Yoga Medicine

Today hosts Tiffany and Katja hone in on another topic related to pranayama: the science of breathing less. In this episode, we talk about the natural fear of retention of the breath and what we can do to combat this fear. We also connect the dots between concepts like intermittent hypoxic training, breathing less volume, and voluntary hypoventilation and talk about how all those practices may affect breathing gases. Finally, we talk a lot about the application of breathing less in our own practice and how to experiment with it.

Listen in to learn where the concept came from, what we can learn about breathing less from other fields of study, and how we can apply that to our yoga practice.

Show Notes:

• Origins of the concept of breathing less [2:15]
• The O2 side of the coin - intermittent hypoxia & co [3:45]
• The CO2 side of the coin - hypoventilation & co [8:15]
• Unpacking voluntary hypoventilation [13:39]
• The fear of breathing less [17:00]
• Breathing less from the yoga lens [24:11]
• Breath holds and pranayama [27:50]

Links Mentioned:

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Yoga Medicine Online Resources:
  • September Monthly Dose – Breathe Life Into Your Practice
  • Less is More: Breath Practice for CO2 Tolerance
• Breathing Resources Doc
• Pranayama Yoga Teacher Training
• Connect with Katja Bartsch:

Facebook | Instagram | Kalamana Yoga | Yoga Medicine® Online Guest Teacher

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-87.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Today host Rachel speaks with returning guest Alice Blunden – a Yoga Medicine Therapeutic Specialist, schoolteacher, and creator of The Yoga Project UK – about accessible ways we can translate yoga tools and techniques for children as they navigate the potentially challenging transition back to school.

In this episode, Alice shares a handful of her favorite techniques that you can teach to children of any age, the essence of which yoga students and teachers will likely find familiar.

Listen in to learn creative yet practical activities that introduce kids to yoga concepts that help increase their capacity for focus, concentration, memory, mindfulness and self-regulation.

• "Back to school" can be a big adjustment for children and families [2:38]
• Creative activities to introduce yoga concepts and practices to children:
  • Focus and memory: What's on the tray [4:19]
  • Concentration and listening skills: Supermarket list [9:34]
  • Open sensory awareness: Safari walk [12:56]
  • Patience and mindfulness: the Mindful Malteser [20:44]
  • Emotional awareness and vocabulary: Paper cup faces [27:37]
  • Elongated exhalation for nervous system regulation: Pinwheel breath [33:48]
  • Diaphragmatic breathing for nervous system regulation: Teddy bear breath [37:58]
  • Breath-focused meditation: High-five breath [40:50]
  • Shift in internal state, vagal tone: Hummingbee breath [44:49]
• Summing up and general advice for teaching children [47:49]
• Connecting with Alice, more resources for teaching yoga to children [52:08]

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Previous Yoga Medicine Podcast Episodes:
  • Episode 45: Conscious Parenting with Dana Diament
  • Episode 50: Stronger After Surgery with Alice Blunden
• Teaching Yoga to Children Online Course
• Simple Hand Tracing Meditation Online Class
• Connect with Alice Blunden:

Instagram | Alice Louise Yoga | Yoga Medicine Online Guest Teacher

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-86.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Today hosts Tiffany and Katja take you on a stroll through the breathwork landscape. In this episode, the pair gives an overview of the origins of different breathing practices - covering Eastern traditions from India to China, techniques founded by "psychedelic" transformational and scientific communities as well as practices stemming from Eastern Europe.

If you've ever wanted an overview of where Conscious Connected Breathing, Tummo, Resonant Frequency breathing, and Buteyoko came from - this is the episode you've been waiting for.

We also discuss the bigger picture of breathwork as a whole and how Pranayama as a very multi-faceted practice fits into it.

• Indian breathwork traditions [2:21]
• Tibetan breathwork traditions [7:57]
• Chinese breathwork traditions [15:55]
• Transformational, "psychedelic" breathwork origins [21:06]
• Scientific origins – Resonant frequency breathing [32:54]
• Eastern European breathwork traditions [38:34]

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Connect with Katja Bartsch:

Facebook | Instagram | Kalamana Yoga | Yoga Medicine® Online Guest Teacher

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-85.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Whether we are athletes or not, we all have areas in our lives where we want to perform well. Today host Rachel speaks with returning guest Dr. Daya Grant about how aspects of yoga philosophy can help us do that - by improving our focus and concentration.

