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On the occasion of her seventh birthday, J shares some conversations with his eldest daughter, Roslyn Brown. He promised her that they were recording a “real” podcast and, after a recent incident where he maybe wasn’t there for her as a father, he felt compelled to make good on his promise. They talk about animals, her baby sister, her mom, and whether they should stay in Brooklyn or move somewhere else. Please note: This one is for fans of J’s personal narrative. Otherwise, its probably best to enjoy the archives.

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J sits down with Ryan Cunningham and Kate Robinson, hosts of Unrolled Podcast, for a lively conversation in Ryan’s kitchen just after a workshop at his center, Bow St. Yoga in Sommerville MA. They talk about how Ryan went from being the former-manager of a center acquired by Yogaworks to being a yoga center owner himself in the span of a year, showers at yoga studios, the awesomeness that is Unrolled Podcast, why J does Sanskrit chanting and if the name of his podcast is lame, and forging new models for yoga going forward.

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J talks with Shelly Prosko, founder of Physio Yoga, about her mission to integrate yoga into the healthcare system. Shelly shares some of her personal story of how a random injury catapulted her work incorporating medical therapeutic yoga and traditional physical therapy. They discuss earlier days before yoga was considered an alternative healing modality, the difference between bringing medicine into yoga and yoga into medicine, the limitations of allopathic models, yoga therapy, and the need for clarity of scope.

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J talks to one of the greats, Erich Schiffmann. This is the first time they have ever spoken to each other and Erich takes J through some history and a bevy of tales that speak to the coming of yoga into the west and mainstream. They discuss what it’s like to have lunch with J Krishnamurti and get slapped by BKS Iyengar, the origins of the traveling yoga career, free-form yoga, and learning how to learn from your own practice. Erich also shares why he is stepping away from teaching and sings praise for the Feathered Pipe Ranch.

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Cristina Kuhn returns to talk with J about the one big thing they didn’t discuss last time they got together, her MS. After their last podcast, they went out to dinner and Cristina mentioned her condition and agreed to come back on. They finally found an opportunity to make good on it. She shares what it was liked to be diagnosed, conventional and alternative treatments, the emotional impact, and the resolve to carry on with life. They also touch base on how business is going at her center, the Yogi Underground in Falls Church, VA.

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Cyndi Lee, founder of the influential OM Yoga center, was someone who set the stage for people like J. After running in the same circles for years, they finally get a chance to meet. They talk about Cyndi’s personal journey into yoga and Tibetan Buddhism, yoga coming into the mainstream, the story of how OM Yoga came into existence and why it had to close, and the way things are playing out now. Both Cyndi and J share openly about what it is to make your practice into a profession and the rapid change in the yoga industry

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J talks with Joey Slater-Milligan, background vocalist from the band Wheatus. Joey graduated from J’s teacher training program a while back and they take some time to learn about each other outside of the practice space. Joey shares her journey from a small village in England to playing arena-sized shows with a band she started out selling t-shirts for. They also discuss why she decided to do a yoga teacher training, dealing with the loss of parents, the perils of gentrification and a hustle economy, and her new young adult sci-fi novel ‘PSY’.

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Jason Crandell has always been on J’s radar as someone of his generation who managed to break through into the mainstream. They talk about early days of Yoga Journal cruises, what it takes to launch a yoga career, the invent of yoga teacher training, social media literacy, realities and issues facing current yoga business models, raising the educational bar and holding teacher trainers accountable. They also discuss drug and alcohol addiction in loved ones, sequencing yoga programs, and the ins and outs of online video.

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.

J returns the favor and brings on Wendy Reese, host of The Whole Being Zone Podcast. They talk about the horrors of having crappy internet service, what the yoga scene is like in a town of five hundred people, the journey from fitness to wholeness, dealing with mental illness, learning to love yourself, the practicality of psychic power, and how to build community. They also discuss her new book Alchemy of Yoga: Living Yoga Off the Mat, which mixes ancient wisdom and science with “pragmatic woo-woo” in applicable and slightly irreverent ways.

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Julie Buckner and J had been emailing back and forth for months, but only when the final word came down that she was definitely closing her yoga center did they sit down and talk about the state of affairs. They discuss the hard realities facing independent yoga centers vs standardized and scaled models, what it means to be successful but not profitable, real estate markets and sustainability, and even get into a bit of national politics. More than anything, they look to each other for support and inspiration.

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Eddie Stern, esteemed Ashtanga Yoga teacher, invites J to The Brooklyn Yoga Club to talk about the old days and current incarnations of his yoga and teaching. They discuss his early practice, formative times in the NY yoga scene, the entrance of Patabhi Jois into the US, the birth of “vinyasa” as a hybrid style, bringing yoga into schools, and whether or not Ashtanga Yoga is injurious. The conversation also brings them together around a connection between punk rock, hip-hop, yoga, and being true to who you are and what you do.

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Serendipity brings Sam Chase, author of Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness, and J together in this intimate back and forth about the parallels in both their early beginnings and current life situations. They discuss the lonely aspects of being a yoga teacher, Sam’s dual yoga personality, vinyasa yoga’s identity crisis, the evolution of Kripalu Yoga, and the origins and purpose behind Yoga to the People. They also touch on the back-end of owning a studio and the challenges inherent in being true to the ethics of what you advertise.

