Yoga With Jake Podcast

Martinus Evans has run over eight marathons since his doctor told him to “lose weight or die” in July 2012. Since then, he’s also coached hundreds of runners and founded the Slow AF Run Club, a community of over 20,000 members worldwide. He is also the author of the book Slow AF Run Club: The ultimate guide for anybody who wants to run.  When he’s not running races around the world, he enjoys speaking passionately about issues related to size-inclusivity, mindset, DEI and mental health.

Matinus' Instagram: @300poundsandrunning
Slow AF Run Club Instagram: @runslowaf

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Sandy Abrams is a longtime entrepreneur, 2x author, 2022 TEDx Speaker, Chair of the Global Wellness Institute’s Breathe Initiative and a Board Member of Health & Human Performance Foundation. She’s now focused on Well-Being and Mental Health; sharing 30+ years of experience utilizing the power of breath & mindfulness in business and life. Her book, Breathe to Succeed  (2019) is endorsed by Arianna Huffington, Mark Bertolini/Former CEO Aetna, execs at Google, SAP, Sage software and the U.S. Air Force. Sandy has shared her C.E.Om Breath & Mindset experiences with several Google offices, WW HQ (formerly Weight Watchers), frequent featured speaker at Canyon Ranch resorts since 2019, McKinsey & Co., Facebook HQ, Pepsi, YPO,Women Presidents Org., Sage software, LinkedIn HQ, Lululemon, Goldie Hawn's MindUP Foundation, Brain Tap app and a speaker at women's and entrepreneurial groups, conferences, leadership retreats etc. Sandy's sensibility about "breath as meditation at the speed of life" resonates with the fast pace of modern life. She’s on a mission to empower people to create their optimal energy for well-being & success...one deep, mindful breath at a time.

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Born and raised in Utah, Craig Terry is well-traveled and has lived in various places in the US.  He recently retired from a successful career in sales and sales management, and now is an amputee peer mentor, a licensed certified life coach, and a motivational speaker.  These things help him converse with, and understand people's needs from their different viewpoints.

In October of 2020, Craig was riding his new Harley after trading in his old one of 15 years.  A mile and a half from home he was hit broadside by someone not paying attention.  He and his wife were both injured, but his injuries were more severe, resulting in his left leg being amputated below the knee.  While in the hospital he decided he would be in charge of his life and the amputation wouldn't define him as a person.  He set about rebuilding his life and his internal persona, strengthening his self-image.  Yoga has helped him to do so.  He's now a self-described "yoga addict" and loves how it helps keep him centered in his soul.  Yoga, especially Accommodative Yoga taught by Abigail Atkinson has been his go to because it helps keep his hip joints, leg, and lower back open and loose, which helps deal with his day-to-day movements with his prosthetic leg.

Follow Craig on Instagram: @craig_terry

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Matthew Dewar, Ed.D., is a professional educator, speaker, and author. For fifteen years, he has researched the impact of mindfulness and emotion regulation practices on teaching, learning, and leadership in schools. More recently, he has focused on enhancing health and performance through breathing behavior analysis and heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback training.

Dr. Dewar is also the founder of Matt Dewar, LLC, and the creator of the Stress Better® Framework, which he has shared with collegiate and professional athletes, Fortune 500 executives, colleges and universities, first responders, and military personnel. Dr. Dewar authored Education and Well-Being: An Ontological Inquiry, The Mindful Breathing Workbook for Teens, and The Stress Better Solution (forthcoming). His work has been featured on TEDx, NPR, Thrive Global, the National Wellness Institute, and many podcasts.

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As a boy, Robert M. Sapolsky dreamed of living inside the African dioramas in New York’s Museum of Natural History. By age twenty-one, he made it to Africa and joined a troop of baboons. Although being a naturalist appealed to him because it was a chance to “get the hell out of Brooklyn,” he never left people behind.

In fact, he chose to live with the baboons because they are perfect for learning about stress and health in humans. Like their human cousins, baboons live in large, complex social groups with plenty of free time, Dr. Sapolsky writes, “to devote to being rotten to each other” – for a baboon or human, “stress” is rarely about evading a lion. Instead, it’s mostly about members of your own species psychologically stressing you. And this is precisely when stress-related disease arises, Dr. Sapolsky explains in his book Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. And like people, baboons are good material for stories. His gift for storytelling led The New York Times to suggest, “If you crossed Jane Goodall with a borscht-belt comedian, she might have written a book like A Primate’s Memoir,” Dr. Sapolsky’s account of his years as a field biologist.

Sapolsky’s unique perspective on the human condition comes from his more than thirty years spent as both a field primatologist and a laboratory neuroscientist. As a result, he effortlessly moves from discussing pecking orders in primate societies (human and baboon) to explaining the neurochemistry of stress—in ways that even science-phobics readily understand.

What fascinates Dr. Sapolsky most about human behavior is a paradox – we are both the most violent species on earth, as well as the most altruistic, cooperative and empathic. In his most recent book Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, he examines how every act – heroic, appalling, or in between – is caused by the neurobiology that occurred a second before, the environmental stimuli minutes before that triggered that neurobiology, hormonal influences during prior hours….all the way back to childhood and fetal experience sculpting our brains, and the effects of genes, culture, ecology and evolution.

