Yoga Inspiration

What does it mean to be a lifelong practitioner of yoga?

If you're a new student of yoga, meeting these seasoned and talented yoga practitioners is so intimidating. Especially if you have that feeling of unworthiness. Maybe you found yoga on Instagram or YouTube and you see other yogis and their gurus, and suddenly you think to yourself - "wow, maybe I'm not a real yoga student?"

But there is nothing further from the truth.

On this episode of The Yoga Inspiration Podcast, Susanna Barkataki is helping us explore the ins and outs of the new yoga student's spiritual journey. Susanna grew up with the folk knowledge of yoga in the backdrop of her life, but growing up with mixed heritage in the United States meant that she never fully realized yoga's teachings until she accepted them for herself later on in life.

Susanna wanted to reclaim the wholeness of who she was, to absorb every element of each of her ancestral cultures, and to bring this myriad of experience to her yoga practice. There are alternative yoga lineages that are evolving with our modern way of life, and Susanna is here to tell yoga students of all levels that we can still honor the roots of yoga without having to re-invent the spiritual path.

So many new yoga students experience a backlash of what many call a "cultural appropriation of yoga". We may feel as if we are stepping on the toes of an ancient and established spiritual journey, and this can make us feel unworthy or embarrassed of our own attempts at poses and spiritual reflection. On the other hand, it might inspire some yoga students to create their own version of yoga, one that's better suited for them.

Susanna says that isn't necessary. We discuss the differences between cultural appropriation and a true cultural appreciation, one that accepts the traditional teachings of yoga but also embraces the evolution yoga students everywhere are currently experiencing, and how new students can find teachers that truly meet their needs.

The guru-shishya, or student-teacher relationship in yoga, is a key aspect of your yoga journey. But finding a mentor isn't easy, especially for Westerners who have a hard time battling the ego, both in themselves and in the culture that defines most North Americans today. Susanna shares her experience with yoga teachers both in the West and in India, and her biggest advice for new students today is to find a teacher that supports your vulnerability as a new student and helps you cultivate that better version of yourself that you're seeking.

In this modern age, especially with COVID-19 keeping all of us in our homes, yoga is more accessible than ever. No matter where you're starting your yoga journey - be it online or with a guru - there's no reason for new students to feel unworthy of the practice. As Susanna says, we are all within a web of knowledge, and we are each contributing to this knowledge as we explore our own yoga journeys together.

If you're a practicing yoga student - no matter where you are on your journey - I want to hear about it. Please share a bit of your yoga journey with me and my listeners. Send an email at [email protected] and tell me - what does yoga mean to you? You could be invited to guest spot on The Yoga Inspiration Podcast with Kino MacGregor!

Stay connected: @kinoyoga and @omstarsofficial View my teaching schedule, blogs, etc on Kinoyoga.com Get your free 30 day membership on Omstars.com& use code: PODCAST

It's so important to understand that we all come to yoga with different perspectives. I'm blessed to travel the world and teach yoga classes to people of all cultures and backgrounds, and guess what I've learned?

I learned that yoga is a universal language that transcends any cultural differences we might have.

On this episode of The Yoga Inspiration, you will hear how one yoga student's journey inspired him to connect with one of the most inclusive communities in fitness - the yoga community.

Skye is a local yoga student here with me in Miami. In fact, he's the student model I'm using for my new book and video series Get Your Yoga On. Working together with Skye, we're taking 30 traditional yoga positions and making them accessible for yoga students of all strengths and ages.

Skye hasn't been practicing yoga that long either. He started his yoga journey a little over two years ago when his brother inspired him to attend a yoga class, and his beginner's journey might sound a lot like yours. Skye wasn't intune with his breathing, he wasn't familiar with the positions, and he was intimidated by this community that looks so fit and enlightened.

Does that sound familiar?

I know that when I started my own yoga journey, I felt many of these same things. Poses weren't at all accessible. There was no YouTube or Google that could quickly connect me with teachers or videos to help my at-home practice. I attended yoga classes almost every day and took home what my yoga teachers were telling me.

