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 take-aways. 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 follow and when to part ways from existing protocols, acknowledging the unexplainable wisdom at the center of a persons being, and embracing the role of spirit in yoga and healing.

J. Brown Yoga Teacher Training - new group starts Jan 2023

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Richard Rosen, author of Yoga by the Numbers: The Sacred and Symbolic in Yoga Philosophy and Practice, talks with J about keeping yoga vibrant despite life's challenges. They discuss Richard's long-time friendship with Rodney Yee, the Piedmont Yoga Center, Iyengar method in the early days, teaching headstand and shoulderstand, the appropriate use of pranayama practices, Yogi Ramacharaka and the Worlds Fair, living with Parkinson's Disease, children's poetry for adults, and the intuitive process of living a rewarding life.

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Elisa Malinverni, author of Yoga for Recovering Addicts: Stories of Hope and Ways of Self-Healing, returns to talk about overcoming addictions. They discuss the ways media and society distort information about addiction, the moral high horse, the open drug scene in Berne in the eighties and nineties, opposing positions on what addiction is, the surprising fact of natural recovery, when yoga becomes addictive, psychedelics and states of consciousness, admitting to vulnerability, and the role of prayer and spirit in overcoming challenges.

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Adam Bucko, author of Let Your Heartbreak Be Your Guide: Lessons in Engaged Contemplation, talks with J about prayer and divine grace. They discuss Adam’s childhood in Poland during the totalitarian regime, a life-defining experience in India, working with homeless youth, occupy wall street and social change, monasticism, being present with your pain, showing up without buffers, a sense of falling apart that leads to a calling, teachers holding their roles differently, being in a state of receptivity, and transforming ourselves into more loving people.

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Bernie Clark, author of the Your Body Your Yoga Trilogy, talks with J about the completion of the third and final volume on the upper body and the larger picture of biomechanics and yoga. They discuss functional vs ascetic approaches to the body, stressing tissues, what air line pilot cockpits tell us about human variation, anti-fragility and stability, close chain and open chain exercise, open packed and close packed joints, asymmetries and proportions, nocebo, the value of x-rays or MRI, and understanding that each person is unique.

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Rick Olderman, author and creator of the Fixing You® Method at Home Course and for Health Professionals, talks with J about his systems thinking approach to addressing pain. They discuss the limitations of traditional physical therapy education, incorporating Anatomy Trains and Hanna Somatics, biomechanics and common patterns of dysfunction, J's body and right anterior femoral glide syndrome, locking knees and healthy glute activation, pillars of chronic pain, and creating bridges to function so that we can live pain-free.

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Esther Gokhale, founder of the Gokhale Method, talks with J about alleviating pain through anthropologically informed postural work. They discuss the imprints of her childhood in India, how her studies in biochemistry led to acupuncture and the Aplomb Institute in Paris, the crippling back pain and unsuccessful back surgery that led to her lifelong crusade to vanquish back pain, indigenous cultures and J-shaped spines, the use of wearable technology, butt muscles and gait, and learning to turn posture knowledge into postural habits.

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Jonni Pollard, cofounder of 1 Giant Mind and author of The Golden Sequence, talks with J about Vedic Meditation and the universal nature of our existence. They discuss going from punk kid to spiritual lover, Bija mantras, creating a movement around social and environmental coherence, scaling group meditation to alter the larger fields, a meeting with the Dalai Lama that changed everything, the split within science, guru function, prying open subtle dimensions, and the innocent instinct to nurture a deeper sense of belonging

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Tanis Fishman, founder of the School of Sankulpa, talks with J about experiencing unity consciousness. They discuss surrender and awakening moments including a bad car accident Tanis was in at age 19, her travels and time at the Bihar School of Yoga, "I-ness" and distortion fields, feeling beyond our mental impression storehouse, touching pure frequencies, using the word God, prayer as communion with higher consciousness, being ready to give up everything so you can come to knowing, and being witnessed upon the humble path.

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.

James Swanwick, co-founder of Swanwick Sleep, talks with J about wearing blue light blockers and eliminating alcohol consumption for better health. They discuss the positive effects James observed when he stopped drinking, how it lead to producing glasses with orange lenses to block blue light, the evolution from natural to artificial lighting, screens and the ill effects of blue light on melatonin release, alcohol toxicity, caffein consumption, optimal sleeping conditions, and creating habits that help optimize performance and well being.

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.

Sam Wilde, founder of The Sacred Order of the Great Mother and host of the Fertile Feminist Podcast, talks with J about a connection they made years ago and nurturing a felt sense of The Great Mother. They discuss a formative conversation they happened into together two decades back and the import it held, Sam's experience of not fitting into the yoga world, her work as a minister and study of feminist liberation theology, fertility as shakti and feminism as shiva, and being a midwife to the desires of the heart and spirit of mothering for all.

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Laurel Beversdorf, creator of Yoga with Resistance Bands Teacher Training and host of the Movement Logic Podcast, talks with J about the integration of resistance bands and other implements into the deeper aspects of yoga. They discuss the tendency of persistent pain to shape practice, conditioning the body and the value of strength training, maturing beyond the demonization of yoga poses, titles and descriptions, the fallacy of certifications, definition of training, and decoding the subtle elements of discovery that make yogic unique.

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Eric Shaw, author of Sacred Thread: A Comprehensive Yoga Timeline: 2000 Events that Shaped Yoga History, talks with J about the arc of yoga and its relationship to culture from ancient times to modern day. They discuss Eric's early efforts to translate yoga scholarship into more common vernacular, life on the yoga circuit, the infamous Facebook post, his tendency to collect little known details and facts about yoga, bifurcation at odds with unitary philosophy, and anchoring ourselves in transparency and truth.

