FINDING HARMONY PODCAST
What is a spiritual practice? How does it work? How will it improve my life? How will deepening my self-care transform me? What strategies can I use to improve my life, increase my health, and create wellness? How can craft a life that I love?
The Finding Harmony Podcast gets to the root of all these questions. Each episode is full of inspiration, humour, honest observations, and actionable steps that you can integrate to enhance your experience of self-love, develop a connection to Spirit, and create a life you truly love.
Show Notes Below:
Emma O'Neill on this Samhain
Samhain or All Hollow’s Eve is an ancient festival of the northern Gaelic islands. It’s a celebration meant to honour the beginning of winter when the demarcation between this world the other is thinned. To celebrate this day and these celestial beings, we present our friend and fellow Canadian, an Irish born lass, Emma O’Neill. She’s a lady who’s quite touched by the gifts that come from a long lineage of Pagan Irish Women. Not only is Emma an Ashtanga yoga teacher, but she’s also a voice actor who in her own words, “was born and placed on stage,” as well as a Mala-Magician, a true artist with beads, imbuing them with her Witchy Irish intuition and Sanskrit incantations to enhance the sacred stone properties….
Michael Baidoo: The Beginner's Mind
Michael Baidoo. Michael is very unique in that he’s what we might call a “CoVid phenomenon.” He is completely self taught through online resources, social media, and Zoom. And, he is amazing! We loved the levity and profoundly positive approach he brings to the practice that radiates through his Instagram videos. His humor and vivacious personality are infectious, so we brought him on the shown to share his fresh perspective on Ashtanga yoga.
The Undersea World of Daniela Ceccarelli
Today we are taking a deep dive into the ocean of yoga with Dr. Daniela Ceccarelli as our guide. We’re learning about coral reef ecology, the purpose of counting fish, and what this ultimately has to do with the health of our oceans. While we're down there... we discover the intricate complexities of Ahimsa, and what, if anything, we might do to save our planet… I LOVE this interview… and I know you will too!
That's How I Got To Moscow... with Anna Guryeva
It is with great pleasure that we introduce you to our friend Anna Guryeva. She graces us a with a marvelous little window into the Russian soul. From the heart of Siberia, she reveals a path to joy.
To see the beauty of the Russian spirit, one must understand the generational hardship of the people, and Anna’s narrative, though particular to her, shares this ancestral trauma. To know the horror of the last century, and the centuries of slavery that came before, and Anna’s own enslavement, is to see the miracle of Anna’s ecstasy.
Geoff Mackenzie: Man of the World
It is such a joy to meet a human being dedicated to evolution, self discovery, and insight. It’s our pleasure to introduce to you the accentless Englishman, now profoundly Canadian, Geoff Mackenzie!
Citizen of the world, swimmer, rugby player, and avid skier… Mysore teacher and Yogic Health Coach. He tells us how his practice has evolved over these past few year, becoming less strict. He’s created a more adaptive approach, more personal, and not dependent on needing to “show your practice off” in Mysore, India. You’ll hear us talk about how to maintain your practice as you age.
Living Yoga with Richard and Mary
Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor need no introduction.
In this episode, we talk about the dissolution of our minds, bodies, and practices in the face of time. How do we let go of the physicality of the practice?
What we heard was extremely enlightening, and surprisingly heart-opening.
We also touch upon Lojong Buddhist practice, and the difference between “taking refuge” and “surrendering.” What the Bhagavad Gita and the Wizard of Oz have in common, and how they’ve kept love alive within their relationship after all these years… and how you can too!
Where were you on 9/11, Hanne Sydanmaa?
t is with great pleasure we introduce to you the contagiously ebullient Hanne Sydanmaa from Helsinki, Finland. We asked Hanne to share a bit about the birth of Ashtanga Yoga in Finland, which continues to this day to have the most practitioners per capita over any other country in the world! After only a few years of practice, Hanne had to go back to square one, and relearn this practice in a completely different way than the rest of us.
This is a very special episode that will help anyone dealing with injury or looking for hope in how to rehabilitate their body and practice.
The Odyssey of Kristina Karitinou
If you ever wondered how gods are made, our guest today will tell you they start out as heroes. Our guest today is very much like this. She is larger than life and it makes sense that she married a Golden God like Derek Ireland and bore him two children. They used to make statues of people like them (think Venus de Milo). Kristina Karitinou sits with us today and talks about her epic life story, including her true romance with Derek Ireland, nursing him through cancer, and her subsequent depression upon his death. The pain of this event along with their two small children, shaped the rest of her journey.
Taylor Hunt: In Recovery
September is National Recovery Month. This national observance has been held every September since 1989, to educate and increase awareness around mental health and substance use disorders. It’s also a month to celebrate the people who have recovered and honor their strength in living healthy and rewarding lives. We invite you to sit with us today as we explore Taylor’s life and ask him about the inspiring work of his non-profit organization, the Trini Foundation, which is dedicated to sharing the life-changing practice of Ashtanga Yoga with those suffering from addiction. Harmony will be offering a class on Saturday September 18th in support of the Trini Foundation and their initiative to bring Ashtanga Yoga to those recovering from alcohol and drug addiction.