Out of this comes a perspective that as biological organisms, we have far less free will than usually assumed; Dr. Sapolsky’s most recent work focuses on how to think about this, whether considering the actions of a murderer, or the actions for which you are praised. This synthesis is the basis of his new book, Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will (Penguin/Random House, October 17, 2023).

Dr. Sapolsky is a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, a professor of biology, neurology and neurosurgery at Stanford University, and a research associate at the National Museum of Kenya. His 2008 National Geographic special on stress, and his on-line lectures about human behavioral biology, have been watched tens of millions of times. The humor and humanity he brings to sometimes-sobering subject matter make Dr. Sapolsky a fascinating speaker. He lectures widely on topics as diverse as stress and stress-related diseases, biology and the free will debate, the biology of our individuality, the biology of religious belief, depression, memory, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease.

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BSc(Hons), MSc(A)PT

As a movement aficionado, Tiana Ringer specializes in training and rehabilitation integrating superficial and deep fascia tissue release, acupuncture based trigger point work, movement analysis, soft mobilizations, strength and power development, aerobic exercise prescription, neurological and concussion based treatments, along with the knowledge and applications of biochemistry and nutritional science through her work as a team member with Science of Sport & Health. 

Throughout her many years in the fitness and health industry, Tiana has observed, studied, and mentored under professionals in their fields of healthcare. Currently, she works as part of the Science of Sport & Health team alongside a renowned global expert in exercise endocrinology, biochemistry, and clinical nutrition. Tiana applies her knowledge of the physical and chemical changes that occur in men and women to implement individualized methods of attainment of health and well being. 

Tiana’s skills and unique approach is a culmination of education as a physical therapist, kinesiologist, fascial stretch therapist, and a broad base of movement modalities. Tiana herself is a highly accomplished and versatile athlete— a semi-professional classical dancer, certified Russian Vaganova Ballet technique instructor, Olympic weightlifter, professional wrestler, and specialist in aerial acrobatics.

Tiana received her Bachelor of Science (Specialized Honors) in Kinesiology from York University and her Masters of Science (Applied) in Physical Therapy from McGill University. 

Tiana believes that optimal health is a trifecta of movement, nutrition, and mental health. Her clientele includes A-list actors, NHL & AHL hockey athletes, CFL and NCAA football athletes, dancers, national and Olympic-level gymnasts and weightlifters, WWE professional wrestlers, corporate leaders, and health focused individuals. It is through the optimization of body mechanics, pain reduction, and awareness that her client’s achieve longterm functional independence, an essential component of longevity.

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Danielle Friedman is an award-winning health and culture journalist and a regular contributor to The New York Times  Well section, where she has written about everything from the joys of being a slow runner to the importance of pelvic floor conditioning. She is also the author of Let’s Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped the World, which was selected as a New Yorker and Financial Times Best Book of 2022. She lives in New York City with her husband and their two young sons.

Follow her on instagram: @daniellefriedmanwrites

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Nick Heath, Ph.D., is a breath coach, researcher, and writer living with type-1 diabetes.  Nick’s formal education is in atmospheric science, but he has spent the last 7+ years studying, teaching, and applying breathing principles in his life and with others. He is a certified Oxygen Advantage® coach, a Level I Pranayama teacher, and a member of the Global Wellness BREATHE Initiative.  Nick is the creator of The Breathing Diabetic and BreathLearning.com.

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Abigail is a Utah-based yoga teacher and educator. She became dedicated to sharing yoga with others after it helped her recover from a devastating stroke in 2012. Her mission is to spread adaptive, inclusive yoga throughout Utah and beyond. Abigail teaches at studios in Utah County, specializing in adaptive, yin, restorative and gentle yoga. She lives in Orem, Utah with her family and loves hiking, reading, and herbalism. Stay connected with her on Instagram at @adaptiveyogautah, @wellwithabigail or check out her website at wellwithabigail.com.

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Rodrigo Cerdá, M.D., MPH, is senior vice president of Health Services and chief medical officer at Independence Blue Cross (Independence). He leads Independence’s collaborative efforts to bring together health insurers, hospitals, and doctors together
to improve access to well-coordinated, high quality, and affordable health care to the region. He is also the company’s chief clinical spokesperson. 

Dr. Cerdá has overall corporate responsibility for population health, case and condition management, provider experience, medical mangement and policy, and health value optimization. Before joining Independence, Dr. Cerdá was managing director for Integrated Health Services at PA Consulting and Aetna International in the United Kingdom. Prior to that, he worked at McKinsey and Company in the US and the UK advising health care payers, providers, governments, and nongovernmental organizations with a focus on value- based care and public health. During that time, he maintained a position at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School as an attending physician and clinical instructor.


Dr. Cerdá serves as president of the American Diabetes Association’s Community
Leadership Board for Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware. He also serves on the
advisory boards for Managed Healthcare Executive and HealthShare Exchange of
Southeastern Pennsylvania, a regional health information organization.
He is a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and a member of the
American Medical Association, the Pennsylvania Medical Society, and the American
College of Physicians.

Dr. Cerdá completed his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania, his residency
in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, his master’s in public health at
Harvard, and his bachelor’s degree at Yale. He is a diplomate of the American Board of
Internal Medicine.

He lives in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with his wife and
two boys.

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