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.   Lucas Rockwood, founder of Yoga Teachers Collegeand YOGABODY Naturals, host of Yoga Talk Show, is a fellow podcaster and expat who wrote a scathing piece about doTerra that got J’s attention. They have a lively discussion about leaving the NY scene to stake a claim in the international markets, his evolution from accidental teacher to retreat center owner, starting a supplements company, and creating a well known online presence. Lucas also shares important warnings and insights into successful entrepreneurship in the yoga sphere.  

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.   Matthew Taylor, past president of the board of directors of International Association of Yoga Therapists, chair of their business development community, and leader in business and clinical skills development for Yoga therapists, talks with J about the origins and future of yoga as a respected therapy. They discuss Matthew’s background in integrative rehabilitation, formative times in his evolution, the creation of standards and their importance, exciting new developments in the field, and his work with the Veterans Yoga Project.  

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.   Kimberly Wilson, founder of Tranquil Space and host of the Tranquility du Jour Podcast, sold two of the most popular yoga center locations in the DC area to Yogaworks right about the same time that J sold his center in Brooklyn. They talk about the arc of yoga in the mainstream, the process of growing a yoga center and related businesses, and what it means to let go and move on to new horizons when the time comes. Kimberly shares some of her insights into what it takes to be successful and ways to keep learning, exploring, and growing.  

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.   J sits down with Roody Senecal, creator of Karmasoft Online, to talk about how he went from manufacturing metal doors to becoming a yoga teacher, owning a yoga center, and developing the software that J ran his center with for seven out of ten years he had it. They discuss Roody’s childhood in Haiti and immigration to Brooklyn, the relationship to his wife that started his yoga journey, his training with Bikram Choudhry, and how he utilizes his relationships with people to foster a successful yoga center and business.  

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.   Jillian Pransky, author of Deep Listening, talks with J about her journey in overcoming anxiety and finding a slow, gentle approach to body and life. They discuss her childhood and early exposure to meditation, giving up a “real” job in publishing to pursue a yoga career, the influences that have shaped her work and led to a focus on restorative yoga, and her new book. The conversation also touches on navigating the changing professional yoga landscape, and the increasingly difficult challenge of finding a healthy work/life balance.  

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.   Vanessa Kudrat Weinberg, founder of Body Mind Gifts, is an old friend of J’s from their early college years who showed up to one of his final classes in Brooklyn after not seeing each other in over fifteen years. They reconnect and reminisce on the old days at NYU, talk about Vanessa’s studies with Yogi Bhajan, the early days of the internet, and the ways in which wellness and yoga have gone mainstream and become professions. The conversation also examines the effects of new media on yoga teachers and the policies of yoga centers.  

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.   Trina Altman, creator of Yoga Deconstructed® and Pilates Deconstructed®, talks with J about her viewpoint on the limitations of the physical side of yoga for fitness and health. They discuss life events and influences that have led to the combination of modalities and techniques informing her teaching and approach to yoga and embodied movement. J learns about the differences between Yoga and Pilates, and they examine how the new teaching landscape lends itself to exploring a wider scope and more diverse diet of movement.  

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 Hagedorn, founder of the Northwest Yoga Conference, joins the podcast for a lively and redemptive conversation after J accidentally used a photo of hers on one of his blog posts and got a polite but firm request to cease and desist. All is made well as they discuss Michelle’s mobile lifestyle and her call to create a yoga conference against all odds. They also discuss the accessibility of conference offerings, the pay or lack there of for teachers, and the ways in which balance can be struck between yoga and commerce.  

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.   Noah Mazé, founder of YOGAMAZÉ, talks with J about his early exposure to yoga, how he came to meet John Friend during the formative time of Anusara, the trajectory of his teaching and the effects that the Anusara downfall had on him, and the ways in which the thread of his yoga has carried through and expanded. They also discuss the online videos of Noah doing crazy asana stuff, the repercussions of those videos being posted without context, a recent scandal, Facebook trolls, and the discussions that exemplify and shape our times.  

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.   Cora Wen is a name that J knew from his early remembrances of the yoga world, yet it wasn’t until this talk that he knew anything about her. They discuss Cora’s origins in yoga, the many amazing teachers that she has worked closely with over the years, and some reasons why she has maintained a slightly underground status. The conversation also tracks some yoga-going-into-the-mainstream history, some of the pitfalls and troubles that come with the territory, what things look like today and what might be warranted given the new conditions.  

