Yoga Is Vegan

Alex Charmoz is an Emergency Medicine Doctor in Southern California. Finding yoga as a way to heal from an injury sustained while rock climbing, he has found guidance through the 8 limb path of Ashtanga Yoga. While not a certified yoga teacher, he finds space to introduce yoga into his daily life and work. The ability to connect with other human beings in a vulnerable state and work towards bettering their quality of life is a direct manifestation of Yogic philosophy. Approaching 3 years of eating a vegan diet, which he attributes to his lovely and compassionate wife Liliana, he has seen direct results in his physical and mental abilities, and the link between diet and disease. As he took a vow to "First do no harm" he has realized that this extends to all sentient beings as well as the environment. A vegan lifestyle is the key to bringing these concepts together and is the future of attaining a sustainable and healthy planet.

In this episode, Dr. Alex Charmoz returns for a second time to discuss with Yoga Is Vegan's Holly Skodis what we can all do to improve our immune system and make ourselves as healthy and strong as possible to get through this pandemic.

The following topics are discussed:

Alex Charmoz- The Vegan Yogi Doctor Episode 37
How to Survive a Pandemic by Michael Gregor, M.D. FACLM
Nutritionfacts.org
2009 Swine Flu
Dotsie Bausch's non-profit Switch4Good's commercial on NBC
Newsweek article Eating Foods like Bread and Pasta Linked to Lower Risk of Death
Strengthening our immune system with a whole food vegan diet
Probiotics. Dr. Alex Charmoz recommends Seed, Absorb Biotics, and Blue Biology
antioxidants
mushrooms
Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee
Healing Mushrooms: A Practical and Culinary Guide to Using Mushrooms for Whole Body Health by Tero Isokauppila
Barukas Nuts
Sacha Inchi Protein Powder
Sprouting- great supplies and seeds can be found at sproutman.com

Doug Evans is an early pioneer in the health food movement. After losing his mother to cancer and his father to heart disease and watching his brother suffer through diabetes and three strokes, he invested in and co-founded (with Denise Mari) Organic Avenue. Organic Avenue was the one the first organic cold-pressed juice and raw food retailer in the United States. He was the inventor and founder of Juicero, the first at-home cold-pressed juicing system. In a 3 year period, Doug led the company from conception to production launch and sold over 1 million Juicero Pack before it was composted.

Doug lives off the water grid and food grid on his land with private hot springs east of Joshua Tree, California at Wonder Valley Hot Springs where he created a sprout lab, wrote The Sprout Book, and has a daily practice of sitting, soaking and ashtanga primary series.

In this episode, Yoga Is Vegan's Holly Skodis and Doug Evans discuss the following:

Sri Dharma Mittra (Podcast Episode 28)
Yogi Gupta’s Lecture Yoga Food Concepts
Recording Rich Roll's Podcast Episode 524
Living on 50% of calories on sprouts
The benefits of eating sprouts
Sulforaphane found in cruciferous vegetables and it’s anti-cancer properties
Broccoli sprouts and treating autism
Increasing lung function and broccoli
Organic Avenue
Juicero
Ashtanga yoga and practicing in Mysore India
Connect with Doug Evans:

Instagram: @dougevans
The Sprout Book by Doug Evans

Milo Runkle is the founder, former president, and board chair of Mercy For Animals—the world’s largest organization dedicated to protecting farm animals and promoting plant-based eating. MFA’s programs improve the lives of over one billion animals each year. He founded the organization at age 15, after an animal abuse case in his local farming community in rural Ohio.

Milo is also the co-founder of The Good Food Institute, an international organization that works to build a healthy and sustainable food system by supporting the development and adoption of plant and cell-based proteins.

Milo has worked alongside elected officials, corporate executives, farmers, and celebrities to pass legislation, raise public awareness about veganism, and implement animal welfare policy changes. Through his work with Mercy For Animals, Milo has been featured by hundreds of news outlets, including ABC World News Tonight, Nightline, 20/20, CNN, USA Today, and the New York Times.

