Advertise on podcast: The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga

Teaching yoga is a great privilege and responsibility! With an ethical approach that includes compassion, respect, boundaries, and clarity, yoga teachers can honor the gift of yoga, exemplify the yoga teachings, and share their best selves with the world.  In this podcast episode, Jivana and guest Judith Hanson Lasater talk about guidelines for ethical teaching, creating a relationship with students that recognizes their agency, and the interconnectedness of personal practice and life. Topics include: Embodying the Yamas and Niyamas Kindness as the root of ethics Boundaries and ethics Personal agency of students in their yoga practice Self-work and the personal journey of a yoga teacher Judith’s new book “Teaching Yoga with Intention” Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website. Connect with Jivana: www.jivanaheyman.com |  @jivanaheyman   |  facebook.com/jivanaheyman Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., PT, has taught yoga since 1971 in almost every state of the U.S. as well as on six continents. She is a founder of Yoga Journal magazine and the author of 11 books on yoga, the latest of which is Teaching Yoga with Intention (Shambhala, 2022). Connect with Judith: www.judithhansonlasater.com |  @judithlasater

What is the purpose of a yoga practice? This simple, but powerful inquiry, can help take us to the essence of yoga. When we go beyond technique and approach yoga as a philosophy, we honor this ancient tradition and form a deeper understanding of our practice as a purposeful act.  Join Jivana and this episode’s guest, Indu Arora, as they delve into the delicate balance between tradition and innovation and inspire practitioners and teachers to approach yoga with sincerity and self-inquiry. Topics Include: Yoga as a philosophy beyond external techniques Innovation and accessibility in yoga The role of mentors and community Addressing cultural appropriation, commodification, and capitalism in yoga The subtle teachings of yoga How yoga teachers can communicate the heart of yoga Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website. Connect with Jivana: www.jivanaheyman.com |  @jivanaheyman   |  facebook.com/jivanaheyman Indu Arora (she/her) is a Yoga and Ayurveda teacher, mentor, and author, based in the U.S.. Indu has been sharing about Yoga philosophy, yoga therapy, and ayurveda for the past two decades worldwide. She is inspired by and taught Kriya Yoga, Himalayan Yoga, Kashmir Shiavism, and Sivananda Yoga lineages. She has studied in a traditional Guru-Shishya parampara setting. Her core philosophy is “Yoga is a work-in and not a work-out.” She is the author of Mudra: The Sacred Secret (2015), Yoga: Ancient Heritage, Tomorrow’s Vision (2005, 2019), and SOMA: 100 Heritage Recipes for Self-Care (e-book, 2020; updated hard copy, 2022). Connect with Indu: www.yogsadhna.com |  @induaroraofficial  |  facebook.com/InduAroraOfficial

In the early days of yoga, a student had to study for decades before becoming a teacher. Today, a person can become a yoga teacher with little time and experience. So how can teachers gain deep experience to be inclusive and authentic in their teaching?  In this podcast episode, Jivana talks with Anjali Rao, who wrote the foreword for The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga. Anjali talks about what it means to be a yoga teacher and growing as a teacher through ongoing practice and study. Topics include: Challenges and benefits of the 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training framework The value of lived experience in teaching Celebrity culture in modern yoga Humility and service in teaching yoga The dynamics of the teacher-student relationship Social media presence and teaching Holding space for community through yoga teaching Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website. Connect with Jivana: www.jivanaheyman.com |  @jivanaheyman   |  facebook.com/jivanaheyman Anjali Rao (she/her) is a yoga practitioner-educator offering a multidisciplinary approach to sharing the teachings of yoga, integrating history, storytelling and art. She is a cancer survivor, and Indian American immigrant. She serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the Accessible Yoga Association and the host of The Love of Yoga Podcast.  Connect with Anjali: www.yoganjali.me |  @yoganjali

