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:
All of You is Welcome
This is a solo episode where I'm reflecting on spiritual practice and meditation.
Spiritual practice is about welcoming all of you. It's touching life exactly where life is touching you.
If you have more questions or want more episodes like this please comment on this post!
¡Hala Madrid! ...y nada más
During the course of this interview a smile started to slowly etch itself into our very souls. Some people are built different. Some people hide themselves away, only revealing who they are little by little. Then, over the desert course, possibly after uncorking another bottle of wine, they mention the unmentionable and blow your fucking mind.
That’s our guest today, Carmen Yagüe.
Journey to Mysore Tenerife with Viviane Simon
When Ashtanga yoga found Viviane Simon she was going through a difficult period of depression, ending a seriously toxic relationship, and struggling with her weight, being 130kg (286 pounds). Viviane started to prioritize her practice as a way of prioritizing her self-care. This simple act changed everything. Her first teacher, Griselda, always encouraged her to practice, telling her it wasn’t necessary to change anything about her physicality, she never suggested that her body size, shape, or weight would be an impediment to any asana.
Being, Nothingness & Suchness with Jivana Heyman
What a beautiful podcast to kick off Pride month!
This is an important month to celebrate our common humanity, diversity, and unconditional love and acceptance of one another.
Jivana coined the phrase, “Accessible Yoga,” over ten years ago, and it has now become the standard appellation for a large cross section of the immense yoga world.
Russell’s tendency of over-relating to our guests has been noted. And this episode is no exception. It might seem he’s attempting to “out gay the gays,” so to speak. But it opens this conversation into an incredibly intimate and deep portrait of a young man stepping into a cultural identity during a particularly traumatic time in our collective history, the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Sally Parkes Yoga School For Life
We start off this episode with a cautionary tale about what happens when you experience debilitating back pain and don’t listen to your body, but try to work through the pain. We dive deep into the troubling beginnings of what brought Sally to the this path of yoga in the first place. A path which she believes wholeheartedly saved her life.
Spiritual Emergence with Dr. Emma Bragdon
Introducing our new friend, the eminent Dr. Emma Bragdon. Emma has been a pioneer in body-mind-spirit wellness for 50 years. She has written 7 books and co-produced two documentary films on topics related to mental health and healing. In fact, she’s been a teacher in experiential learning for adults since 1985. Her advanced training in breathwork, bodywork and energy work became central in her understanding of how to support personal growth and wellness.
Lady Lucinda on Solsbury Hill
We have to say that this wild episode is one of our personal favorites.
The drugs and name dropping is one thing… Twee references to the Royal family compound our glee!
But, what gets us the most is when someone has a sincere relationship to the healing power of practice. And Lucinda Leachman is the first to attest to how it’s helped her immensely. Using it as a somatic therapy, it’s helped her to process the past, let go of shame, and move confidently into an unknown future.
Kyra Weinberger: Burlesque Queen of Kansas City
Kyra Weinberger grew up with dance, music, and yoga filling her home. She took the path of musical theater and ballet performing with professional companies from the age of 8. It was her first love and career, but it was not a forever love.
Today we’re talking about identity, hidden wounds, and how sometimes, even with the best upbringing and family, we struggle with our own darkness. The good news is, there’s freedom when we compassionately embrace our shadows, find the courage to bring it into the light, and invite them to dance!
Life After Death with Nadia Stinga Rihani
Nadia Stinga Rihani is a mother of two, a yoga teacher (ashtanga level 2 authorised in 2014), a former gymnast, and a qualified strategic psychotherapist and clinical hypnotherapist.
In 2019 Nadia was hit by a car, which left her unable to walk for many months, and she had to learn to start again completely.
Spiral Journey of Spirit
This is a solo episode where I'm reflecting on some important questions:
What is the spiritual path and how does it change us?
How best can you honour this spiritual quest of life?
What makes you come alive and feeds your soul?
These are a few thoughts and reflections on what it means to have a spiritual practice and discipline.
Inspired by reading from the book: "Ritual As Remedy" by Mara Branscombe, a guest from back in January, episode 148.
I speak to how my own practice has shifted and changed over the years.
If you have more questions or want more episodes like this please comment on this post!
Paloma: No Woman, No Cry
Youthfulness. What a beautiful blessing. Here we are met today by such openness to life, and all that her future has to offer, Palmoa Tamayo, graces us with her purity of spirit and sublime optimism.