The relationship between a yoga student and their teacher is sacred, and Skye shares how his yoga teachers inspire him to continue getting on the mat and practicing every day. One of the most important things his yoga teacher ever told him is - "yoga is a journey."

How does that resonate with you?

As a yoga teacher, I feel that it's so important to find yoga students who are on similar yoga journeys. I love working with yogis who are intimidated by the practice at first but learn to overcome that fear and embrace the yoga community as one of their own.

Because yoga isn't a privilege. Yoga is an inclusive and personal revolution for anyone that wants to make their world a happier, more peaceful place. That is why Skye inspired me to make him model for Get Your Yoga On and exactly why I invited him on this podcast to share his story. The yoga community can be an amazing source of inspiration when you find the courage to step into your first yoga class.

If you're a practicing yoga student, please share a bit of your yoga journey with me! Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me - what does yoga mean to you? You could be invited to guest spot on The Yoga Inspiration Podcast with Kino MacGregor!

Stay connected: @kinoyoga and @omstarsofficial View my teaching schedule, blogs, etc on Kinoyoga.com Get your free 30 day membership on Omstars.com& use code: PODCAST

If you're feeling anxious, please listen to this episode of The Yoga Inspiration Podcast. Yoga gives you the power to step outside of yourself and watch your emotions from a different perspective, and I hope to inspire you to find happiness again through a lesson in post-traumatic growth.

Yoga never promises to be an easy spiritual journey. The practice of yoga is a hard and arduous one, and it's the purpose of our yoga practice to prepare us for the cycle of suffering and growth we experience throughout our lives.

What we learn from our practice is that these states of suffering - and our states of happiness - aren't permanent.

But would you believe me if I told you there is a state of happiness within us that transcends the highs and lows of our daily lives?

I believe that this is what yoga practice is designed to do, and what I discuss in this episode. Yoga is physically challenging so that you can exercise your mental strength and learn to continue to see the happiness throughout this spiritual journey.

Suffering is essential. Yoga teaches us that. Otherwise these poses would be so much easier, don't you think! But it's through the struggles of our practice where we learn that this state of discomfort isn't permanent.

We also learn that the state of euphoric zen we feel after practice isn't permanent either, and learning to recognize this ever-changing cycle between our highest and lowest emotions is key to finding the untouchable happiness within us.

Trauma leaves scars, and it can manifest in bitterness, negativity, and stress. But there are ways to encourage post-traumatic growth by learning to prepare yourself for the overwhelming wave of negative emotions, experiencing them, and then letting them pass.

This is a habit that cannot be learned overnight, but it's important to realize that you deserve to experience happiness. Everyone needs a little inspiration to be happy sometimes, and it starts with being willing to let in joy, no matter how small. Let this episode be your inspiration for happiness today.

Please share some of the lessons you've learned on the yoga mat with me and my listeners. Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me - what does yoga mean to you? You could be invited to guest spot on The Yoga Inspiration Podcast with Kino MacGregor.

Stay connected: @kinoyoga and @omstarsofficial View my teaching schedule, blogs, etc on Kinoyoga.com Get your free 30 day membership on Omstars.com& use code: PODCAST

Thanks so much for sitting with me and sharing this space with me. Sharing my practice and my podcast with you is an opportunity for all of us to share and really feel our collective energies even if we aren't in the same room.

The non-local quality of consciousness is so important during times like these where we can't always be together or attend the yoga classes we're missing right now. I truly believe this connection and this anchoring of our energy through metta will positively impact our lives and the lives of those around us.

Can you feel it?

Emotion is one of the most powerful tools of vibration, and one of the hardest things to do in yoga practice is to carry this emotional vibration with us off the mat and into the real world. It can be difficult to maintain our vibrational integrity amidst the disturbing energies in the world around us.

How can we use our emotions to anchor our vibration?

That is the question I seek to answer in this episode of The Yoga Inspiration Podcast. We often think of thoughts and emotions as sort of a chicken and the egg paradox. Which comes first? Do our thoughts influence our emotions or vice-versa?

