Gill Lloyd - "TKV Desikachar and the Art of Living Peacefully"

Gill Lloyd - "TKV Desikachar and the Art of Living Peacefully"

Gill Lloyd, former teacher trainer for the British Wheel of Yoga and former chair of both Viniyoga Britain and KHYF-UK, talks with J about her life in yoga and the influence of TKV Desikachar. They discuss her first class in the mid eighties, Vinyasa Krama, stories of watching Desikachar teach, the importance of heart-to-heart connection, watching "Sir's" health decline and the scandal, religiosity, and learning the art of living peacefully in this world.

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Hari-kirtana das - "Individual Souls and a Supreme Being"

Hari-kirtana das - "Individual Souls and a Supreme Being"

Hari-kirtana das returns to revisit questions of nonduality and the relationship between an individual sole and a supreme being. They discuss reimagining our definitions of God and religion, divine and ecological person-hood, immanence and transcendence, conforming to highest truths vs shaping truth to our desires, freedom within the prison of material life, evil, and the benefit of relying on something greater than yourself.

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Jessamyn Stanley - "Fat Positivity and Narrative Disruption"

Jessamyn Stanley - "Fat Positivity and Narrative Disruption"

Jessamyn Stanley, co-founder of The Underbelly and author of Yoke: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance, talks with J about body acceptance and challenging preconceived notions. They discuss her entry into yoga and starting to post her practice on Instagram, how she landed a Gatorade commercial, The Yoga Journal cover controversy, differences between fat and body positivity, naked yoga on only fans, and starting uncomfortable conversations.

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Andrew Tanner - "Cults, Industry, and Future Prospects"

Andrew Tanner - "Cults, Industry, and Future Prospects"

Andrew Tanner returns unbound to talk with J about his experience of escaping a yoga cult and shaping the yoga industry. They discuss the life changing moment with his father that led to his commitment to Dahn Yoga, the history and philosophies of Korean Taoist traditions, what went wrong and why he left, working for Kripalu and Yoga Alliance, what happened with the standards review project, and keeping soul in the game.

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Bashira Muhammad - "Mycological Wonders"

Bashira Muhammad - "Mycological Wonders"

Bashira Muhammad, owner of Zoom Out Mycology, is an old friend of J's and they talk about her work in mycology. They discuss the fact that Bashira was the youngest person to do J's teacher training over a decade ago, the qualities in her that lent to yogic inquiry at a young age and led to her interest in mycology, some of the ins and outs of fungi, spirit of mycelium, the recent farm bill, and learning about the interrelationship of all beings.

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Dr. Lisa Miller - "The Awakened Brain"

Dr. Lisa Miller - "The Awakened Brain"

Lisa Miller, Ph.D., author of The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life, talks with J about a belief in God and the neuroscience showing its benefits. They discuss the passing of J's mother, empirical evidence for innate spirituality, post-traumatic spiritual growth, spirituality associated with cortical thickness, neural seeds of awareness, and being open to receive intelligent loving force.

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Kamini Desai - "Lineage, Life Lessons, and Manifest Divinity"

Kamini Desai - "Lineage, Life Lessons, and Manifest Divinity"

Kamini Desai, founder of I AM Education and Yogeshwari of the Lakulish Lineage, talks with J about her journey to becoming a lineage holding and the principles of divinity her teachings encompass. They discuss the history of Kripalu Yoga, growing up at the ashram, learning from the experience of scandal around her father, impermanence and infinite consciousness, and the deeper layers of stillness that reveal our essential wholeness.

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Genny Wilkinson - "Starting Anew with Mission"

Genny Wilkinson - "Starting Anew with Mission"

Genny Wilkinson, co-founder of Mission, talks with J about what has happened to yoga centers, lessons learned, and the new space that she is opening. They discuss why she departed from triYoga, the reasons why so many centers had to close, the genesis of the new center and what they are doing differently, pricing and teacher pay, online vs in person classes, and the need to orchestrate human interaction after years in isolation.

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Dona Holleman - "Theosophy, J. Krishnamurti, and BKS Iyengar”

Dona Holleman - "Theosophy, J. Krishnamurti, and BKS Iyengar”

Dona Holleman, Honorary President of The Centered Yoga Dona Holleman Association, talks with J about her storied career and the formative relationships that shaped yoga in the west. They discuss the Theosophical Society, world wars and being born in a prison camp. talks with Krishnamurti, Iyengar as a young man, Vanda Scaravelli's influence, teaching certification, and the individual path of finding your true self.

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Lolly Stirk - "Active Birth Movement and Prenatal Yoga"

Lolly Stirk - "Active Birth Movement and Prenatal Yoga"

Lolly Stirk, teacher at Mothertime and teacher trainer at YogaBirth, talks with J about the history of the active birth movement and prenatal yoga classes. They discuss her arrival in London during the summer of love, opening one of the first vegetarian restaurants, hanging out with the Beatles and making dinner for BKS Iyengar, softening practice, Vanda Scaravelli, Sheila Kitzinger and Michel Odent, and learning to surrender to the process of life.

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Peter Blackaby - "Does God Exist?"

