Join Kino MacGregor, one of the world’s master yoga teachers, as she shares her yoga life hacks to translate the wisdom of yoga into a happier, more peaceful, more loving life. Listen to authentic, raw conversations and talks from Kino on her own and with real students about what yoga is really all about. Ignite or rekindle your inner spark to get on your mat and keep practicing.
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Chat&Chai: yoga talks from Miami Life Center, with Kino MacGregor and Tim Feldmann, and special guests from the heart of South Beach.
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#180: Consistency As A Spiritual Necessity
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How often do we consider the profound impact of consistency in our yoga practice? Because it’s in moments of resistance and wavering minds that we can witness the full loving force of yoga. It is here where we receive an invitation. And every time we RSVP “yes”, we open up our capacity for growth… We start to see that Ashtanga invites us to move be…
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#179: Sacred Lineage: Celebrating Yoga’s Generational Wisdom
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Walk far enough down the yogic path and it will soon become clear that the guidance of a teacher and the support of our communities is invaluable. On Guru Purnima Day, we pause to reflect on the profound impact of our gurus and mentors who illuminate our journey. Yet, while this path is often illuminated by such wisdom, it is not without its challe…
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#178: Transforming Judgement into Discernment
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The truth is, we each have a library’s worth of past experiences and conditioning that can cloud our vision, trapping us in looping thoughts. And while that sounds uncomfortable, this is the instinctive reality of the human mind. Every day we face the urge to judge. Meanwhile, discernment (or Viveka) offers a different path. One of turning inward, …
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#177: Through the Looking Glass: Using Meditation for Transformation
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Meditation holds the promise of transformation, but its path is not always straightforward. For some, it is a retreat from the chaos of daily life–a space to recharge. For others, it is a crucible, challenging the mind and revealing its deepest patterns. No matter what experience we affix onto the practice, meditation invites us to sit with ourse…
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#176: Letting Go of False Promises And Embracing Impermanence
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Many come to the mat believing yoga will erase all suffering, bringing perpetual bliss and prosperity. Yet, the true essence of yoga offers something more profound and enduring. It's time to explore the ancient wisdom that yoga imparts, teaching us to embrace the inevitable changes and hardships with grace, wisdom, and compassion. Because it's not …
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#175: Revealing Our Highest Truth with Sadhana
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Sadhana allows the waters of spiritual practice to simmer within us, gradually revealing the light within. It teaches us the value of patience and perseverance, emphasizing that the journey of yoga is a lifelong pursuit. Because truly, yoga is not something that can be mastered in a weekend, a month, or even a year. While a year of practice can est…
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#174: Transcending Discomfort of the Mind, Body and Senses with Tim Feldmann
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As we delve deeper into this yogic path, we appreciate the practice not just for physical prowess, but for emotional and spiritual resilience too. Whether we're striving to show up daily despite life's demands or digging deep to overcome generational trauma, commitment is key to our growth. But what about once we’re on the mat? How easily do our th…
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#173: The Sacred Now and the Transformative Power of Mudita
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As life progresses—with its inevitable busyness, ageing, or delving into the role of teacher—finding time for personal practice becomes even more crucial. We must continually adapt, acknowledging that our physical abilities might change and accepting these shifts not as setbacks but as opportunities to deepen our understanding of yoga’s true essenc…
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#172: Doubt, Shame and Blame: How Your Shadows Can Deepen Your Practice
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The first time we step onto a yoga mat is the first step on an unexpected journey towards transformation. As we immerse ourselves deeper, repeating movements and dedicating our energy, we witness a shift in our lives but more notably, we encounter the humanness of frustration, shame and blame. Yet, it is in these moments where yoga reveals its subt…
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#171: Encouraging Sangha: The Importance Of Community in Yoga
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Without a doubt, yoga is an invitation for introspection and growth. It holds a mirror to who we truly are and generously serves as our unwavering support throughout the trials of life. But as we move through this journey, how often do we consider our contribution to the yoga community? Much like the unwavering support of our own practices guiding …
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#170: Does Mastering More Asanas Make a Better Yogi? The Confronting Lessons of Ashtanga
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Yoga does change your life if you tend to the practice every day. But is it compassionate enough to show up on the mat when your body is begging you for a break? You get to choose: you could show up to your Ashtanga practice once a week giving your everything or you could show up every day with just 50% - even 10% - of what you’ve got. With this de…
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#169: From Pregnancy to Pranayama with Katy Scherer
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The belief that one metaphorical door closing is the chance for another one to open couldn’t speak to Katy Scherer’s story more. When pregnancy placed a sudden limitation on her running career, a redirection emerged that she never expected; she traded laces for bare feet and the gravel beneath them for a yoga mat. But this isn’t a conversation abou…
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#168: Healing Roots: From Quick Fixes to The Intricacies of Lineage and Diversity
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From summer camp serendipity to university days solace, yoga can meet us in the most unsuspecting times. It plants tiny seeds of inspiration into our awareness so that our yogic journeys can fully bloom when the time is right. And it’s in these moments - where many of us find yoga’s healing qualities as a soothing balm to insomnia or back pain - th…
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#167: Slowness, Discernment and Gurus: A Dharma Talk From Mysore
