In yoga culture, teachers are often placed up on pedestals, creating an unequal power dynamic. So, what happens when teachers get down from the pedestal and learn alongside the student? When teaching is approached as a practice, a collaborative and intuitive relationship with the student can be formed and opportunities for growth discovered.  

Join Jivana Heyman and this episode’s guest, Michelle Cassandra Johnson, as they unravel the intricate layers of teaching yoga as a practice. Together they reflect on the role of wonder and curiosity in teaching, self-trust, and the value of sharing the sacred practice in community.

Topics include:

Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website.

Connect with Jivana:

www.jivanaheyman.com |  @jivanaheyman   |  facebook.com/jivanaheyman

Michelle Cassandra Johnson (she/her) is an author, activist, spiritual teacher and practitioner, racial equity consultant and trainer, and intuitive healer. Michelle teaches workshops and immersions and leads retreats and transformative experiences nationwide the focus on exploring embodied approaches to racial equity work, creating ritual in justice spaces, our divine connection with nature and Spirit, and how we as a culture can heal. Michelle is the author of Skill in Action, Finding Refuge, We Heal Together, published by Shambhala Publications, and A Space For Us, published by Beacon Press.

Connect with Michelle:

www.michellecjohnson.com |  @skillinaction

“Yoga is a destruction process. It's taking away all that stuff that we've picked up, and we thought is us and that we've just hung on to, and it's dismantling that.”  – Shanna Small

Society teaches us to seek external validation to feel complete. Yoga teaches us that we are already whole, full and complete. Through yoga, we can dismantle false beliefs and recognize the connection between suffering and the stories we create in our minds.

Join Jivana and podcast guest, Shanna Small, as they reflect on overcoming societal conditioning and trusting one's innate wholeness through yoga philosophy, beyond the eight limbs of yoga.

Topics include: 

Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website.

Connect with Jivana:

www.jivanaheyman.com |  @jivanaheyman   |  facebook.com/jivanaheyman

Shanna Small (she/her) is a writer and yoga teacher who speaks to the intersectionality of yoga and social justice.  She has practiced Ashtanga yoga and studied the Yoga Sutras since 2001. Shanna finds joy in making yoga accessible for all. She is a contributor for Yoga International, OmStars, OmPractice and Embodied Philosophy. You can also find her online at Shanna Small Yoga. Shanna teaches trainings and workshops on diversity and inclusivity, the Yoga Sutras, and accessibility. She is a founding member of Yoga For Recovery Foundation, a non-profit that helps those recovering from addiction, trauma, and systemic oppression.

Connect with Shanna:

shannasmallyoga.com |  @shannasmallofficial

Teaching yoga is a great privilege and responsibility! With an ethical approach that includes compassion, respect, boundaries, and clarity, yoga teachers can honor the gift of yoga, exemplify the yoga teachings, and share their best selves with the world. 

In this podcast episode, Jivana and guest Judith Hanson Lasater talk about guidelines for ethical teaching, creating a relationship with students that recognizes their agency, and the interconnectedness of personal practice and life.

Topics include:

Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website.

Connect with Jivana:

www.jivanaheyman.com |  @jivanaheyman   |  facebook.com/jivanaheyman

Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., PT, has taught yoga since 1971 in almost every state of the U.S. as well as on six continents. She is a founder of Yoga Journal magazine and the author of 11 books on yoga, the latest of which is Teaching Yoga with Intention (Shambhala, 2022).

Connect with Judith:

www.judithhansonlasater.com |  @judithlasater

What is the purpose of a yoga practice? This simple, but powerful inquiry, can help take us to the essence of yoga. When we go beyond technique and approach yoga as a philosophy, we honor this ancient tradition and form a deeper understanding of our practice as a purposeful act. 

Join Jivana and this episode’s guest, Indu Arora, as they delve into the delicate balance between tradition and innovation and inspire practitioners and teachers to approach yoga with sincerity and self-inquiry.

Topics Include:

Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website.