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Michael Lee, founder of Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy, talks with J about the origins of Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy and its defining characteristics. They discuss creating safe containers for practice, identifying what’s going on in your body and in your life based on both experience and psychological principles, the thin line between yoga and yoga therapy, changes in the professional yoga landscape, and being true to who you are. They also share together in the many tribulations and incarnations that a life can present.

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Hareesh (Christopher) Wallis has a B.A. in Religion and Classics from the University of Rochester, an M.A. in Sanskrit from U.C. Berkeley, an M.Phil. in Classical Indian Religions from Oxford, and a Ph.D. on the traditions of Śaiva Tantra from Berkeley. He talks with J about the art and science of translating Sanskrit, the influence of Tantra on modern yoga, qualifications on non-duality, Abhinava Gupta, and how the removal of conceptual overlays and integration of transcendence reveals inherent wonder and awe in life.

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J sits down with Jennilyn Carson, long time friend, editor in chief of Yogadork, founder of Cycledork and TASCbar. They rode the wave of yoga into the mainstream together and reminisce over some of the sign posts and stories that marked the way. The conversation also covers Jennilyn’s interests in woman’s cycles, cats, social justice, and the ever-changing “cluster-f***” of yoga culture and news. The two commune on the silver linings, and J explains why he decided to have this be the year anniversary episode.

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J talks with Pamela Tanner Boll, award winning producer and director of the documentary films A Small Good Thing and Who Does She Think She Is? They discuss her earlier work and formative times in life that shaped the themes running through her movies, including the pressing issues addressed in her recent work that spoke to J deeply and inspired their conversation. They touch on the difference between holding space vs fighting for it, the challenges of making a living as an artist, and the importance of being curious, not furious.

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Judith Hanson Lasater is a seminal figure in the yoga world. She talks with J about the earliest times for independent yoga teachers, her experience with BKS Iyengar, reasons for withdrawal from the Iyengar organization, and the inspiration behind what she teaches now. They discuss the appropriateness and intention with which we practice, the privilege of teaching and holding a sacred circle of safety, understanding psychological projection, and mirroring back the inherent goodness and inner wisdom of the student.

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Kerry Porter joins J to discuss some of the comment threads they have participated in together as mutual members of a Facebook group, and the implications they share with broader issues in our politics. They talk about the decolonizing of language and culture, listening to the voices of injustice, the marketplace of exploitation, appropriated yoga, and how we might begin to stop perpetuating oppressive power imbalances through reparatory justice instead of essentially telling people to “go eat a turd pie."

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Diane Bruni was the first Ashtanga yoga teacher in Canada. She stopped by J’s yoga class in Brooklyn and they sat down afterwards to talk about her story of yoga’s entrance into the mainstream, yoga injuries, and the new directions that are being forged. Diane shares openly about her early and unconventional instruction in Iyengar method, controversial exit from the Ashtanga community, cancer diagnosis and healing, and the movement research she is exploring now. They discuss the current state of the Slow Yoga Revolution.

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Bernie Clark has intimate knowledge of one of the most popular forms of yoga practice today, Yin Yoga. He talks to J about where it comes from, how he got to it, and what distinguishes it from other styles. Bernie answers some of the most common questions about Yin Yoga, including whether or not you can stretch a ligament and what happens to a fibroblast when you hold a pose for longer periods. They discuss his new book, Your Body - Your Yoga, and other aspects of the science and metaphysics at work behind the approach.

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Anneke Lucas was sold into a child sex-trafficking network at the age of six. Now she teaches yoga in prisons through her organization, Liberation Prison Yoga. J sits down with Anneke to talk about her journey of healing trauma and expanding consciousness, being groped by Pattabhi Jois, the Jivamukti scandal, a panel discussion on power in the yoga world, trauma sensitivity training, and how to create safer spaces and better support for victims. The conversation touches upon difficult topics, listener discretion is advised.

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Neil Pearson has spent over 30 years in the field of physiotherapy and pain management science. J talks with him about the difference between awareness and self-regulation, prescription vs process, the intertwined nature of pain and suffering, how the medical system teaches us to give power over to someone else, and recognizing things as safe or dangerous. The conversation touches the philosophical nature of science, and where science and yoga are coming together to help people address pain.

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Dianne Bondy has become a leader in encouraging greater diversity in yoga. J talks with her about his own blinders, her move from fitness to yoga, drinking the Anusara cool-aid, being DIY on and off the mat, the power of language to either empower or disempower people, and ways in which yoga can move us into fuller acceptance of ourselves and others. They also discuss being a spokesperson and have a lively back and forth about practice, communing in their shared intention to present yoga.

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Hari-kirtana has gone by many names depending on the different lifestyles he's led. J talks with him about being a member of "the mother of all cults", the Hare Krishna movement, participating in Jivamukti Yoga Teacher Training, separating the teachings from the teacher, comparative yoga philosophy regarding non-duality and the inherent duality of bringing theology and realization to the modern marketplace of ideas.

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Matthew Remski has become known for his provocative, sometimes controversial, and inspiring writings on pressing issues in the yoga world. J talks with him about his early experiences and how they have shaped the course of his work, the misconceptions and current status of his ongoing WAWADIA (What Are We Actually Doing in Asana?) project, the recent flap regarding Jivamukti Yoga, his interest in subtle body phenomenon and the grey zone between the mystical and the wounded.