Yoga Medicine

Ahimsa or non-harming is a central value of yoga philosophy, but looking at the world around us it's all too easy to find examples of systemic suffering that seem impossible to solve. Today's episode tackles one such issue; gender-based violence and sex trafficking.

Host Rachel speaks with Sarah Symons, founder of international non-profit Her Future Coalition which has been working since 2005 to ensure that survivors of trafficking have what they need to remain free, safe and independent.

As well as sharing her own story, Sarah gives tips for those wanting to get involved in this or any other service work, including the importance of starting with a single step, listening to those who are closest to the issue, making mistakes and learning from them, and focusing your energy on the positives.

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• The mission of Her Future Coalition [2:17]
• Why it's so difficult to face gender-based violence [3:25]
• Sarah takes her inspiration from survivors [7:04]
• Early mistakes: trying to rush the healing process [10:26]
• Survivors often can't return to their family [13:38]
• Benefits of the shelter environment for survivors [17:05]
• The power of non-verbal healing modalities – art, movement, games [18:59]
• Looking to the long-term: vocational education [22:39]
• Ripple effect: Survivors become part of the solution [24:50]
• Handling despair [28:51]
• Keys to success in service work [31:26]
• Savoring joy [34:48]
• Final takeaways [40:04]

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• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Previous Yoga Medicine® Podcast Episodes:
  • 37: Yoga as Service with Amanda Cunningham
• Yoga Medicine® Seva Foundation
• Connect with Sarah Symons:

Facebook | Instagram | Her Future Coalition | TEDx

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-117.

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.

Perhaps you've heard that menopause is having a moment. But while menopause is more present in the media, there's still a lack of balanced, nuanced, and honest information around this stage of life.

In this episode, host Rachel talks with yoga and Pilates teacher and teacher-trainer Niamh Daly about her passion project: yoga for the late reproductive stage, perimenopause, menopause, and beyond.

We discuss the lesser-known physical and mental implications of this menopause, and how we can fine-tune our yoga practice to support our changing needs.

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• The challenges of measuring the effects of yoga with research [3:00]
• What inspired Niamh's fascination with this life stage [5:14]
• The new stigma around menopause [10:28]
• Perimenopause can trigger existential angst [14:57]
• Less discussed impacts of menopause: changes in perceived capacity [19:48]
• Rage and menopause [24:54]
• Changes in self esteem [28:47]
• The medicalization of menopause & health worries [31:01]
• Shifts in purpose, career, relationships & libido [33:35]
• Yoga asana through late reproductive stage, perimenopause & menopause [38:32]
• Differences in approach: perimenopause vs menopause [47:58]
• The vital importance of Satya in media coverage & in our teaching [51:58]
• Research on menopause and pranayama [58:00]
• Meditation, self-judgement, CBT & Pratipaksha Bhavana [1:02:46]
• Wrap up & more resources [1:05:07]

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• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Female Health Yoga Teacher Training
• Previous Yoga Medicine® Podcast Episodes:
  • 63: Yoga & Osteoporosis with Michaela Smith
  • 91: Balance Myths Busted with Sava Papos
• Connect with Niamh Daly:

Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Yinstinct Yoga

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-116.

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.

Any potent practice carries the potential for adverse effects, and yoga - while comparatively gentle - is no exception.

Yin yoga seems to generate especially polarized views, so today hosts Tiffany and Rachel unpack its common cautions and contraindications.

Listen in as we explore who Yin yoga is best for versus who might invest their time elsewhere, and share our tips on how we can all approach this nourishing practice to minimize risks and maximize benefits.

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• Polarized views of Yin yoga [3:33]
• Yin and hypermobility [6:09]
• Approaching Yin when you don't need more range of motion [10:17]
• Yin during pregnancy [16:00]
• Yin during spinal injury: disc injury, osteoporosis [17:17]
• Yin for older populations: osteoarthritis, joint replacement [25:34]
• Ongoing themes: more isn't better, take an individual approach [32:43]
• Yin for sedentary people & desk workers [36:01]
• Yin for athletes [38:25]
• Recap: It's about HOW you approach Yin yoga [45:57]
• Tips for Yin yoga teachers [48:51]
• Final takeaways & resources [52:09]

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• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Yin & Meditation Teacher Training IN-PERSON in Colorado October 13-20 2024
• Yin & Meditation Yoga Teacher Training Online
• YMO Balanced Function for Flexible Folks Series
• YMO Tutorial: Practicing with Osteoporosis

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-115.

