com/yogaaustralia/

Links

Gail's Website: https://www.drgailparker.com/

Gail's Book: https://www.drgailparker.com/book

The opinions expressed in this podcast do not reflect the view and opinions of the sponsor.

What is the first image that comes to mind when you think of aerial yoga? Is it a thin young woman, lithely moving about in an aerial hammock, maybe dangling upside down in some weird pretzel shape that barely resembles anything with the name yoga attached to it? Is it something more akin to a circus performance, with tricks and flips and a silk fabric digging into god knows where? To borrow a phrase from Morpheus of the matrix films, what if I were to tell you, that everything you know about aerial yoga is wrong? Well perhaps not wrong, but just not the full picture.

This is why we were so excited to speak with Renae Stevens for this episode. Renae is a senior yoga teacher with Yoga Australia, a certified yoga therapist and holds her master's degree in art therapy. In our opinion, she is the foremost aerial yoga teacher in Australia. She helped bring aerial yoga to Australia way back in 2011, being a senior trainer for antigravity - the organisation founded by Christopher Harrison.

This episode is sponsored by Yoga Australia:

https://www.yogaaustralia.org.au/

https://www.instagram.com/yogaaustralia/

Links

Aerial Yoga Workshop: Break Free from Your Chair: https://www.gardenofyoga.com.au/workshops/aerial-yoga-workshop/

Aerial Yoga Therapeutics Foundations Training: https://www.gardenofyoga.com.au/workshops/aerial-therapeutics/

Renae's website: https://www.creativebodyflow.com/aerial-therapeutics/

The opinions expressed in this podcast do not reflect the view and opinions of the sponsor.

In the second part of our two-part special on hands-on assists, we go a little bit deeper!

We hear how a trauma-informed context may change our approach to assists from Mei Lai Swan, then Amy Wheeler tells us about transference and countertransference and what role they might play when teaching yoga.

We learn how culture, race and gender can change perceptions around touch from Jesal Parikh, Gail Parker, Michelle Cassandra Johnson, Tim Seutter and Anu Fox.

Finally, we hear some conclusions from Leigh Blashki, Matthew Remski and Dominique Salerno.

While creating this episode we gathered over 4 hours of audio, which will be available on our Patreon page for free! For more details go to: https://www.patreon.com/flowartistspodcast

Links

Dominique Salerno: https://australianyogaacademy.com/

Leigh Blashki: https://www.yogaaustralia.org.au/yoga_user/leigh-blashki/

Matthew Remski: http://matthewremski.com/

Jesal Parikh: https://www.yogawallanyc.com/

Tim Seutter: https://yogafire.tv/

Michelle Cassandra Johnson: https://www.michellecjohnson.com/

Gail Parker: https://www.drgailparker.com/

Anu Fox: https://www.yogaaustralia.org.au/yoga_user/anu-fox/

Queer and Trans Yoga: https://www.facebook.com/queerandtransyoga/

You can hear part 1 at: https://podcast.flowartists.com/episodes/making-adjustments-pt-1/

Thanks to Danielle Lara Woolley for the cover photo: https://www.instagram.com/this.wild.soul/