Find out why the studio Rebecca once called Yoga to SOME People shut down in 2020-- because it wasn't the pandemic. Hosts Lauren McQ & Rebecca Rush present to you the weird world of lesser known yoga cults. Comprehensive reporting and analysis of YTTP scandal & John Friend's anusara. Also, why is LA so ripe for cults (attachment wound, anyone?) Lauren teaches how to avoid accidentally joining a yoga cult, types of yoga cults, and Father Yod and the Source Family.

On Patreon Rebecca interviews her fav yoga teacher who is not a cult leader, Kim Abraham of Kitchen Gallery Yoga in New London, CT.

https://patreon.com/BrutalVulnerability

Shoulder blade positioning is crucial in yoga. Proper alignment can save you years of wear while also strengthening the muscles in your back and promoting good posture in everyday life. Understanding these fundamentals and incorporating them into your routine will lead you to a stronger, safer, and healthier yoga practice.  For full length classes visit Yogatoday.com

Check out a preview of Neesha Zollinger's first class of the all-new YogaToday Season.  To view the full, one-hour class visit us at yogtoday.com.

Having a beginner's mind even though the practice is complex. Emphasis on standing balancing poses, side opening and grounding poses. 

For a full 1-hour version of this class visit www.yogatoday.com

Part 1 of an Introduction to Pigeon Preparation Pose. Knowing these fundamentals and incorporating them into your routine will lead you to a stronger, safer, and healthier yoga practice. For full length classes visit http://www.yogatoday.com/

Part 2 of the introduction to Pigeon preparation pose by Neesha Zollinger.   Knowing these fundamentals and incorporating them into your routine will lead you to a stronger, safer, and healthier yoga practice.  For full length classes visit Yogatoday.com

Hello, welcome and thanks for listening. 

This class is one that I recorded at Bristol City Yoga at the Hatha Beginner's class on Thursday evening. For the final pose, you will need 2 blocks and a bolster or a rolled blanket. If you don't have any blocks then you can use cushions instead, in fact they'll be more comfortable! You'll also need some wall space for the standing poses. 

We focus on opening up the chest and shoulder area, and it's a fairly dynamic class with plenty of standing poses to strengthen the legs and build flexibility and stability in the hips. Some poses that we do include side-angle pose, side plank, warriors 2 and 3 and locust pose -and lots more 

For information about yoga classes in Bristol or retreats in SW England, The Lakes, Spain or Egypt then click here. If you would like to join the Yoga Community Podcast Facebook group for pics of poses and news, click here.

please drop me a line if you'd like to get in touch -it's communityyogabristol@gmail.com

Enjoy your practice! Morven x

The theme for this class was inspired by one of my friends Hillary Rubin. She has this amazing post plus video, asking questions that needed to be asked at that moment....hmmmmm. Or at least I needed to ask these questions ;)

It was all about RUNNING OUT OF GAS! Well, at least for me it was about running out of gas. It made me think about the various ways that we deal with running out of gas:

1. We make sure to make time to consistently fill up the gas tank at a specific time of the week/month to make sure we always have a full gas tank.
2. We play it by ear. We know relatively when we are 'really' gonna run out of gas and choose to milk it for all it's worth and PRAY we don't run out of gas before we barely make it to the gas station.
3. We recognize we are running out of gas but circumstances around us at the time (we got lost and are now in a looooong stretch or road without a gas station in site) don't let us fill up the gas tank. We are going to run out of gas.

I fit into number 3.

Before becoming a Mama, I fluctuated between 1 & 2. I was conscious of my choices and continued to do my best to not run out of gas. I was close a bunch of times, but managed to get my fuel on time ;) After being a Mama I have found myself without a gas station in sight quite a few times. That is a whole other ball game.

side note- y'all know I'm not referring to actual gas or driving right? this is all a gigantuan metaphor ;)

No Gas In Sight? It's Gonna Be OK.

