The Yoga Praxis Podcast

Mai Hatosu….is a yoga teacher living in Ann Arbor, MI who also works at an amazing chiropractic office (shoutout @foundation.chiropractic), where she has learned a WHOLE lot about the body.We talk about the humbling journey of healing from an injury, miseducation and undereducation in yoga spaces, and the importance of strength.If you’re thinking about embarking on a yoga teacher training, this is a good inside-scoop episode for you!Learn more about Root to Rise Somatics by visiting www.RootToRiseSomatics.com or following me @RootToRiseSomatics on Instagram.

Melanie Host-Collins is a healing guide and creator of the Grow Your Lovespace movement. Through her work Mel hopes to remind people of the potent gift of the human experience and inspire them to dive into their spiritual and personal growth practices in an embodied way. Mel and I connected on so many levels and I can’t wait to continue to follow her work and get to know her. You will be drawn in and inspired by Mel’s intentionality and clarity. Hearing about her journey of coming into alignment through her work and her own practices is moving and motivating. You can follow Melanie on Instagram @growyourlovespace .If you’d like to support me and the Yoga Praxis podcast you can visit www.RISEeducationandconsulting.com/pay .

Carryn Lund (she/her) is a social worker and therapist in Ann Arbor, MI, a yoga student and teacher, wife, and new(ish) mom.  We talk about the toll this pandemic is taking on therapists and therapists hearts and bodies, the essentialness of embodied care for self and others, as well as EDM music and possible a friend date to the club when clubs are open and safe again. Follow Carryn and her colleague Sharon Gold-Steinberg's work with Therapist Refresh - you can find them on Instagram or at www.therapistrefresh.com . They have a lot of exciting resources available during the month of October and beyond.If you’d like to support me and the Yoga Praxis podcast you can visit www.RISEeducationandconsulting.com/pay .

Najee Robbins is a yoga teacher, educator, and doula (in a former life). She was first introduced to yoga in high school, as a means to escape the awfulness that is regular gym class. Later in life, her doula work brought her back to the practice. We talk about the importance of incorporating philosophy and messaging into yoga classes, the limitations of the wellness world, and how supportive and transformative restorative yoga is. Hearing Najee talk about her perspective on yoga will soothe, ground, and inspire you.You can sign up for Najee's newsletter and soon find resources for restorative yoga and more at www.protectyourpeace.yoga and/or follow her on social media here: www.instagram.com/protectyourpeace.Books on Restorative Yoga:- Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-Based Stress and Trauma by Dr. Gail Parker- Yoga For Emotional Balance by Bo Forbes- Restore and Rebalance by Judith Lasater*You can also find podcast interviews and videos on YouTube where you can hear these teachers discuss the practice further.If you’d like to support me and the Yoga Praxis podcast you can visit www.RISEeducationandconsulting.com/pay .

Lauren Tatarsky (she/her/hers) is a somatic spiritual psychologist, yoga teacher, anti-racist organizer, and she also co-facilitates a space called Community Inspired Action. We talk about the intersections between her organizing work, yoga, embodiment, and spirituality. I learn about spiral dynamic models of spirituality and feel promptly validated. This one’s for you if you enjoy the process of, or trying to figure out, how to integrate the different parts of you and your life.Find out more about Lauren's work by checking out the links below:inspiredlifecounselinga2.comcommunityinspiredaction.comhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/lauren-tatarsky-ann-arbor-mi/308338If you’d like to support me and the Yoga Praxis podcast you can visit www.RISEeducationandconsulting.com/pay .

Kei Kaimana (they/them/theirs) can't remember the first time they practiced yoga, but they can tell you the first time they refused to! Growing up in a household where Ashtanga yoga, martial arts, and Ayurveda were used as the primary healing modalities, Kei rebelled. Fast forward to now: they've returned to their yoga practice, but this time on their own terms, and with profound clarity and wisdom. We talk about how white people like to move really fast, pandemic practicing, how all movement practice is connected, and how the binary made Kei sick. Lots of *snaps* moments in this episode.  If you’d like to support me and the Yoga Praxis podcast you can visit www.RISEeducationandconsulting.com/pay .

