The Weeks Well

I wanted to talk to Amanda Kingsmith, host of the popular podcast Mastering the Business of Yoga (M.B.Om), because she has a structured, fascinating, and very hopeful approach to the yoga industry and community. Her mission is for everyone in the world to be able to experience the benefits of a long, slow, steady breath, and she wakes up every day thinking about how to help yoga professionals be their best selves in teaching students how to do this very thing. Trained in business first and then in yoga, Amanda started her yoga career with an idea of helping her contemporaries put their best foot forward in auditioning for jobs, setting up their sites and marketing plans, and—vitally—managing their own self care while caring for others. She offers educational and other support for yoga teachers and studio owners, and I learned so much about how she has responded to the cottage-industry demands of her own yoga and wellness consultancy market.  We talk a lot about where the industry has been, where it’s going, and why the online/hybrid yoga sphere has liberated yoga teachers to offer their services in ways they could never have imagined. I so enjoyed this conversation! Check it out and always let me know your thoughts!  ____ References: 1. M.B.Om ____ Episode credits: Original music by Kim's band Governess. Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks. ____ Subscribe to the Weeks Well newsletter. For more info on Kim Weeks, visit www.weekswell.com. Follow Kim on Instagram (@weeks.well), Facebook (@weeks.well), Twitter (@weeks_well), YouTube (@weekswell), Patreon (Weeks Well), and TikTok (@weekswell). Copyright © 2023 Weeks Well®.

In the first episode of season two, I talk with Jivana Heyman, author of Accessible Yoga and Yoga Revolution. Jivana started his yoga teaching career supporting communities with disabilities, HIV/AIDS, MS, and heart disease patients. He coined the phrase "Accessible Yoga" after creating the Accessible Yoga Training in 2013 and, as co-founder of the Accessible Yoga School, wants yoga teachers at a basic level of training to be able to teach a spectrum of abilities in the same class at the same time.  This is just one of the solutions he sees for changing the public perception of what a yoga teacher is. We talk about what, at heart, anyone is really practicing yoga for, and how Jivana wants to support those underserved and under-represented in modern yoga, which faces a fundamental problem in its lack of community.  ____ Sanskrit: 1. Sangha: community of like-minded seekers 2. Viveka: discernment   3. Karma yoga: performing actions as selfless service without attachment to the results  4. Pratipaksha bhavana: a practice of substituting opposite thought forms in the mind  ____ References: 1. Accessible Yoga School 2. Accessible Yoga, by Jivana Heyman  3. Yoga Revolution, by Jivana Heyman 4. Accessible Yoga Association 5. Jivana's cover story in Yoga Journal 6. Accessible Yoga 200-hour Teacher Training  7. Introduction to Chair Yoga 8. Jivana's article on yoga teacher training in Yoga Journal 9. Cheri Clampett 10. Yoga Sutras 11. Anjali Rao 12. Bhagavad Gita  13. The Trauma of Caste 14. M Camellia ____ Episode credits: Original music by Kim's band Governess. Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks. ____ Subscribe to the Weeks Well newsletter. For more info on Kim Weeks, visit www.weekswell.com. Follow Kim on Instagram (@weeks.well), Facebook (@weeks.well), Twitter (@weeks_well), YouTube (@weekswell), Patreon (Weeks Well), and TikTok (@weekswell). Copyright © 2023 Weeks Well®.

One of the most interesting aspects of this conversation with Judith Hanson Lasater and her daughter Lizzie Lasater was when Judith described the group yoga class a kind of disruption in the long lineage of yoga. The economic demands of teaching yoga in the west have necessitated it, she noted. We’ve gone from the intimacy of the original 1:1 contact between teacher and student to a worldwide industry of big classes and insta-influencers everywhere you look. What of the 1:1 relationship you have with yourself in your practice? We talked about this and so much more. Aside from the depth of inquiry we all swam in during this conversation about current, modern yoga, it's worth repeating that Judith co-founded Yoga Journal, the Iyengar Institute of San Francisco, and the esteemed California Yoga Teachers Association. Now, nearly 50 years later, Lizzie is pressing on with her own presence, teaching, and writings to carry on her mom's lineage. In the meantime, Judith has written 11 books and—as I see it—has become a specialist in the art of restorative yoga. I loved listening to Judith talk about the early days of American yoga in the Bay Area, to Lizzie talk about her own personal journey, and to both of them about what it really means to authentically teach a wellness practice like the one we’ve all embraced. I look forward to knowing what you think! ____ Sanskrit: 1. Upavista Konasana - wide-legged seated forward fold 2. Sangha - intentional community 3. Parampara - direct transmission of learning and connection ____ References: 1. Judith Hanson Lasater 2. https://lizzielasater.substack.com/ ____ Episode credits: Original music by Kim's band Governess. Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks. ____ Subscribe to the Weeks Well newsletter. For more info on Kim Weeks, visit www.weekswell.com. Follow Kim on Instagram (@weeks.well), Facebook (@weeks.well), Twitter (@weeks_well), YouTube (@weekswell), Patreon (Weeks Well), and TikTok (@weekswell). Copyright © 2023 Weeks Well®.