When I first found myself without a gas station in sight I panicked. I honestly thought it was the end of the world. I had a total and complete meltdown. I felt so alone. As I sat in my despair I did recognize that I needed to let someone know, I wasn't alone you know, I had my toddler with me. I reached out: God, my beloved, my friends, my teachers and most importantly myself.

I let myself soften. It opened my eyes to see that it really wasn't the end of the world. People run out of gas all the time. It's what we do about it that matters :)

I still run out of gas...and I'm ok. I always have an extra tank of gas with me. I always let my family and friends know where I am, in case I need an unexpected pick-up ;) And most importantly, I absolutely make sure that I enjoy the time while I wait for the gas to once again be filled up.

This episode was absolutely inspired by one of you.

I was asked basically how to practice yoga daily. This is something that I think about every day, that I meditate on, and continue to refine.

I'm not going to describe my own process but tell you what it boils down to, at least for me: Meaning and Truth.

If you don’t first and foremost ask yourself who you want to be in the world, what has meaning, what has value to you, and continue to refine the answer and deepen the questions again and again, whatever you decide to do (be it a daily asana practice) will be unsustainable.

If you do refine your questions and lack integrity in the way that you live your life, by telling yourself little lies and convincing yourself that they ‘don’t really matter’, no matter what you do, you will not be able to sustain your practice. Particularly your practice of being the best human being that you can be, with a full and clear heart.

I'm only sharing ‘cause I've been there. I tried really hard. Doesn’t work.

The more that you refine the sacredness of your life and live in truth the more freedom and lightness you will have and reflect. It is through choosing to remain steady with great sensitivity no matter what, that the ease and goodness of life becomes a daily gift to unwrap and enjoy. You will then not only have the deep strength needed to sustain this but also offer this great support to all those that you touch :D

Now on that positive note ;)

Happy New Year!

This episode’s yoga class is a Level 2 class that does require at least a basic working knowledge of yoga poses. It is both available by clicking the link below as well as through my yoga podcast and through either my iPhone Yoga App or my Android Yoga App.

I'm also honored to have Prancing Leopard Organics once again as a sponsor for this episode :) If you haven’t checked them out PLEASE DO! And upon check-out use code eyk and get 15% off!!! Woo hoo!

I taught this class on December 30th at BYS Yoga Studio in Pittsburgh.

The Level 2 Yoga Class Sequence

Downward Facing Dog

Eka Pada Downward Facing Dog/High Lunge/Downward Facing Dog

Eka Pada Downward Facing Dog/Lunge Twist

Uttanasana/Ardha Uttanasana x 3

Surya Namaskar x 4

Tadasana with arch back

Vinyasa

Parsvakonasana/Vira 2/Reverse Vira

Vinyasa

Parsvakonasana/Vira 2/Reverse Vira

Skiers Pose into Utkatasana

Uttanasana/Ardha Uttanasana

Plank on tops if feet into upward facing dog

Downward Facing Dog

Vira II right and left

Reverse vinyasa

Ardha chandrasana/square hips/standing splits variation

Adho Mukha Svanasana

Ardha chandrasana/square hips/standing splits variation

Uttanasana

Tadasana/tadasana on tippy toes/squat on tippy toes

Uttanasana

Deep lunge on forearms

Uttanasana

Standing hip stretch

Standing baby cradle

Vinyasa with salabasana with arms behind the back

Pigeon/pigeon twist

Lunge with thigh stretch

Dhanurasana x 3

Childs pose

Downward Facing Dog

Uttanasana

Easy supine twist

Savasana

Who Is The Bully?

I've been doing a lot of meditation on worthlessness or the feeling of being unworthy.

Often times this feeling arises from the way the world speaks to us, perhaps in the form of bullies around us, family members, peers, bosses, etc. but what has really become clear is that it's not the world that is the root of this feeling, but ourselves.

The biggest bullies that we have in our world are not outside of ourselves but within ourselves.

In this class I went back to one of my favorite books, Christina Sell's Yoga from the inside out, as she speaks of this bullying within the book so very clearly. She inspired me to teach this class to get you to look at yourself honestly and recognize the bully within. See it and transform it.

