Vijay Hassin, Sharada Thompson, and Kathleen Rosenberg - "Integral Yoga Exposed"

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Vijay Hassin, Sharada Thompson and Kathleen Rosenberg talk with J about the underbelly of Swami Satchidananda and the Integral Yoga Institute. They discuss Vijay's history including his founding of the center in San Francisco, the meeting in the 1970's when allegations of sexual misconduct were first made, more recent revelations and the Facebook group that Kathleen started, Sharada's story of mistreatment at the hands of Swami Satchidananda, and reconciling the hurt created by failed leaders and institutions.

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J. Brown

J. Brown is a yoga teacher, writer, and founder of Abhyasa Yoga Center in Brooklyn, New York. A teacher for 15 years, he is known for his pragmatic approach to teaching personal, breath-centered therapeutic yoga that adapt to individual needs. His writing has been featured in Yoga Therapy Today, the International Journal of Yoga Therapy, Elephant Journal and Yogadork.

Lizzie and Judith Lasater - "Menopause and Beyond"

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Lizzie and Judith Lasater - "Menopause and Beyond"

Lizzie and Judith Lasater return to catch up with J and talk about their latest offering, a free mini-course in Restorative Yoga to Support Menopause and Beyond. They discuss teaching during the last few years of transition, the genesis of their new course on menopause, generational differences, viewing body changes as a process vs treating a condition, exercise vs innercise, positive aspects of aging, and some keys to a long healthy life.

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Hy Brown - "Aftermath of the American Dream"

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Hy Brown - "Aftermath of the American Dream"

Hy Brown is J's dad and they have a candid talk about the life he’s led, choices he’s made, and the lessons he's learned. They discuss growing up in Brooklyn, his involvement with the mob, becoming vice president of Tishman Construction, working on famous building projects, understanding the system, the impact of having a heart attack at age 47, J's mom and navigating her death, finding new purpose, and learning to care for others.

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Bryan Kest - "Autobiography of an American Yogi"

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Bryan Kest - "Autobiography of an American Yogi"

Bryan Kest, author of Autobiography of an American Yogi, talks with J about the trajectory of yoga into the mainstream and the role he played in it. They discuss the early LA yoga scene, class with David Williams, one-to-one with Pattabhi Jois, mentality of not being good enough, before "power yoga" became a generic term, beefing with Maty Estaty, controversy with his brother, and the passion and commitment that fuels a life in yoga.

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Esther Ekhart - "Devotion, Surrender, and Video Production"

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Esther Ekhart - "Devotion, Surrender, and Video Production"

Esther Ekhart, founder of Ekhart Yoga, talks with J about the purpose and passion behind being an early pioneer of yoga video online. They discuss her mother's influence, witnessing healings, miracles of Satya Sai Baba, learning devotion and surrender, becoming a teacher, deciding to make videos and go online, YouTube, the pandemic boom and slowdown, merging the business, and navigating from a place of love as a given.

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Noah Mazé - "Downturns and Ambiguities in Yoga Profession"

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Noah Mazé - "Downturns and Ambiguities in Yoga Profession"

Noah Mazé, founder of The Mazé Method, talks with J about the stark realities that yoga professionals are facing. They discuss the "ecosystem" of the yoga world before lockdowns, Yoga Journal conferences and Wanderlust festivals, going online with Yogaglo, intellectual property, sustainability of teacher training and the studio model, integration and strength instead of pushing the envelope, and finding meaning in uncertainty.

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Cindy Lusk - "Making Sense of Contradictory Messages"

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Cindy Lusk - "Making Sense of Contradictory Messages"

Cindy Lusk, author of Align and Refine: The Journey of Yoga and Meditation, talks with J about the continual refinement of intention and understanding. They discuss the renunciate path of Patanjali and householder purpose, Richard Freeman's influence, Patabhi Jois's adjustments, Anusara and the legacy of John Friend, Paul Muller-Ortega, certification and the role of asana, and the iterative process of bringing out the best of who we are.

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Ranju Roy - "Pilgrimage Into Sacred Inner Landscapes"

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Ranju Roy - "Pilgrimage Into Sacred Inner Landscapes"

Ranju Roy, author of Yoga as Pilgrimage: Sutras for a Modern Age, talks with J about the ways in which practice and study become interwoven into one's life. They discuss the meaning of a pilgrimage, understanding the Samkhya terrain in relationship to the map of Patanjali, Prana and Apana, honoring traditions, radical transparency, letting go appropriately, uncomplicated wholeness, and engaging in the creative act of sharing knowledge.

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Dr. Lauren Tober - "The Frontline of Mental Health Care"

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Dr. Lauren Tober - "The Frontline of Mental Health Care"

Dr Lauren Tober, creator and author of Mental Health Aware Yoga, talks with J about the intersection of psychology and yoga for mental health. They discuss the limitations of a clinical approach, the DSM5, doing an n=1 study, finding the right treatment methodology, differences in pedagogy, importance of relationship, mental health and the gunas, touch and consent, and understanding windows of tolerance to better cope with life.