John Kepner, Emeritus Executive Director of the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), grew IAYT into the global standard for yoga therapy training and credentialing. He did it by accomplishing the things he says a professional membership needs to do—establish community via yearly member meetings, ground the profession in research, and publish a peer-reviewed journal as well as a professional member publication. In short, Kepner says, IAYT needed community, research, and standards, and he created all three. He did it working with hundreds of devoted professionals while "on the shoulders" of the giants who founded IAYT late last century. Kepner believes passionately in integrating yoga therapy into the complementary and alternative medicine field and for yoga therapy to be a recognized and respected therapy. As a yoga therapist himself who was also a non-profit executive with an extraordinary administrative mind, he built IAYT, piece by piece, into the organization it is today. This is a dense and fascinating conversation that includes many topics, ranging from our joint worry over the “race to the bottom” in yoga-teacher credentialing and training to how HSAs and FSAs are a real—if not the best—current way for yoga therapists to be remunerated for their work. This conversation is for anyone interested in the policy, leadership, and the professional future of yoga. Listen in and drop me a line to let me know what you think! ____ References: 1. IAYT 2. Why the scientific research on yoga matters: Practicing Well episode with Sat Bir Singh Khalsa 3. The genius of yoga in America right now: Practicing Well episode with Stephen Cope and Sat Bir Singh Khalsa 4. How well is the business of Yoga? Practicing Well episode with AJ Schneider ____ Episode credits: Original music by Kim's band Governess. Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks. ____ Subscribe to the Weeks Well newsletter. For more info on Kim Weeks, visit www.weekswell.com.  Follow us on Instagram (@weeks.well), Facebook (@weeks.well), Twitter (@weeks_well), YouTube (@weekswell), Patreon (Weeks Well), and TikTok (@weekswell). Copyright © 2022 Weeks Well®.

In this episode, I sit down with Joan White and Patricia Walden, two of the most senior practicing women yoga practitioners in the world. This episode continues a discussion the three of us began in 2021 about Iyengar Yoga, one of the most influential modern lineages in the world. You'll hear what it was like to study with—and be utterly devoted to—just one teacher, BKS Iyengar, and what the Iyengar Yoga system is like now in the wake of his passing several years ago. This is a deep dive into the experience of devotion to a "guru," or bringer of light, what is occurring through teachers most influenced by this guru, and how Joan and Patricia specifically have internalized all of this to continue sharing everything they've learned with their students and with yoga more broadly. If you love practice, you'll love this episode. ____ Sanskrit: 1. Urdhva dhanurasana: wheel pose 2. Sirsasana: headstand 3. Trikonasana: triangle pose 4. Viparita dandasana: inverted staff pose 5. Kapotasana: king pigeon pose 6. Adho mukha svanasana: downward facing dog 7. Virabhadrasana 2: warrior 2 8. Purusha: inner seer 9. Anamaya kosha: the first of the five koshas (layers of the body), the physical body 10. Pranamaya kosha: the energy body 11. Manamaya kosha: the mental body 12. Vijnamaka kosha: the wisdom body 13. Ananandamaya kosha: the wisdom body 14. Pranayama: breath control ____ References: 1. Joan White 2. Patricia Walden  3. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali ____ Episode credits: Original music by Kim's band Governess. Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks. ____ For more info on Kim Weeks, visit www.weekswell.com. Subscribe to the Weeks Well newsletter. Follow us on Instagram (@weeks.well), Facebook (@weeks.well), Twitter (@weeks_well), YouTube (@weekswell), Patreon (Weeks Well), and TikTok (@weekswell). Copyright © 2022 Weeks Well™.