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Limitlessness and opportunity – the inertia of pacy modern life can serve as fuel for realising our purpose in this lifetime. But much like this two-month immersion in Mysore that serves as a grounding balance to our proactive compulsions, finding the right teacher will surely keep us all on the right track. At the very least, it will help us avoid…
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#166: When Life Gets Hard: Finding Guidance in Spiritual Endurance
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If we expect somehow to only show up for our practice when things are feeling good and do a good job from the external standards, then we'll lack the kind of spiritual fortitude that’s really required. And, in this modern age, it’s all too easy to lose our grip of patience when immediacy permiates our every chance to make a decision. We may be fort…
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#165: Overcoming Challenges by Remembering the Gifts of Yoga
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As we journey on the spiritual path, we seek answers for our ever questioning minds. What is the meaning of life? What is my purpose? Can I really be bothered to do primary series today? Healthy questioning offers us meaningful personal growth but it is indeed part of the practice to remain the observer of thoughts. Once we step into the rabbit hol…
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#164: Navigating Humanness and Perfection Through Yoga
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What brought you to yoga? For many, the instant access to other people’s lives online fuels them to chase aspirational goals. But where does a path lit up by comparison lead? For instance, to be excitedly motivated by the idea of mastering a headstand or flexibility draws in so many people to yoga - this would be fine if our self-perception didn’t …
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#163: From Women’s Empowerment to Global Healing: Dina Ghandour's Story as a Palestinian Yogi
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Openly, vulnerably and courageously, Dina Ghandour shares her experience as a Palestinian Yogi throughout this conversation. Her journey began with practising asanas with a VHS tape in her bedroom at 15 to now, a Jivamukti Yoga certified yoga teacher and bodyworker based in Duba leading community classes and worldwide retreats. Tapping into her bel…
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#162: Beyond Asanas: Compassion and Global Healing with Maya Gross
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This conversation with Maya Gross will leave us not surprised at how transformative Ashtanga yoga has been in her life’s journey but enamoured with how she transmutes her own learnings into soothing offerings for the world. When discussing the current turmoil in the Middle East, her compassionate outlook and advice are met with global support. And …
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#161: The Yogi’s Journey to Devotion and Discipline with Tim Feldmann
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No matter how much passion we have for our yoga practice, it’s our relationship to discipline that profoundly shapes our experience. And, even if two people had the same passion for yoga yet one was regimented and the other was averse to consistency, neither one of them will have a perfectly smooth journey. But isn’t finding balance the point? Isn’…
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#160: Can a Yogi be Wealthy? Spiritual Entrepreneurship with Beatriz Yepes
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Whether it is morally correct to pursue wealth, business, or even simply charging for services has perhaps been a question on many wellness practitioners mind. It's this question weaves its way throughout this episode as we explore both the philosophical and the practical side to running a spiritual business. It’s improtant to acknowledge that this…
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#159: Yoga’s Foundational Trilogy: Exploring Tristana with Tim Feldmann
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At the heart of our yoga practice, we engage mindfully with asanas to awaken the whispers of our subconscious and dive into layers unseen. Yet what is central to the symphony of ashtanga is the tristana method – a trilogy of asana, breath, and gaze. While it may be a simple structure for the mind to understand, truly how many years does mastery tak…
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#158: The Power of Yin Yoga and Finding Balance with Jo Phee
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In this conversation, we explore the type of yoga that almost all of us have thought “it looks so easy” but turns out to be one of the most challenging styles. World-renowned yoga trainer, Jo Phee, walks us through the world of yin yoga and how she went from corporate life to teaching this quietly powerful style. Yin yoga is stillness, reflective, …
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#157: Seekers, Teachers and the Challenges of Yoga with David Swenson
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Can you remember day 1 of your yoga journey? How compelling the practice was even when your body was exhausted? That’s dedication, right? In this episode, world-renowned and trailblazing yoga teacher, David Swenson, reminds us that the essential awareness of push and pull with yoga can be almost non-existent at the beginning, especially if you're l…
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#156: The Sacred Mirror: How Yoga Can Offer Us Profound Insight and Transformation
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How often do we contemplate the profound connection between the practice of yoga and life itself? There’s an intricate reflection of our existence that unfolds as we delve into the depths of our yoga practice - a mirror that unveils the habits and patterns ingrained within us. Much like a session with a psychologist, we bear witness to whether they…
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#155: Finding the Right Guide: Navigating the Balance Between Tradition and Self-Discovery in Yoga
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In New Age teachings, there’s the idea that we can be our own gurus. But since life is not as simple as one step forward after another, yoga traditions teach us that we do in fact need someone further along the path to guide us along the way. But which guidance is right for us? You may find that a true yoga teacher is someone who can sit with the v…
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#154: Life Through the Lens of the Bhagavad Gita with Swami Chidanadana
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Yogic philosophy shows us that we’re born with imprints that affect the way we think and behave throughout our entire life–that is, of course, until we break free. In conversation with Swami Chidanadana, we explore what it means to awaken to our samskaras, the tumultuous journey it ensues, and the guiding light of the Bhagavad Gita. Because why wou…
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#153: What Qualifies Someone to Teach and How Does That Affect Our Relationship With Them?
