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:
Maria Boox Love Goddess
In Norse mythology, Freyja (from Old Norse meaning "the Lady" is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, and gold. Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot pulled by two cats, is accompanied by the boar Hildisvíni, and possesses a cloak of falcon feathers.
Today we interviewed Maria Boox, who in our opinion, most embodies this Freya love goddess energy.
Keen On Adam
Adam has a wonderful lightness to him. His nature is a living example of a powerful creative energy, he embodies the quality of vata (in Ayurvedic terms) a bundle of moving, swirling ideas, ready to spring to life, and of course this energy is naturally infectious.
He’s really quite punk in his inclination and seems to have a distaste for authoritarianism, which has transformed and shaped his worldview.
Yoga, Philosophy, and Favelas
Those pursuing the path of Yoga should understand that it is to be experienced and expressed off of our mats and beyond acrobatic poses. The position we ought to strive towards the most, is practicing the stance of caring for others as if we were all One... every day. At least that's what Yoga teaches us. We know we can't experience completeness as long as others are still suffering and deprived of basic needs.
The pandemic in Brazil has gotten much worse and most of the population already lives in precarious conditions. These people are now facing extreme poverty and hunger, as the Brazilian government actions are very weak or nonexistent. This inspired Marcos Silva to initiate a projected called Rede Yoga Contra a Fome. A teaching network offering charity classes to support CUFA — Mães da Favela as he explains, the“Mothers of the Slum.”
All In The Family with Greg Nardi
The beauty of this episode is that Greg loves to go a little meta!
He enjoys questioning and looking at our Ashtanga yoga practice, culture, shared history, and all the accompanying assumptions from a slightly higher perspective, being self-reflective, rather than continuing to perpetuate unhealthy patterns and unhelpful belief systems.
We’re sure you will enjoy coming along this journey of inner exploration as we share our unique perspectives and the mixed bag of contradictory feelings that arise from being a member of a particular spiritual community— a post-guru community— trying to find its way through.
The Goddess Solution
We had a delightful morning interviewing Lisa Marie about her new book: The Goddess Solution: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Life. As it turns out, Lisa Marie is a Goddess, named after the King’s wife, Mrs. Presley. We discovered through our conversation that you are a Goddess too… And that even Russell could use this book (if so inclined)…
Laura's Dharma
We caught up with her in Porto Alegre and asked her about how she came to be an Ashtanga Yoga teacher. Its a wild and incredibly cute story the way she tells it; but, actually, she’s quite serious. She gave up her life, legal career, and car when she decided to move to India to study. Her father disowned her, but then took her back, after she founded an orphanage in Nepal, and put an abuser of young children in prison.
Mark Robberds: God of Thunder
Obviously, Mark Robberds isn’t actually the ancient Norse God of Thunder. He is actually quite soft spoken and has a gentle moderate spirit. We touch upon several historical incidents that reinforced patterns of normative behavior in our global community and how these somewhat dramatic events effected each of our lives.
This conversation is a lively one! We are exploring issues of psychology, science, physiology, and philosophy.
If you have ever wanted to sit back and chill with Mark, bask in his beatific presence while making snarky remarks, and digging in deep to what our core values really are, this is your day to do it. ❤️
Sonja and The Mind Monsters
It’s been said that if you can’t explain something to a 5 year old, you don’t really understand it. Perhaps apocryphally that quote refers to quantum mechanics and general relativity theory. Albert Einstein was doing his level best to explain these concepts to a nervous public. Equally as difficult to understand is the prism of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, and yet our guest today, Sonja Radvila, explains it effortlessly in her Yoga Sutra book written especially for children.
John Bultman: Captain America
There is something about John that strikes a person as wholesome. In a different age, we might've described him as an "All American." Of course, that’s before some of us were awakened to nativism and privilege. Still, watch Captain America and you can understand what allows him to hold Mjölnir. He has something pure and true about him that allows him to wield Thor’s hammer. He is selfless and leads through example. He brings all of us in the room together, which is essentially beautiful.
Live In Stockholm
it is with great pleasure that we introduce Laruga Glaser to you. Of course you know her already!
She is extremely famous in our little world. She, is someone who might be thought of as an athlete or an “asana-jock.” Some might jealously (in their small little minds assume she is stuck up) where in fact — if they took the time — would discover her to be reserved, poised, extremely thoughtful, philosophical and discerning.
We tried to probe into past offenses or micro-aggressions she may have experienced; Yet, incredibly so, we learned that Laruga herself isn’t into carrying baggage. She’s moved on.
She is, in fact, a Swedish citizen.
Listen with us and learn what a “Brutus” is from one of the most celebrated Ashtanga Yoga masters of our time.
The Empty Mirror
Today we have a delightful conversation for you with one of the few Certified teachers of Ashtanga yoga, Luke Jordan. We learn about his on-going journey, which has taken him all around the world seeking out experts, gurus and teachers in the field of Yoga and spirituality.