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Ryan Kurczak - "Stepping into a Samadhi State"

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Ryan Kurczak - "Stepping into a Samadhi State"

Ryan Kurczak, host of The Kriya Yoga Podcast, talks with j about understanding and appreciating what is real. They discuss being ordained into Kriya Yoga by Roy Eugene Davis, the history of Self Realization Fellowship, scalability and maintaining direct connection, vedic astrology, occultism, dramatizing your spiritual path, Ishvara Pranidhana, Samahdi, Jesus Christ, and learning to pay attention to the essence of what is divine.

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Tara Stiles - "Online Influence and a Return to Creativity"

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Tara Stiles - "Online Influence and a Return to Creativity"

Tara Stiles, co-founder of Strala Yoga, returns to compare notes with J about the current state of the yoga world. They discuss the ray of humanity that brought them back together, letting go of brick and mortar spaces, online trends moving from brands to influence, opening up around spirituality, gentle yoga becoming trauma informed, curating your internet experience, appropriate use of touch, and reacclimating to in person teaching.

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Jonathan FitzGordon - "Learning to Move and Be Well"

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Jonathan FitzGordon - "Learning to Move and Be Well"

Jonathan FitzGordon, creator of the CoreWalking Program and Rejuvenation Movement Method, talks with J about learning how to move and be well. They discuss teaching people how to walk and stand, extreme sensitivity and hypermobility, Jonathan's three knee surgeries, alignment and choosing not to do certain poses, core tone, strength that comes from balance, how we see ourselves in space, and getting to know yourself and heal.

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Paul JJ Alix - "Strict Protocols for Committed Students"

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Paul JJ Alix - "Strict Protocols for Committed Students"

Paul JJ Alix, founder of Yoga for All, talks with J about his time during the formative years of yoga coming into the mainstream and the rifts between teaching and consumerism that emerged. They discuss the intersection of meditation and ballet, being an early adopter of pilates, meeting TKV Desichackar, setting conditions to attract only committed students, causing a raucous at Ananda Ashram, and the enduring power of practice.

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Nate Klemp - "Strategies for a Distracted and Polarized World"

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Nate Klemp - "Strategies for a Distracted and Polarized World"

Nate Klemp, author of OPEN: Living with an Expansive Mind in a Distracted World, talks with J about making your life your practice, digital realities, and political universes. They discuss the limitations of thinking to experiencing, the tradition of living philosophy, family life and yogic caves, the 80/80 marriage plan, radical generosity, strategies for addressing screen addiction, lethal mass partisanship, and surrendering to joy and possibility.

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Josh Thomas - "Being Expansive Amidst Deep Suffering"

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Josh Thomas - "Being Expansive Amidst Deep Suffering"

Josh Thomas is a friend of J's who joins the show to talk about intuitive facility and luminous darkness. They discuss transition states, being motivated by an undercurrent of "not good enough-ness," dissolving boundaries and destruction of ego structures, parapsychology proven real beyond probability, fear of being shunned by the culture, spiritual healing, radiating peacefulness, and marking your intention to be guided by love.

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Weena Pauly - "Impulse Towards Aliveness"

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Weena Pauly - "Impulse Towards Aliveness"

Weena Pauly, creator of SE+AM (Somatic Experiencing + Authentic Movement) and host of the Reverence for Impulse Podcast, talks with J about reclaiming how your body wants to move and the focus of seeing and being seen. They discuss sturdy containers, staying with trembling discomfort, distinguishing impulse from being impulsive, reciprocity of wisdom, hope for our children, and experience as a language of the divine.

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Keith Parker - "Chakras and Auras are Real"

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Keith Parker - "Chakras and Auras are Real"

Keith Parker, co-founder of Field Dynamics and host of the Field Dynamics Podcast, talks with J about energy healing, the human aura, and infinity exploring the finite. They discuss transitioning from music to yoga, being tamed by India, limits of a materialistic paradigm, seeing human auras, gross/subtle/causal relationships, the structure of a soul, Chakras and identity, and helping to bring subtlety into the foreground of perception.

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Year End Check in with J - "Standing at a Crossroads"

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Year End Check in with J - "Standing at a Crossroads"

J repeats his ritual of reflecting on where he’s at what he’s facing as the year comes to a close. He discusses his cat being diagnosed with diabetes, the feeling of not being able to say what you really think, trying to open a yoga center, predictions from the 2016 Yoga in America study, taking stock in the exchanges that make all the difficulties worthwhile, and somehow finding the resilience and fortitude needed to meet life's uncertainty.

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Katie Hemphill - "Biomedical Engineering to Animistic Wonder"

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Katie Hemphill - "Biomedical Engineering to Animistic Wonder"

Katie Hemphill, author of We Are The Forest, talks with J about expanding the scope of our understanding through embodied living and collective healing. They discuss deciding to study biomedical engineering, discovering yoga and marathon running, programming a cell, a problem/solution perspective, grey areas in risk analysis of medical devices, meaning in scientific process, nutrition science, and questioning the stories that shape our reality.

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Radha Metro-Midkiff - "Gurus, Disciples, and Institutions"

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Radha Metro-Midkiff - "Gurus, Disciples, and Institutions"

Radha Metro-Midkiff, Executive Director for the Integral Yoga Institute New York, talks with J about Swami Satchidananda, Integral Yoga, and the major shifts in the industry and culture that have taken place over the last few years. They discuss her childhood at Yogaville, her relationship to Swami Satchidananda, choosing faith or fear, the difference between the guru and the human being, and making sense of life’s complexity.

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