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Life is a series of lessons and so we are met with countless teachers holding the mirror up or shining the light on something new. But what makes a teacher qualified? What makes us dedicated to one source? Walking through life, nature, friends, or even music can be our teachers. But when we dedicate ourselves to the spiritual path, gurus help us pu…
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#152: Removing The Burden of Expectation
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Tapas, the sacred fire we build with our vinyasa, lights up our inner flame. Whether that be consciousness, aspiration or purification, we honour the harmonisation of breath, body and mind. While in this sense we offer a continuation of ancient vedic rituals, it’s hard to ignore the contrasting desire to fixate on our outer worlds. Will I ever reac…
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#151: How Curiosity Takes You Further Than Wisdom with Indu Arora
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In conversation with Indu Arora, precious memories are shared about meeting her teachers for the first time. This moment not only changed her life because of the sacred knowledge she gained, but it marked the beginning of yoga. Yoga can be thirty minutes of asanas or it can be the feeling of synchronicity with the rhythms of nature. If anything is …
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#150: From Hedonism in NYC to Meditation in Mysore: A Conversation with Finding Harmony Podcast
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Join this relaxed conversation with Harmony Slater and Russell Case who are the brilliant hosts of Finding Harmony podcast and my long-time friends. This catch up explores generational scars, the evolution of yoga teaching, and even dips into those hedonistic NYC days in the early 2000s. That was a time before either one of us had fully committed t…
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#149: A Meditation for Compassion from Mysore, India
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While not one of us is a stranger to ruminating about the way we think, act or behave, leaving these thoughts unattended allows negativity to seep into our sphere. It’s time to drop any frustrations or shortcomings you may be holding towards yourself. By honoring the practice of mindfulness, you can catch these moments of negativity and plant seeds…
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Adam has been practicing Ashtanga yoga for almost 20 years and teaching for the last 15, based in London but also internationally. He was fortunate enough to study directly with Pattabhi Jois and has continued his studies with Sharath Jois, obtaining Level 2 Authorization as well as completing the Advanced A sequence in Mysore. A humble and open-mi…
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#147: Accepting That The Bad Days Don’t Go Away, You Just Get Better At Them with Robert Mack
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Have you ever noticed that the people who have been to the darkest of places are the same people who end up feeling immense peace and happiness? Happiness and positive psychology coach, Robert Mack, can attest to that. Rob dug himself out of a dark hole by seeking out the people, places and activities that made him feel good. This sounds pretty sim…
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#146: How We Can Heal Society’s Communication Crisis with Mia Forbes Pirie
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How often do we realise we’re wrong in the moment? It can take time and perspective to gain a well-rounded picture of any issue we’re confronted with no matter how sure we feel in the moment. Yet, despite this, communication is a skill so many of us are in constant battle with. In this episode, mediator and coach Mia Forbes shares her communication…
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#145: Compassion Fatigue and the Reality of Altruism with Robert Mack
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Holding space for those in pursuit of spiritual or psychological growth is not a path free from compassion fatigue yet we must look at how absorbing the pressure of the ‘pedestal’ is one of the catalysts for burnout. But what if our teachers aren't really the ones leading the way? After all, personal epiphanies could not occur without the self, nor…
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#144: Devotion to the Divine - Is It Missing in the West?