Recognize how worthy and beautiful you are. Stop the bullying.

I know that I have been a bully to myself. I also know how that personal bully can break the heart much faster the outside ones.

Are you a bully to yourself? Practice along with us. Give yourself the time to rediscover your worth.

You won't regret it!

25 minute meditation.

These past few months I nearly got overwhelmed by anxiety.

This hasn't happened to me in a LONG time.

I lost control of my rational thought process and simply dove into a feeling that was suffocating and terrifying. I can't say that I was in any way comfortable. The only thing that pulled me out of it was my toddler Hunter. She forced me to get out of myself and engage her. The moment that I disconnected from her off I went into a very uncomfortable sense of overwhelm.

I refused this.

Take Control of Your Anxiety and Fear

Instead of allowing myself to be pulled by this avalanche of anxiety and fear I chose to meet it, with softness and full consciousness. I looked at it straight in the eye. I used a technique that I heard in a podcast, and I sooooo wish that I remembered what episode and what this guy's name was because I would share it, believe me, but at this moment, finding the episode would take me YEARS, so that will wait. I may update this post to add the info

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Anyway, the technique was to feel where the emotion was in my body, fully. You are to notice which was its winding, clock wise or counter clock wise, and slowly unwind the feeling the other way until it dissolves. At first just moving into that hard ball of tension in the middle of my diaphragm was enough...but as I practiced this technique I began to see that I could literally unravel the anxiety!

Unraveling- It's all about creating space, space to feel, to choose, to remember, and to find your ground. Most importantly, finding space helps you remember that you are part of something so much bigger. Anxiety is about disconnection and isolation. It's an emotion that rises when you absolutely become limited and small. As you unravel the feeling, you begin to get more spacious, there is literally more room in your body, your breath, your mind, your heart, and you can step back a bit and see things as if you are watching from a bird's eye view.

You are ok. You truly are. You are more than ok in fact :D

A couple of days ago I received and email from one of you requesting a more breathing centered practice. Although this simple audio meditation is not specifically about the breath, there is no way to escape the breath. Space is breath.

Every time choose to center myself and incorporate this very accessible and easy meditation practice, you get the opportunity to re-attune yourself to align with something more than anxiety and fear.

I want that!

Listen, practice and do this and tell me what happens! I'd love to hear if this works for you

Have you subscribed to my newsletter? 

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Kitaro
"South Wind" (mp3)
from "Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai Sampler, Vol. 1-4"
(Domo Records)

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An iPhone 4 Yoga Class For Your Enjoyment!

And here I thought that I was going to get some time to be able to publish more episodes to you guys...in JULY.

Not so much, but alas! Here’s a yoga class to start the month off right! This one is close to my heart. It’s focus is all about the way we are swayed and often times misguided by what we see and hear all around us, especially the media. It is a call to take responsibility for our choice making and the way we go about making choices. The inspiration for this class came straight from all the hoopla around the iPhone 4 and its antenna issues.

If you happen to follow me on Twitter or are part of the Facebook Elsie’s Yoga Kula Community, you would know that I have an iPhone 4! Yipeeee! So I speak from my own experience with the device, and I’m totally loving it!

Given that I’m sure you have heard at least something about the whole antenna thing, so I sorta offer my 2 cents about it and wrap it around a yoga class.

What’s interesting about this theme is that it mirrored the hoopla around an article on my beloved teacher John Friend in the NY Times. If you haven’t already, please read the article, John’s response to the article PLUS Elephant Journal’s exclusive interview with John. Interesting how perspectives and opinions shift and change if you simply choose to step deeper into them :) And move from your heart.

This week’s online yoga class

This yoga podcast class is a level 2 class, and if you have a yoga block in the house, please feel free to take it out and play with it during our backbends towards the end of class. I cut a bit of the class in the middle because I did a demo that doesn’t really work if you weren't there so why put you guys through it :) If you do hear references to it, or to another demo that I had a student do, just dismiss them. Pretend that you went to the bathroom during that part of the class!