What I can say for sure is that emotions and thoughts definitely influence one another, but in this practice I challenge you to use your own memories to bring up emotions of happiness and vibrations of wholeness. I want you to anchor that vibration and carry it with you off of your yoga mat.

If your emotional reality is strong enough, then your thoughts will follow. In this sense, we can argue that emotions come first and have the power to inspire healthy thoughts of happiness and wholeness. You can take that power into your own hands and control your reality as best you can.

Rather than be a victim of your emotions, you can use them to fuel the power of a new space Even more, you can act as a harmonizing vibration for others around you. Your emotional vibration will be a positive one that others will feed off of and hopefully start recognizing in their own lives.

Please share some of the lessons you've learned on the yoga mat with me and my listeners. Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me - what does yoga mean to you? You could be invited to guest spot on The Yoga Inspiration Podcast with Kino MacGregor.

Stay connected: @kinoyoga and @omstarsofficial View my teaching schedule, blogs, etc on Kinoyoga.com Get your free 30 day membership on Omstars.com& use code: PODCAST

Your yoga journey brings a sense of balance in your life. The practice awakens the spirituality within us, and we carry that sense of transcendent knowledge with us on and off the yoga mat. For Edyn, from the Edyn Loves Life YouTube channel, she says that something special happens after that first savasana washes over us.

Edyn is my guest on this episode of the Yoga Inspiration Podcast. I'm in love with her YouTube channel, and I'm inspired by her pioneering sense of inclusivity within the yoga community. Although she didn't see many students like her in yoga class, she still felt the love and overwhelming stillness of the practice and used this to pursue her own yoga journey.

Yoga brings you closer to all of the things that are sacred to you, and Edyn found her yoga practice reconnected her with her spiritual roots and her relationship with God. It brought a divine balance to her life that led her to pursue more of it.

Unfortunately, yoga classes weren't always accommodating. It can be extremely frustrating when a modification is just a Child's Pose, but Edyn was resourceful. She found yoga on Instagram and learned how to use blocks and modify poses that made it possible to truly teach yoga at all levels.

She put her yoga journey on YouTube, and we discuss what it's like to start a channel from scratch. It's difficult to be your authentic self on social media, but Edyn offers advice to inspire all of the beginners out there to take that first step in front of the camera.

It's all a matter of getting comfortable with yourself in front of the camera, just like you have to get comfortable with yourself on the yoga mat.

Your yoga journey takes you on paths you never expect, and now that Edyn is a certified yoga teacher, she is working toward making yoga accessible to every human body. She is empowering yoga students to advance their practice in such a way that is inspiring other yoga teachers to find new ways to teach and reach students of all kinds.

We each share our experiences as yoga teachers in a world where we don't match the mainstream yoga stereotype. But there is no such thing as being "right" or "wrong" for the yoga practice. Yoga is going to be different for everyone, but yoga is for everyone. No matter who you are or where you are on your spiritual path, yoga can bring you the balance that you need.

I hope you're as inspired by Edyn's point of view as I am. Her yoga journey reminds me that yoga is a practice. It takes practice to be this strong and healthy in every way that we can be, and we're never going to be perfect. Our yoga poses aren't going to be the same every day, so there's no point to fitting yourself into the pose. Make the pose fit around you instead.

Please share some of the lessons you've learned on the yoga mat with me and my listeners. Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me - what does yoga mean to you? You could be invited to guest spot on The Yoga Inspiration Podcast with Kino MacGregor.

Stay connected: @kinoyoga and @omstarsofficial View my teaching schedule, blogs, etc on Kinoyoga.com Get your free 30 day membership on Omstars.com& use code: PODCAST

"There are some things that can't be rushed."

I'm sure you've heard your yoga teacher say that more than once, but it's true.

If yoga teaches us anything, it is that most things in life - the best things - take time. The accumulation of wisdom is one of those things. No matter your age, you bring your experience to your yoga mat with every practice. My guest today on The Yoga Inspiration Podcast is of this wiser generation whose inspiring life experiences are leading her on her own unique yoga journey.

