yoga well podcast

Dr. Birdee is an Associate Professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health. He practices Integrative Health at Vanderbilt University and also performs clinical research on integrative health and modalities. He is a board-certified physician in internal medicine and pediatrics.

More information about Vanderbilt's Integrative Health Center can be found at https://www.vanderbilthealth.com/service-line/osher-center-integrative-health

Learn more about Yoga Well's Yoga Therapist Training at https://www.yogawell.com/yoga-therapist-training/

This practice, led by Yoga Therapist and Artist, Robyn Love, is an invitation to make yourself the object of meditation. Using inspiration from Yogasūtra III.44, she guides a practice of physical self-study and ponders, "What am I?" This practice is an adaptation from part of her Yoga and Creativity offering where Robyn uses yoga to support the creative process.

Find Robyn at https://www.athayoga.ca/ and find Yoga Well's class offerings at https://www.yogawell.com/our-offerings/

Yoga is interested in the mind and how it operates. Chase discusses the active engagement of meditation: what it is, definitions of mind, purposes of meditation, depth of experience, and how to create successful meditative experiences. Along with weekly meditation classes like Yoga for Meditation and 15 Minute Breathing and Meditation, you can learn more about the structure of Meditation in the course Understanding Meditation. 

Find these classes at https://www.yogawell.com/our-offerings/

Deepen your awareness of Vīrabhadrāsana or Warrior 1 in discussion and guided experience. The intention of this pūrvatāna posture is to stretch the front of the body with the primary focus of lengthening the spine and targeting prāṇa vāyu located in the trunk.

Chase walks you through the context and the vinyāsa krama / steps of this classical pose. We explore the continuum of āsana tools, prāṇāyāma, and meditation in our 300-hour practitioner and seeker training Deepen Your Yoga Practice: https://www.yogawell.com/deepen-your-yoga/

Listen and learn a chant from Taittirīya -saṁhitā (5.7.4.15) which honors the moon as connected to the Earth and the healing power of plants. Practice your focus on listening and repeating as you experience this brief Vedic mantra without seeing the written words.

Chase instructs the chant in small portions with space for you to practice as he slowly builds the sounds into the whole chant. Vedic chanting is an important part of how we pay respect to the roots of our Viniyoga tradition. Chanting instruction is included in both our 300-hour training and Yoga Therapist training. Learn more at https://www.yogawell.com/our-offerings/

What do I know to be true? Chase speaks with author, writing mentor, and Yoga Well student, Nancy Rue about the neverending, self-discovering journey of Yoga. The two explore the importance of experiential learning coupled with philosophical context as a way to allow the true self to arise.

Find Nancy at http://www.nancyrue.com. Learn more about Yoga Well's 300-hour Deepen Your Yoga Practice at https://www.yogawell.com/deepen-your-yoga/ and the Wednesday morning meditation class, Yoga for Meditation at https://www.yogawell.com/yoga-for-meditation/

Concepts of perception, identity, and relationship are core to the practice of yoga. Melissa Shah, a Yoga Therapist and first generation Indian-American, joins Chase in a discussion about the foundational Indian cultural perspectives in yoga, projecting Western culture onto yoga, layers of privilege, and the importance of doing personal work around identity.

Connect with Melissa at https://www.findyourbreath.net. Learn more about the Being Mindful of the Race course at bmor.us. Explore Yoga Well's philosophical offerings at https://www.yogawell.com/our-offerings/

Our guest Chris Armstrong is a yoga therapist working with the Mayo Clinic. She and Chase discuss her work with caregivers and students with grief. They delve into the importance of a yoga practice in making courageous personal decisions, the utility of revisiting the information and experience of training, and the supportive gift of being held in community during therapeutic yoga.

Find Chris at https://www.chrisarmstrongyoga.com/ Learn more about Yoga Well's 300-hour training and yoga therapist training at https://www.yogawell.com/