Yogaland Podcast

On this episode, Jason clarifies what we mean when we talk about the core in yoga. Once you're finished listening, the core will no longer be a vague two-dimensional region that you aspire to pummel into submission. Instead, you'll understand:The difference between the abdominals and the coreThe functions of the core -- it contains! connects! supports! It's like a Swiss Army Knife!The part of the core that is typically the tightest; the part of the core that is typically weakestHow to counteract our tendency to be "up & tight"What you need to binge on Netflix right now if you haven't already (no this has nothing to do with the core, but you'll thank us later)Go to the shownotes for links to past episodes -- 5 Essential Ideas for Healthy Hips & 5 Essential Ideas for a Healthy Spine: yogalandpodcast.com/episode298 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, I speak to yoga teacher, writer, and mama Sarah Ezrin about her new book, The Yoga of Parenting: 10 Yoga Based Practices to Help You Stay Grounded, Connect with Your Kids, and Be Kind to Yourself. As Sarah points out right at the beginning of the episode, there are far more than just 10 practices in this book. There are 34 to be exact, but more importantly it's just brimming with both creative and science-backed ideas to help you grow as a parent, increase those oh-so-essential self-regulation skills, and foster connection with your kids.Tune in to hear how Sarah has applied these practices in her own life, how she balances being a content creator with social media boundaries, how yoga helped her recover from her own tumultuous childhood.Shownotes: yogalandpodcast.com/episode297 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason joins me this week to share 5 essential ideas for a healthy spine in yoga.How to distribute your physical and mental attention for optimal spinal health while practicingOne of the riskiest moves for the spineHow shielding ourselves from back pain can lead to a weak backWhether the spine twists from bottom to top or from top to bottomWhen it's beneficial to round the spine (and how we often forget to do this!)

Libby Hinsley is a yoga therapist and a Doctor of Physical Therapy living with Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. Suffice it to say, she is the expert on yoga for hypermobility. Her new book, Yoga for Bendy People: Optimizing the Benefits of Yoga for Hypermobility. This book is so needed in the yoga community and in the medical community, where a dearth of clarity and education abound.We cover a lot ground in this episode, including:The difference between being flexible and having joint hypermobilityWhat yoga teachers can do if they suspect that a student is hypermobileLibby's experience of getting diagnosed and how challenging it was to find healthcare providers who understood the systemic affects of hypermobilityHow hypermobility affects proprioception, body mapping, and strengthThe connection between hypermobility and neurodiversityWhether or not stretching is beneficial for bendy peopleAs you'll hear in this episode, hypermobility is complex and you can't absorb it all in one podcast. That's wh

Learn the best way to practice, teach and troubleshoot one of Yoga's most important hip openers: Pigeon Pose. In this episode, Jason breaks down the Yoga Anatomy of this essential hip-opener and shows you reliable ways to troubleshoot the knee discomfort that some students experience in this pose. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason joins me this week to share 5 essential ideas for healthy hips in yoga.Also: Jason's Essential Guide to Yoga Anatomy is open for enrollment!

My guest this week is Dara Kennedy, the founder of Ayla Beauty. Having spent more than 10 years in the retail beauty space, Dara started Ayla because she wanted to combine her expertise as a product developer and curator with her passion for yoga and wellness.I've known Dara (as her customer!) for years and the mindfulness she brings to her business is notable. Her friend and the founder of Twelve Beauty, Pedro Catala, has said that she treats her customers like her best friends -- and it's true, she does! It's part of the intention that she brings to Ayla.On this episode, I got to ask Dara my burning questions and move fluidly from the meta to the micro topics about beauty, including:How yoga and meditation have influenced Dara's life and the way that she runs her business"Hurts so good" beauty and the ways that beauty varies from culture to cultureIs the skin barrier really as important as social media would have you believe?We also talk about navigating beauty during adolescence and menopause -- two e

We know that change is a part of life -- it's also a part of the constantly evolving practice of yoga.As religious studies scholar Andrea Jain says in her book, Selling Yoga: From Counterculture to Pop Culture, “I emphasize premodern yoga’s context-sensitivity, heterogeneity, and malleability, rather than any central quality or essence presumed by some to be present across all systems.”In other words, yoga has always been malleable and responsive to the context in which it exists.On this episode, Jason and I talk about how we have experienced change in yoga practice over the past 25 years. We air some of our gripes (changes in Savasana, the abundance of heat-blasted classrooms) and point out some hugely positive changes as well (think: consent, less claim-making, more integration with everyday life).Would love to know some of your experiences of how yoga has changed, too! If you'd like to share them, subscribe to my Substack where I will start a thread. For shownotes, go to:

These are the five most essential sequencing concepts for teaching yoga classes for beginners. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason recently did a webinar on how to structure your classes for beginners and there were tons of requests from folks who wanted to be able to re-watch it even after the replay period. So, ta-dah! we are making it available to everyone as a two-part series! Part I focuses on the 5-part class structure that I’ve been using with my beginners for over a decade. Part II will be coming next week!You can also watch this on our Youtube channel, which you can find at: youtube.com @jasoncrandellyogaLastly: If you'd like to join Jason's beginner's course, you can do so here: jasonyoga.com/beginnersAnd if you are interested in becoming a 500-hour RYT, you can find out more info here: jasonyoga.com/500 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've noticed the pendulum swinging toward strength in recent years (not a bad thing), and we wanted to offer context for the counterpoint: Stretching. (BTW, This is a great companion to episode 288, 'How much strength does yoga really build?')We take a big, contextual step back and look at:What is stretching?What are the types of stretching?What are some of the contraindicationsAre there still benefits and if so, what are the most effective protocols for increasing flexibility?At the tail end of this episode, Andrea also interviews Genny Wilkinson, who is on the cusp of opening a brand new yoga and movement studio in the heart of London. Jason will be offering his hybrid 300-hour Advanced YTT there in 2023 so we were excited to learn all about Genny's vision for what promises to be a gorgeous, authentic community space.Shownotes for this episode -- including links to the previous strength episode and to the London studio, Mission -- can be found at yogalandpodcast.com/episode291 Hosted on Acast. See acast.co