"Where have you been all my life?" is what Smadar asked after her first yoga class. At 56 years old, she admits to being a little more than frightened of her first yoga practice.

Coming from a non-yoga world, Smadar is an accomplished pastry chef who owned and ran her own business for nearly a decade. She experienced a very tumultuous financial journey that ultimately led her to practice yoga, something she never considered before.

Smadar shares on this episode what it feels like to give up on one dream only to find another. Owning her own business was a dream she lived to fulfill and even managed to maintain amid the 2008 financial crisis. Maintaining her dream challenged her in ways she never imagined, but these experiences inspired her to realign her values.

When you almost lose everything, you're able to gain new insight into what truly matters to you and your happiness. It's a very interesting place to be.

Smadar discusses what it feels like to be in that space between loss and forgiveness. Giving up on a dream is not a sign of failure. In fact, "giving up" is the wrong way to describe it. Rather, one door closes so that Smadar could open another that leads to a new way of living, a new way of thinking, and a brand new way of being.

Smadar learned a valuable lesson at that first yoga class. She shares that lesson with us, and I hope it inspires you to get on your yoga mat today. I value wisdom and experience, and I truly believe that our yoga mats are a laboratory for our real lives. When you bring your personal experiences to your yoga practice as Smadar does, they can lead you on an inspiring journey of self-realization and self-acceptance that will stick with you long after yoga class is over.

If you're a practicing yoga student with an inspiring journey, please share a bit of your yoga journey with me and my listeners! Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me - what does yoga mean to you? You could be invited to guest spot on The Yoga Inspiration Podcast with Kino MacGregor!

Stay connected: @kinoyoga and @omstarsofficial View my teaching schedule, blogs, etc on Kinoyoga.com Get your free 30 day membership on Omstars.com& use code: PODCAST

So many yoga students I talk to start their yoga practice because of a romantic interest. And it's one of the best ways to share yoga, to be honest. To be inspired by friends and loved ones is the best fuel for the fire.

A passionate inspiration like that keeps you on the mat -- it might even inspire you to tell others about yoga! That's how it happened for my guest Tracy, and he's sharing what inspires him to come back to the yoga mat even as relationships evolve and fade.

Tracy, like so many yoga beginners, thought that yoga "just wasn't for him". This isn't a negative thought, but it does exclude you from a holistic practice that is meant for anyone and everyone. But Tracy just didn't get it at first. He wanted a space where he could let go of all the negative things, but he mistakenly went looking for it in the intensity of sports and cardio workouts.

Does this sound similar to your first yoga experience?

Many new yoga students can have trouble connecting with the practice at first. We're inside of our heads too much and it's very hard to get back into our bodies and reset our minds.

Making this mind-body-breathing connection is key to yoga practice but not exactly easy to do. Each student of yoga will make this connection in their own way on their yoga journey, and Tracy shares advice for yoga beginners struggling like he was.

Inspiration can strike in the strangest of places. Tracy walked into his first yoga class because he was inspired by a girlfriend, but he found ashtanga yoga - his true yoga journey - when he found the infamous Six Americans Video [link?] online. Once the seed of yoga is planted, it can start to bloom slowly, waiting on the right moment of inspiration to strike and lead you back to the yoga mat.

Whatever inspires you to get on your mat, I hope you carry it with you through your everyday life. Tracy discusses what he learns about himself every day on the mat and why it's so important to carry these lessons with us.

My favorite lesson Tracy talks about is active listening. Hearing the poses from your yoga teacher is one thing, but actively listening to your friends and loved ones out in the real world is one great takeaway yoga practice can give you. I know it's helped me so much when it comes to being a yoga teacher.

I might teach yoga students, but I'm also listening to students of yoga. I'm blessed to be able to teach yoga students across the globe with my podcast and videos, and I want you to know that I hear you and I'm listening to your inspiring stories, questions, and lessons about your own yoga journeys. Your inspiration and Tracy's inspiration is what keeps me inspired and reminds me that we're all on this amazing journey together.