Our culture presents yoga as primarily a physical practice for flexible, thin, white bodies — and that couldn’t be further from the truth. Yoga is for everyone, and yoga teachers are truly on the front lines of a major trans­formation in the world. Yoga instructors hold in their hands the tools to change lives, and in turn, entire communities.  The potential is really awe-inspiring. The question is: How are yoga teachers wielding that power? And how can they show up in a way that lifts people up and shows them their own beauty and potential?  Join Jivana Heyman for an introduction to this limited podcast series and to his book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga. Topics include: Why he wrote the book and how it’s related to his work. How we can shift yoga culture. Some general topics that he covers in the book, including yoga philosophy and adapting poses, and more. His guest teachers and the way they are incorporated in the book. His love of yoga teachers. Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website. Connect with Jivana: www.jivanaheyman.com |  @jivanaheyman   |  facebook.com/jivanaheyman

Jivana wraps Season 1 of the Yoga Revolution Podcast by reflecting on the writing, publishing, and promotional process he’s experienced over the past couple years. He shares about his history and experiences with both activism and yoga, including his first introduction to the practice (his grandmother), and how his connection to the practice has grown and changed throughout life. He also hints at some exciting offerings and happenings coming soon, including upcoming book clubs and forthcoming books, as well as where you can follow along with his work. Find the links below. Finally, Jivana reads a few sections from Yoga Revolution and offers suggestions for how to live our yoga practice authentically and connect our spiritual nature with our varied human experiences. Learn more about Yoga Revolution by Jivana Heyman. Order your copy of Yoga Revolution at Shambala, or wherever books are sold.  Also by Jivana Heyman:Accessible Yoga: Poses & Practices for Every Body (2019, Shambala)The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga: Best Practices for Sharing Yoga with Every Body (2024)Connect with Jivana:[email protected]/jivanaheymanwww.accessibleyogaschool.com@accessibleyogaschoolfacebook.com/accessibleyogaschool

As this season of the Yoga Revolution Podcast comes to a close, Jivana chats with Beth Frankl, the editor of his two books, Accessible Yoga andYoga Revolution, the book that inspired this podcast. Beth is an Executive Editor at Shambhala Publications, where she has worked for more than 23 years. She and Jivana discuss the book writing and publishing process, including where and how to begin, and how to compare publishing models (e.g. self-publishing v. working with a traditional publishing company). Beth also shares about some of the inspiring teachers, thought leaders, and authors she has worked with over the years and how the book writing process can be reflective, therapeutic, and, at times, quite challenging. The two reflect on the beauty of the writer-publisher relationship and how it's a form of collaboration and spiritual practice over both the short- and long-term.Learn more about Shambhala Publications. Learn more about Yoga Revolution by Jivana Heyman. Order your copy of Yoga Revolution at Shambala, or wherever books are sold.  Also by Jivana Heyman:Accessible Yoga: Poses & Practices for Every Body (2019, Shambala)The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga: Best Practices for Sharing Yoga with Every Body (2024)Connect with Jivana:[email protected]/jivanaheymanwww.accessibleyogaschool.com@accessibleyogaschoolfacebook.com/accessibleyogaschool

This week M Camellia joins Jivana to take a deep dive into how we can challenge the norms and “rules” of Westernized yoga culture and co-create a culture that focuses on collective, rather than just individual, liberation. M Camellia (they/them) is a fat, queer, non-binary, neuro-emergent yoga teacher, writer, and advocate, called to create profoundly accessible spaces for self-inquiry. They believe that the goal of yoga is collective liberation and challenge contemporary yoga practitioners to dismantle the systems and beliefs that hold us all back. M is a co-founder of the Trans Yoga Project and serves on the staff of Accessible Yoga, among other roles within the realm of yoga service. Their teaching and writing often center Queer and Trans* identity, consent and agency, fat liberation, and disability justice in relation to yoga philosophy and practice, and they serve as a mentor for other yoga teachers and practitioners desiring to deepen their understanding of accessibility, trauma, and yoga as social justice. On this episode, M offers profound and heartfelt insight into what it means to invite agency and exploration into yoga spaces, the importance of learning when and how to say “no” and “yes” on and off the mat, and consent and power dynamics in yoga. They also provide specific examples of how to do this as yoga teachers and practitioners. Learn more about M and their offerings.Follow M on Instagram.Follow the Trans Futures Collective (previously the Trans Yoga Project) on Instagram. Learn more about Yoga Revolution by Jivana Heyman. Order your copy of Yoga Revolution at Shambala, or wherever books are sold.  Also by Jivana Heyman:Accessible Yoga: Poses & Practices for Every Body (2019, Shambala)The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga: Best Practices for Sharing Yoga with Every Body (2024)Connect with Jivana:[email protected]/jivanaheymanwww.accessibleyogaschool.com@accessibleyogaschoolfacebook.com/accessibleyogaschool

