David Swenson , author of Only Dead Fish Go With The Flow , talks with J about his new memoir and the evolution of styles and systems. They discuss doing yoga from a book, leaving home at a young age and moving to California, emergence of vinyasa, beliefs about gurus, Patabhi Jois, thirst for knowledge, the Hari Krishna Movement, spiritual communities and going under cover to make money, abbreviated forms, origins of flow, retirement, ego gratification and humble service, proof being in the pers...
Jul 07, 2025•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 487
Jahnavi (Claire) Missingham talks with J about living a life and having a profession in yoga. They discuss being raised by a devout Sufi and going by different names, NY from 1997-2005, music in classes, Sean Corn, Jivamukti training at Omega Institute, Peter Rizzo, teachers being placed on pedestals, HOME Wellness opening up in London, Kundalini yoga with Guru Jagat, Yogaglo, DVD's and Yoga Journal, intellectual property and protecting integrity, utilizing technology, devotion and Hinduism, and...
Jun 30, 2025•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 486
Andrew Tanner , founder of the Berkshire Yoga Festival and the American Yoga Council , talks with J live from the Berkshire Yoga Festival 2025 about the launch of his new project to advance the profession of yoga teaching. They discuss the long history of standards and trade organizations, core values of AYC, retirement funds, standards and a new system, proficiency-based education, incentive structures and career paths, differentiation, public benefit corporations, technology and growth, and fo...
Jun 23, 2025•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 485
Reika Shucart , host of the Full-Time Yoga Teacher Podcast , talks with J about what has become of studio culture and the realities of the profession in 2025. They discuss the differences between Japanese and American cultures, international development and volunteer tourism, teaching 28-30 classes/week, benefiting from online training, earning more money and ethical conflicts, mirrors, vegetarianism, less yoga specific offerings, lifestyle and identity, ashtanga active series, and getting outsi...
Jun 16, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 484
Paul Bramadat , Director of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at University of Victoria and author of Yogalands: In Search of Practice on the Mat and in the World , talks with J about letting your body settle the score and the anthropology of yoga. They discuss transformation and academic dispassion, experience vs intellectual reasoning, religious studies and small p politics, the response from academic circles to being a yoga teacher, healing properties of practice, coping with the...
Jun 09, 2025•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 483
Reggie Hubbard , founder of Active Peace Yoga , talks with J about recovering from a stroke and praying instead of protesting. They discuss his background in politics, the impact of 9/11, realities of a broken system, working for Bernie Sanders, navigating dark nights of the soul, collective liberation, coming into community, political neutrality as a privilege, having a stroke, turning to sound for healing, listening to your intuition, addressing dis-regulation with deep spiritual resonance, an...
Jun 02, 2025•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 482
Aimee Echo, founder of Community Yoga Club/Ashtanga Yoga Long Beach, talks with J about the carrying on of tradition and the evolution of practice. They discuss parallel scenes in 90's LA and NY, sub culture of Mysore rooms, Patabhi Jois touring the US, studying with Sharath and Shruthi, authorization agreements and certification, Jois Yoga, aftermath of Sharath's death, a new "active" series, hands on adjustments, comparing Ashtanga and Desikachar, listening, and casting a shorter net to invite...
May 26, 2025•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 481
Abby Hoffmann , founder of Yantra Studio , talks with J about their formative years and opening another yoga center again after they both swore they never would. They discuss ashtanga rooms in the late 90's, classes getting sweaty, being asked to teach before TT’s existed, moving out of the city, bringing yoga to dance training, emergence of rock star teachers, freer approaches to asana, taking a gig at hot studio chain, advantages to the boutique fitness model, learning business skills, pattern...
May 19, 2025•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 480
Roberta McGinley, once owner of Tadasana Yoga Studio in Wappingers Falls NY, talks with J about owning centers and finding places to teach. They discuss when Roberta hosted J for a workshop in 2018, different styles and discerning hot, upscaling spaces with showers, moving from space to space, adult spiritual summer camps, unexpected life turns, people still using the Bikram brand, puppy yoga workshops and vin yin classes, ins and outs of hot 26, having your heart touched by yoga, and being with...
May 12, 2025•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 479
Judith Valerie , a Raleigh NC tradition for over 30 years, talks with J about sticking to principles and building creative spiritual community. They discuss students that inspire, early childhood experiences of being a pantheist, traveling around India and Nepal, receiving Shaktiput, migrating to Mississippi, hybridizing different styles, the role of alignment cues and adjustments, Interplay philosophy, evolving teacher/student relationships, quotes and poems that affirm hope, keeping things ali...
May 05, 2025•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 478
Mike Huggins , author of Going OM: A CEO's Journey from a Prison Facility to Spiritual Tranquility , founder of Transformation Yoga Project , and long time friend of the show, talks with J about the state of yoga in the criminal justice system and beyond. They discuss training incarcerated people to be teachers, power dynamics in prison, providing essential life skills, life cycle of the yoga industry, instructor vs teacher, no longer being alternative, differentiation and specialty, and the uni...
