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.   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."  

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.   Joshua Schrei, host of The Emerald Podcast and creator of The Mythic Body, talks with J about the animate world in which we live. They discuss the substrate of ecstatic unified experience underlying all human history, the difference between the mystic and the mythic, technologies of rapture and mechanisms of repetition, where science and spirituality meet, resonance across different axis, ritual paradigms, connection to muses, and the growing imperative to revive communal rituals of wonder that resound with the pulse of the present.  

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.   Kristin Leal, author of MetaAnatomy: A Modern Yogi’s Practical Guide to the Physical and Energetic Anatomy of Your Amazing Body, talks with J about the mapping of human body and experience. They discuss the Jivamukti Yoga Center on Second Ave that they both started practicing at, who Kristin went on to study with from there, Rod Stryker and scandal in the Parayoga community, failed models, how we hold teachers and teachings, gross and subtle anatomy, wiggling in poses, spiritual realities, and the practicality of "being in your heart."  

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.   Brandt Passalacqua, creator of Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy, talks with J about yoga therapy and subtle aspects of yoga. They discuss being a musician in NYC in the early 90's, Brandt's near death experience and the role yoga played in his miraculous recovery, his time at Sivananda and studying with Mukunda Stiles, when teachers fulfill their roles and students move on, comparing yoga and yoga therapy, issues of institutionalization, the role of intuition, and the spirit of coming together in the name of balance and health.  

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.   Simon Goss is a listener who reached out and J thought it would be fun to get to know him on the show. They discuss Simons background in football, growing up in the inner city of Los Angeles, why he spent four years in the Marines, the massage that changed everything, becoming a massage therapist and getting into yoga, overcoming toxic masculinity, dad stuff, being sensitive and having the courage to be vulnerable, how yoga helps people, and the shared experience and inquiry that connects the two of them through the podcast.  

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.   Robert Moses, founder of Namarupa: Categories of Indian Thought, talks with J about subtle aspects of yoga philosophy and life. They discuss his transition from architecture to a spiritual path, his time as a disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda and life after the ashram, working through our karmas, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Advaita Vedanta and the "beginningless beginning which never existed," theory of the Yuga cycle and the advantage of being in the Kali Yuga, and keeping ourselves asking the big questions that yoga intends us to explore.  

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.   Gina Zimmerman is an old friend of J's and they talk about longevity as a teacher and going beyond personal identity. They discuss meeting in Brooklyn 18 years ago, NY during 9/11, the rise and fall of Anusara, sustainability and scale, placing people at the alter of your heart, developing an inner ear from which we can hear clearly, operating from a subtle place, smaller and larger forms of intuition, countering the seeking mechanism, corporeal grace, authenticity in spiritual practice, and becoming equipped to hold the fullness of life.  

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.   Mike Huggins, founder of Transformation Yoga Project and author of Going OM: A CEO's Journey from a Prison Facility to Spiritual Tranquility, returns to report on what is happening in yoga service. They discuss the impact of the pandemic, dramatic shifts that need to happen in the non-profit yoga service segment, the direction that Transformation Yoga project has chosen, why the models are broken, needing to "go big or go real small," and having courage to actualize our felt experience of yoga in ways that are true to our deeper purpose.