Lee Seung-Eun: Lost in Translation
You know her as Lee. We know her as 이성은. It is with great honor and joy that we introduce you to our very special friend, Lee (this is her last name of course). We discussed at length the impact a Confucian society has on our individual decisions like how to treat your elders in school or society, how to pay respect to the individual, how to be respectful to your life goals and education, or whether Russell is heart centered or a comedian… This is out first episode making use of a translator.
But, it will not be our last.
It was a deeply personal and intriguing window into another culture. Yet, here we all are, passionately invested over a long period of time, practicing daily Patanjali’s yoga of transformation.
Ann Svärdfelt: A Field of Swords
It is our pleasure to introduce you to Ann Svärdfelt. Her experience of Mysore is unique. She came to Ashtanga Yoga later in life, already with small children, and as a responsible adult. Many of you know her as the proprietor of the Santosha Cafe. Her experience of Mysore is unique. She stepped into the practice from a very different space than many of us, who were in somewhat of a state of arrested development, bugged out drop outs, wannabe hippies, overgrown, and still living with our parents.
Casey Palmer: a Proto Punk Pioneer in Portland
Casey Palmer is a ‘Gen-Xer,’ a punk - ‘do it yourselfer.’ Fiercely independent and skeptical of hierarchies and monetization of that which is pure and authentic. He embodies our Gen-X slogan from the movie Say Anything, “I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed.”
Please sit and listen to a fascinating discussion on a number of different topics like the culture in Mysore, holding multiple frames of consideration for Pattabhi Jois, growing up in Alaska, leading a yoga community as as an anarchist collective, and whether we can really hold onto anything for more than a passing moment in time.
The Three Stigmata of Mariela Cruz
It is with great pleasure that we introduce you to our great friend Mariela Cruz. Mariela is one of those phenomenal human that you might find in an Alexandre Dumas classic like ‘The Count of Monte Christo’ or ‘The Man in the Iron Mask.’
Someone who’s heart-centered and gifted with supreme powers of intelligence, wit, and physical prowess!
With 7 children, a lawyer, a gifted solo pianist, she also happened to finished Advanced A Series with Sharath Jois in Mysore, India. She was an ambassador to India on behalf of Costa Rica…. and the list of accomplishments goes on and on, reading like an epic novel. All this, and she still has half a lifetime more to live.
Dena Kingsberg: That's Where The Light Gets In
We are blessed today to share our conversation with Dena about her personal transformation from an awkward child into an artist, poet, and rock-goddess architect. She built her home using her own hands and she’s built her life in much the same way. It’s challenging to be a deeply introverted person, while also being called to publicly share the sacred wisdom gleaned from time spent inwardly looking.
Maria Boox Love Goddess
In Norse mythology, Freyja (from Old Norse meaning "the Lady" is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, and gold. Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot pulled by two cats, is accompanied by the boar Hildisvíni, and possesses a cloak of falcon feathers.
Today we interviewed Maria Boox, who in our opinion, most embodies this Freya love goddess energy.
Dominic Corigliano: On The Road
For a particular generation of Ashtangi, Dominic Corigliano represents that paternal “cool dad” who knows everything that’s going on in your family and is more than happy to tell you too much about it.
He’s like that cool uncle who’s not condescending and knows about the dope hiding in your room. Dom may smoke it with you, but he’s also going to be real honest about the side effects. He’s the first guy you call when you need bail money… But he’s also going to reinforce, “You really need to tell your mom, you know?”
Sitting with Dominic, feels very much like you’re part of his family. As a father of five, family has turned out to be a focal point of his life.
Keen On Adam
Adam has a wonderful lightness to him. His nature is a living example of a powerful creative energy, he embodies the quality of vata (in Ayurvedic terms) a bundle of moving, swirling ideas, ready to spring to life, and of course this energy is naturally infectious.
He’s really quite punk in his inclination and seems to have a distaste for authoritarianism, which has transformed and shaped his worldview.
All In The Family with Greg Nardi
The beauty of this episode is that Greg loves to go a little meta!
He enjoys questioning and looking at our Ashtanga yoga practice, culture, shared history, and all the accompanying assumptions from a slightly higher perspective, being self-reflective, rather than continuing to perpetuate unhealthy patterns and unhelpful belief systems.
We’re sure you will enjoy coming along this journey of inner exploration as we share our unique perspectives and the mixed bag of contradictory feelings that arise from being a member of a particular spiritual community— a post-guru community— trying to find its way through.
The Goddess Solution
We had a delightful morning interviewing Lisa Marie about her new book: The Goddess Solution: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Life. As it turns out, Lisa Marie is a Goddess, named after the King’s wife, Mrs. Presley. We discovered through our conversation that you are a Goddess too… And that even Russell could use this book (if so inclined)…
Laura's Dharma
We caught up with her in Porto Alegre and asked her about how she came to be an Ashtanga Yoga teacher. Its a wild and incredibly cute story the way she tells it; but, actually, she’s quite serious. She gave up her life, legal career, and car when she decided to move to India to study. Her father disowned her, but then took her back, after she founded an orphanage in Nepal, and put an abuser of young children in prison.