This is a level 2-3 class :) 

I had never viewed memory as something alive and tangible. In fact, I don’t believe I’ve ever thought about memories as ‘gifts.’ As I thought about this concept I realized that when I remember something from my childhood or come across a scent I hadn’t smelled in a long time, or find an article of clothing I haven't worn in a long time, it is like receiving a gift. Those memories are gifts I get to open every time I encounter them. They always serve to remind me of what I give value to in my life.

One answer that emerged from the Lifelines group is that we should surround people who are forgetting with acts of remembering. People in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease are in danger of forgetting that they can still remember, as are those of us who work with people with Alzheimer's. - Dr. Dienstag

Something affected me about this sentence. Yes, it is about folks that have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, but did you catch the last little bit of that quote:

as are those of us that work with people with Alzheimer’s.

To me that means everyone.

Then it becomes about something completely different.

How about you? Are you in danger of forgetting that you can still remember? Are you surrounding yourself with acts of remembering?

It’s when we are about to loose something that we hold dear that we choose to step in fully to do something about it. Why is that? Why must we wait until the situation is dire before choosing to fully engage in our lives, our relationships, our environment, our bodies, our hearts, etc?

Move back into the culture of your body, cultivate it and grow it.

This was the theme of this week’s episode. Inspired by a conversation from one of my favorite podcasts Speaking of Faith . It was regarding manuscripts and the “monastic library that rescues manuscripts from across the centuries and across the world. And there are worlds in this place — on palm leaf and papyrus, in microfilm and pixels — stories of ordinary life as well as the rise and fall of civilizations....In their lives as in this work, the relevance of ancient manuscripts to people of the present and the cultural cargo of the past itself are revealed in a new light.” - Krista Tippet

I don’t have a particular affinity for manuscripts themselves, in fact I haven't ever really thought about them, but after listening to this episode they were revealed to me as yet another expression of the sacred in the every day, and how there are so many many treasures that often times we overlook within our every day lives

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The treasure that I speak about in class specifically is the treasure of our bodies, and the way that we loose sight of the beauty of it’s culture until it begins to unravel.

Step into the challenge of Truth and get Healthy

Keeping on this same topic, I am launching an in depth 3 part eCourse. I’ve had requests from the online yoga community, from my Pittsburgh yoga community AND from my own desire to create this. It employs empowering simple practices that you can incorporate toward your optimal health and wellness.

Everything You Need You Already Have Learn How to Recognize, Cultivate and Sustain a Healthful Lifestyle: A Three Part Heart eMmersion

The first stage is all about turning inward and BREATHING! I’d loooove to have you join in. Space is VERY limited. I am only accepting 3-5 participants each time that I offer the program in order to make sure that I can truly serve you and your commitment. Learn all about it by clicking on the following link! It begins June 6th and goes until July 3rd.

Stage 1: Start By Breathing

Gifts for Elsie’s Yoga Class Podcast listeners!

Two awesome little presents for my online kula members!

One of them is a special coupon code from my newest show sponsor Prancing Leopard Organics. I’m THRILLED that they are giving this to you guys! The coupon code is mentioned on the podcast as I really want to honor those of you that have been my loyal students :) So awesome!

The second is a FREE DOWNLOAD from the magnificent Donna De Lory. I am so honored that I get a chance to share the track Sanctuary with you guys from her latest album of the same name :) Just click on the link below and snag away :D

Sanctuary

It’s a beautiful track. I’m sure that you will enjoy it :) If you are interested in more you are more than welcome to sign up for Donna's mailing list HERE

Please feel free to join the community over at the Elsie’s Yoga Kula FB Page :) plus, remember that I have a fancy pants iPhone/iPod Touch Podcast app that rocks! If you buy the app you won’t even have to download the Sanctuary MP3 as you can simply download it straight from the app itself, plus, get the Prancing Leopard coupon code right away. How fun is that? It’s only $3.99 and it absolutely supports my endeavors to serve you more fully :D