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:
Casey Palmer: a Proto Punk Pioneer in Portland
Casey Palmer is a ‘Gen-Xer,’ a punk - ‘do it yourselfer.’ Fiercely independent and skeptical of hierarchies and monetization of that which is pure and authentic. He embodies our Gen-X slogan from the movie Say Anything, “I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed.”
Please sit and listen to a fascinating discussion on a number of different topics like the culture in Mysore, holding multiple frames of consideration for Pattabhi Jois, growing up in Alaska, leading a yoga community as as an anarchist collective, and whether we can really hold onto anything for more than a passing moment in time.
The Three Stigmata of Mariela Cruz
It is with great pleasure that we introduce you to our great friend Mariela Cruz. Mariela is one of those phenomenal human that you might find in an Alexandre Dumas classic like ‘The Count of Monte Christo’ or ‘The Man in the Iron Mask.’
Someone who’s heart-centered and gifted with supreme powers of intelligence, wit, and physical prowess!
With 7 children, a lawyer, a gifted solo pianist, she also happened to finished Advanced A Series with Sharath Jois in Mysore, India. She was an ambassador to India on behalf of Costa Rica…. and the list of accomplishments goes on and on, reading like an epic novel. All this, and she still has half a lifetime more to live.
A Delicious Poison with Kate
Today we’ve created a Venn diagram of interesting listening…. Here you’ll find the intersection of the dedicated The Last Kingdom fan (secretly in love with Uhtred of Uhtred; and Aethelfled her personal hero), mixing with a keen interest in True Crime Detective procedurals, along with a curiosity in what it might take to become a female weight lifter, or body building champion (and this may or may not have nosedived into an obsession with professional wrestling, who’s to say really). All this crosses over with a love for tea, running, meditation, yoga and nutrition.
Dena Kingsberg: That's Where The Light Gets In
We are blessed today to share our conversation with Dena about her personal transformation from an awkward child into an artist, poet, and rock-goddess architect. She built her home using her own hands and she’s built her life in much the same way. It’s challenging to be a deeply introverted person, while also being called to publicly share the sacred wisdom gleaned from time spent inwardly looking.
Alex Medin: Relax into Life
It is our great pleasure to introduce you to our old friend (and living legend) Certified Ashtanga Yoga Teacher, Alex Medin. Unfortunately this sentence doesn’t do him justice! He’s an excellent and exceptional student in so many walks of life: a boxer, ballet dancer, a Sanskrit scholar, entrepreneur, and humanitarian to name but a few. Not only will you hear his story, but his entire interview is threaded with yoga philosophy and ancient wisdom for the modern human condition.
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.