We speak about things like the value of learning to surrender, freewill verses determinism, and the relationship between Sankhya and Yoga. Discover whether the nature of the Self is a Full-Emptiness or an Empty-Fullness.
Luke Jordan began a formal study of Eastern mysticism while at University during the 1990s, feeling a sense that there must be something more to life, Luke began experimenting with Psychedelics. During this period, after a relationship break up, Luke had a life-altering experience where the identity he had so carefully crafted as a means of coping with life completely fell apart.
The Yogi Aristocat
Our guest today is the American Aristocrat, Robbie Cavallero. There is something ineffable but unmistakable in the effect he has on people directly in his sphere of reach. He’s a bit like Lord Krishna really, attracting Gopies with his sweetness. And the ardent admirers of this gentleman will notice that even the rocks melt, ever so slightly, in his presence.
When Miles Smiles
Sarah Miles, a Hypno-Therapist, an Ashtanga yoga teacher, a Celebrant, and Mortician. She was also Russell’s apprentice in Brighton! We discussed Sarah’s harrowing knee story, and how she has a tendency to run directly into the face of what she fears. Finding ways to immerse herself in those activities that scare her most, so she can explore and understand why it makes her feel a certain way. And ultimately, overcome that sense of fear or dread. This is partly how she's ended up regularly bearing witness to both death and new beginnings.
Chasing Dragons with Dr. John Campbell
Even after practicing for decades, and finishing Advanced Series in Mysore with Pattabhi Jois, John found himself isolated, studying and writing his Ph.D thesis in Varanasi. Feeling alone, and confused in an alien environment, John found himself attracted to the darkness… And eventually lost himself in cycle of addiction. We explored together the mind-body connection in relation to substance use and addiction, gurus, the big Self, and how the practice can create a cycle of chasing dragons.
The Mayor of Mysore
Every once in a while on this show we like to pull the blinds down (or the pull the curtain away) and show you what it really sounds like at the Chai Stand gossiping on Gokulum High Street in India. Tim Feldmann is hilarious (unfortunately for him not quite Jewish) and shares a very similar sense of humor to Russell. The two of them create their own little giggling world together and we are delighted to share this hour exploring Tim’s life with you!
When Love Comes To Light
Love comes to light whenever you’re in the presence of Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor. Richard grew up in a very sophisticated cultural community surrounded by Philosophers and college professors who very commonly had a personal relationship to the Holocaust in Europe. In Richard’s subsequent search for Truth he discovered both the hole in the center of these “spiritual communities,” but also the Light at the Center. Mary Taylor began studying yoga in 1971, soon after she came home from France with a grande diplôme from Julia Child’s cooking school, L’Ecole des Trois Gourmandes. She found yoga at first as a means of finding equanimity during the stress of University, and it was that thread of balance that got her hooked.
Ashtanga Yoga Chile: In Living Colour
We sat down with our close friend Loreto Cortés, who was the first Chilean to be Authorized by the KPJAYI, and the first person to open a fully dedicated Ashtanga Yoga school in Santiago, Chile, over 20 years ago, which continues to thrive even today! We probed Loreto about her experience as an activist, artist and yogi. We were fascinated by her universe. We are so delighted to shares her radiant life and story with you.
Moon Yoga
Today, it is our distinct honor and pleasure to introduce Sharon Moon. This is a one of Russell’s most revered friends, colleagues, his mentor, and teacher. Sharon shares with us an incredible story of her first harrowing marriage to an abuser, and her subsequent unwanted pregnancies, what an illegal abortion was like in the 60’s, and how she made it out alive. She recounts meeting Swami Satchidananda, her initiation into Paramahansa Yogananda’s Self Realization Fellowship, and attaining a double Black Belt in Taekwondo. Sharon is an interesting duality, a Texan, Jewess, street fighter, and a deeply maternal great-grandmother full of a giant well of loving kindness. We think you’ll enjoy this trip…
Rogue Yogi: Escaping Samsara
We are delighted to share with you a conversation with our fellow podcaster Nathan Thompson: Poet, Journalist, Buddhist Practitioner, and self-taught Ashtangi, as well as the host of the Escaping Samsara Podcast. In his teens Nathan tumbled headfirst down the deep tunnel of drug use and sank into a pattern of addiction. After a decade of darkness, he found his feet again through the practice of Vipassana Meditation in the lineage of S.N Goenka, a tradition that both he and Harmony share a connection with. You will love this lively interview!
Yoga and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
It’s American Thanksgiving this Thursday and we have so much to be grateful for. This conversation with Samantha Lucas reminds us all just how much we tend to take for granted every day and how an entire life can be forever altered within mere seconds… In the summer of 2016 Samantha suffered a catastrophic accident, losing her right leg below the knee. Samantha’s personal approach to using Ashtanga Yoga as a way to help her through this trauma and recovery is an inspiration for all of us to keep facing our own struggles, no matter what obstacles we face. Something Samantha refers to as “inspiration porn.” We think you will be delighted listening to this incredibly upbeat Lady, who has a world of experience and hard-earned wisdom to share.