Dr. Grant helps athletes and other high performers train their brains with the same care they invest in training their bodies. She draws heavily on the yoga techniques of Pratyahara and Dharana to help athletes focus on what they CAN control, cultivate intuition and prevent burnout. In this episode, she shares practical ways you can connect to these techniques.

Listen in to hear how simply connecting to your feet or choosing where to rest your gaze can completely change your response to a heightened situation, why Dr. Grant encourages athletes to journal, and a range of other yoga tools that you can harness to improve your performance, whatever your ambition.

• Improved performance isn't just for elite athletes [2:21]
• Fresh definitions of Pratyahara and Dharana [3:38]
• Practical examples of Pratyahara and its benefits [6:21]
• "Self One" and "Self Two" [12:13]
• More tools to "reverse the flow" [15:35]
• Training the brain is as important as training the body [21:36]
• Understanding Dharana [25:38]
• Using breath work for improved focus: challenges and tips [30:48]
• Self-talk, and finding strength in self-compassion [34:23]
• Communicating helpful concepts like surrender to athletes [40:10]
• The power of practice [43:41]
• Harnessing the tool of imagery [45:55]
• Final takeaways [51:14]

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Yoga Medicine Podcast Episode 47: Concussion Care
• Yoga for Concussions Online Course
• Connect with Dr. Daya Grant:

Instagram | Daya Grant

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-84.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Today's topic is an interesting one that comes up a lot in the yoga world. In this episode, hosts Tiffany and Katja talk about the latest research and newest findings on the Polyvagal Theory. They discuss the evolutionary biology that Polyvagal Theory is based around, the neuroanatomy that's involved, and assumptions that have been made about this complex aspect of the body.

Listen in to learn about the anatomy of the vagus nerve and how Polyvagal Theory is applied in yoga and therapeutic settings.

• The emergence of Polyvagal Theory [2:58]
• Evolutionary biology and dorsal vagus [5:50]
• Sympathetic nervous system [10:35]
• Ventral vagus [13:40]
• Nuances of ventral and dorsal vagus, combinations [15:03]
• Anatomy of the vagus nerve [17:38]
• Afferent parts of the vagus nerve (from body to brain) [21:24]
• Efferent components of vagus (from brain to body) [26:50]
• How researchers look at cardiac function and Polyvagal Theory [33:01]
• The role of Polyvagal Theory in yoga and therapeutic settings [37:29]
• Hypotheses about ventral vagus evolution [43:33]

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Polyvagal Resources Doc
• Connect with Katja Bartsch:

Facebook | Instagram | Kalamana Yoga | Yoga Medicine® Online Guest Teacher

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-83.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Today hosts Tiffany and Rachel talk about building a healthy relationship with social media. These platforms have become a ubiquitous facet of our lives, so in this episode, we examine the way we use social media as yoga students and teachers.

We discuss the pros of social media, like its capacity to help us connect with other people, the sense of community it can create, and the resource-sharing capabilities it allows for. We also talk about some of social media's trickier topics like dealing with negativity, the futility of chasing the algorithm, and engaging with misinformation.

Listen in as we explain how we can better balance our time on social media and find ways to embrace its benefits.

• Is there a secret to social media success that you're missing? [1:25]
• Do you need a large social media following to support your teaching? [3:43]
• Deciding what to post [6:07]
• The futility of chasing the algorithm [16:33]
• Deciding who to follow and engage with [18:41]
• Negative experiences with social media [23:34]
• Balancing time on social media and engaging with misinformation [32:01]
• Social media tips for yoga teachers [39:40]
• Is it still possible to build a teaching business through social media? [53:35]
• Tiffany's start on social media, and playing the long game [56:00]
• Social media as a global community builder [59:01]
• The upcoming Yoga Medicine Innovation Conference [1:00:00]
• Final takeaways on building a healthy relationship with social media [1:03:02]

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Yoga Medicine Innovation Conference

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-82.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Military personnel and first responders show up to other people's worst day, every day. Exposed to workplace experiences the rest of us can't imagine, some experience post-traumatic stress, and some work through that experience to demonstrate post-traumatic growth.

