This 45-minute yoga class utilizes a longer integration followed by simple Sun Salutations to build mobility in the legs. Lengthen the inner leg line with external rotation, while stretching the outer hips and IT band with some simple twists. Your practice combines static postures and flow. The audio was recorded from a live Zoom class.
This 45-minute yoga class utilizes progressive Sun Salutations as a mechanism for front-body lengthening and back-body strengthening in the ultimate "anti-sit" sequence. Build stability in the breath and nurture space in the mind with postures designed to unstick the upper back, create length in the spine, and elongate the hip flexors. The sequence builds complexity in layers while attempting to remedy the complaints associated with longer periods of sitting. The audio was recorded from a live Z...
This 45-minute yoga class utilizes progressive Sun Salutations, strength-building movements, and balancing. Build stability in the mind and nurture steadiness in the breath with a combination of static and flowing postures. The sequence builds complexity in layers while addressing the needs of the whole body. The audio was recorded from a live Zoom class.
Today’s episode is an interview with a yoga teacher, practitioner, accountant, and financial coach. Meet Chioma Njoku, founder of The Mindful Bookkeeper. Her services, including Master Your Money and 1-on-1 coaching, are rooted in helping service-based businesses like yoga studios increase their profits by connecting their "why" to their finances. Build a healthy relationship with money (so that it doesn't always have to be about the money). Look at your numbers, examine the stories and beliefs ...
Today’s episode is an interview with a yoga teacher, entrepreneur, and innovator. Meet Kacee Must, founder of Citizen Yoga. Her studio, Citizen Yoga, grew out of a need to equip people with effective, every-day coping mechanisms, while emphasizing community and access to mental health resources. Join us for discussions on philosophy and existing in an outrageous world, steering a yoga business through a global pandemic, and how to moving beyond the spiritual jargon (while still maintaining a spi...
This 30-minute Progressive Sun Salutation sequence is a highly efficient slow-burn, perfect as either a stand-alone practice or as the precursor to further movement. "Progressive" here means the sequence begins with recognizable, foundational shapes and patterns, and gradually adds layers of complexity and refinement. Progressive sequencing is a highly versatile technique with many possible variations and outcomes, housed within a predictable pattern of alternating lunges. Grab your mat, and let...
The version of Sun Salutations offered here contains 12 linked postures that are performed as one continuous exercise. Each pose physically counteracts the one before, alternately expanding and contracting, regulating the breath, increasing circulations, and building flexibility in your spine. Sun Salutations are the perfect building block for your home practice sequence. There is an inherent repetition present within Sun Salutations that is, itself, meditative. If you only have a few minutes to...
This is a 40-minute, all-levels yoga practice designed to strengthen and stretch your entire body. Explore an emphasis on twists, with attention to mobility and awareness in the hip flexors, length in the spine and hamstrings, and freedom in the upper back and shoulders. This practice is the perfect length to sneak in between your other engagements, because frankly, darling, you deserve it. The audio from this episode was recorded from a live Zoom yoga session taught to an attendance of 14. Even...
If you are currently dooms-day-scrolling, follow these instructions: 1.) Turn off notifications on your phone. 2.) Go for a walk. For those experiencing high levels of anxiety, walking may provide an easier transition to softness than seated meditations. Gentle, repetitive movement can harness the mind's scattered energy, and channel awareness into the observation of sensation rather than the proliferation of potential outcomes. Whether you choose to walk throughout your home or around the block...
Today’s episode is an interview with a yoga teacher, educator, story-teller, and entrepreneur dedicated to creating healing spaces in the yoga community. Meet Dr. Terry Harris, co-founder and instructor at The Collective STL, which is the only Black-owned, donation-based yoga studio serving the north St. Louis community. Join us to more about Terry's journey into yoga, the "love story" that truly is The Collective STL, the role of restorative justice in healing spaces, and what it takes to imple...
Today’s episode is an interview with an exceptional woman in the yoga community. Meet Lade Akande, a counselor, yoga teacher, and researcher investigating the effects of mindfulness techniques on teens. Join us to learn why research and data on mindfulness is important, how yoga can intersect with other well-ness approaches (like growing your own food!), and learn about some of her challenges and successes working in the yoga industry. Additionally, experience a 5-min meditation introducing the ...
This is a full-length, all-levels yoga practice designed to strengthen and stretch your entire body. Explore an emphasis on flow, by exploring shapes slowly at first, and then revisiting the shapes one breath to one movement. End practice with a slightly extended savasana and guided relaxation. This practice builds upon previous podcast episodes, and is intended for all levels. The audio from this episode was recorded from a live Zoom yoga session taught to an attendance of 8. As a note, all pro...
During this completely seated practice, practice several different breath-work techniques including unequal parts breath, kapalbhati, breath retention, and alternate nostril breath. Then, employ several visualization techniques to more deeply engage with the breath, and end your practice with silent meditation. The audio from this episode was recorded from a live Zoom yoga session taught to an attendance of 11. Even though we are physically separated now, we can continue to change the energy sur...
This is a full-length, all-levels yoga practice designed to strengthen and stretch your entire body. Explore an emphasis on twists, with attention to mobility and awareness in the hips, length in the spine and hamstrings, and freedom in the upper back and shoulders. . The practice builds upon previous podcast episodes, and is intended for all levels. The audio from this episode was recorded from a live Zoom yoga session taught to an attendance of 11. Even though we are physically separated now, ...
During this completely seated practice, practice several different breath-work techniques including kapalabhati, bhramari, unequal parts breath, breath retention, and alternate nostril breath. Then, end your practice with a silent meditation, as well as reflections on how to integrate this meditation into your day. The audio from this episode was recorded from a live Zoom yoga session taught to an attendance of 8. Even though we are physically separated now, we can continue to change the energy ...
