Practice You with Elena Brower

Episode 99: Melissa Wood

Episode 98: Emily Fletcher

On saturating your brain and body with bliss through your practice of meditation; meditation for kids; practice for extraordinary performance.

Episode 97: David Romanelli

Episode 96: Gunny Sodhi

On the efficacy and legacy of Ayurveda in calibrating body, mind and mood; how tragedy can lead to true service.

Episode 95: Kallie Schut

On building relationships across points of difference, acknowledging the patterns of trauma we've inherited to reshape those relations, and remembering the practice as a way to honour those who've come before.

Episode 94: Amisha Ghadiali

On locating and refining your intuition, with practices, prompts and new ways of seeing.

Episode 93: SuChin Pak

On vocalizing the pain of generations, standing up to ensure safe spaces, and crafting the conversations that need to be heard.

Episode 92: Yung Pueblo

On managing reactions, creating structural compassion and walking the middle path.

Episode 91: Hiro Boga

On the ecology of your business; creating a world of your work that feels like a sanctuary for yourself and others.

Episode 90: Shannon Algeo

On releasing rage, growing up, and the steady vibration of truth.

Episode 89: Miki Agrawal

On being an architect of community, social entrepreneurship and creating businesses straight from your heart. Permission to be creative [3:12] Confidence. Creating products that are taboo [6:28] Miki’s experience of being sexually assaulted [9:41] Lessons learned from professional hurdles [18:30] Launching Tushy. Three questions Miki asks herself before starting any business [31:21] Conceiving and letting go [44:33] RESOURCES Miki Agrawal Thinx Tushy Do Cool Sh*t , Miki Agrawal Disrupt- Her , Mi...

Episode 88: Dr. Edith Eger

On resolving victimhood, transforming fear, freedom from resentment, curiosity as hope, and delivering deep love to yourself, no matter what. The listening that is required to help others heal [4:21] Empowerment in the face of life’s deepest hardships [8.31] Creating family constitutions [15:35] Forgiving yourself [17:09] Nobody heals in a straight line [20:39] Practicing your low frustration tolerance level [27:36] The calamity theory of growth [30:52] Living to enrich the present. How we speak...

Episode 87: Sah D'Simone

On recalibrating your nervous system, dancing with fear, and the smallest acts of forgiveness. Sah D’Simone is a spiritual guide, meditation teacher, international transformational speaker, and best-selling author who has dedicated his life to helping others to live in alignment and achieve their highest potential. He is pioneering a Spiritually Sassy, heart-based healing movement rooted in science-backed, tried-and-true techniques, in which joy and authenticity illuminate the path to enlightenm...

Episode 86: Tracee Stanley

On prioritizing our inner world through the practice of Yoga Nidra; the clear benefits of Radiant Rest. Brain waves and Yoga Nidra [2:30] Om, Maya and Turiya [6:56] Yoga Nidra explained simply [16:40] The mind merging in its source [18:05] Awareness and honoring of trauma [21:51] Octavia’s story. Remembering our ancestors. The birthright to rest [26:14] Pratyahara [33:03] Pratyahara practice led by Tracee [36:53] Weaving in your practice when you can [46:43] The value of a self-guided practice [...

Episode 85: Kathleen St. Ours

On resilience through harrowing childhood assault, sharing pain as a service to others and the medicine of the story.

Episode 84: Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor

RICHARD FREEMAN began studying yoga in 1968, focusing on hatha, contemplative Buddhism, and the Ashtanga and Iyengar methods. He teaches throughout the world, and his video series, Yoga with Richard Freeman, set the gold standard for modern Ashtanga Yoga. MARY TAYLOR has studied and practiced yoga since 1972 and teaches throughout the world. She co-founded the Yoga Workshop in Boulder, Colorado in 1988 with Richard. The importance of not casting people out of our hearts [3:12] Letting go of habi...

Episode 83: Erin Clabough

On using neuroscience to raise caring, compassionate, creative humans. Creativity [3:04] Empathy and self-control [7:40] Stages of brain development [20:14] Using brain plasticity to parent better. Experiences as a toolkit [24:03] Offering choices to children [30:42] Parental scaffolding. Offering a framework to kids for any given scenario [33:45] Conflict resolution. Teaching your kids to communicate clearly [41:40] Role playing. Learning to set boundaries [44:23] Fostering compassion for the b...

Episode 82: Marnie Nir

On evolving and resolving generational patterns and misunderstandings. On loving ourselves enough to be a safe space for others; on great communication. Inner.U LOVE. Writing dreams for love, relationship to self and body [6:07] Looking to yourself rather than blaming others [7:53] Noticing when we’re trying to make our partners more like us [10:32] Identifying the relationship sports you’ve been playing [12:42] How outing our issues can help others [15:16] Sex and relationships. Making a game o...

Episode 81: Claire Ragozzino

On Ayurveda as a practice of deep listening, strengthening our ability to be resilient, present, and respectful of the rhythms of Nature. Claire Ragozzino is a certified yoga instructor and Ayurvedic counselor with a background in holistic nutrition and natural cooking. Her work is dedicated to bringing yoga, Ayurveda, and nutrition to a modern lifestyle. She is the author of the popular site, Vidya Living, and also writes and photographs for online and print publications surrounding topics of f...