Can yoga play a part in biasing these populations toward growth? Today's guest, Dr. Nicole McKenna, is here to share her thoughts on the topic.

Dr. McKenna has a Ph.D. in Forensic Psychology with a concentration in crisis response and is also a Yoga Medicine Therapeutic Specialist. She started her working life in the military as an Army Master Fitness Trainer and now blends her fields of experience and expertise to help military personnel, veterans and first responders manage the physical and psychological impacts of their work.

In this episode, she and host Rachel discuss post-traumatic stress and its symptoms along with tips for working with veterans and first responders.

Listen in as we share what sort of yoga practices can bias these individuals towards post-traumatic growth rather than post-traumatic stress.

• What sets military veterans and first responders apart [3:05]
• Avoiding processing traumatic experiences can be a form of adaptation [5:43]
• Defining post-traumatic stress and potential symptoms [7:58]
• Building trust with veterans and first responders [15:07]
• Direct communication and instruction are key [20:18]
• It can take time to feel the benefit of more subtle yoga practices [23:18]
• What is post-traumatic growth [29:49]
• Different approaches help different individuals [36:01]
• Tips for starting yoga work with veterans and first response [40:11]
• The comfort of repetition and knowing what to expect [43:37]
• When to incorporate breath work and/or meditation practices [45:48]
• Keep verbal cues and class themes simple and practical [50:48]
• More resources [57:26]
• Polarized opinions on military and first responder organizations [58:18]
• Dr. McKenna's recommending reading list [1:02:20]

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Yoga Medicine Podcast Episodes:
  • Episode 30: Trauma-Informed Yoga Dr. Ann Bortz
  • Episode 77: Restorative Yoga Essentials
• Mental Health & Wellness Yoga Teacher Training | Austin, TX
• Yoga Medicine Innovation Conference
• Dr. Nicole McKenna's recommended reading list:
  • Trauma and Memory: Brain and Body in a Search for the Living Past: A Practical Guide for Understanding and Working with Traumatic Memory, by Peter A. Levine
  • The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessel van der Kolk M.D.
  • Transformed by Trauma: Stories of Posttraumatic Growth, by Richard G. Tedeschi Ph.D. and Bret A. Moore PsyD with Ken Falke and Josh Goldberg
  • Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee, by Shannon Lee
• Connect with Dr. Nicole McKenna:

Facebook | Instagram | Grateful Warrior Yoga Foundation

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-81.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

The practice of Yin yoga is unusual in that it asks us to do the opposite of what we do in the rest of our lives. That contrast is powerful, but adjusting to it can bring up challenges.

In this episode, returning guest Shannon Stephens is back to talk to host Rachel about the common challenges of Yin Yoga for both students and teachers and shares her tips on how we can navigate them skillfully to get the most out of our practice.

Listen to this episode to learn how to embrace the contrast between Yin yoga and daily life to create a more fulfilling, and ultimately revealing practice.

• Student challenges in Yin Yoga: dealing with discomfort [2:59]
• Discerning between different types of discomfort [4:32]
• Difficulty letting go in Yin [8:46]
• Managing the spectrum of mobility in a Yin yoga class [14:05]
• Noticing phasic changes within a Yin pose [19:49]
• Adjusting to the slow pace of Yin compared to the fast pace of life [20:35]
• Practical ways to attune to the subtle body in Yin [27:21]
• Yin can feel messy compared to other yoga styles [32:52]
• Challenges of teaching Yin Yoga [37:34]
• Pros and cons of moving around the room when teaching [39:10]
• How to leave more space for quiet [41:17]
• Strategies for keeping time [43:17]
• Guiding students out of poses and managing the "rebound" [46:12]
• Preparing to teach Yin [48:08]
• Tips for teaching Yin without props [50:45]
• Creating a safe, supportive space for students [53:36]
• Overall tips for managing the challenges of Yin: intention and compassion [57:41]
• Being prepared to teach and practice; show up authentically [1:00:32]
• Learning the impermanence of feelings and sensations [1:03:50]
• Final takeaways: every practice teaches us something [1:07:50]

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Yoga Medicine Podcast Episodes:
  • Episode 41: The Hidden Benefits of Yin Yoga
  • Episode 77: Restorative Yoga Essentials
• Yin & Meditation Yoga Teacher Training
• Yoga Medicine Online Guest Teacher
• Connect with Shannon Stephens:

Facebook | Instagram | This Land Yoga

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-80.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

After traumatic life events, some people experience negative mental and physical health outcomes, while others not only survive but thrive.