In this episode, I sit down with Stephen Cope, author of the The Dharma in Difficult Times, and Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Stephen says that the genius of yoga in America right now lies in its ability to bring both psychology and neuroscience to yoga practice, and he believes that Sat Bir is at the forefront of this work. This conversation is about how science and modern psychotherapy are together modernizing yoga toward having its greatest impact so far in human history. ____ Sanskrit: 1. Samadhi: contemplation 2. Dyhana: concentration 3. Sadhaka: a person who follows a particular spiritual practice ____ Books and studies referenced: 1. The Dharma in Difficult Times, Stephen Cope 2. Ted Jack Kaptchuk  3. Boston Conservatory 4. Boston Symphony  5. Tanglewood Learning Institute 6. Mind and Life Institute  7. Why practice yoga? Practitioners' motivations for adopting and maintaining yoga practice 8. International Journal of Yoga Therapy 9. Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health 10. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche 11. Efficacy of Yoga vs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy vs Stress Education for the Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder 12. The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk 13. Why former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy believes loneliness is a 'profound' public health issue 14. The Yoga Sutras 15. Bhagavad Gita, Eknath Easwaran ____ Episode credits: Original music by Kim's band Governess. Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks. ____ For more info on Kim Weeks, visit www.weekswell.com.  Follow us on Instagram (@weeks.well), Facebook (@weeks.well), Twitter (@weeks_well), YouTube (@weekswell), Patreon (Weeks Well), and TikTok (@weekswell). Copyright © 2022 Weeks Well™.

Show notes: In this episode, I sit down for an intimate conversation with the legendary Angela Farmer, known as the creator of the first yoga mat, who has been practicing yoga for 50 years and teaching for nearly as many. During that time, she has learned how to take her yoga journey inward and to listen to the needs of her body to cultivate a practice that she says has no name. Angela and her partner Victor van Kooten were essentially cancelled from the Iyengar Yoga community before we even had a name for "cancel culture." She discusses her experience in Iyengar Yoga, whose focus on alignment has greatly influenced modern yoga, and her journey moving away from it and compares learning deep yoga study to learning the scales of a musical instrument. Although the scales may anchor you in your practice, they are the structure you may eventually move away from as you being to listen to your deepest need to express yourself.  ____ References: 1. Learn more about Angela Farmer. ____ Episode credits: Original music by Kim's band Governess. Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks. ____ For more info on Kim Weeks, visit www.weekswell.com. Subscribe to the Weeks Well newsletter. Follow us on Instagram (@weeks.well), Facebook (@weeks.well), Twitter (@weeks_well), YouTube (@weekswell), Patreon (Weeks Well), and TikTok (@weekswell). Copyright © 2022 Weeks Well™.

What is yoga therapy and how does it address the whole person, whether that person is working with disease or wellness? In this episode, I sit down with four teachers certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) to learn about the transformational relationships, whole-person care, and wellness paradigm that characterize the yoga therapy profession. In order of speaking, the guests are: 1. Lois Steinberg, Ph.D., Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher Level 4, C-IAYT, Director Iyengar Yoga Champaign Urbana 2. Saraswathi Vasudevan, Founder and Director of YogaVahini 3. Diane Finlayson, Department Chair of the MS in Yoga Therapy program at Maryland University of Integrative Health 4. Molly McManus, Current Board President of the International Association of Yoga Therapists and Co-owner of Yoga North International SomaYoga Institute The group discusses how: 1. they work with the western medical model. 2. you can change the way you think of the learning process itself through yoga therapy, and how working with yourself is the most fundamental thing you can do. 3. it's not about expanding the numbers of conditions but about taking in the complexity of the human being. 4. interoceptive information from the body informs yoga therapy, versus talk therapy, which is just about the mind. ____ Also! This episode included some Sanskrit. We've translated most of the words used here: 1. Sankhya: a dualistic school of Indian philosophy 2. Ayurveda: an alternative medicine system that focuses on holistic healing  3. Upanishads: the most recent part of the Vedas (the oldest Hindu scriptures) 4. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras: a collection of Sanskrit threads on yoga theory and practice ____ Also referenced: 1. International Association of Yoga Therapists 2. Yoga Therapy program at Maryland University of Integrative Health 3. Yoga North International SomaYoga Institute 4. Iyengar Yoga Champaign Urbana 5. Lois Steinberg's adaptation course 5. YogaVahini 6. Practicing Well episode with Sat Bir Singh Khalsa 7. Yoga Sutras ____ Episode credits: Original music by Kim's band Governess. Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks. ____ For more info on Kim Weeks, visit www.weekswell.com. Subscribe to the Weeks Well newsletter. Follow us on Instagram (@weeks.well), Facebook (@weeks.well), Twitter (@weeks_well), YouTube (@weekswell), Patreon (Weeks Well), and TikTok (@weekswell). Copyright © 2022 Weeks Well™.

