Neal Shaffer - "Deciding What Practice Will Be"

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Neal Shaffer, founder of First Mile Strategies, talks with J about what it's like for new teachers in today's climate. They discuss finding Rodney Yee through Comcast On-Demand, doing hybrid teacher training coming out of the pandemic, online vs in person learning, pathways for professional development, asana and meditation, Rodney and Colleen's teaching, parting from fitness orientation, connection between subtle and physical bodies, business models based on human scale, and meaningful support of caring teachers.

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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.

Jonathan Sattin - "A Place Where People Feel Connected"

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Jonathan Sattin - "A Place Where People Feel Connected"

Jonathan Sattin, founder of triyoga and the forthcoming HOME, returns to talk with J about how we got to the current crossroads we face and the reasons for opening a new center. They discuss the elements that enabled his initial success, lockdowns and the challenges of reopening, sustainability and scale, effectiveness vs efficiency, deciding to sell and ultimately leave, delivering something special, and having an impact on peoples lives.

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Nyk Danu - "Making it Work Against All Odds"

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Nyk Danu - "Making it Work Against All Odds"

Nick Danu, host of the Yin Yoga Podcast, returns to talk with J about navigating the yoga profession in a post-pandemic time. They discuss the importance of email lists and independent Online platforms, courses vs drop-in classes, resumes and teaching jobs, transitioning students to registered series, enforcing cancellation policies, normalizing human experience, podcasting, and what makes the challenge feel worth while.

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Julie Smerdon - "Shared Practices and Saving Graces"

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Julie Smerdon - "Shared Practices and Saving Graces"

Julie Smerdon returns to talk with J about meeting the challenge of life's crossroads and the difference between trust and faith. They discuss recent health scares, dealing with death and grieving, working through challenges in front of students, reassessing professional direction, prayer as listening, forms of personal practice, woman over fifty feeling invisible, getting back to in person teaching, and the sensitivity to hold space for togetherness.

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Sebastian Shaw - "People Not Protocols"

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Sebastian Shaw - "People Not Protocols"

Sebastian Shaw, a Clinical Social Work/Therapist and old friend of J's, joins the show to talk about the blessings and burdens of a life dedicated to helping people. They discuss how Sebastian and J met, connecting with at risk youth, training as a social worker, dealing with horrible situations and watching people get better, agency vs private practice gigs, data driven medicine, credentials and scope, and the underlying significance of rapport.

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Rebecca Sebastian - "Organizations, Credentials, Livelihoods"

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Rebecca Sebastian - "Organizations, Credentials, Livelihoods"

Rebecca Sebastian, founder of Sunlight Yoga and host of the Working in Yoga Podcast, talks with J about recent shifts and long standing debates within the yoga profession. They discuss the history of trade organizations and teacher trainings, nonprofit spaces and fundraising, the credentialing shift at the IAYT and The Future of Yoga Facebook Group, marketing and business, pricing, and letting the weight of ones work speak for itself.

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Emily Smith - "Ins and Outs of Online Yoga Industry"

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Emily Smith - "Ins and Outs of Online Yoga Industry"

Emily Smith, founder of Yogaversity, talks with J about the former and current state of online yoga. They discuss her eight-year tenure as a producer for Yoga International and the transition from print to digital, first figuring out what a yoga class looks like online, Yogaglo and copyrights, portals and pay structures, YI being sold to Gaia, set curriculum’s and self-directed learning, developing courses, and remaining forever curious.

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Steve Szakal - "Becoming the Best Version of Your Self"

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Steve Szakal - "Becoming the Best Version of Your Self"

Steve Szakal, ultra runner and yoga teacher, talks with J about overcoming life's obstacles and being who we are meant to be. They discuss getting caught up in the war on drugs, the inhumanity of institutionalization, starting to run marathons, going to yoga, experiencing beauty and exercising demons, differences between Bikram and Gosh Yoga, being a yoga teacher, becoming inundated with love, and being the best version of yourself.

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Rolf Gates - "To Meet and Hold Suffering Wisely"

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Rolf Gates - "To Meet and Hold Suffering Wisely"

Rolf Gates, author of Daily Reflections on Addiction, Yoga, and Getting Well, talks with J live at the 20th Anniversary Celebration for Dragonfly Yoga about the role of yoga in recovery and what it means to be human. They discuss his military service, recognizing addiction, going into rehab, intensity and intimacy, preying to God, before and after covid, intense administrative moments working at Kripalu, and cultivating a capacity for good will.

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Vish Chatterji - "Vedic Astrology and Your Deeper Soul"

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Vish Chatterji - "Vedic Astrology and Your Deeper Soul"

Vish Chatterji, author of Astrology Decoded: The Secret Science of India's Sages, talks with J about Vedic Astrology as a tool to align with divine nature and cultivate a Satvic existence. They discuss parallel paths and a love of Rishikesh, growing up in an Indian family and becoming a tech CEO, Western astrology not being accurate, birth charts and rising signs, inner spiritual development, and living in a western world connected to ancient wisdom.