Many of us have an attraction/repulsion thing when it comes to learning yoga anatomy. Why is that? Anatomy reminds us that embodiment is amazing, but it can also be overwhelming and frustrating to feel like we'll never "get it all." Never fear! On this episode, Jason talks about why it's so important to learn anatomy and how to approach it so that you feel empowered and inspired. We've got lots more anatomy content on our blog, which you can find on the shownotes page: www.yogalandpodcast.com/episode290Also: Jason is launching his Essential Anatomy for Yoga Teachers course soon! Get on the waitlist here: learn.jasonyoga.com/anatomy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So excited to share this week's episode with you: Jill Miller joins me for her fifth Yogaland podcast to talk about her new book, Body by Breath: The Science and Practice of Physical and Emotional Resilience. This is a book that I recommend every yogi have in their library. It gives you the full "behind-the-scenes" tour of complex relationship between the nervous system, brain, gut, fascia, and breath when we are trying to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system (aka when we're trying to "down-regulate" or "de-stress"). It also provides myriad options for working with your body and breath to build deep reserves of mental, emotional, and physical resilience. Jill and I discuss how she continues to heal her body by building parasympathetic endurance, what she means when she says, "The body thinks in feels," how yogis can hone and deepen their breath awareness, how much breath-work we can do to feel the benefits, and what her current practice looks like. If you order Jill's book by February 27th, you'll ge

Jumping back into Chaturanga more gracefully isn’t about raw strength—although, a healthy amount of strength is certainly helpful. It’s about using leverage and motion to your advantage. The key to the process is simple: you need to counter the motion of jumping back with greater motion moving forward. This video teaches you 3 essential drills for learning to jump back into Chaturanga more gracefully. You and your students will have great results! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Does yoga build strength? The short answer is yes. But does it build enough strength? Jason and Andrea dive into this topic and answer questions such as:What are the three different types of strength and which type does yoga build most efficiently? Which regions of the body are more challenging to strengthen in yoga?Do you need to supplement your strength with something other than yoga?What about post-menopausal women, who are more prone to muscle loss (sarcopenia) year over year?Thanks, as always for listening, rating, and reviewing!If you'd like to study with Jason, we just published his 2023 schedule for online courses and trainings. Check out the 2023 schedule here: www.jasonyoga.com/scheduleAlso, join Andrea over on her new Substack community! She's offering more podcast features and info, plus meditations, essays, and chat threads. It's a great way to support the podcast and you can subscribe here: yogaland.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn how to teach your new yoga students the four most essential sun salutations. This episode includes the benefits, most essential cues, and key focal points to teach your students. It even shows you how to troubleshoot the most common challenges.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/yogaland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yoga philosophy is so vast, it can be overwhelming to think about how to convey it to beginners (or even in your mixed level classes!) It's one of the reasons yoga teachers lean so heavily on Patanjali's eight limbs -- Look! A list! Everyone loves a good list! And while there's nothing wrong with sharing the eight limbs, Patanjali's worldview is different than, say, the Tantric worldview. This week, Jason shares the 8 philosophical concepts or themes he teaches beginners. It's a macro-view of how he likes to incorporate the teachings and will give you lots of inroads that are accessible to all levels of students.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/yogaland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's January, which means, in all likelihood, more beginners are coming to your classes! On this episode, Jason helps you prioritize 10 essential concepts to convey to beginners when you're teaching asana. This foundational episode will help you take a step back and review how you're teaching your students and it will likely spark your own inner priorities, too!We're launching Jason's brand new online course, Mastering the Art of Teaching Beginners on January 15th! Learn more about the program by joining the waitlist here: learn.jasonyoga.com/beginnersSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/yogaland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason is a passionate advocate for creating a simple 4-week series for beginning yoga students. January is a great time of year to do it (obvs), so we thought we'd talk through why a beginners' series is so vital, how to pitch it to your studio, how to price it, and how to create a curriculum that is thorough without being overwhelming.If you'd like more guidance on how to teach beginners, get on the waitlist for Jason's upcoming online course, The Art of Teaching Yoga to Beginners, here: learn.jasonyoga.com/beginnersWe also have lots more free teaching content available on our Youtube Channel or on the website. Check out our shownotes to access: https://jasonyoga.com/podcast/episode285Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/yogaland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the upsides of long-term practice is that you develop skills that help you in your day-to-day life. On this episode, Andrea and Jason share the skills that they've gleaned through yoga and mindfulness practices that have helped them in their relationships -- both with each other and with their loved ones.Things like -- seeing our reactivity and learning to pause and respond, developing a more stable sense of self, learning to acknowledge and allow others to have feelings, and calmly abiding with our loved ones are just a few of the key points Andrea and Jason talk about.Coming soon -- a new course with Jason: The Art of Teaching Yoga to Beginners. If you'd like to be notified when have more info and dates for this online course, join the waitlist here: https://learn.jasonyoga.com/beginnersSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/yogaland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.