How well can an industry be when its teachers don't make much more per class than just one student pays for that class? In this episode, I sit down with AJ Schneider, founder of Beyond the Green Coaching, to discuss how money flows in the yoga industry and community—and how it doesn't. As a yoga student, former full-time yoga teacher, and former studio manager of the YogaWorks in Washington, D.C., AJ has experience with many sides of the industry, including observing longtime teachers offering classes for free. AJ points out that this not only devalues their services, but also makes it harder for those who come after in the teaching world to establish their own value. We discuss the hard realities of making a career out of yoga teaching, as well as what the post-Covid path forward looks like for yoga teachers and the business overall. ____ Books and media referenced: 1. Beyond the Green Coaching 2. Women and Money, Suze Orman ____ Episode credits: Original music by Kim's band Governess. Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks. ____ For more info on Kim Weeks, visit www.weekswell.com. Subscribe to the Weeks Well newsletter. Follow us on Instagram (@weeks.well), Facebook (@weeks.well), Twitter (@weeks_well), YouTube (@weekswell), Patreon (Weeks Well), and TikTok (@weekswell). Copyright © 2022 Weeks Well™.

What is yoga in its postural form? Millions of people in the United States practice yoga every day, and their practice takes the literal form of yoga asanas, or yoga poses. These poses are also being innovated every day in the unregulated market of yoga teaching which has set a suggested standard of just 200 hours of training. Most yoga trainings take less than a month to complete. In this episode, I talk with Matthew Sanford, a nationally-recognized spinal-cord-injured Iyengar Yoga teacher who was one of the first advocates for accessibility in yoga. Matthew offers insights for any serious yoga student or yoga teacher interested in what makes yoga yoga. He talks about how a yoga pose yokes together what you can control and what you can't, and he describes how adaptive yoga students tend to be better students than able-bodied ones. As an Iyengar Yoga teacher who is deeply aware of the subtle body—i,e., prana, a word that loosely translates as "life force" and has no direct English counterpart—he talks about bodily and energetic alignment as something that creates a sense of relief. The architecture of Matthew's talk is rooted in what he calls the "principles" of accessible yoga, which is to say a yoga practice that is accessible for any body. You'll hear that he credits BKS Iyengar as having the insight and intelligence for creating a system of teaching that is accessible and sustainable for everyone. While so much of modern yoga is seen and celebrated as being for the able-bodied doing and performing complex shapes, Matthew offers a depth of perspective on how simple practice can be. For Matthew, connecting mind and body is not just a health strategy; it is a movement of consciousness that can change the world. He sees the poses as vehicles of discovery that extend beyond the physical body. Matthew's site: mindbodysolutions.org. ____ Books and media referenced: 1. Geeta Iyengar, Preliminary Course 2. BKS Iyengar, Tree of Yoga ____ Sanskrit words used: 1. Yoga: a yoking, to yoke 2. Prana: life force or "chi," a word that has no direct English translation 3. Ssana = pose 4. Pranayama = breath control/breathwork 5. Sirsasana = head balance pose 6. Sarvangasana = shoulder balance pose 7. Tadasana = mountain pose 8. Pratyahara = a technique of withdrawing the senses from outer stimuli/data ____ Episode credits: Original music by Kim's band Governess. Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks. ____ For more info on Kim Weeks, visit www.weekswell.com. Subscribe to the Weeks Well newsletter. Follow us on Instagram (@weeks.well), Facebook (@weeks.well), Twitter (@weeks_well), YouTube (@weekswell), Patreon (Weeks Well), and TikTok (@weekswell). Copyright © 2022 Weeks Well™.