Connect with Jivana:

www.jivanaheyman.com |  @jivanaheyman   |  facebook.com/jivanaheyman

Indu Arora (she/her) is a Yoga and Ayurveda teacher, mentor, and author, based in the U.S.. Indu has been sharing about Yoga philosophy, yoga therapy, and ayurveda for the past two decades worldwide. She is inspired by and taught Kriya Yoga, Himalayan Yoga, Kashmir Shiavism, and Sivananda Yoga lineages. She has studied in a traditional Guru-Shishya parampara setting. Her core philosophy is “Yoga is a work-in and not a work-out.” She is the author of Mudra: The Sacred Secret (2015), Yoga: Ancient Heritage, Tomorrow’s Vision (2005, 2019), and SOMA: 100 Heritage Recipes for Self-Care (e-book, 2020; updated hard copy, 2022).

Connect with Indu:

www.yogsadhna.com |  @induaroraofficial  |  facebook.com/InduAroraOfficial

In the early days of yoga, a student had to study for decades before becoming a teacher. Today, a person can become a yoga teacher with little time and experience. So how can teachers gain deep experience to be inclusive and authentic in their teaching? 

In this podcast episode, Jivana talks with Anjali Rao, who wrote the foreword for The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga. Anjali talks about what it means to be a yoga teacher and growing as a teacher through ongoing practice and study. Topics include:

Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website.

Connect with Jivana:

www.jivanaheyman.com |  @jivanaheyman   |  facebook.com/jivanaheyman

Anjali Rao (she/her) is a yoga practitioner-educator offering a multidisciplinary approach to sharing the teachings of yoga, integrating history, storytelling and art. She is a cancer survivor, and Indian American immigrant. She serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the Accessible Yoga Association and the host of The Love of Yoga Podcast. 

Connect with Anjali:

www.yoganjali.me |  @yoganjali

Our culture presents yoga as primarily a physical practice for flexible, thin, white bodies — and that couldn’t be further from the truth. Yoga is for everyone, and yoga teachers are truly on the front lines of a major trans­formation in the world. Yoga instructors hold in their hands the tools to change lives, and in turn, entire communities. 

The potential is really awe-inspiring. The question is: How are yoga teachers wielding that power? And how can they show up in a way that lifts people up and shows them their own beauty and potential? 

Join Jivana Heyman for an introduction to this limited podcast series and to his book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga. Topics include:

Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website.

Connect with Jivana:

www.jivanaheyman.com |  @jivanaheyman   |  facebook.com/jivanaheyman

Jivana wraps Season 1 of the Yoga Revolution Podcast by reflecting on the writing, publishing, and promotional process he’s experienced over the past couple years. He shares about his history and experiences with both activism and yoga, including his first introduction to the practice (his grandmother), and how his connection to the practice has grown and changed throughout life. He also hints at some exciting offerings and happenings coming soon, including upcoming book clubs and forthcoming books, as well as where you can follow along with his work. Find the links below. Finally, Jivana reads a few sections from Yoga Revolution and offers suggestions for how to live our yoga practice authentically and connect our spiritual nature with our varied human experiences.

Learn more about Yoga Revolution by Jivana Heyman.

Order your copy of Yoga Revolution at Shambala, or wherever books are sold. 

Also by Jivana Heyman:
Accessible Yoga: Poses & Practices for Every Body (2019, Shambala)
The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga: Best Practices for Sharing Yoga with Every Body (2024)


Connect with Jivana:
www.jivanaheyman.com
@jivanaheyman
facebook.com/jivanaheyman
www.accessibleyogaschool.com
@accessibleyogaschool
facebook.com/accessibleyogaschool

As this season of the Yoga Revolution Podcast comes to a close, Jivana chats with Beth Frankl, the editor of his two books, Accessible Yoga andYoga Revolution, the book that inspired this podcast.

Beth is an Executive Editor at Shambhala Publications, where she has worked for more than 23 years. She and Jivana discuss the book writing and publishing process, including where and how to begin, and how to compare publishing models (e.g. self-publishing v. working with a traditional publishing company). Beth also shares about some of the inspiring teachers, thought leaders, and authors she has worked with over the years and how the book writing process can be reflective, therapeutic, and, at times, quite challenging. The two reflect on the beauty of the writer-publisher relationship and how it's a form of collaboration and spiritual practice over both the short- and long-term.