This week’s guest, Octavia Raheem, teaches us to slow down, prioritize rest, and honor our varied human experiences. Octavia is a mother, author of "Gather," yoga teacher, and founder of Starshine & Clay Online Yoga and Meditation Studio for Black Women and Women of Color. A deep listener and truth teller, Octavia is a gatherer and space holder for rest and awakening. As a teacher and leader she has the skill of hearing beneath the surface for what isn’t being said, yet needs to. Octavia has more than 15 years of experience and nearly 10,000 hours of leading classes, immersions, and trainings. She guides us toward resonance and connection even when the truths we witness, hear, and encounter vary from our own. Her conversation with Jivana touches on how these truths arise in today’s world, as well as what it means to practice activism as a form of yoga, the importance of mindful space holding and compassionate language, and how simply being is perhaps the most important practice of all.  Order Octavia's book "Pause, Rest, Be" (Feb 2022).Learn more about Octavia.Follow Octavia's inspirational Instagram. Learn more about Yoga Revolution by Jivana Heyman. Order your copy of Yoga Revolution at Shambala, or wherever books are sold.  Also by Jivana Heyman:Accessible Yoga: Poses & Practices for Every Body (2019, Shambala)The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga: Best Practices for Sharing Yoga with Every Body (2024)Connect with Jivana:[email protected]/jivanaheymanwww.accessibleyogaschool.com@accessibleyogaschoolfacebook.com/accessibleyogaschool

This week Marc Settembrino joins Jivana for a powerful conversation about living in a larger body, reclaiming the word "fat," righteous anger, and the disconnect between capitalism and the yogic teachings. Marc is a fat-queer educator, researcher, and yoga facilitator based in Hammond, LA, who envisions a world that celebrates diversity and promotes dignity. In 2018 Marc created Fat Kid Yoga Club, a supportive yoga community for folks with larger bodies to explore joyful movement and celebrate what is possible in their bodies one practice at a time. Marc describes their experience living in a larger body, how fat folks are often objectified simply for existing, and how asana helped inspire their teaching philosophy: to hold space for people to move their bodies freely and experience them in a way that is not attached to shame. Jivana and Marc also take a deep dive into the harmful impact of diet culture in Western or "American" yoga and discuss the problematic nature of our modern-day yoga mat. Learn more about Marc.Learn more about McMindfulness by Ronald Purser. Learn more about Yoga Revolution by Jivana Heyman. Order your copy of Yoga Revolution at Shambala, or wherever books are sold.  Also by Jivana Heyman:Accessible Yoga: Poses & Practices for Every Body (2019, Shambala)The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga: Best Practices for Sharing Yoga with Every Body (2024)Connect with Jivana:[email protected]/jivanaheymanwww.accessibleyogaschool.com@accessibleyogaschoolfacebook.com/accessibleyogaschool