From her early years, being introduced to the Ashtanga yoga practice, to studying in Mysore, and then being called upon as Eddie Stern’s assistant, Paloma has crossed a chasm to touch into the depth of her yoga practice.
Anita Cunha Vegan Chef Extraordinaire!
Anita Cunha, our dear friend and beautiful Vegan Chef joins us today. She specializes in creating perfectly balanced Ayurvedic cuisine. We’re learning about her journey down the path of self-discovery through her love for spice and food. She has a beautiful book called, “VEGAN INDIA: My Love Affair With The Land Of Spice” in which she shares much of her story along with incredibly delicious recipes.
Anita believes it’s possible to gain esoteric knowledge of our body and mind through changing our eating habits. Flavors and smells have the power to bring transformation and change our consciousness
Life and Death with Ty Landrum
It’s with great pleasure we sit down to speak with Ty Landrum to talk about his passion for Philosophy and the interplay of Eros and Thanatos. What creates the desire to thrive?
We examine the existential pointlessness of enduring our own suffering… And how to end it? A question that’s plagued humanity since the dawn of time, birthing the disciplines of Yoga and Buddhism.
Rachel White’s Tapestry Of Creation
Rachel White is an Australian author, speaker, coach, gene keys guide, and artist of life.
Rachel is what you might call a “witchy women” who is sharing some profound insights regarding our unique gifts and essence, and she’s here to help guide you too! You’re going to hear us enthusiastically jump head first into this hilarious and insightful discussion. We can’t hold back today, spontaneously asking what each line and number means.
Erik Jacobsen: Yoga, Philosophy, and Art
Erik became passionate about art making from a very early age. A place of refuge and contemplation, that encouraged him to turn over ideas in visual ways allowing for intuitive integration and learning. A mix of meditation and exploration, his work is infused with spiritual and philosophical inquiry. Asking deep questions has always been a primary driver in his life, and various contemplative traditions have been parallel and complementary to his artistic process.
Turning It All Upside Down with Lotta Sebzda
We have such a joyous person to share with you today! We have the Handstanding Grandma!! Surprised to find out she’s almost the same age as us tho. Weird.
Lotta Sebzda has been practicing Ashtanga Vinyasa since 1999 and is a 56 year old grandmother as well an inspiring teacher both in person as well as on her online platforms!
The secret to Lotta’s continued love for the physical and spiritual practice… CURIOSITY!
Honouring The Wisdom of The Divine Feminine with Mariela Cruz
It is with great pleasure that I got to sit down and connect with my dear friend Mariela Cruz. Mariela is one of those phenomenal human who’s devotion and dedication is palpable. We’re diving into the power of the feminine energy, how the different Ashtanga yoga series embody different types of energy, and calling upon the goddess archetypes as a guide during different phases of life.
With International Women’s Day approaching on March 8th, this is the perfect way to reflect on the powerful experience of being born as female and what it means to embody this energy.
Connect & Protect with Marque Garaux
Halfway through this episode Russell exclaims, “Goodness, you are just a really nice, wholesome person, Marque!” And, our guest today well and truly is! You’ll find him somewhere in the woods, far away from the hustle of city life, enjoying a solitary life near lake Erie in Ohio.
Marque discovered Ashtanga Yoga while seeking different ways to alleviate his lower back pain. After noticing an almost immediate physical change, Marque then slowly began to see other positive changes happening in his life as well…
How To Become Trauma Informed with Lara Land
Lara Land speaks today about some of her personal experiences that brought her to this chosen path…
How she started off teaching yoga in Rwanda to survivors of genocide, and then after opening her yoga school in Harlem, NY, she recognized that her yoga space required a different kind of awareness and presence.
This guided her to create Trauma-Informed teacher trainings as well as write her new book: The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga
Learn why we need to be trauma informed in our teaching and as we facilitate wellness spaces, now more than ever.
A Helluva Lotta Fun with Ellie Smith
Ellie Smith: A recovering academic, now yoga teacher, entrepreneur, and writer with a persistent curiosity about the world, both natural and human, Ellie Smith is an absolute delightful human to spend time with.
Born and raised in Cornwall, U.K, after completing University in 2005, Ellie took a “gap year” and has ended up spending the last 17 years living in Japan becoming an Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies, teaching at a university in Nagoya.
Ellie is passionate about helping yoga beginners and the yoga curious navigate their way into the often confusing realm of yoga…