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.   Leslie Kaminoff invites J to join him for the last of his live oral history events at The Breathing Project. They are accompanied by a small group of staff and friends for an intimate conversation about what has gone past and what lies ahead. The discussion tracks some history behind the Breathing Project, the publication of Yoga Anatomy and rumors of a potential third edition, and all the emotions around saying goodbye as the space reincarnates into the Babies Project and Leslie sets a new course for himself and The Breathing Project Foundation.  

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.   Nischala Devi, author of The Secret Power of Yoga: A Woman's Guide to the Heart and Spirit of the Yoga Sutras, joins the podcast and brings J some inspiration and joy. They talk about her many years in ascetic life, the process of leaving it, new paths forged since, and what its like to translate Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras from a woman’s perspective. They also discuss the evolution of yoga from its beginnings as an alternative lifestyle into a mainstream industry, and what might be needed to retain the heart and soul of the practice.  

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.   David Lipsius, president and CEO of Yoga Alliance, sits down with J to talk about the issues facing the organization and his new leadership role. They discuss David’s history and credentials, his study and training in yoga, and what he hopes to do at the YA. The conversation tackles many of the misconceptions regarding YA, problems with the standards, a lack of transparency in the past, what is going to change going forward, and how we might start an honest dialogue to raise the value and social impact of the yoga profession.  

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.   Michelle Ryan, founder of Ashtanga Yoga Northampton, has been listening to the podcast and, after hearing J and his guests talking about new models for yoga centers, felt compelled to reach out via email. She is running her center in a different way that brings some new ideas to the table, so J brought her on to discuss what she is doing. They track Michele’s background in yoga and owning centers, the pitfalls and tribulations of the life, and the methods that she has arrived at to forge more sustainable means of operation.   

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.   Amy Ippoliti talks with J about being in the right place at the right time, at the cusp of yoga’s entrance into the mainstream, through the rise and fall of the Anusara popularity, and the path to healing and learning in the aftermath of the scandal. They swap some tales of the early NY scene, get into the real story behind why Anusara fell apart, compare the time that they came into to teaching with some of the realities that new teachers are facing today, and find shared purpose in their love of yoga and passion for helping people.  

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.   Temple Fiergola is a yoga teacher and podcast listener who sent J a blog post she wrote about negotiating her pay rates with yoga center owners that warranted a longer conversation, so J brings her on to talk it out. In the course of the discussion, Temple shares some intimate details of her life that strike a cord in J and set a tone for further inquiries into balancing family life and maintaining a teaching practice, overcoming grief, the diminishing pay scales available to yoga professionals, and the need for more open dialogue.  

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.   After a snarky post from J referencing an article in Yoga Journal about Down Under School of Yoga in Boston making yoga teachers employees vs independent contractors, the owner, Justine Wiltshire Cohen, joins in this conversation to clarify and make her positions clear on the issues. They discuss the origins of the center, its growth, the reasons for non-compete clauses, intellectual property rights, pay scales, and the problem with attempting to present black and white solutions to nuanced and varied challenges.  

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.   Adriene Mishler, from the Yoga with Adriene Youtube Channel, talks with J about what its like to have over two million people subscribing to your Youtube videos, how such a thing comes about, and the work that goes into making something like that fly. In this unexpected and engaged conversation, J discovers that Adriene is way more than just a “Youtube star” as they discuss the yoga hustle and what it means to make real connections with people both in person and through the asynchronous universe of the internet.  

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.   Amy Matthews, co-founder of Babies Project, sits down with J to talk about the ideas we hold around the human body and our ability to change. After studying with Amy for almost a year, J takes this opportunity to delve deeper into questions of injuries, bio-mechanics, somatic experience, embryology, the proportionality of growth, and the disconnect between what our physiology is actually saying and what we think is the case. More than anything, they invite a full range of possibility by embracing the mystery of existence.  

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.   Alexandria Crow, founder of Yoga Physics, joins J for a conversation about her evolution as a yoga teacher, from early high profile appearances to whistle-blower and rabble-rouser. They have been in contact for some time but only hook up after Alex posted one of J’s podcast about Yoga Alliance on her FB timeline and a comment thread blew up. In this candid conversation, they discuss some of Alex’s history, reconciling the documentation of your past online, and problems with the industry “standards” for yoga teachers.