If you want to share your yoga journey with me, I would love to hear it! Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me - what does yoga mean to you? You could be invited to guest spot on The Yoga Inspiration Podcast with Kino MacGregor!

Stay connected: @kinoyoga and @omstarsofficial View my teaching schedule, blogs, etc on Kinoyoga.com Get your free 30 day membership on Omstars.com& use code: PODCAST

It only takes a few moments to break out of this pattern of craving and clinging we find ourselves trapped in. This metta meditation will bring you a few moments of mindfulness to achieve this.

Sit with me now in a comfortable position or lay down, but don't get so comfortable you fall asleep!

Because this metta practice is important. We're going to tap into the three points of mindfulness I discussed in my earlier podcast, but I'm also discussing the two levels of your mind that make practicing metta possible.

The two levels of your mind are the conscious mind, where we are aware of our thoughts and our feelings, and the subconscious mind, where our habits and the patterns of our thoughts are manifested.

During this meditation I will ask you to bring your consciousness within yourself so that you may tap into this subconscious part of your mind and consider the habits that are forming there.

Your subconscious mind has this sticky habit of ruminating on the same thoughts over and over again. More often than not, these thoughts are negative and worrisome. This energy carries into your conscious mind and into your daily actions. The practice of metta is an active re-training of your mind's pattern so that you can overcome these negative samskaras and learn to focus on forgiveness, peace, and happiness.

Metta is a vibration of compassion. Yes, it's hard to truly love ourselves, but the foundation of all love starts with self-love. Loving yourself makes it possible to reciprocate and share this love with others and the world around you.

As you listen and share your practice with me, I will ask you to bring your attention to your heart. You may feel your heartbeat inside of you, but it's more than just this internal feeling. I want you to feel that energy both within yourself and the vibration of it outside of your body at the level of your heart.

Can you feel the love?

There is goodness within you, and I encourage you to take this time now to be grateful for it and celebrate it. Forgive yourself of any shortcomings and accept yourself for who you are, even with all the mistakes you may have made today.

Tapping into this level of self-love takes you deeper within yourself and even closer to your true self, the self that is free from the judgmental eye of the ego. Moving towards a complete acceptance of yourself will elevate your consciousness, which makes the practice of metta possible.

When you're ready to anchor your awareness in your heart's center, please tune in and start your metta practice with me.

If you would like to share what you've learned from the metta practice, or any other lessons you've learned on the yoga mat with me and my listeners, send me an email at [email protected] and tell me - what does yoga mean to you? You could be invited to guest spot on The Yoga Inspiration Podcast with Kino MacGregor.

Stay connected: @kinoyoga and @omstarsofficial View my teaching schedule, blogs, etc on Kinoyoga.com Get your free 30 day membership on Omstars.com& use code: PODCAST

Find a comfortable spot and grab a comfy blanket if you need, because this episode of Yoga Inspiration is a metta meditation practice designed to help you cultivate love, peace, and kindness, both within yourself and in the energy around you.

I hear too often from my yoga students and other yogis out in the world that they are intimidated by metta practice. How can we be intimidated by this loving, warm, and kind energy? Because life is hard, and living as a human being is very overwhelming. We can end up feeling caught up in the negativity and just stuck in it.

How can we be worthy of cultivating metta with all this anger and ugly feelings?

You ARE worthy. Love cannot exist without the balance of its opposite, more angry energy. Your shadow side makes you whole, and embracing your shadow self is a major part of this metta practice.

For me, I woke up in a yucky mood after not getting a good night's sleep. I'm starting today's meditation with very negative emotions from the tiredness and frustration of fitful sleep. That doesn't mean I'm not worthy of the loving energy I'm about to share with you.

You aren't being fair to yourself if you're denying yourself this practice simply because you feel mad, hurt, or anxious. If you feel that way, it's even more reason to sit here with me today and join this metta meditation.