Verónica Rabelo is a long-time friend of mine and currently faculty at San Francisco State University in the College of Business. This conversation is an informal discussion about our experiences in the yoga world and our experiences in the world as it is right now. Verónica talks about which yoga spaces she’s felt most and least safe in, and how mental health and chronic pain create challenges in maintaining consistency in her practice. She asks me some really good questions about my own life and practice as well. You’ll feel like you’re just sitting in the room with us, chit-chatting about life, engaged Buddhism, and liberation. Find our more about Verónica's work here http://www.veronicarabelo.com/If you’d like to support me and the Yoga Praxis podcast you can visit www.RISEeducationandconsulting.com/pay .

I interview my friend Jena Brooker (she/her) about her meditation journey. Jena's practice began when she was 13 and she attended a mindfulness retreat at the encouragement of her grandmother. She's been on many more retreats, including silent retreats, since then and particularly enjoys opportunities to practice and reflect with others, as opposed to practicing in solitude. Jena shares a few really great insights and stories, including reflection on how challenging sitting in meditation, or even just sitting with your feelings, can be. Jena is a 5th and 6th grade science teacher and a freelance journalist. She just published her first breaking story, which you can read more about here: https://planetdetroit.org/2020/05/sierra-club-dte-agree-to-retire-3-coal-plants-by-2022/ .You can listen to the Wisdom Talk she references by following this link and scrolling down to "Staying in the Game" by Doug Worthen:https://ibme.com/resources/retreat-recordings/ .If you’d like to support me and the Yoga Praxis podcast you can visit www.RISEeducationandconsulting.com/pay .

Emma Schaff (she/her/hers) took a meditation course during college and immediately took to using mindfulness practices in her everyday life. She explored all kinds of practices, including yoga, and eventually completed a 200 hour yoga teacher training (at the same studio I did - A2 Yoga!). Emma speaks to how perfectionism - in herself and in western yoga culture - led to burnout in her practice. In recent years, she’s begun to appreciate having more diversity in her movement practices, and has really been enjoying how climbing allows her to use all of her body and “revel” in her strength in a different way than hatha yoga does. She also talks about how coronavirus has forced her to slow down and how that’s affected her mindfulness and movement practices.If you’d like to support me and the Yoga Praxis podcast you can visit www.RISEeducationandconsulting.com/pay .

Stephanie Hicks (she/her/hers) grew up dancing and says that “movement has always been an important part of my life...and closely connected to spirituality for me.” In the midst of grief that followed the sudden death of her mother and the extreme stress that accompanies grad school, Stephanie wondered if “that yoga thing” she had dabbled in before could be helpful in some way. Eventually, “trying to find or trying to connect to a sense of stability” led her back to the practice with more regularity. She’s learned through her practice that it’s “only through living your life” that one can understand it’s meaning and “sweetness.” To that, she says, “it’s ok to just keep living.” And when it comes to yoga, and what she wants other people to know about the practice she says, “It’s ok just to start.” Stephanie is currently faculty at the Program in Intergroup Relations and the creator of Yoga for Black Lives.Check out the Yoga Praxis blog for more content - www.RISEeducationandconsulting.com/blog . If you’d like to support me and the Yoga Praxis podcast you can visit www.RISEeducationandconsulting.com/pay .Find out more about Yoga for Black Lives http://www.yogaforblacklives.com/.Full disclosure - I am still working out some kinks with the podcast. Stay tuned for episode #4 for way better audio! 

When Erin started practicing yoga nine years ago she had an agenda: "I thought, 'OK, I'm going to be healed from this running injury'...I had all these expectations and I was absolutely not patient with myself." She struggled with hypertension in hot yoga classes and she felt too fidgety during restorative classes. Eventually Erin discovered the practices of yoga beyond asana (the physical aspect of yoga), including the yamas and the niyamas, as well as the chakra system. Today, Erin teaches yoga "to help my students show up to the moments in their lives."Check out the Yoga Praxis blog for more content - www.RISEeducationandconsulting.com/blog . If you’d like to support me and the Yoga Praxis podcast you can visit www.RISEeducationandconsulting.com/pay .Full disclosure - I am still working out some kinks with the podcast. Stay tuned for episode #4 for way better audio!