“Virtually every yoga practice is capable of generating a relaxation effect." This is just one of the points Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, makes in our latest episode. Sat Bir and I explore the fact that yoga is a multifaceted mind-body modality offering basic strategies for coping with stress and emotion. Wee talk about how it is altogether different from a practice that the public perceives as a physical set of self-care exercises appropriate only for white, able-bodied women with time and financial resources. As a researcher, scientist, and yoga practitioner, Sat Bir has devoted his life to bringing the scientific research on yoga to the public. He has done this the way any researcher would attempt to introduce new research in a virtually unknown field: He has conducted and begun to specialize his own research, established himself at a prestigious research school, and created professional connections—and symposia—with influencers within both yoga teaching and yoga therapy. Here we talk about the recent Symposium on Yoga Research, held annually by the International Association of Yoga Therapists—what it is, why it's important, and where it could go. We also attempt to answer questions like:  1. Could the growing field of scientific research on yoga have any impact on this unregulated industry of gig workers who, on average, have only 300 hours of training under their belt?  2. How can yoga teachers reach the end user with scientific research most relevant for the condition they might be facing?  3. How can the yoga industry reach doctors and other care providers with the right message and matchmaking in yoga for their patients? What is a yoga therapist and how might this care profession grow as the public becomes more aware of the efficacy of yoga practices for certain diseases?  4. Has any scientific research on yoga reached the consensus-paper level in the medical community? (The answer is yes, and the research has been in oncology and chronic lower back pain). ____ Books and media referenced: 1. Yoga Alliance videos on the Scientific Research on Yoga 2. Yoga Alliance webinars on the Scientific Research on Yoga 3. Symposium on Yoga Research 4. PubMed 5. Introduction to Yoga, Harvard Medical School 6. The Relaxation Response, Herbert Benson ____ Episode credits: Original music by Kim's band Governess Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks ____ For more info on Kim Weeks, visit www.weekswell.com. Subscribe to the Weeks Well newsletter. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Patreon, and TikTok. Copyright © 2022 Weeks Well™.

In this episode, I sit down with Chris Parkison, founder of the DC Yoga podcast. Chris and I met through the DC Yoga podcast and since then haven't stopped talking about the yoga industry and community, our time as yoga teachers and yoga teacher trainers, and how to deepen the practice of yogic techniques of transformation. In this episode we get deep in talking about the Vedic concept of the koshas, or layers of the bodily experience and expression. We also cover: 1. Chris's archival work on the DC yoga industry 2. His long-planned trip to India and how going to the "source" impacted his practice and teaching 3. The importance of mysticism and how, without it in your body, you're unhappy and incomplete 4. How much of a teacher's own practice reflects what they share in a teacher training and/or their classes 5. Oranges. ____ Also! This episode included some Sanskrit. We've translated most of the words used here: 1. Kriya: action 2. Koshas: the layers of the body ____ Books and media referenced: 1. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van Der Kolk 2. Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, James Nestor 3. The Wisdom of Yoga: A Seeker's Guide to Extraordinary Living, Stephen Cope 4. The Dharma in Difficult Times: Finding Your Calling in Times of Loss, Change, Struggle, and Doubt, Stephen Cope 5. DC Yoga Podcast ____ Episode credits: Original music by Kim's band Governess Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks ____ For more info on Kim Weeks and Weeks Well, visit www.weekswell.com. Subscribe to the Weeks Well newsletter for weekly updates to your inbox. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Patreon, and TikTok. Copyright © 2022 Weeks Well™.

In this episode, I share my thoughts on 20 years of yoga teaching and 30+ years practice with three of my students who share their own intersectional yoga journeys of differing backgrounds, bodies, and ages. They discuss their individual paths to yoga and what teachers and types of classes work for them. 1. Eric is close to 70 and practices Iyengar Yoga for resistance training. He loves being his age and able to do many of, if not most of, the poses in class that students half his age cannot. He feels empowered by choices in yoga, knows that these practices are what keep him getting out of bed in the morning, and he vastly—vastly!—prefers in-person yoga to online yoga. I also enjoy making him laugh when he's upside down. 2. Lizzie, in her 30s, has had scoliosis since becoming a teenager and, until finding my classes, found that yoga was painful and not useful for her. Now, she not only sees the benefits of a practice modified for her body's needs but also values yoga as a way to still her mind, no matter what else is happening in the world. 3. Miah is in her 40s and has practiced alignment-based yoga for decades. She loves her body and also knows that it has particular needs for it being safe. She loves both online and in-person yoga classes especially because they cool her ambitious, competitive side while also challenging her to do things that would otherwise scare her to try. All these students discuss what their practices are actually for and how yoga helps their lives. ____ Episode credits: Original music by Governess Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks. ____ For more info on Kim Weeks and Weeks Well, visit www.weekswell.com. Subscribe to the Weeks Well newsletter for weekly updates to your inbox. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Patreon, and TikTok. Copyright © 2022 Weeks Well™