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.

"Is Yoga a religion?" is an often-asked question, and the deeper we delve into the historical and philosophical underpinnings of the practice, the less simple and straightforward the answer becomes.

Here to guide us on that complex conversational journey is returning guest Firdose Moonda, who holds an MA in the Traditions of Yoga and Meditation from the School of Oriental and African Studies and is undertaking doctoral work into the politics of yoga.

Listen in to unpack yoga's historical and present-day entanglements with South Asian religions, and explore the responsibilities of modern yoga teachers in the West.

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• Defining religion [3:44]
• Can you be spiritual but not religious [7:02]
• Evolution of yoga: the Vedic period [10:58]
• Emergence of Buddhism and Jainism [15:51]
• Hatha yoga, and separation of yoga from religion [19:30]
• Is yoga even more entangled with religion today [23:55]
• Contributions from Tantra & South Asian Islam [24:55]
• Implications of the International Day of Yoga [29:44]
• Can yoga teachers avoid politics, history, religion, and philosophy entirely [34:40]
• Finding your place as a teacher in the modern yoga world [43:50]
• We are also creating yoga history [48:18]
• More resources, and a final word of caution [54:49]

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• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Previous Yoga Medicine® Podcast Episodes:
  • 100: Yoga, Politics & History
• Yoga Medicine® Book Club
• The Race & Yoga Journal, UC Berkley
• Yoga Mimamsa, The Scientific Journal of Yoga, Kaivalyadhama
• Connect with Firdose Moonda MA:

Instagram | YMO Guest Teacher

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-114.

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 discuss a topic near and dear to Katja: tissue stiffness. Claims about terms like stiffness and tension in the body can be confusing, so our goal with this episode is to clear up some of that confusion as well as leave some space for what we do not know yet. In this episode, we talk about terminology and physiology around tissue stiffness. We also talk about factors that influence stiffness and if stiffness is a friend or foe when it comes to athletic performance, injury risk, and disease of the musculoskeletal system.

Listen in to learn more about common tissue stiffness misconceptions, potential applications, and future learning.

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• Common misconceptions [2:27]
• Stiffness terminology [4:22]
• Factors that influence stiffness [12:40]
• The role of the nervous system in tissue stiffness [16:21]
• Athletic performance and stiffness [19:09]
• Is more stiffness always better? [25:07]
• Assessing stiffness [30:50]
• Range of motion versus tissue stiffness [44:51]
• Takeaways [48:26]

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• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Yoga for Athletes 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-113.

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.

As yoga teachers, most of us will either have an autoimmune condition, or teach students who do. Yoga is uniquely suited to work alongside conventional medical treatment to help manage these disorders and address the symptoms that impact most on quality of life.

Today host Rachel speaks with Dr. Nikki Tugnet - a UK-trained physician, board-certified in Rheumatology and Internal Medicine, and Yoga Medicine® Therapeutic Specialist - about yoga and autoimmune conditions.

Listen to this episode as we unpack the common denominators of autoimmune conditions, the importance of normalizing prop use, and the power of taking it slow.

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• What is rheumatology? [2:57]
• Are autoimmune disorders becoming more prevalent? [4:28]
• What drives Nikki's passion for rheumatology [6:04]
• Common denominators in autoimmune conditions [10:05]
• What drove a rheumatologist to seek answers in yoga [13:55]
• Autoimmune uncertainty; mental health impacts of long-term disease [18:02]
• How yoga can support autoimmune conditions [23:30]
• The underutilized power of propped yoga poses [28:10]
• A surprising yoga tool [33:28]
• Daily Yoga Nidra to improve energy and sleep quality [35:14]
• Are we handling chronic stress as well as we think? [37:22]
• Tips for teaching yoga for autoimmune conditions – group classes [39:51]
• Tips for teaching yoga for autoimmune conditions – one-on-one [43:38]
• Final tips & takeaways [49:11]

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• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Nervous System & Restorative Online Training
• Myofascial Release Online Training
• Previous Yoga Medicine® Podcast Episodes:
  • 15: Shifting Persistent Pain with Marnie Hartman
• Connect with Dr. Nikki Tugnet:

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Nikki Tugnet

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-112.

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 dive into the topic of student questions and share their thoughts on how to answer them. Student questions can be intimidating, prompting anxiety around whether we will be able to answer "correctly", but so many positives can come from opening a dialogue with students actively seeking more information.