Every being sitting here will be a part of this vibration in our hearts. You will feel a palpable increase of energy as all of us connect, and listen, and meditate on our metta practice. Whatever you're feeling today, I want you to sit with it and take these few minutes to redirect your attention inward and into your heart space.

In our metta meditation, we will be focusing on the three points of mindfulness so that you may anchor an awareness of yourself. It will help to relieve some of these negative emotions we're carrying with us.

These three points of mindfulness cultivate a seat of equanimity with us that stops us from passing judgment on ourselves or our thoughts. Take a moment to read over these before you start this meditation so that you can prepare yourself to let go of the ego and truly embrace the path of metta:

1. First, become aware of your breath.
2. Second, become aware of your body.
3. Third, notice the quality of your thoughts and your emotions.

I will be going more in-depth with our mindfulness as we meditate, but this is just the beginning of what is a lifelong practice designed to train the mind to operate beyond the ego and beyond the material. No matter how you're feeling today, this metta meditation practice will help you embrace and overcome the ego and its negative emotions.

Please share some of the lessons you've learned on the yoga mat with me and my listeners. Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me - what does yoga mean to you? You could be invited to guest spot on The Yoga Inspiration Podcast with Kino MacGregor.

Stay connected: @kinoyoga and @omstarsofficial View my teaching schedule, blogs, etc on Kinoyoga.com Get your free 30 day membership on Omstars.com& use code: PODCAST

We practice yoga to heal. We practice yoga to make ourselves stronger - physically, mentally, and spiritually. I know that I first came to the yoga mat in search of something that would make me a better person. So it can be very hard for a yoga student to process the all-too-true reality that yoga is not the perfect path we intend it to be. We practice yoga to be resilient, to be enlightened, and to be kinder to ourselves and to others - yet we don't always see those same practices in the larger yoga community. The lack of diversity that I am seeing in the Ashtanga yoga community is a blatant example of the cognitive dissonance each yoga student experiences between their practice and the world we live in off of the mat. Yoga guru Wambui Njuguna-Räisänenin joins me on this episode of The Yoga Inspiration Podcast to explain more of what this cognitive dissonance looks and feels like. Wambui found Ashtanga yoga at a low point in her life, and the practice turned out to be exactly what she needed to heal herself and her past. But there are still parts of her that she had to keep hidden. Key experiences that are unique to black women and other POC yoga students that they cannot share with the yoga community as a whole. We discuss the issues of abuse and discrimination we are seeing in the Ashtanga community and why it's causing many yoga students to question the yoga practice. Unfortunately, when you don't see people that look like you in your yoga classes, it's hard to find the kind of support you need. It can be even harder to approach a yoga teacher or come back to a second class when you don't see yourself in the community. When did Ashtanga yoga, a practice that is so beneficial, become so oppressive in the same breath? These are the types of questions we need to be asking ourselves and one another. Wambui is fearless in the way she speaks and the questions she asks, and I'm excited to bring that energy to my podcast. Wambui wants each yoga student to ask themselves - who am I learning from? What is the social location of this person? What is the socio-cultural location of the community that these people belong to? Simply being aware of your space in the yoga community can help you start the conversation and keep the conversation going for as long as we need to make a significant change. Right now, there is no space for POC in the yoga community, and it's our job as yoga students and yoga teachers to engage with this fact and be critical about it. "If we talked about it enough, it wouldn't keep coming up," Wambui says, so start talking about it. Pay attention and take what you learn on your yoga mat into the real world. Because it's time to start fixing the structural level of this system that allows the yoga community to exist within this cognitive dissonance. What are some of the lessons you've learned on your spiritual path? Please share some of what you've learned with me and my listeners. Send me an email at [email protected]and tell me - what does yoga mean to you? You could be invited to guest spot on The Yoga Inspiration Podcast with Kino MacGregor! Connect with Wambui: wambunjuguna.com @wellnesswithwambui Stay connected: @kinoyoga and @omstarsofficial View my teaching schedule, blogs, etc on Kinoyoga.com Get your free 30 day membership on Omstars.com& use code: PODCAST