Learn more about Shambhala Publications.

Learn more about Yoga Revolution by Jivana Heyman.

Order your copy of Yoga Revolution at Shambala, or wherever books are sold. 

Also by Jivana Heyman:
Accessible Yoga: Poses & Practices for Every Body (2019, Shambala)
The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga: Best Practices for Sharing Yoga with Every Body (2024)


Connect with Jivana:
www.jivanaheyman.com
@jivanaheyman
facebook.com/jivanaheyman
www.accessibleyogaschool.com
@accessibleyogaschool
facebook.com/accessibleyogaschool

This week M Camellia joins Jivana to take a deep dive into how we can challenge the norms and “rules” of Westernized yoga culture and co-create a culture that focuses on collective, rather than just individual, liberation.

M Camellia (they/them) is a fat, queer, non-binary, neuro-emergent yoga teacher, writer, and advocate, called to create profoundly accessible spaces for self-inquiry. They believe that the goal of yoga is collective liberation and challenge contemporary yoga practitioners to dismantle the systems and beliefs that hold us all back. M is a co-founder of the Trans Yoga Project and serves on the staff of Accessible Yoga, among other roles within the realm of yoga service. Their teaching and writing often center Queer and Trans* identity, consent and agency, fat liberation, and disability justice in relation to yoga philosophy and practice, and they serve as a mentor for other yoga teachers and practitioners desiring to deepen their understanding of accessibility, trauma, and yoga as social justice.

On this episode, M offers profound and heartfelt insight into what it means to invite agency and exploration into yoga spaces, the importance of learning when and how to say “no” and “yes” on and off the mat, and consent and power dynamics in yoga. They also provide specific examples of how to do this as yoga teachers and practitioners.

Learn more about M and their offerings.
Follow M on Instagram.
Follow the Trans Futures Collective (previously the Trans Yoga Project) on Instagram.

Learn more about Yoga Revolution by Jivana Heyman.

Order your copy of Yoga Revolution at Shambala, or wherever books are sold. 

Also by Jivana Heyman:
Accessible Yoga: Poses & Practices for Every Body (2019, Shambala)
The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga: Best Practices for Sharing Yoga with Every Body (2024)


Connect with Jivana:
www.jivanaheyman.com
@jivanaheyman
facebook.com/jivanaheyman
www.accessibleyogaschool.com
@accessibleyogaschool
facebook.com/accessibleyogaschool

This week’s guest, Octavia Raheem, teaches us to slow down, prioritize rest, and honor our varied human experiences.

Octavia is a mother, author of "Gather," yoga teacher, and founder of Starshine & Clay Online Yoga and Meditation Studio for Black Women and Women of Color. A deep listener and truth teller, Octavia is a gatherer and space holder for rest and awakening. As a teacher and leader she has the skill of hearing beneath the surface for what isn’t being said, yet needs to. Octavia has more than 15 years of experience and nearly 10,000 hours of leading classes, immersions, and trainings. She guides us toward resonance and connection even when the truths we witness, hear, and encounter vary from our own. Her conversation with Jivana touches on how these truths arise in today’s world, as well as what it means to practice activism as a form of yoga, the importance of mindful space holding and compassionate language, and how simply being is perhaps the most important practice of all.  

Order Octavia's book "Pause, Rest, Be" (Feb 2022).
Learn more about Octavia.
Follow Octavia's inspirational Instagram.

Learn more about Yoga Revolution by Jivana Heyman.

Order your copy of Yoga Revolution at Shambala, or wherever books are sold. 

Also by Jivana Heyman:
Accessible Yoga: Poses & Practices for Every Body (2019, Shambala)
The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga: Best Practices for Sharing Yoga with Every Body (2024)


Connect with Jivana:
www.jivanaheyman.com
@jivanaheyman
facebook.com/jivanaheyman
www.accessibleyogaschool.com
@accessibleyogaschool
facebook.com/accessibleyogaschool