J. Brown Yoga Talks

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Alejandro Chaoul. author of Chod Practice in the Bon Tradition, Tibetan Yoga for Health and Wellbeing, and Tibetan Yoga: Magical Movements of Body, Breath & Mind, talks with J about the philosophy and practice in Tibetan Buddhism. They discuss his cultural Jewish upbringing and the moment of realization where Buddhism became his path, meeting UG Krishnamurti, movement and breath technique in tsa lung trulkhor, (also known as Tibetan Yoga,) and the many paths that lead to deeper awareness and enlightened experience.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Angela Farmer and Victor van Kooten talk with J about exploring our inner worlds and the power of formlessness. They discuss their early experiences with BKS Iyengar, how things changed over time and deciding to go a different way, fear-based teaching vs permission to make your own determinations, playfulness rather than striving, tapping into our "animal insides," feeling into things rather than thinking them, relinquishing control, receiving natures wisdom, and honoring the elemental part of ourselves and the environment.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Doug Keller talks with J about the history and philosophies of yoga. They discuss why Doug left academia to spend 14 years in Siddha Yoga Ashrams, the process of adaptation that defines yoga's evolution, vedic tradition, capital T tantra, Hatha Pradipika and the democratization of practice, meditation and samadhi according to different viewpoints, attempting to escape vs embracing the cycle of rebirth, manifestations and expressions of expanded consciousness, and the importance of knowing truth from within.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Melissa McKay, meditation teacher and old friend of J, talks about the practice and purpose of vipassana and metta meditation. They discuss the center Melissa had in Brooklyn and her son, her teachers from Burma and the ways she learned from them, entry points and deeper teachings, meditation as an intentional habituation of the mind, accessibility and the many different containers for meditation, easing stress and suffering, enlightened beings and heavenly realms, and the enduring power of loving kindness and compassion.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Cara Suttie joins the show to talk with J about the impact of the pandemic on the work of making yoga more accessible. They discuss Cara's experience of coming to yoga before the power craze took over, healing trauma somatically, pros and cons of online classes for people who don't fit preconceived molds, studio culture before the lockdowns changed everything, possibilities for change as we start to come back together, not controlling and being present for the journey, and feeling comfortable in your worth as a person.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Swami Saradananda, author of Sitting Comfortably: Preparing the Mind and Body for Peaceful Meditation, talks with J about the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā. They discuss Swami Saradananda's departure from the Sivananda organization after 26 years, getting a masters degree in Traditions of Yoga and Meditation, origins of the sun salutation and other misconceptions about Hatha Yoga, the difference between a full-body mudra and an asana, the purpose of kriyas and raja yoga, meditation vs relaxation, and the experience of samadhi.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Lucas Rockwood, founder of YOGABODY and host of The Lucas Rockwood Show, returns to talk with J about what is happening in the yoga industry in a post-pandemic world. They discuss the arc of the yoga center model and the impact of lockdowns over the last two years, having to close three centers and making the bankruptcy call quickly, advantages for yoga teachers in pivoting everything online, manufacturing yoga-toe separators, saying "no" to polarization, and surviving this period of rapid change with fortitude and integrity.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Taran Rosenthal, founder of Flying Needle Acupuncture, reunites with J after 28 years to talk about Chinese medicine and relational healing practices. They discuss the self-discovery through dance they shared in NYC, Taran's move west and subsequent foray into Brazilian spirituality, his realization that he needed to change his career and transition to Chinese medicine, the spectrum of hands-on to hands-off interventions, taking 'things' to a nonverbal space, and improvisatory co-creative dances of human exchange that ease suffering.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Cory Nakasue is an old friend of J's who joins the show to talk about Astrology and alternative ways of understanding. They discuss the heyday and gentrification of Williamsburg Brooklyn, Cory's choice to let go of pursuing credentials in favor of co-creating new stories, how the stars reflect rather than determine, finding language that helps give expression to our experience, our magical world rich with the materials to invent, the "interregnum" of our times, and how we can better understand ourselves, each other, and create meaning.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Julia Frodahl, founder of A Million Compassionate People and an old friend of J's, joins the show to talk about the existence of spirit and creating the space needed for change. They discuss the crossing of their paths in Brooklyn 20 years ago, the ordeal that destroyed and redefined her life, sources of wisdom and healing, Taosim, western psychology, quantum physics, dream tending, intuition and imagination, communicating through poetry, and the essential importance of learning skills of compassion, cohesion, and equanimity.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Dan Vekhter talks with J about his work as a neurologist, the nature of consciousness and recognizing spirit. They discuss Dan's blog writing during medical school, the demands of being a doctor, the sorts of cases he works with and the role he plays in peoples lives, the limitations of existing protocols, what spirit is and where it might fit in the healing process, materialistic viewpoints that squelch reverence, his poem entitled: "finger smoothies," and reaffirmation of an uncomplicated path towards deeper understanding and humanity.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Michael Meade, author of Awakening the Soul, The Genius Myth, and The Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul; and creator of the Living Myth Podcast, talks with J about initiation into the holy waters of our collective story. They discuss stages of initiation, the activation of myths, pronounced rationality and exaggerated objectivity leading to a broken system based on a broken cosmology, moving towards resilience and a feeling of organic change, mythic poetic unity, and healing through the natural yoga of our own inner genius.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Tori Lunden, author of How Not To Teach Yoga: Lessons on Boundaries, Accountability, and Vulnerability - Learnt the Hard Way, talks with J about the need for yoga teachers to take an honest look at themselves and have the courage to evolve. They discuss Tori's progression from social work into yoga, being a wannabe guru, the pros and cons of charisma, the manipulation of people pleasing, boundaries and accountability, authenticity with skill, self-righteousness, humility, inclusion, and challenging ourselves to grow and do better.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Sadia Bruce returns to the show to explain how she went from questioning the profession of yoga to becoming more entrenched in it then ever before. They discuss their talk from five years ago, private teaching and being simultaneously both the help and authority, getting a gig at Kripalu just before the pandemic started, processing the misgivings of a teacher they have in common, doing online teacher trainings, breaking from dysfunctional conventions, and tapping into the innate rhythms that connect us to the forces of life and love.  