We talk about ways to handle student questions relating to pain, injury, and medical conditions, on pose alignment and progression, and around the choices you make as a teacher.

Listen to this episode to learn how to handle yoga student questions and maximize the positive outcomes that can stem from the resulting conversation.

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• Anxiety around student questions and a suggested response [1:10]
• The myth of teacher x-ray vision [3:55]
• Answering student questions with questions of your own [6:41]
• Reading the situation around the question [9:00]
• Questions on pain and injury; how to say "I don't know" [16:13]
• When a student flags pain or injury before class [25:55]
• Questions around alignment [30:50]
• Using questions as seeds for content [40:10]
• Questions around yoga teacher choices [41:15]
• How to handle tangential student questions [46:23]
• Final takeaways [51:13]

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• Watch this episode on YouTube

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-111.

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 are looking at where the fascia and acupuncture worlds collide.

There is a lot of info out there on possible mechanisms behind acupuncture, and while research is great, we really need to look into the details for answers. In this episode, we talk about the relationship between fascia and Traditional Chinese Medicine. We also talk about acupuncture and how it can affect the connective tissue matrix.

Listen to this episode to learn what we know so far about current research that points to fascia as a potential substrate for energy flow and how to absorb new research while leaving room for the mystery of the unknown.

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• Meridians and fascia and acupuncture [2:41]
• How research brings fascia and acupuncture together [5:47]
• Anatomical correlations between acupuncture and fascia [6:28]
• Concept of needle grasp in acupuncture [23:14]
• How fascia can contribute to acupuncture mechanisms of action [23:28]
• The importance of the fluid component of fascia [30:57]
• Current fascia and acupuncture research trends [33:20]

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• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Fascia Science Resources Overview
• Traditional Chinese Medicine Training
• Myofascial Release 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-110.

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.

If you haven't had or taught a one-on-one yoga session, it might feel like a secret club that you're locked out of. Today host Rachel demystifies the whole process with returning guest and Yoga Medicine Therapeutic Specialist Dana Diament.

In this episode, we talk about the therapeutic benefits of being seen and heard and the importance of helping people clarify their felt experience through both objective and subjective assessment tools.

Listen in to learn tips for teaching private yoga sessions, how to get and prepare for the first session with a new client, and how to manage the challenges that could arise.

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• Dana and Rachel's first experience teaching yoga one-to-one [2:10]
• Take the stress out of teaching one-on-one: minimum number of sessions [7:41]
• Establish area of focus beforehand [10:12]
• The initial session with a new client: the power of listening [13:12]
• Using initial intake assessment tools [18:23]
• Ending the first session constructively [22:52]
• Developing a working hypothesis between initial and follow-up sessions [25:08]
• Choosing homework for your student [29:08]
• When your strategy needs to pivot [33:23]
• What happens when you hit a wall with a student [41:58]
• When you are no longer the right teacher for this student [45:00]
• How to find students for one-on-one yoga instruction [48:58]
• Final takeaways and resources [53:38]

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• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Dana's tips for a first session
• Rachel's take on the "Do this one thing for pain" approach
• Yoga Medicine® Conducting a Comprehensive Evaluation in a Therapeutic Setting Online Course
• Yoga Medicine® Recognizing Red Flags in a Therapeutic Yoga Setting Online Course
• Connect with Dana Diament:

Facebook | Instagram | Yoga Medicine Online | Raia Collective

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-109.

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.

Coming home from another yoga teacher training, full of new information and techniques to utilize, can be exciting…and also overwhelming.

In today's episode, hosts Tiffany and Rachel talk about how to integrate all the tools you learn in training in a way that is meaningful for your students. In this episode, we stress the importance of a slow and steady approach guided by clarity of purpose for each class.

Listen in to learn how to incorporate new material and when to use which teaching tools in both group classes and when working with students one-on-one.

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Show Notes:

• The challenge of integrating new information into classes in a meaningful way [1:33]
• Focus on one area of content at a time, in practice and teaching [4:31]
• The importance of setting and meeting student expectations [9:30]
• "Drip-feed" new content or techniques into your teaching [12:10]
• Creating classes for the students who come back [16:41]
• Using a class series to introduce new content gradually [18:36]
• Combining techniques in group classes versus one-to-one [22:05]
• A real-world example [28:58]
• Summing up: simplicity, clarity, repetition, patience, and individuality [31:26]

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Links Mentioned:

• Watch this episode on YouTube

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-108.

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.