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Swami Chidananda once lived a life of expensive cars and partying–exactly what you might expect of a young investment banker. But his life took a dramatic turn after realising that rising to the top still meant he was a cog in the capitalist machine. He had a call to follow his purpose even if that meant taking a leap of faith all the way to India.…
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#143: Individualism in Yoga: Competition Versus Lineage
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If you were blindfolded and asked to describe what’s in front of you, you might say ‘thin and ropey’. At least, that’s what you’d say if an elephant’s tail was in front of you. This description of your experience is true, but it’s not the whole elephant. When it comes to understanding this life, the same thing applies: not one person can comprehend…
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#142: Is There a Difference Between a Teacher and a Guru? With Tim Feldmann
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Tim takes inspiration from David Bowie’s song ‘Heroes’ (and his own guru experience) to unravel the everpresent draw towards figures of leadership. Yet, on a spiritual path, we face the choice to turn to our yoga teacher or an acclaimed guru. But really, what’s the difference? Tim explores how the idea of ‘teacher’ is multifaceted. The person leadi…
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#141: Remembering Our Duty and the Essence of Yoga with David Swenson
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As yoga evolves, there's a risk of over-complication and self-centredness. In this episode, Ashtanga Yoga Teacher, David Swenson, takes us on an exploration of yoga observations from almost 50 years of dedication. To him, what’s changed the most over the decades is the way people show up to yoga. For some there’s a drive to ‘complete it’ while othe…
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#140: If We Want Peace, We Must Allow Ourselves to be Angry
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We know that when we practice yoga, it has a positive ripple effect on the world around us. But in moments of injustice, we cannot rely on this as a way to change the world. Azadeh sees both worlds as an Iranian woman and owner of yoga studios. She expresses how it’s now more important than ever to ensure we speak of this oppression so that the wor…
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#139: The Power of Yoga in Times of Disempowerment
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Samin compares Iranian women to birds - they have wings yet they don’t know how to fly. Samin herself was born and raised in Iran but once she left the country, she embarked on a yoga journey. While her purpose is to share peace, her story is far from peaceful. Because like the birds she compares herself to, no journey is smooth for an Iranian woma…
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Consider how freely you practise yoga, ride your bicycle in the sunshine, or smash a workout for an endorphin hit. What happens when all of these activities are taken away from you? The sad reality is that this is happening in our world. Kino talks with Maryam, an Iranian who emigrated from her home country in 2018, about the quality of life in Ira…
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#137: The Journey of Becoming a Yoga Teacher with Tim Feldmann
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The call that brought us to our yoga mat is the same call that leads many of us toward the path of teaching. The mental, physical and spiritual healing that can be found within a dedicated yoga practice is life changing. It’s only natural that the desire to spread this wisdom with the world comes knocking. But is that passion enough to be a good te…
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#136: What Can Meditation Teach Us About Our Mind, Body and Emotions?
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After an hour-long group meditation, all areas of the practice are covered. Why do we struggle to keep up a daily practice? Why do our thoughts spiral? Where is the subconscious mind located? This exploration provides consolation to the thinking mind’s questions about meditation. Whether it’s five minutes or a one-hour sit, mediation is a practice …
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#135: Cultural Appreciation Versus Cultural Appropriation of Yoga with Pranidhi Varshney
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Pranidhi Varshney is the founder of Yoga Shala West which is based in Los Angele and has been practising yoga for 15 years. She believes that learning is cyclical where the student learns from the teacher and the teacher learns from the student unlike a top-down relationship. Previously, within the yoga community, there was a tendency to overlook t…
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#134: Our Spiritual Selves With Dannion Brinkley
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Dannion Brinkley had faced unimaginable odds, having several near-death experiences and even crossing over and coming back. He discovered that we are spiritual beings. Death, as we are taught, is only an illusion. Dannion works with those close to passing to accept that we never die. The biggest mistake we all make is forgetting we are spiritual be…
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#133: Using Yoga To Bring Mindfulness and Equanimity Into Your Life
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A misunderstanding about meditation is that it calms your mind. But even after 20 years of practicing, a calm mind will still have days of chaos. The purpose of meditation is not to become calm but to create equanimity. Though the words calm and equanimous are often used synonymously, there is a slight difference. Calmness can be compared to still …
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#132: The Lineage Of The Yoga Practice
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Yoga is an existing flow, like a stream. It has flowed before you, you interact with it when you step in, but it keeps flowing when you step out. Lineage requires us to have a multidimensional outlook. To be able to look back, look forward, and be aware of our current standings. It’s not the type of lineage that involves genetics or bloodlines. To …
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#131: The Devotional Practice of Yoga With Dr. Shyam Ranganathan
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Dr. Shyam is a scholar-practitioner and professor of the department of philosophy at the York Centre For Asian Research at York University in Toronto, Canada, and the founder of yogaphilosophy.com. Dr. Shyam translated the Yoga Sutra as a project as an undergrad taking South Asian Studies. This is what sparked his interest in yoga. Through studying…
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