Mei Lai Swan joins Jivana to discuss what it means to experience deep interconnectedness, the ethics of yoga, systemic and cultural trauma, and trauma-informed yoga teaching. Born on the unceded indigenous lands of Australia, Mei Lai Swan is the founder of social enterprise yoga school Yoga for Humankind, offering specialized trainings in Trauma-Informed Yoga and Embodied Social Change. Dedicated to the paths of yoga, meditation, and community practice for over 20 years, Mei Lai Swan’s approach to yoga is deeply embodied, inclusive, and inquiry-based. She is an experienced yoga teacher trainer and certified Embodied Flow facilitator with a professional background in music, community development, and social work. Mei Lai specializes in trauma-informed yoga and social justice, somatics, and nada yoga (sound and mantra). She and Jivana consider how power dynamics and social conditioning affect how we teach yoga, the collective responsibility to heal trauma, and, interestingly, the connection between astrophysics and yoga.Learn more about Mei Lai and Yoga for Human Kind.Follow Mei Lai and Yoga for Human Kind on Instagram. Learn more about Yoga Revolution by Jivana Heyman. Order your copy of Yoga Revolution at Shambala, or wherever books are sold.  Also by Jivana Heyman:Accessible Yoga: Poses & Practices for Every Body (2019, Shambala)The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga: Best Practices for Sharing Yoga with Every Body (2024)Connect with Jivana:[email protected]/jivanaheymanwww.accessibleyogaschool.com@accessibleyogaschoolfacebook.com/accessibleyogaschool

This week Itzel Berrio Hayward joins Jivana Heyman for a warm and dynamic conversation about our innate divinity, finding unity in diversity, and the relationship between social justice and yoga. Itzel is a compassionate and fierce advocate for love. After serving as a public policy lawyer for 13 years, Itzel left her legal career and founded Attuned Living, a mindfulness and wellness organization that helps individuals heal the sense of separation they feel from others—or even from themselves. Her unique work—based on the teachings of yoga, mindfulness, and compassionate communication—ranges from promoting social justice work within organizations and communities to guiding individuals on their search for personal and professional fulfillment. During their heartfelt chat, Jivana and Itzel consider the following: How is our spirituality connected to our humanity? How do we avoid making the yogic teachings overly dogmatic while still keeping the tradition alive? And, how can we connect those teachings to our modern-day, human experience for the benefit of all?Learn more about Itzel and Attuned Living.Follow Itzel on Instagram. Learn more about Yoga Revolution by Jivana Heyman. Order your copy of Yoga Revolution at Shambala, or wherever books are sold.  Also by Jivana Heyman:Accessible Yoga: Poses & Practices for Every Body (2019, Shambala)The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga: Best Practices for Sharing Yoga with Every Body (2024)Connect with Jivana:[email protected]/jivanaheymanwww.accessibleyogaschool.com@accessibleyogaschoolfacebook.com/accessibleyogaschool

This week Jivana shares a heartfelt conversation about yoga service with teacher Adrian Molina. Adrian has been teaching yoga since 2004 and has an extensive worldwide following through his platform and school of yoga, Warrior Flow. Even with his wide-ranging reach, Adrian remains humble, warm, and dedicated to using the tools and practices of yoga to benefit others. He is also a writer, meditation teacher, sound therapist, End-of-Life Doula, Mental Health First Aid facilitator, an ambassador for Accessible Yoga and Yoga for All, and soon to be a TCTSY facilitator. Adrian is recognized as a community organizer and founder of The Warrior Flow Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit that brings the benefits of movement, therapeutic and accessible yoga, mindfulness, and stress reduction tools to schools, shelters, hospitals, police, first responders, and hospice care. He is also the co-founder of Warrior Flow TV, an online video platform that makes fitness and yoga accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Jivana and Adrian discuss what self care means in the context of yoga service, how teaching is also a form of self care, and why bringing yoga to unusual places, such as hospitals and police stations, combines spiritual practice and social justice and is, in many ways, the path to a true yoga revolution. Learn more about Adrian and Warrior Flow.Join Adrian's Instagram community.Join the Warrior Flow Instagram community. Learn more about Yoga Revolution by Jivana Heyman. Order your copy of Yoga Revolution at Shambala, or wherever books are sold.  Also by Jivana Heyman:Accessible Yoga: Poses & Practices for Every Body (2019, Shambala)The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga: Best Practices for Sharing Yoga with Every Body (2024)Connect with Jivana:[email protected]/jivanaheymanwww.accessibleyogaschool.com@accessibleyogaschoolfacebook.com/accessibleyogaschool