During this completely seated practice, practice several different breath-work techniques including unequal parts breath, breath retention, and alternate nostril breath. Then, end your practice with a Loving/Kindness meditation, intended to start your day with an open heart. The audio from this episode was recorded from a live Zoom yoga session taught to an attendance of 7. Even though we are physically separated now, we can continue to change the energy surrounding our experience by moving and ...
This is a full-length, all-levels yoga practice designed to strengthen and stretch your entire body. Explore a lower body emphasis, with attention to mobility and awareness in the hips and the legs. The practice builds upon previous podcast episodes, and is intended for all levels. The audio from this episode was recorded from a live Zoom yoga session taught to an attendance of 8. Even though we are physically separated now, we can continue to change the energy surrounding our experience by movi...
This is a full-length, all-levels yoga practice designed to strengthen and stretch your entire body. Explore an emphasis on front body opening through quad stretching, countering the effects of long-term sitting and stiffness. The practice builds upon previous podcast episodes, and is intended for all levels. The audio from this episode was recorded from a live Zoom yoga session taught to an attendance of 25. Even though we are physically separated now, we can continue to change the energy surro...
This is a full-length, all-levels yoga practice designed to strengthen and stretch your entire body. Explore an emphasis on twists and front-line opening, countering the effects of long-term sitting and computer work. The practice builds upon previous podcast episodes, and is intended for all levels. The audio from this episode was recorded from a live Zoom yoga session taught to an attendance of 17. Even though we are physically separated now, we can continue to change the energy surrounding ou...
During this completely seated practice, practice several different breath-work techniques including observation of the breath, unequal parts breath, kapalabhati, breath retention, and alternate nostril breath. Then, end your practice with a brief meditation. The audio from this episode was recorded from a live Zoom yoga session taught to an attendance of 13. Even though we are physically separated now, we can continue to change the energy surrounding our experience by moving and breathing togeth...
During this completely seated practice, practice several different breath-work techniques including observation of the breath, unequal parts breath, breath retention, and alternate nostril breath. Then, end your practice with a brief meditation. The audio from this episode was recorded from a live Zoom yoga session taught to an attendance of 10. Even though we are physically separated now, we can continue to change the energy surrounding our experience by moving and breathing together. As always...
Struggling to maintain a positive mindset, or incorporate a wellness routine into your lock-down life? Ready and willing, but need a little guidance to get started? Wishing for a sense of community in a time of isolation? If you are struggling to transition from the studio environment to your own home, this is a full-length, all-levels yoga practice designed to strengthen and stretch your entire body. The practice builds upon previous podcast episodes, and is intended for all levels. The audio f...
As communities across the nation and across the world live with quarantines and lock-downs, 'Home' has become more than just a place finish the day, and moves center-stage as a makeshift office, place of worship, space for education, and refuge to unwind. As everyone adjusts to the "new normal," it has become even more necessary to establish a dedication to a yoga practice which is, by necessity, at home. If you are struggling to transition from the studio environment to your own home, this is a...
Today’s episode is an interview with an extraordinary person in the yoga community— an entrepreneur, yoga instructor, and the founder/owner of the Indianapolis based studio called The Hot Room, which recently opened another location in Chicago's North Shore. Join us as we dive into the ways that The Hot Room is changing the landscape of the hot yoga community-- from their consistent mantra to create a welcoming space, to the creation and offering of one of the region's first POC scholarships to ...
Today’s episode is an interview with a special guest— an entrepreneur, yoga instructor, investor, and speaker, passionate about reducing the wellness gap, and creating innovative solutions in health and wellness for communities in need. Nicole Cardoza is a power house and an admirable disruptor in the wellness industry today. She has been featured in Self, mindbodygreen, GirlBoss, was named on Forbes' 30 Under 30, and was most recently on the August 2019 cover of Yoga Journal (to name a few). Sh...
As you may know, airport travel is by far one of the most relaxing experiences available. What, no? That’s not your experience? You’re not alone. In fact, in recent years, there have been studies on the effects of airplane travel on the body, detailing that the pressure, temperature, and oxygen levels in the cabin fluctuate throughout the flight, and the humidity level is much lower than at sea level. The combination of all of these factors can easily mess with your body’s normal functions, by d...
Get things moving internally with a 23-minute yoga posture practice designed to stretch and twist the belly, bringing more blood flow into the abdomen and stimulating peristalsis (the alternating contraction and relaxation of the abdominal organs, which pushes the contents of the canal forward) . Experience postures like bow pose, camel pose, child's pose, supine twist, wind-removing pose, and more. It is not required, but you may want to locate a blanket to use as a prop throughout this practic...
Build upon the foundation of your Alternate Nostril Breathing Technique by increasing the ratio of your breaths to 1:2, making the exhalation twice as long as the inhalation. The focus on the exhalation stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system (the "rest and digest" or "rest and restore" response in the body), and helps to lower both heart rate and blood pressure. It also allows you to override the impulse of automatic breath, building discipline, while making each breath an act of purpose ...
Build upon last week's philosophical, yogic foundation as you explore the second limb of the Eight-Limbed Path, (called the Niyamas), comprised of five moral observances. Consider the principles of cleanliness, contentedness, personal discipline, self-study, and devotion to something greater than yourself, and then examine these values in your own life. Feel free to grab a piece of paper and a pen to jot down your notes or reflections, or simply sit back to process this information internally, a...
Yoga is a practice of mind and body-- but at the heart of it all, the system of yoga is intended to provide a solid philosophical, ethical foundation upon which to build your life. In other words, it is not enough to alleviate suffering in your own life, if your thoughts, words, or actions “off the mat” cause suffering in the lives of others. In this episode, learn more about the yoga "manual" for right living, called the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the road-map it describes for right living (call...