He is the author of the 2017 bestselling book Mercy For Animals: One Man’s Quest to Inspire Compassion and Improve the Lives of Farm Animals.

A certified yoga teacher, daily meditator, and self-declared mycophilic, Milo’s happiest moments are found walking barefoot in nature alongside his rescued mutt, Shiva.

In this episode Yoga Is Vegan's Holly Skodis and Milo Runkle discuss the following:
Escaping the energy of infighting and judgement to become a joyful vegan.
Milo’s upbringing on a farm and how it lead him to found Mercy For Animals.
Conditions of slaughterhouse workers and Mercy For Animals undercover investigations
Perpetration induced PTSD
Clean meat and its future as the 2nd domestication of animals
COVID
Climate Change
The upcoming documentary Meat the Future featuring Memphis Meats
Inner Yoga Teacher Training in Bali
After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path by Jack Kornfield
Gaining confidence as a new yoga teacher
The inner saboteur
Power vs. Force David by David Hawkins M.D. Ph.D

Boho Beautiful is a yoga lifestyle brand created by Juliana Spicoluk and Mark Spicoluk that focuses on bringing forward positive content for your body, mind, and the Earth. Their content is centered around Yoga, Travel, Fitness, Vegan Food, Self-Awareness, Conscious Living, and Guided Meditations. Since Boho Beautiful's launch, the brand has grown to over 1.5 million subscribers on Youtube, sold tens of thousands of books & programs online, and have inspired and been inspired by so many wonderful people from all over this beautiful planet.

In this episode Juliana, Mark Spicoluk & Yoga Is Vegan's Holly Skodis discuss the following:

Photojournalist, animal rights activist and author Jo-Anne McArthur and the documentary The Ghosts in Our Machine
Anita Krajnc and the Animal Save Movement after the recording of this episode, beloved pig save activist, Regan Russell was struck and killed by a pig transport truck in front of Fearmans slaughterhouse on Friday, June 19, 2020. Regan attending the vigil to oppose Ontario ag gag Bill 156, which had passed two days prior. Take action to help Regan Russell.
Buddhism and cognitive dissonance
Boosting your immunity with food and juice cleansing
Yoga and daily life during the Coronavirus pandemic in Vancouver Island, Canada
Sound healing and meditation with Mei-lan Maurits on YouTube
Connect with Juliana and Mark Spicoluk

YouTube: Boho Beautiful
Instagram:@bohobeautifullife
Website: www.bohobeautiful.life

In 2011, disenchanted by her fashion career, Beth Crivelli decided to swap luxury rags for sweaty shorts to become a Bikram yoga teacher. Throughout her years of teaching and practicing different styles of yoga, she realized the magnitude of
what yoga truly is, a physical, spiritual and ethical practice.


She has since trained in Yoga Therapy, Jivamukti Yoga, Vinyasa flow, Pre- Post
natal yoga, Yin , Mat Pilates and taken a number of anatomy and other
courses. As well as teaching Yoga to the general public, Beth specializes in
bespoke yoga for the individual. Throughout her years of teaching, she has
come to realize the extent to which we all have different bodies and different
life experiences and these create a unique life story for each of us.


Beth assists her students through movement, breath, meditation and awareness in adapting the practice to their own individual needs- physical, emotional and
mental. Beth’s public classes are versatile and adaptable but still challenging; She believes there is a pose in each pose for everyone. Beth provides options and layering so that students are encouraged to use their inner teacher and meet their boundaries while respecting their own limits. Through acceptance, we can find growth.


Whilst leading the teacher trainings (Hot 26/2, Vinyasa and Yin) for Sadhana
Yoga & Wellbeing Beth encourages trainees to find their own voice and respect the core values of yoga. She teaches the trainings from a place that believes yoga is for everyone and has nothing to with performance and all to do with introspection and working to the best version of ourselves we can be.


Yoga has stretched, healed, and strengthened her body, belief system, mind, and soul, in unexpected and amazing ways. Yoga continuously challenges
changes and shapes you. The practice of yoga is a harmonizing self-study,
which helps to align one with inner and outer peace, as well as the earth and
all its earthlings.