Peter Blackaby - "Does God Exist?"

Peter Blackaby, author of Intelligent Yoga, talks with J about ways of perceiving the phenomenal world and the emergence of spirit. They discuss what is meant by the term "nonmaterial," ways of understanding how a human being takes in censorial information, accumulated experience or divine intervention, using words like God, what materialists and mystics fear, and recognizing the unifying connection we all share.

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James Matthew Brown - "Maty Ezraty, Fulfillment, and Purpose"

James Matthew Brown - "Maty Ezraty, Fulfillment, and Purpose"

James Matthew Brown talks with J about the boom years for yoga in the early aughts and the legacy of his teacher, Maty Ezraty. They discuss his gigs teaching the Gore family during the 2000 election and touring with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, becoming a student of Maty, Yoga Works teacher training, alignment vs flow, venture capitalists and scaling, leaving yoga only to learn its where you truly belong, and aspects of teaching that stay true over time.

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Mike De Masi - "Learning from Srivatsa Ramaswami"

Mike De Masi - "Learning from Srivatsa Ramaswami"

Mike De Masi, student of Srivatsa Ramaswami, bassist for Ali Omar El-Farouk, and founder of the Worldwide Krishnamacharya Yoga Community Facebook Group, talks with J about honoring the many different traditions of yoga. They discuss Mike's inquiry into the teaching of T. Krishnamacharya, learning from Ramaswami, Vinyasa Krama, the nuance of the breath, and finding vehicles for dialogue so that we can learn and grow.

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Acharya Shunya - "Recontextualizing Ancient Vedic Wisdom"

Acharya Shunya - "Recontextualizing Ancient Vedic Wisdom"

Acharya Shunya, founder of The Awakened Self Foundation and author of three bestselling books including Roar Like a Goddess, talks with J about the source of yogic wisdom. They discuss her grandfather's return to ancient vedic roots, Sanskrit grammar and translations, embracing shadows, deep inner soul propensity, the role of a guru, three frames of mind as a seeker, universal spirit, and staying connected to a Great Omniscient Dimension.

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Monica Gauci - "Healing From the Inside Out"

Monica Gauci - "Healing From the Inside Out"

Monica Gauci, co-founder of 8 Limbs and Chintamani Yoga, talks with J about learning how to heal ourselves. They discuss her early studies with Shandor Remete, pursuing a degree in chiropractic, studying with Patabhi Jois, overemphasis on asana, the myth of sequencing, hyper-mobility, re-educating the deep spinal stabilizing muscles, active vs passive therapies, being divinity, and cultivating an integrated understanding of your body.

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Colin Dunsmuir - "TKV Desikachar and Relationship"

Colin Dunsmuir - "TKV Desikachar and Relationship"

Colin Dunsmuir, founder of True Yoga and author of How to Find Stillness Within, talks with J about the teachings of TKV Desikachar and the nature of yoga transmission. They discuss Colin's decision to forgo authorization in Ashtanga and become a yoga therapist, the training process, distinguishing characteristics of an individualized approach, Desikachar's unique example, and understanding the stages to deeper spiritual truths and awareness.

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Hamish Hendry - "Enduring Early Morning Mysore Self-Practice"

Hamish Hendry - "Enduring Early Morning Mysore Self-Practice"

Hamish Hendry, owner of Astanga Yoga London and publisher of Pushpam Magazine, talks with J about tirelessly teaching a daily Mysore program in London for over 25 years. They discuss the purpose of chanting, avoiding dogma, finding Ashtanga Vinyasa in the late eighties, becoming authorized and how it has changed, evolving as a teacher and staying in line with your beliefs, and the humbly remaining true to a commitment to service.

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Lisa Petersen - "Presence and a New Sense of Self"

Lisa Petersen - "Presence and a New Sense of Self"

Lisa Petersen, somatics innovator and yoga teacher, talks with J about the cross pollination of somatic movement modalities and traditional yoga. They discuss her training at Vivekenanda Kendra, defining a felt inner sense experience, Body Mind Centering and Hanna Somatics, pandiculation instead of stretching, deliberately simplified spaces, form and finding newness, radiating fluidic pathways, and discovering divinity.

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John Stirk - "Living at the End of Exhalation"

John Stirk - "Living at the End of Exhalation"

John Stirk, author of Deeper Still, talks with J about the non-material aspects of yoga and the importance of noticing. They discuss the influences of R.D.Laing, J. Krishnamurti, and Vanda Scaravelli, sensation and awareness, the value of not knowing, the field of shared energy, that which lays beyond fear and expresses our capacity for love, understanding nothing in particular, unconditioned wisdom, and trusting in our own experience.

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Year End Check In with J - “Zoloft, MRI’s, and Divine Spirit”

Year End Check In with J - “Zoloft, MRI’s, and Divine Spirit”

J takes a moment to break from his usual format to reflect on the challenges of the last year and share some of his biggest takeaways. He talks about his daughters mental health struggles and the medical care she has received, conclusions on the results of his MRI and persistent hip pain, scientific lenses in the alternative health sphere, knowing when to part ways from existing protocols, and embracing the role of spirit in yoga and healing.

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