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.   Todd Norian, author of Tantra Yoga: Journey to Unbreakable Wholeness, returns to talk with J about happiness, freedom, and opening to a bigger energy. They discuss what it means to be a yoga teacher in 2024, transmission online and in person, distinguishing between happiness and joy, Svatantrya, randomness and entanglement, auspiciousness of your heart and Gods will, creating healthy self boundaries, how to make a decision, being supported by spirit, going within, and setting the sails to catch the winds of grace.  

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.   Stephen Cope, author of Yoga and the Quest for the True Self and The Dharma in Difficult Times, talks with J about the crossovers and divergences in eastern and western spirituality. They discuss psychotherapy and contemplative pursuits, crazy wisdom teachers, theology and practice, divinity school, discovering Kripalu, shaktiput from Amrit Desai, revelations of abuse and reinvention from ashram to retreat center, prayer and meditation, dharma, being called to act, and slowly refining your capacity to know that still small voice 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.   Nadine Watton, part of the Hillside Yoga Collective, talks with J about riding the wave and surviving the crash of yoga into the mainstream in both practice and profession. They discuss mutual friends and synchronicity, practicing in the late 90’s, teacher training certification becoming a thing, Dave Charlton and the British Wheel of Yoga, choosing yoga as a full time profession and having a family, integrated breath in asana, yoga teacher collectives, and letting go of trying to fit into tired molds so we can stay true to what feels most important.  

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.   Katie Armstrong, founder of Inspired Living, talks with J about moving through different life stages and the healing power of building muscle. They discuss starting a yoga-related business in the early aughts, e-commerce, the festival circuit and the unseen backstage realities of presenters, hormone replacement therapy, muscle as medicine, feeling empowered to engage a diversity of embodiment practices, crisis of sedentary lifestyles, capacity for stress, progress over perfection, and finding resiliency in the face of entropy.  

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.   Susi Amendola, author of The Centered Heart, talks with J about the intersection of medicine and holistic health. They discuss suffering from debilitating anxiety, being saved by yoga and joining an ashram, reconciling fallen gurus, becoming part of the Dean Ornish Lifestyle Medicine Program, internal vs external locus of control, four lifestyle medicine protocols, impacts of chronic stress, coexistence with allopathy, effectiveness of imagery, nervous system resilience, and addressing the core process underlying our choice making.  

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.   Brad Wetzler, author of Into the Soul of the World, talks with J about overcoming addiction, spiritual interventions, and laying ourselves bare in order to heal. They discuss the pandemic period they met in, getting misdiagnosed as bipolar and becoming addicted to medication, mental health care diagnosis and treatment, community yoga, saints and gurus, walking in the footsteps of Jesus, undoing learned narcissism, receiving shaktipat, swimming in the waters of materialism, devotion, being softened by love, and finding real 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.   Live from the Berkshire Yoga Festival 2024, J talks with Johanna Epps, Louise LeGouis, and Leslie Kaminoff about motivation, purpose, and the zeitgeist of the times. They discuss making sense of the scandals, new challenges, marketing and patience, hurting our bodies and student safety, what sells and presenting to the public, bubbles bursting and the traveling teacher circuit, reasons to attend and benefits of presenting at a festival, eternal topics and breaking new ground, and not taking for granted the joy of being in person.  

J departs from his usual format to reflect on how he lost hope in the viability of small intimate yoga centers and why he has decided to open one now. He discusses the dark night of the soul that many yoga teachers are facing, the events that have led to the crossroads he faces, a random opportunity or perhaps divine intervention that has changed everything, and the hard reality that has caused him to admit that he can’t do it alone. If you want to help, you can contribute here.

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.   Godfrey Devereux, author of The Little Book of the Bandhas, returns to talk with J about releasing somatic intelligence from learned habits and the story that bandhas tell us. They discuss varied ideas about bandhas, connection between Mulabandha and exhalation, pulsating opposition of spinal curves, spontaneous muscle events leading to potent and energetic spiritual experience, Iyengar and bandha in the extremities, oojai breathing, and the irresistible invitation to surrender into the totality of life and deepest heart of being human.  

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 and Iana Lifar, founders of the Indra Devi Foundation in Argentina and creators of Indra Devi International Virtual Yoga School, talk with J about the legacy of Indra Devi with translation by Mariana Campos. They discuss being inspired to meet Indra after seeing her on a tv show and the immediate connection they made, an experience in a prison that convinced David she was something special, the influence of Krishnamurti, Krishnamacharya and Sai Baba, and the gestures of love that distinguish and characterize Indra's presence.  

