0 to God: A Conversation with Joy Guru Dana Trixie Flynn

A few years ago, after a bunch of rugs had been pulled, I walked into Dana Trixie Flynn’s yoga class in the Flatiron district of New York City.  Off the street, through a weirdly corporate lobby, up an elevator, I opened a door with a neon pink Laughing Lotus sign to another world. Bright, playful, almost cartooney murals of gods and goddesses cover the walls of a long hallway into this kind of yoga Disneyland meets church. A huge yoga center by New York City standards that’s been going strong for 20 years, with 3 different studios, a huge teaching staff, a big free candy bowl of stick on bindees and rub-on gold tattoos. somehow, there’s always glitter stuck to your feet when you put your shoes on to leave. You know when Dana’s in the building because of her laugh, which of course she dropped as a sound check—a loud, over the top, invitation and welcome mat to let it all hang loose. There’s a lot of New Orleans in that laugh. More on that later. Her get up’s are as vivid and crazy as her tattoos, full sleeves and then some, there will always be extra leopard print, and probably a Laughing Lotus tee shirt tie dyed with the Dalai Lama or Janis Joplin in silhouette. Her hair a shock of whichever shade of the rainbow feels right, a lotus probably shaved into one side. The first words out of her mouth: Welcome, family. Dana’s one of the humans who makes New York, New York. So full of possibility, pride, play, She’s one of my joy gurus One of my goals in this podcast is to introduce you to them, teachers and leaders who are catalysts of transformation—humans who are creating communities and spaces of communal growth, whether brick and mortar, or digital, and daring to create funky family over a sterile business exchange, and stir soulful connections instead of envy or aspiration. Leaders whose mission is to inspire—which is another way of saying, to breathe together. Dana and I talk about her story and her work, which is basically just been various forms leading dance marathons. We talk a little bit about the history of yoga and its modern lineage, and I want right now to invite to stick around, especially if yoga’s not your thing, because it’s not really about yoga. Yoga’s not about yoga. It’s about everything. For me, yoga is any moment movement becomes a doorway to the heart. And that can mean the smallest movement—a shift of attention to a breath. One rep or step beyond what you thought possible. Ecstatic dance that spins you out of the old thought patterns. A moment of intentional stillness. Any moment we alter. Dana and I talk about yoga and jazz and sex and God and New York and spontaneity and discipline and creativity and community and New Orleans and resistance and rot and grace. We talk and weave in music, cause it’s our favorite short-cut to God. We talk about scavaging for joy. We talk about altering together. Welcome to the conversation with @DanaTrixieFlynn. Find episode resources, playlist, and show notes at: altertogether.com