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Catherine Annis, core teacher for Intelligent Yoga Teacher Training, talks with J about Scaravelli-inspired yoga and the evolution of yoga teacher training. They discuss her start as a dancer and early inspirations, discovering her primary teacher, moving into a space of ease rather than seeking out challenge, structure and the use of form in somatic-based practices, meeting people where they are while still offering a deeper inquiry, defining parameters for training teachers, and having the courage to share your authentic experience.

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Libby Hinsley, author of Yoga for Bendy People, talks with J about the prevalence and education gap regarding hypermobility syndromes. They discuss the lack of understanding and confusion around diagnosing Hypermibility Spectrum Disorder and Hypermobility Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, varied issues that overly lax collagen can present, distinguishing between mobility and flexibility, the benefit of slower and simpler movements, appropriate strength training, and the role of yoga in addressing pain and easing suffering.

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Nikki Costello talks with J about the changing dynamics between yoga teachers, students, and institutions. They discuss their parallel trajectory of practice over the last thirty years, Nikki's evolution and identity as an Iyengar lineage holder, the pedagogy of liberation, dogma and co-creation, the role of a teacher in facilitating inquiry, discernment of students in the information age, the problem with the scaling of yoga teacher training, and reimagining the classroom to embody the qualities and values that are fundamental to healing.

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Sukadev Bretz, founder of Yoga Vidya, talks with J about going from being a disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda to founding a democratically run non-profit spiritual Yoga organization. They discuss what it was like to become a disciple and take vows in the eighties, when institutions become more about rules than people, bearing witness to the hypocrisies of gurus, choosing to leave and creating something with community rights and safeguards, adapting to the needs of our passing times, and allowing ourselves to be guided by the Divine.

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Jeff Carreira, author of The Path of Spiritual Breakthrough: From Awakening to Cosmic Awareness, talks with J about the process of awakening into deeper awareness of our spiritual existence. They discuss the realization that there is more to reality than the sum total of everything we’ve ever known or have been told exists, how we make meaning of our experiences, intuitive knowing, organic growth, the disappointment of a spiritual path, aligning your life with your heart, and the courage to embrace a field of infinite possibility as the new paradigm.

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Robin Rose Bennett, author of Healing Magic: A Green Witch Guidebook to Conscious Living and The Gift of Healing Herbs, talks with J about the language of plants and the need for radical revitalization. They discuss the value of dandelion, lessons to be learned from Ginkgo biloba trees, reclaiming the sacredness of dirt, turtle medicine, synchronicity, oat straw, reality as the most magical game around, earth spirit teachings, Robins upcoming course on Radical Self-Care, and the evolutionary impulse towards embodying our "kin-dome" with all of life.

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Glenn Murphy, author and Founder of NC Systema, talks with J about the Russian martial art of Systema and the intersection of self-defense and self-development. They discuss the origins and history of Systema, Glenn's background in other types of martial arts, the limitations of over adherence to form, Vladimir Vasiliev and Mikhail Ryabko, practices that cultivate seeing what suggests itself, remaining calm when someone punches you in the face, breathing as a Rosetta stone for regulating state, and experiencing yourself as part of nature.

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Linda Cassidy, old-school teacher and listener of the show, talks with J about yoga being founded on a exploration and realization of the divine. They discuss her religious background and early studies in eastern philosophies, breaking from dogma, presentations of spirit that meet people where they are, Bhagavad Gita, the action of relating, consensual reality and inner knowing, moving away from materialism in practice and beyond, art of Sushumna Nadi, and tickling the possibility of being in touch with a metaphysical center of being.

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Alma Duran, PhD, is a cultural anthropologist, yoga teacher, and friend of J's who joins the show to talk about the migration of yoga over time and the cultivation of discernment. They discuss the early days of yoga in the eighties and Alma's time as a tv and film producer, Yogaworks in LA in the nineties, being inspired by TKV Desikachar teachings, cultural anthropology and the history of humanity, the progression of yoga from the forest to the palace to the mall to the internet, belief systems, and yoga education as an integrated part of living a life.

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Lauren Walker, founder of Energy Medicine Yoga and author of The Energy To Heal, returns again to further convince J that we are electromagnetic beings with the capacity to heal. They discuss ways to feel your own energy, the nine energy systems of the body and the significance of "Triple Warmer," bringing principles from one-to-one Energy Medicine to group Yoga, democratizing energy practices, the difference between healing and curing, understanding elemental theory, and moving from a field of trauma to a field of magic.

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Monica Voss, co-owner and director of Esther Myers Yoga Studio, talks with J about her studies with Vanda Scaravelli and Esther Myers. They discuss her discovery of yoga through Esther and their transition from traditional Iyengar to Vanda's approach, structure and freedom, individual agency and creating your own language, the three fundamental principles behind Vanda's teaching, unwinding, elongating with wavelike pulsations of the spine, tapping into outer realms through poetry, and staying true to your convictions.

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Bari Gratton, coauthor of an Open Letter To Yoga Alliance along with collaborators Meghan Maris, Courtney Ng, Gayatri Sehgal, and Shuo Wang, talks with J about the possibility for change in the yoga profession. They discuss the Masters of Arts in Yoga Studies program at Loyola Marymount University, problems with the Yoga Alliance and how the final project they did together came about, whether yoga teaching ought to be regulated, suggestions for reform, appropriation and racism, and engaging in good faith dialogue that respects differences.