In this episode, Beth Crivelli and Yoga Is Vegan's Holly Skodis discuss the following;

Bikram Yoga and the fall of Bikram Choudhury
Bikram, Yogi, Guru, Predator Documentary
Yoga Inc. Documentary
Henry Winslow YIV episode 30
Light on Yoga: The Bible of Modern Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar and claims of health remedies
Coconut oil and the abuse of monkeys
Find ethical brands at www.ethicalconsumer.org
Canada Goose and their fur usage
Anonymous for the Voiceless
Weaving veganism into yoga classes
The Game Changers Movie
Black Fish Movie
Long Gone Wild Documentary
Earthlings Documentary


Connect with Beth Crivelli:
Instagram: @bethcrivelli
Facebook: @bethcrivelli.9
Sadhana Yoga & Well Being

Motivated to raise greater awareness for the planet’s forgotten victims, in 2014 this passionate, Australian animal rights activist took a 365-day vow of silence.

After an entire year without uttering a single word, he ended it on Australian national television in an iconic interview that reached millions and inspired countless people to make more conscious and compassionate lifestyle choices.Ranked #3 among the “Top 25 Most Influential Vegans” by Plant Based News, James has gone on to cycle 5000kms across Australia to prove that vegans can be fit & healthy. He got tattooed for 25 hours straight to raise $20,000 for charity.

He’s been featured in a multitude of prominent mainstream media outlets; given free speeches at countless schools, universities, and conferences; and attended local activism events, slaughterhouse vigils, and street outreach events all across the world.He transparently shares his life and campaigns online to a massive tribe of global followers.

His speeches have been viewed tens of millions of times and his most popular speech, "This Speech Is Your Wake Up Call", has been viewed over 13 million times. Enthusiastic, relatable and highly skilled behind a podium, James is inspiring a new generation to change how we eat and live in communion with the animals that share this Earth with us.

In this episode James Aspey and Yoga Is Vegan's Holly Skodis discuss the following:

James Aspey's journey towards veganism and vipasana meditation
Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry by Gail Eisnitz
The treatment of animals in slaughterhouses
Earthlings Documentary
Dominion Documentary
Connect with James:
Instagram: @Jamesaspey
Facebook: @Jamesaspeyactivism
YouTube: James Aspey

At a very young age, Mary learned that the food on her plate was actually the body of a dead animal. She refused to eat it and declared herself a vegetarian. She grew up never knowing another vegetarian and thinking that she was weird. When she grew older and learned that animals were hurt to produce dairy products and eggs, she went Vegan.

Yoga showed up many years later. As her practice developed she felt the call to teach but even louder was the call to teach veganism. During her 500-hour teacher training, she was given the task of presenting to the class an aspect of yoga that was “in her pocket." She knew that she had to do a talk on Veganism but in the past any time she started to talk about the animals she’d get a huge lump in her throat and shut down.

She had just started working with a teacher named Ramana who helped her find her voice. For her talk, she used Sharon Gannon’s book ”Yoga and Vegetarianism” as the blueprint.

She started teaching for a studio, Breathe Yoga as well as being hired by Dr. Ted Barnett to teach at Rochester Lifestyle Medicine, where she learned the health benefits of a vegan diet from some of the best doctors in the world. She also had the opportunity to teach for Dr. Thomas Campbell in his lifestyle medicine practice.

Mary was elected Vice President of a local animal rights nonprofit for three years, co-founded Rochester’s wildly popular VegFest, and founded our local chapter of Anonymous for the Voiceless, a nonprofit that brings the terrible truth of animal suffering to people on the street.

One fateful day, Mary came across a news story about a cow who had escaped a slaughterhouse who was now living at a sanctuary in New Jersey. A few months later she traveled to NJ to meet that cow, Freddie and Mike Stura, the man who rescued him.

Freddie inspired her to design a T-shirt with his image. When she opened the Rochester Vegan Community Center his handsome face was their logo. A couple of years ago Mike asked her to move to Skylands. She did and now helps take care of Freddie and the other kids that live at the sanctuary.