Apr 28, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 477
Danielle Kunz Dwyer , founder of Yoga For You , talks with J about organizing a business and being together in a more expansive state. They discuss connecting via email and open sourcing info on how to go online, studying Ayurveda and yoga in NYC in the early aughts, periods of unknowing, unwinding of identity, students and subscriptions, honoring yourself and valuing teachers, opening a center and pandemic policies, profitability of the yoga profession, foundations of trust, and what really gro...
Apr 21, 2025•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 476
Mariela Cruz talks with J about her recent post entitled, "The Death of My School in Mysore." They discuss discovering her guru Sharath Jois while being a mother of seven children and a lawyer, becoming the first authorized teacher in Central America, Patabhi Jois and harms done, Sharath assuming the leadership role and grieving his death, new certifications being announced, injury and providing physical adjustments, parampara and the importance of India, accountability and a petition for clarit...
Apr 14, 2025•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 475
Giana Gambino & Bradshaw Wish , founders of C.A.Y.A Yoga School and hosts of T he Funny Thing About Yoga Podcast , talk with J about the ins and outs of having a yoga career in 2025. They discuss having a collaboration, teachers as brands, resolving conflict and developing trust, admin and websites, their relationship, developing a training, starting a podcast, being authentic letting go of micromanaging, desire for connection, fairness in sharing revenue, perseverance in the face of challen...
Apr 07, 2025•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 474
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 suppor...
Mar 31, 2025•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 473
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, the spiritual practice of Seva, schedules and pricing, front desks, going back to our roots with new insight, delivering so...
Mar 24, 2025•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 472
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, alternative spaces, communities, transitioning students to registered series, enforcing cancellation policies, administration of weekly schedule, group check-ins, normalizing human experience, customization of lesson plans, podcasting, and ...
Mar 17, 2025•1 hr 56 min•Ep. 471
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 and forced moves, dealing with death and grieving, working through challenges in front of students, reassessing professional direction, prayer as listening, relationship to divinity, forms of personal practice, gym culture and work-out mentality, woman over fifty feeling invisible, getting back to in person teaching at smaller scale, ...
Mar 10, 2025•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 470
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, thankless jobs and connecting with at risk youth, training as a social worker, boundary setting, dealing with horrible situations and watching people get better, social justice work in the context of institutions, agency vs private practice gigs, data driven medicine, credentials and scope of p...
Mar 03, 2025•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 469
Rebecca Sebastian , founder of Sunlight Yoga and host of the Working in Yoga Podcas t, 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, Yoga Therapy classification, the credentialing shift at the IAYT and The Future of Yoga Facebook Group, elitism and community, marketing and business, pricing and criteria for hiring, clap ins for new teachers, and lettin...
Feb 24, 2025•2 hr•Ep. 468
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 copyrighting camera angles, portals and pay structures, subscription overload, YI being sold to Gaia, horizontal vs vertical growth, changing attention spans, set curriculum’s and self-directed learning, process of ...
Feb 17, 2025•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 467
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 and wealth disparity, starting to run marathons, going to yoga, experiencing beauty and exercising demons, differences between Bikram and Gosh Yoga, softening and stillness, being a yoga teacher, becoming inundated with an overwhelming sense of love, and being inspired to show up a...
Feb 10, 2025•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 466
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, becoming trauma-informed, intensity and intimacy, organizing life around wisdom, letting go of your story, preying to God and receiving grace, before and after covid, intense administrative moments working...
Feb 03, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 465
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 deciding to become a tech CEO, Western astrology not being accurate, importance of birth charts and rising signs, Solar and lunar calendars, Outer material work and inner spiritual development, and living in a western wor...
Jan 27, 2025•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 464
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, angels in the form of landlords, running programs without any email lists or social media, marketing and administration, commitment and instant gratification, the unseen work of teaching, and getting out of the...
Jan 20, 2025•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 463
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, meeting his co-author Shree and undertaking a translation, interpretation of the eight limbs, a case for renunciation, Ishvara, nondu...
Jan 13, 2025•1 hr 47 min•Ep. 462
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 of an airlines to opening a center and leading volunteer adventure trips around the world, yoga retreats doubling as humanitarian missions, teaching at a theological seminary, the neutrality of practice, faith, and the importance of meaningf...
Jan 06, 2025•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 461
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, releasing sadness, tools of transformation, being moved by messages of the heart, and living in the world passionat...
Dec 30, 2024•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 460
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 decisions he has made in the administration and operation of the business, considers the role his efforts play and the tenuous nature of his lifestyle choices, 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 comm...
Dec 23, 2024•50 min•Ep. 459
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 has become more important, the Hatha Tatva Kaumudi, agency and an attitude of giving, reclaiming God, intrinsic and transcendent divinity, sidetracking into Gnana Yoga, 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...
Dec 16, 2024•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 458