Episode 80: Quddus

On true allyship, the names we need to keep repeating, the necessary healings and breaking through Quddus (Q) is a veteran TV host, acclaimed celebrity interviewer and breakthrough media coach. Q is a former host of MTV’s iconic show Total Request Live (TRL), has produced projects with the likes of AOL, Yahoo, and YouTube, and worked in artist development for Interscope Records. Q has spoken for audiences at the United Nations and Global Citizen Festival but a trip to his father’s homeland, Hait...

Episode 79: Katie Hess

On the subtlety and majesty of the flowers, and their capacity to bring our human bodies back to Nature. Katie Hess is an expert of flower alchemy - using the healing power of flowers to awaken our true potential. She is the author of Flowerevolution and founder of LOTUSWEI, the world’s leading flower elixir apothecary. She travels in search of rare flowers with the healing qualities most needed by today’s world, from the forests of British Columbia, to sacred sites in India, rainforests in Cost...

Episode 78: Dr. Anthony Lyon

On the harrowing reality from the hospital floor, two actions we can take to stop the spread, and the stories we craft to help us cope. Being open to learning. Basing recommendations on scientific data [06:08] Considering what it feels like to be unable to breathe easily [07:40] There are still no consistently effective treatments for Covid-19 [8:42] Why earlier hospitalization can make a difference [9:36] Dr. Lyon’s experience of treating Covid-19 patients [11:21] Doing what we can to protect o...

Episode 77: Kerri Kelly

On a new definition of politics, and caring for ourselves through this. Sustainability vs growth [3:26] Bridging personal transformation and politics [5:22] The origins of CTZNWELL [9:31] White supremacy and the wellness community [12:20] Reckoning. Staying curious. Expanding your practice to include staying informed [14:15] Questions to ask about the governance of wellness [20:45] Considering wellbeing on a national level [22:48] Holding uncertainty [25:05] Building communities that include pol...

Episode 76: Judith Hanson Lasater

On the core of communication, and some myths we can release. Approaching yoga poses with questions rather than rules [1:50] Non-violent communication. Connecting with ourselves. Recognizing mutuality [8:33] Communicating as a parent [17:36] Trust. Telling the truth with empathy. Saying no while staying in connection [22:37] Self-empathy practice [27:24] A common yoga myth about the pelvis in seated twists [32:44] Body leading, mind following [40:36] Sweet Body poem reading [43:22] Judith Hanson ...

Episode 75: Justin Michael Williams

Justin Michael Williams works at the intersection of music, mindfulness, and social justice. With his groundbreaking book, Stay Woke, and over a decade of teaching experience, Justin has become a pioneering voice for diversity and inclusion in wellness. Ending Racism Manifesto [1:40] The five assumptions we make about why racism persists [8:33] Justin’s process of writing the Manifesto [15:40] Racism is learned [18:30] Questioning the idea that racism can not end [21:29] Race is not real, althou...

Episode 74: Julie Wald

On the vital ways in which we approach practice for mental health. Julie Wald is the author of the #1 Amazon bestseller, Inner Wealth: How Wellness Heals, Nurtures, and Optimizes Ultra-Successful People, and the founder of Namaste Wellness. Julie has over twenty-five years of experience as a clinical social worker, yoga and meditation teacher. She’s committed to serving not only Namaste’s elite clientele of high performing companies and families, but also to delivering complimentary wellness ser...

Episode 73: Jodie Patterson

On womanhood, excellence, Blackness, and our crucial collaborations in parenting, partnership, and creativity. Rebirthing many times throughout life [3:57] Women, Southern culture and power [5:15] Demonstrating Black Excellence [12:10] Seeking out Black culture [18:14] Not letting the dominant culture confuse you [21:52] A different kind of leadership [24:55] Detaching from things that define us. Coming back different [29:51] Finding the upside of the split [38:11] Representation matters. How we...

Episode 72: Johanna Nichols and Martha McAlpine

On homeschooling as reclaiming learning, prioritizing in a busy household and the gifts of boredom. Making the decision to homeschool [2:03] Keeping rhythms with non-attachment [8:57] Being driven by children’s interest. Choosing. Focusing [12:31] Reclaiming our learning. Giving ownership to the children [21:48] Interoception. Subtracting and letting kids get bored [23:14] Surviving as a family. Choosing values and saying them out loud [27:15] Being generous with yourself so that you can be more...

Episode 71: Latham Thomas

On the history of black maternal health, how we can change the story, and parenting our kids as actualized beings. The Black Maternal Health crisis [1:58] Gynecology and its origins in slavery [6:09] The need for a reckoning. Reenvisioning a holistic view and a service model [10:17] Ways to be involved [14:51] Mama Glow Doula professional training program scholarship fund [30:19] Learning and unlearning [34:07] Parenting teenagers. Leaning into resilience and using our tools [36:13] Named one of...

Episode 70: Reggie Hubbard

On compassion in the context of activism, building a culture of care, and cultivating enthusiasm to save our democracy. Being radically human [2:42] Sharing peace in a way that incites action [4:24] Our responsibility to each other. Information and discernment [6:21] Planting seeds of love and compassion [12:52] Changing our opinions over time [18:00] Immigration detainment camps. Focusing on human values [22:28] Leading with what inspires us [27:13] Operating from our humanity when we disagree ...