Rod Stryker, founder of ParaYoga, talks with J about the formative events that shaped yoga becoming part of popular culture and the spiritual underpinnings that call it into question. They discuss Yoga Works and the 80's LA Scene, Manny and Alan Finger, westernizing the message, branding and creating empires, defining Tantra, teacher/student relationship, nonduality and divinity, and a singular vision of the heart.

Divya Kohli, author of Finding Peace in Difficult Times: grounding techniques for inner calm, returns to talk with J about the post-pandemic crossroads that many yoga teachers are facing. They discuss the halcyon days of wholly committed teachers, organic communities, sweet spots and scalability, class issues in marketing, inverting the pyramid of priorities, and countering a dystopian future with the power of shared ritual and intention.

David McGrath, author of The Yogi’s Way: Living in Accord with the Yamas & Niyamas, talks with J about Kriya Yoga and embodying philosophical principles. They discuss his teacher Roy Eugene Davis and Paramahansa Yogananda, Self-Realization Fellowship and The Center for Spiritual Awareness, the Camino de Santiago, Lacanian psychoanalysis, Yamas and Niyamas, and the importance of bringing it back to the miracle of right now.

Gary Kraftsow, founder of the American Viniyoga Institute, talks with J about the historical, philosophical, and religious context in which yoga appeared. They discuss the origins and substance of teachings given by TKV Desikachar in 1976, Patanjali's interest in the phenomenon of faith rather than the metaphysical, qualified non-dualism, from alternative to complimentary medicine, and addressing the fragmentation of our times.

Ryan Cunningham, co-founder of Boston Yoga Collective, returns to the show to continue an ongoing conversation with J about the evolution and future of yoga centers. They discuss the traveling circuit heyday, economics of operating an independent center, changes in the market, landlords and leases, importance of physical spaces post-pandemic, pedagogical models and meditation, and the possibility of still making it work against all odds.

J decides to depart from his usual protocol and takes a moment to talk about the economics of opening a yoga center in 2023. He lays out the evolution of operating yoga centers from 2007 until 2019, pay scales and competing incentives, the pivotal shift that destroyed sustainability, moving from spaces to audiences, real estate markets, cooperatives, and reasons why it might be worth it to open something despite all the obstacles.

Michael Hutchinson, author of Breath for Health, talks with J about the teachings of TKV Desikachar and developing understanding through experience. They discuss Michael's dual life working in both the physics of explosion mechanics and yoga, overcoming challenges, hard science and ancient wisdom, inner organizational capacity, aspects of yoga that can't be measured, and little things that lead to big changes of heart.

Andrew Eppler, director of Ashtanga Yoga Studio and visionary behind the Mysore Yoga Traditions Film and Conference, talks with J about BNS Iyengar and the Mysore Yoga Traditions. They discuss how Andrew discovered BNS Iyengar, stepping with the right or left foot, origins of Patabi Jois sequences, Nathamuni Sampradaya, Krishnamacharya, illusion or reality, learning from elders, and a love of yoga that transcends culture and social class.

Anoop Kumar, MD, founder of Health Revolution, talks with J about the primacy of consciousness and its implications on allopathic medicine. They discuss Anoop's early exposure to nondual philosophy, becoming an emergency physician, definitions of consciousness, measuring outcomes, inverting primary and complimentary care, Atman and Brahman, the three minds of experience, and creating bridges of understanding.

David Procyshyn, founder of doyogawithme.com, talks with J about the evolution of online yoga and maintaining values in the digital landscape. They discuss the origins of the doyogawithme platform, giving everything away for free, being values-oriented and the stirha/sukha of business, understanding the user experience, social media, growing your reach, conscious consumerism, and being human in a technological realm.

Frank Jude Boccio, host of Pobsa’s Dharma Lounge Podcast, returns to continue a conversation with J about materialism, naturalism, and the great mysteries of life. They discuss definitions of religious and spiritual, rejection of anything supernatural, relationship between God and religion, Frank's spiritual background, forms of grace and worship, evil actions and moral codes, and coming together around universal principles.

Ranju Roy and Dave Charlton, coauthors of Embodying the Yoga Sutra: Support, Direction, Space, return to talk with J about the role yoga plays in fulfilling our innate religious impulse. They discuss their childhood exposures to religion, the third and forth chapters of Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, Ishavara Pranidhana, TKV Desikachar's teaching on devotion, prayer and a creator, and coming to terms with our place in an unknowable universe.

Ron Baker, author of Bright Lights, Big Empty: A Journey of Profound Awakening, talks with J about soul awakenings and the journey to Self. They discuss a mutual connection and convergences, signposts in Ron's early childhood, meeting his friend Robert and the experience of receiving communication from the Arch Angel Gabriel, pathways of initiation, receiving guidance, bioenergetic healing, and learning to love and value life.

Beth Shaw, founder of YogaFit and author of Healing Trauma With Yoga & Mind-Body Techniques, talks with J about the role she played in bringing yoga into the mainstream. They discuss the genesis of YogaFit, developing a style of practice that was appealing to gym culture, getting flak from the yoga world, spiritual interventions and inclusive language, credentialing, social media, and having the courage to offer something transformational.

Concetta Troskie, creator of Mindfully Embodied, is an old friend of J's and they reunite to talk about their respective journeys of healing and spirit. They discuss the thriving scene in Brooklyn in the early aughts, being supported as young teachers, almost becoming a nun, getting sick with a brain tumor and losing everything, EMDR and Ketamine therapy, recovering souls, and cultivating a differential reverence rooted in love and humility.

Annabelle Brown, J's youngest daughter, returns to talk about how she has been managing her mental health and the process of healing our traumas. They discuss what it felt like when she started to have OCD, being unable to communicate because of compulsions, the moment that it seemingly turned and what motivated her, her therapist, her sister, a brief cameo from Mom, and appreciating the innocence and wisdom of a sensitive child.

Ron Brent talks with J about time spent with Yogi Bhajan and Muktananda. They discuss his awakening experience, a brief stint in Scientology, stumbling upon Yogi Bhajan, actual sources of Kundalini Yoga, spontaneous kriyas, discovering Muktananda, seeing Yogi Bhajan admonished by his guru Virsa Singh, guru and disciple traditions, shaktipat initiation, and understanding formlessness expresses itself through forms of our culture.

Daniel Simpson, from the Ancient Futures Podcast, guest hosts to ask J about the evolution of J. Brown Yoga Talks and the entwinement of his personal growth with the creative process of producing a weekly show. They discuss the original motivations behind starting the podcast, generating episodes, how J's family feels about his "radical transparency," controversy, cultural appropriation, coming to God, and the spirit that fuels J's passion.

Joshua Schrei, host of The Emerald Podcast, returns to talk with J about our place in this alive world. They discuss the context in which yoga arises, implications of an animistic worldview, the western scientific tradition, the animacy of inanimate objects, entertwinement of subjective and objective reality, dualistic nonduality, personhood, evil entities and a creator spirit, musical interelationality, and ceding agency to the theater of stone and time.

R. Sriram, coauthor of Natya Yoga: Peace Passion Pain Mapping Emotions, reunites with J to talk about the deeper questions of purpose and meaning in yoga. They discuss his understanding of T Krishnamacharya's and TKV Desikachar's view on God, humility and faith, Vedic chanting with J Krishnamurti, diverging from Vyasa's commentary on Patañjali, limitations of science, and respecting the personal artistic nature of the divine.