FINDING HARMONY PODCAST
What is a spiritual practice? How does it work? How will it improve my life? How will deepening my self-care transform me? What strategies can I use to improve my life, increase my health, and create wellness? How can craft a life that I love?
The Finding Harmony Podcast gets to the root of all these questions. Each episode is full of inspiration, humour, honest observations, and actionable steps that you can integrate to enhance your experience of self-love, develop a connection to Spirit, and create a life you truly love.
Show Notes Below:
Fracking Yoga
In this episode we catch up with dedicated Ashtangi, mother of two, and highly acclaimed jouranlist, Bethany McLean. She is also an author and contributing editor to Vanity Fair, who lives in Chicago. Many of you might remember her from the 2012 Vanity Fair article entitled: Who’s Yoga Is It Anyway? where she explored how the global Ashtanga yoga community grapples with the death of Guru, Pattabhi Jois, and the complicated response to Sonia Jones launching a chain of yoga studios under the “Jois” name. A name copyrighted and paid for, but a purchase that rankled the prickly egos of senior students who preferred their status just where it was: On Top…
Ashtanga Yoga, The Human Reclamation Project
Aimee Echo began her career not as a Yoga teacher but a rock singer, recording several albums and touring the world with her band theSTART and performing guest vocals for Red Hot Chili Peppers, Garbage, Teddybears and so many more. Seeking refuge from the rock world, she took her first step into an Ashtanga Yoga class in 1999…
(As square as Russell is, he was very interested in Aimee’s career and asked a lot of inappropriate questions about what actually is punk. What is Authentic? Is Miley Cyrus Punk? Does she regret marrying Billy Ray Cyrus' drummer? What is Bad Religion? And, is Yoga the answer?)
LISTEN NOW!
From Dusk To Dawn
Welcome to our anniversary episode! We are looking back at 2020 and the year so far, now half over, and taking stock in what our Podcast Finding Harmony is all about. For us, Yoga is about bringing union and balance to the opposite forces within each moment of pleasure and pain. Many of our episodes seem to deal with examining the point of crises and the resolution in the lives of our yogi friends. Buried within these moments of crisis though is the seed of liberation and from the darkness we find the light.
Everyday Ayurveda with Kate O'Donnell
What exactly is the yogic diet? What should we eat to align ourselves with the principles of yoga? Learn the answers to these questions and so many more on this episode of Finding Harmony!
From her first trip to India, to living on Nancy Gilgoff’s front porch, to becoming a published author three times over and ending up on Fox News as an expert on Ayurveda, Kate O’Donnell has had a fascinating journey combining the Ashtanga yoga practice with a deep wisdom from the ancient science of Ayurveda.
Kate offers some simple and easy ways for you to integrate the ancient principles of Ayurveda into your diet and daily life, which can help to increase your energy and enrich your yoga practice!
What's it gonna take? From Addiction to Ashtanga
In this episode we interview the wild woman herself, Santina Giardina-Chard.
Santina shares with us with her incredible journey. She experienced extraordinary childhood wounds, had a tumultuous early adulthood struggling with an addiction to heroine, lawlessness and eating disorders. Love had a way of finding her though, and a transformation started to happen through the connection with her (now) husband, Shane, the practice of Ashtanga yoga, and digging deep with Gestalt therapy.
We’re lucky to know her and she's lucky to be alive!
Certifiably Organic with Jessica Walden
Whether it’s her life, her way with her family, her practice, or the work she has invested herself in, Jessica Walden is Certifiably Organic in every way.
Listen to how Jessica learned to continue practicing when faced with a debilitating back injury that would forever alter her approach to Ashtanga yoga, and how our yoga practice is about taking personal responsibility for our actions. This naturally extends to our food choices and therefore our environment.
Yoga as Sovereignty and Civil Disobedience
Dr. Shyam is an incredibly insightful authority on both South Asian and Western Philosophy. He is able to weave together classical thoughts about Logos or Logic, Linguistic Theory with Civil Disobedience, Cultural Appropriation, and the teaching of Patanjali. We discuss the essential practices of Ahimsa and Isvara Pranidhana and how they relate to the idea of non-violent resistance, Satyagraha.
As he said, "My Lunch With Two White People"
Dr. Jag is a public speaker and leader with the organization United To End Racism, and he is the author of the book "It's Your World." He joins Harmony Slater and Russell Case in this episode of the Finding Harmony Podcast to talk about issues of race, discrimination, unconscious bias, white fragility, and how we can begin working on ourselves to change the world around us.
This is a topic that we are extremely passionate about, so at times we may use some adult language. Please use headphones if your kids or other sensitive ears are around.
Planting Seeds To Breathe
We are delighted to share this episode featuring an interview with my dear friend and Authorized Ashtanga Yoga teacher, Lara Land. As many of you may already know, Lara is the founder and director of the non-profit organization, Three And A Half Acres, whose mission is to teach yoga, breathing and mindfulness techniques to underserved communities.
This podcast touches upon some important topics like diversity (or lack thereof) within the Ashtanga yoga community. And how we, as practitioners and teachers, can learn to become more inclusive in our approach and attitudes to help support populations that would otherwise not be exposed to this practice.
Aging, Injuries and Ashtanga Yoga
In this episode, Harmony and Russell explore the topic of aging, injuries, and how to adapt the yoga practice for many different phases of life and the obstacles that can arise as the years go by.
The After Birth Experience
In this episode, I speak about what my personal experience was like after giving birth and how the practice of Ashtanga yoga helped to put the pieces of myself back together again.
Russell and I discuss different approaches to the practice postpartum, and how (after becoming a mother) your life will never be the same… Listen Now
Demystifying Ashtanga Yoga and Pregnancy
In this episode, I speak about my personal experience practicing Ashtanga yoga during my pregnancy and how I like to guide other women who are practicing while pregnant.
If you are imagining what it might be like to practice during pregnancy, or if you are a teacher wondering how to instruct pregnant students, this is an episode of Finding Harmony that you won’t want to miss!
Take A Trip to VAGUS Without Leaving Your Home
Russell Case describes the Vagus Nerve and how it effects your mood. Learn why the yoga practice works at a physiological level and things you can do to increase it's effectiveness. You will love hearing stories about Richard Freeman, and Barak Obama, and more of Russell's fascination about how different narcotics act on the brain.
A Potpourri of First Impressions
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel to India? Hear about Harmony's first trip to Mysore, and what it was like traveling to a completely different culture as a young women in her early 20s. You will love hearing about the surprise she received at her first astrology reading, the cultural differences between the East and West, and some tips and tricks to staying healthy, while living in an environment with less than optimal conditions.
Who Is Russell Case?
Find out who Russell Case is, how he got into yoga and what the Ashtanga yoga scene was like in Mysore, India almost 20 years ago. In this episode, Harmony asks Russell to tell about how he came to practice yoga. You will love to hear the lightness and levity of Russell's story that shines through in his sense of humor as he talks about his experience with the practice and going to India for the first time.
How Ashtanga Yoga Found Harmony
This is an introduction to who Harmony is, where she came from, and how the practice of Ashtanga Yoga found her, and helped her to find herself.