There's a growing body of research on the strategies that prime our potential for resilience to adverse events, but less understanding of the neural pathways that underpin them. Today guest Valerie Knopik Ph.D. returns to explore three of these pathways with host Rachel, sharing a recent review article on the neuroscience of resilience in adults.

In this episode, Valerie unpacks how three key neutral pathways could interact to influence our capacity to successfully handle stress and trauma. She suggests a range of strategies we can employ to down-regulate the negative, up-regulate the positive, and retain overall perspective.

Listen to this episode to learn about three proposed pathways to resilience and how we can, and should, work with all of them to prime our potential to learn, grow and thrive in the face of adversity.

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-79.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

• A key review article on the neuroscience of resilience in adults [4:41]
• Defining resilience [6:29]
• A tripartite model: key neural pathways for resilience [9:11]
  • 1: Fear and distress network, the amygdala, and HPA axis [11:44]
  • 2: Reward pathways, the mid-brain, and the role of Dopamine [17:25]
  • 3: The default mode network and the role of rumination [23:21]
• Some strategies influence more than one pathway [30:10]
• Reframing the stress response [32:16]
• Down-regulating the negative: therapy, journalling, affect labeling [34:11]
• The power of the breath [39:07]
• Up-regulating the positive: optimism, humor, social connection, gratitude [42:24]
• Finding joy in required tasks [45:28]
• Transcending the self: finding meaning and purpose, nature, flow state [50:17]
• Final takeaways and further resources [55:03]

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Tabibnia et al, "An affective neuroscience model of boosting resilience in adults"
• Yoga Medicine® Podcast Episode 49: Epigenetics, Mental Health & Yoga with Valerie Knopik PhD
• Mental Health & Wellness Yoga Teacher Training:
  • Online
  • In-Person
• Yoga Medicine® Online Resources:
  • Valerie's Mental Health Monthly Dose
  • Slow Flow Down Shift
• Connect with Valerie Knopik:

Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Yoga Medicine Online Teacher

We don't all strive for elite physical performance, but we do all place demands on our bodies. Some of the internal signals that we receive as a result could be interpreted as pain, so how do we know when we should push through and when we should pull back?

We have talked in previous episodes about the complex phenomenon of pain, and how deeply enmeshed our perception of pain is with our beliefs and previous experiences. Today that conversation continues with host Rachel and returning guest and Doctor of Physical Therapy Marnie Hartman.

In this episode, Marnie and host Rachel explore what neuroscience can teach us about physical performance. Listen in as we discuss the importance of bringing curiosity and playfulness into our physical pursuits, choosing to question our assumptions, and learning to listen deeply – but with discernment – to our internal signals.

• Defining physical performance as how our bodies interact with the environment [4:56]
• Athletes' relationship to pain [7:38]
• Sensory science 101: perception, interoception, nociception [9:38]
• Nociceptive signals in physical performance [13:56]
• The magic of training: creating a gap between signal and response [17:49]
• Recognizing and reframing less desirable experiences in the past [22:59]
• A case study in context and the impact of stress [27:35]
• Learning to discern our internal signals [31:35]
• Choosing to bring that awareness into physical challenges [36:31]
• Having our assumptions reflected back to us [40:12]
• Playfulness unloads our stress cup [48:22]
• Exploring the role of yoga practice [49:55]
• How our "patterning" can become an obstacle to overcome [58:42]
• Final thoughts and resources [1:02:21]

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Previous Yoga Medicine Podcast Episodes:
  • Episode 15: Shifting Persistent Pain
  • Episode 64: Impactful Pain Strategies
• Pain Science for Yoga Teachers Online Course
• Yoga Medicine® Online Resources:
  • Pain vs Suffering: Where to Begin
  • Neuroscience Enhanced Performance
• Connect with Marnie Hartman:

Body IQ PT | LinkedIn | Email | Yoga Medicine® Online Guest Teacher

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-78.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.