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 Thielen, founder of Yoga Faith, talks with J about utilizing yoga practice to strengthen a belief in Jesus Christ. They discuss yogis being OK with God but not Jesus, Christians thinking yoga is demonic and everything being part of creation, personal faith separate from institutionalized churches, historical roots of christian yoga, being humbled before a Heavenly Father, whether or not Jesus is cool with chanting, Satan and the battle for souls, knowing your knower, and receiving guidance and blessings in the secret place of the most high.  

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.   Hari-kirtana das, author of Journey into the Bhagavad Gita: A Guide to Exploring Timeless Principles of Transcendental Knowledge and Integrating Them Into Your Life, talks with J about universal principles that lead to religious experience. They discuss origins and larger context of the Bhagavad Gita, mindset of the reader, divergence of faith and knowledge, undifferentiated oneness, personal relationship of transcendental love, reincarnation, acting in harmony with cosmic order, and seeing ourselves as we truly we are.  

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.   Tessa Hillman, author of Yoga Stories from Guru Guptananda and Memoir of a Skeptical Seeker, talks with J about opening up to spiritual realms and receiving guidance. They discus coming to yoga in the 70's and 80's, teacher training  and yearning for a deeper understanding, when skepticism fails, coming into communication with Guru Guptananda and stories that teach yoga philosophy, messages from a North American Indian Chief, being protected by your own goodness, and realizing that we are helped along by guides and angels.  

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.   Sage Rountree, author of The Athletes Guide to Recovery and The Art of Yoga Sequencing, talks with J about yoga for athletes and endurance science for yoga teachers. They discuss the origins of Sages name, starting out in yoga and becoming an endurance coach, being ready for connection, specificity in goals and reasons to train, sports specific conditioning and utilizing poses, changing science and three best things for recovery, placebo effect and ice baths, business models for centers, and charging people to trust the process.  

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.   Godfrey Devereux, author of YOGA UNVEILED, YOGA DECODED, and ANNOTATED YOGA SUTRAS, returns to talk with J about whether or not Patanjali is a dualist and the invulnerability of our spiritual nature. They discuss translation vs rendering, adhering to interpretations, manufacturing silence, deeper relinquishing, intelligent power, state of being human, impersonal consciousness, moral codes, tantra and human sexuality, postural practice and capacity for self-harm, and rhythmic progression towards the presence of awareness.  

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.   Josh Kane, founder of Gandiva Yoga Center, talks with J about transitioning from independent contractor to center owner, the pursuit of deeper understanding, and the in's and out's of dedicated locations. They discuss how a blue-man group audition led to yoga, being a child actor, finding a teacher and lineage, John Friend's bowspring system, studying with Ragunath, falling out with studio owners, consistent schedules, challenges of creating a home studio, credibility of having a lease, and risking it all on the possibility of lasting joy.  

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.   Eddie Ellner, founder of Yoga Soup, talks with J about the trajectory of yoga into western culture, paradoxes in the human condition, and creating spaces for people to gather. They discuss the early 90's yoga scene via Yogaworks and Jivamukti, the influence of Brian Kest and Steve Ross, acceptance or manipulation of your body, charismatic teachers and the dangers of celebrity, discerning truth, creating Yoga Soup, sobering business realities, and penetrating the fear of what might happen to find joy in making a place for friends to come together.  

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.   Vijay Hassin, Sharada Thompson and Kathleen Rosenberg talk with J about the underbelly of Swami Satchidananda and the Integral Yoga Institute. They discuss Vijay's history including his founding of the center in San Francisco, the meeting in the 1970's when allegations of sexual misconduct were first made, more recent revelations and the Facebook group that Kathleen started, Sharada's story of mistreatment at the hands of Swami Satchidananda, and reconciling the hurt created by failed leaders and institutions.  

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.   Lizzie and Judith Lasater return to catch up with J and talk about their latest offering, a free mini-course in Restorative Yoga to Support Menopause and Beyond.  They discuss teaching during the last few years of transition, the genesis of their new course on menopause, generational differences, adapting practice, viewing body changes as a process vs treating a condition, menopause belly, exercise vs innercise, feeling rushed, places of refuge, positive aspects of aging, biopsychosocial self-care, and some keys to a long healthy life.  

Hy Brown is J's dad and they have a candid talk about the life he’s led, choices he’s made, and the lessons he's learned. They discuss growing up in Brooklyn, his involvement with the mob, becoming a civil engineer and vice president of Tishman Construction, working on famous building projects, understanding the system and the art of the con, the life-changing impact of having a heart attack at age 47, meeting J's mom and navigating her death, leading a dual life, fracturing of families, finding new purpose, and learning to care for others.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.