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Laurie Lowe - "Communities, Commitments, and Connection"

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Laurie Lowe - "Communities, Commitments, and Connection"

Laurie Lowe, founder of Sage Yoga Studio, talks with J about growing a community and finding a wy to sustain it. They discuss meeting each other in Manchester, coming into yoga organically, British Wheel of Yoga Teacher Training, baby and me classes, importance of having your own space, angel landlords, marketing and administration, commitment and gratification, the unseen work of teaching, and getting out of the way to let things happen.

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Dan Alder - "A Modern Story of Translating Patanjali"

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Dan Alder - "A Modern Story of Translating Patanjali"

Dan Alder, coauthor of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras For the New Millennium: A Translation for the Modern Mind, talks with J about his story of owning a yoga center and translating Patanjali. They discuss taking over a studio in 2010, keeping the business model simple and offline, negative impact of intro offers and memberships, becoming obsessed with yoga philosophy, interpretation of the eight limbs, and a passionate embrace of inquiry.

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Sally Bassett - "Spiritual Transformational Yoga"

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Sally Bassett - "Spiritual Transformational Yoga"

Sally Bassett, author of Spiritual Transformational Yoga via the Eight Limbs and founder of the Peace Through Yoga Foundation, talks with J about being called to volunteerism and how yoga leads to a relationship with God. They discuss Sally's path from CEO to center owner and leading adventure trips, teaching at a theological seminary, faith, and the neutrality of practice.

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Clive Sheridan - "Awakening Beyond the Mind"

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Clive Sheridan - "Awakening Beyond the Mind"

Clive Sheridan talks with J about the early days in yoga's migration west, devotion to inner divine presence, and the intimate experience of being with yourself. They discuss adventure travel in the early sixties, American explorer Theos Bernard, Goa in the seventies, drop in classes with BKS Iyengar, receiving the grace of Goddess Durga, spiritual friendship and sangha, free will, and living in the world passionately.

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Year End Check In with J - "Finances, Faith, and God's Will"

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Year End Check In with J - "Finances, Faith, and God's Will"

J returns to his annual ritual of doing a solo talk during the week of Christmas. He gives an update on the new center including the hard numbers, reflects on the administration and operation of the business, shares his process of managing anxiety and relying upon a relationship with God, his daughters and hope for the youth, his wife, and the deeper reasons he continues to stay committed to being a yoga teacher.

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Gregor Maehle - "Bhakti The Yoga of Love"

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Gregor Maehle - "Bhakti The Yoga of Love"

Gregor Maehle, author of Bhakti The Yoga of Love, returns to talk with J about transforming human love into divine love. They discuss why Bhakti is important, the Hatha Tatva Kaumudi, reclaiming God, divine revelation, absolute vs relative evil, homeostasis and collective effort, practicalities of prayer and meditation, being of service to a higher agenda, reaching across chasms of division, and aligning with infinite love, wisdom and beauty.

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Lucy Crisfield - "That Which is Secretly Uttered All Around"

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Lucy Crisfield - "That Which is Secretly Uttered All Around"

Lucy Crisfield, founder of Original Wisdom, talks with J about bringing forth the essence of love through sound. They discuss being inspired by the Arabic call to prayer, Rishikesh, spending time at Auroville, Vedic chanting at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandirum, learning at SOAS, Kaustaub Desikachar and parting from KYM, evolution towards simple attunement to Satva, Peter Harrison and Svara, and hearing the resonance of your heart.

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Anoop Kumar - "The Future of Allopathic Healthcare is Wellness"

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Anoop Kumar - "The Future of Allopathic Healthcare is Wellness"

Anoop Kumar, MD, founder of Numocore and creator of The Science of Consciousness, talks with J about the movement towards wellness as an emerging new health system. They discuss the limitations of western medicine, solving the mind-body "problem," accessing mind through movement, mechanisms behind religion and science, rest as a form of creativity, and the deepest of all expressions of health and soul.

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Rick Olderman - "Understanding Pain Patterns"

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Rick Olderman - "Understanding Pain Patterns"

Rick Olderman, author of Pain Patterns: Why You Are in Pain and How to Stop It, returns to talk with J about integrating movement, fascia, and neurological reflex patterns to address pain. They discuss three patterns that account for most spinal issues, functional links between past injuries and current pain, fascial lines, cytokines and myofibroblasts, nutrition, simple assessment, and changing habits by feeling the truth more than thinking the truth.

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Susi Hately - "Moving Better, Feeling Better"

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Susi Hately - "Moving Better, Feeling Better"

Susi Hately, founder of Functional Synergy, talks with J about the unfolding process of helping people. They discuss how Susi got to yoga therapy, distinguishing yoga therapy from western medicine, yoga anatomy books in 2004, persistent pain, alignment vs movement function, pain and tissue damage, compensatory patterns, gait analysis, biomechanics, exploring where states of knowing come from, and the soul of a yoga profession.

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