In this episode, Mary Barletta and Yoga Is Vegan's Holly Skodis discuss the following:

Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue
Rescuing dairy cows and the darkness inherent to the industry
Jaime Surya Episode 46
Jivamulti Yoga and Sharon Gannon
Rochester Assisi Institute
Ramana Maharshi
Yukio Ramana Radical Healing
Dr. Ted Barnett & Rochester Lifestyle Medicine
How to introduce veganism to a yoga class
Connect with Mary:
Instagram: @veganarmy269

Raise the Barn's Virtual Yogafest was New Jersey Yoga Collective's virtual yoga event in May that was offered to help Goats of Anarchy build a new barn. Goats of Anarchy is an award-winning, vegan sanctuary for special needs baby goats (along with other animal friends that they just have to help).

New Jersey Yoga Collective's Bridget Riepl, organizer extraordinaire raised a total of $8,530 to go towards the $10,000 needed for the barn.

Vanessa Van Noy and Yoga Is Vegan's creator Holly Skodis had the pleasure to host "What's Next" for a segment of Raise The Barn. Our conversation is about what we have learned from our experiences locking down with Coronavirus and how we can move forward as yogis to create change. Episode 58 is a recording of our conversation.

Please consider offering a donation to Goats of Anarchy. To donate visit www.goatsofanarchy.com

Vanessa Van Noy has been both a Featured Yogi and podcast guest for Yoga Is Vegan.

Pablo Narayana was born in Mexico City in 1985. He studied International Business at Universidad Panamericana, as he was afraid to follow his heart and study a humanistic career which was what he really wanted. He thought it was his duty to make money and wear a tie and jacket every single day. In 2008 he finished university and a big change in his life made his approach to photography as a career.

In 2011 he took a Yoga class and his life started to change (again), never thinking he would become a yoga teacher he went to a Sivananda Ashram to deepen his own practice. He spent over 3 years in Ashrams to learn from his great teachers. Part of his practice is sharing what he has learned. He has been sober since 2010 and puts all the possible time into working with other addicts.

Pablo's recent project is Sadhana Now. Sadhana now offers spiritual yoga courses from Advanced Yoga Teachers in both Spanish and English.

In this episode, Yoga Is Vegan's Holly Skodis and Pablo Narayana discuss the following:

Pablo's new yoga offering Sadhana Now
Sadhana Now's upcoming workshop Yoga Is Vegan https://www.sadhananow.com/yoga-is-vegan.html
Pablo Herrerias (YIV podcast episode 8)
Leaving college to study photography
Sivananda Yoga
Dharma Yoga
Hanaman Chalisa chant
Being accountable for our actions
Connect with Pablo Narayana:

Instagram:@sadhananow and @pablo.narayana
Website: www.sadhananow

Sina is a senior Dharma Yoga teacher and a direct disciple of the Yoga master Sri Dharma Mittra. Although he does pull from many lineages and teachers, his goal is One. He is dedicated to exploration so he may share the Universal Teachings that lie in the hearts of all beings. He is the co-founder of Dharma Temple, a destination yoga, meditation, conscious events, and boutique in Vancouver, British Columbia. where he shares the high vibe yogic lifestyle to his community. He is also the founder of the Temple Yoga Teacher Training programs. A father to his daughter Berlin and an avid animal lover. Sina has recently moved to Salt Spring Island with his family to create an eco-center where plants, animals, and humans can live harmoniously. For more information about Sina, visit www.thedharmatemple.com.

In this episode, Yoga Is Vegan's Holly Skodis and Sina Shalbaf discuss the following:

Dharma Mittra's teaching and the permission he gives students to make yoga your own
Veganism and what it means to be an activist
Developing a consistent practice to harness your energy for change
The Sattvic Diet
Adopting and caring for male baby goats. (GoFundMe link below)
Sina's teacher training with Fabio Filippi
Connect with Sina:

Website: thedharmatemple.com
Instagram: @yogasina
GofundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/giving-baby-male-goats-a-chance-to-live

For information on Sina's Online Teacher Training Mentorship visit sinashalbaf.com