In this event, I sit down with three leaders in modern yoga, Gary Kraftsow of the American Viniyoga Institute®, Monique Schubert of Kripalu Yoga, and John Schumacher of Iyengar Yoga. In this first episode of Practicing Well, we talk about what yoga lineage is and why it matters. This episode covers: 1. The knowledge base, practical relevance, and teacher-to-student transmission endemic to yoga lineage 2. The community and connection held in tradition in yoga lineage 3. The original discovery of yoga lineages by the original yogis who "sat by rivers and in caves." 4. Multifaceted lineages such as Kripalu Yoga 5. The responsibility of yoga teachers to meet students where they are 6. How to trust the integrity of a system of learning and knowledge, and how the commercialism of yoga is less when the community connection is more 7. The imperfection of gurus 8. How, in yoga, "there is no place to hide" from your teacher or yourself. ____ Also! This episode was Sanskrit-heavy. We've translated most of the words used here: 1. Sampradaya: the flow of the tradition 2. Parampara: the line that goes from teacher to student 3. Sangha: community 4. Guruji: what you call your guru 5. Guru: destroyer of darkness, bringer of light 6. Seva: selfless service 7. Svadharma: what you're here for in the phase of change and life 8. Householder: people who practice yoga while also trying to live ordinary lives in the world instead of living in an ashram 9. Antarayah: obstacles 10. Vyadhi: disease; it's one of the obstacles 11. Dharma: the teachings that lead us to freedom 12. Yamas: the first limb of yoga; social practices 13. Niyamas: the second limb of yoga; internal observances 14. Acharya: expert instructor 15. Satguru: fully realized being 16.Shloka: a phrase or sentence, like the sutras or the lines in the Gita ____ References:  Learn more about the American Viniyoga Institute®. Learn more about Kripalu Yoga. Learn more about Iyengar Yoga. ____ Episode credits: Original music by Governess Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks. ____ For more info on Kim Weeks and Weeks Well, visit www.weekswell.com. Subscribe to the Weeks Well newsletter for weekly updates to your inbox. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Patreon, and TikTok. Copyright © 2022 Weeks Well™

Welcome🕊! Practicing Well, a new podcast, is about how practicing being well = wellness. This podcast is about the modern practice of being your best self in your mind, breath, body, and brain. It helps you ground amid our bazillion distractions in modern life. You will hear conversations between people with a lifetime of practicing wellness and mindfulness, people who have a lot to say about the actual, dig-in dirty work it takes to discover the mental freedom, quiet, and internal bodily authority and autonomy—the peace—that is everyone’s birthright. Hosted by wellness entrepreneur Kim Weeks, Practicing Well brings you conversations on the practices of wellness and yoga, how to understand the deeper study of yoga, and how to find out the best kind of yoga and mindfulness for you. In particular, we are asking these questions: What is yoga lineage? What is it, and why does it matter? How is the burgeoning field of scientific research on yoga and mindfulness the best way to validate yoga as a legitimate modality for both health and disease management? And, perhaps most vitally, what can we learn about the intersection of equity and wellness culture/industry? How many people are actually empowered with the resources to practice being well? With Practicing Well, we hope to create a space for you to reflect on your own wellness practices for your body, breath, and mind. Practicing Well intends to curate impactful conversations, with actionable takeaways, for living an educated, embodied, wellness-practiced life. ____ Episode credits: Original music by Governess: "Decay" and "Ground Control" Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School: https://sleep.hms.harvard.edu/faculty-staff/sat-bir-singh-khalsa For more info on Kim Weeks and Weeks Well, visit www.weekswell.com. Subscribe to the Weeks Well newsletter for weekly updates to your inbox: https://weekswell.us8.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=cab520ea5f3ee901294dab8a5&id=4d3a0e82e7. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Patreon, and TikTok.