Annabelle Brown, J's youngest daughter who just turned 7, joins the show to document a moment of time and share the wisdom of an unvarnished mind. They discuss the creation of imaginary worlds, life directions and passions, Annabelle's relationship with her sister, her perspective on the pandemic, whether being able to fly is better than invisibility, how the podcast is part of J's yoga, moving from Brooklyn and starting a new life, and the expressions of love, family, and friendship that make being human special.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.     Tatjana Mesar, creator of Dynamic Mindfulness, returns to talk with J about adapting yoga to a post-pandemic world and staying true to who we are. They discuss the time they spent together just before the pandemic hit, the closing of Zen Yoga Berlin, her retreat to nature and the power of our environment to heal, transitioning online and developing teacher training that works in the new context, the role of science and anatomy in yoga inquiry, intuition, nonlinear poetry, and learning to trust yourself in the process of yoga's unfolding.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Lauren Walker, founder of Energy Medicine Yoga and author of The Energy To Heal, returns to talk with J about seeing ourselves as energy and coming together to create healing fields. They discuss her experience and views of Rod Stryker and the calamity in the Parayoga community, healing traumas and holding teachers accountable, understanding that the substrate of all existence and experience is energy, ramifications of reductionist materialism, and the 8 month free course she is offering to co-create healing.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Renee Diamond, founder of Westchester Academy of Yoga (WAY,) and Joanna Rajendran, author of My Guru Wears Heals, talks with J about the life and legacy of Tao Porchon-Lynch. They each discuss how they found their way to Tao, some of the life experiences that made her so inspirational, the adventures she took them on, wonders they witnessed and what they like to call the "Tao Effect," methods and purpose at work in her teaching, the spirit of connection she facilitated, and the love she embodied and shared with all she met.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Adam Keen, host of the Keen on Yoga Podcast, talks with J about the evolution of yoga education and embodying devotion. They discuss behind the scenes podcast stuff, Purple Valley in Goa, nostalgia for earlier days when there was less competition, discovering the Ashtanga Vinyasa method and becoming "authorized," reconciling abuse histories of our teachers, when the linear journey of progress becomes the greatest obstacle, and distinguishing between faith, belief, and devotion in a process of learning to see more honestly.  

You are listening to the free version of J. Brown Yoga Talks. To hear the rest of our conversation, please subscribe to podcast premium at: https://www.jbrownyoga.com/premium.   Michael Falcone talks with J about his journey to Africa and India. They discuss the synchronicity that brought them together, why Michael left a career in law, the experiences behind his interest in shamanism, the moment in a yoga class that changed his perspective, learning from Mandanza Kandemwa, dancing with Ju/Hoansi Bushman, how a search for Mahavater Babaji landed him stranded in a cave in Rishikesh at the beginning of the pandemic, and how the “heart of spiritual practice is that it should be done for its own sake."