Graduate Yoga Studies Podcast

Podcast hosts Taina Rodriguez-Berardi & Serenity Tedesco sit down at LMU's 10th annual Yoga Day. Join them as they meet with panelistsTracy Tiemeier, Ph.D, Shyam Ranganathan, Ph.D, Marsha Banks-Harold & Giri Bhai, to talk about the state of Yoga and reflect on where we go from here. 

Podcast hosts Taina Rodriguez-Berardi & Serenity Tedesco lead a panel discussion at LMU's 10th annual Yoga Day. Join them as they meet with panelists Tracy Tiemeier, Ph.D, Shyam Ranganathan, Ph.D, Marsha Banks-Harold & Giri Bhai, to talk about the state of Yoga and where we should go from here. 

Marsha Banks-Harold is a true pioneer. She is an engineer. She is the first and only Black woman director of an accredited Yoga Therapy Training program and is the owner of PIES Fitness Yoga Studio based in Alexandria, VA. She is also a mother to us all through her compassionate social justice work. In this conversation, she invites our listeners to take action, stretch our empathy muscles, and work together for a more equitable, accessible, and loving community.

Why is yoga philosophy important? Our hosts, Taina and Serenity, passionately discuss the answer with Dr. Shyam Ranganathan of YogaPhilosophy.com. We also dive further into his keynote presentation from LMU Yoga Day 2020, where he focused on sovereignty, ethics, and the big questions underlying yogic theory. Tune in to learn how to critically approach everyday life as a yogi.

Zombies. Yoga. Goddess worship. Intersectional Feminism… these are all topics we dive into with Dr. Tracy Sayuki Tiemeier, Associate Professor of Theological Studies at LMU. Dr. Tiemeier is a dynamic professor who kicks off the yoga studies program with the Foundations of Yoga course which deconstructs and then reconstructs a new yogic reality for the budding scholar. We explore identity and its role in the spiritual journey—from socio-cultural belonging to its place in academia.

Dr. Christopher Jain Miller is the Bhagwan Mallinath Assistant Professor of Jain Studies in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. He also teaches in the Yoga studies program with a focus on critical yoga studies and ethnographic research in a modern yoga setting. We discuss the history of yoga, yoga and politics, veganism, yoga philosophy, ahimsa (non-violence), and more. Join the conversation -- leave us a comment on @LMUYogaStudies.

Join LMU Graduate Yoga Studies students, Taina Rodriguez-Berardi and Serenity Tedesco, for this new podcast series. In this episode, they introduce themselves and the founder of the graduate Yoga Studies program, Dr. Christopher Chapple. Listen to learn about their yoga origin stories, the program, and spiritual insights from years of dedicated research and embodied practice. Subscribe now for updates.