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:
Kintsugi with Mae Yoshikawa
We dive into a discussion of what feminine spirituality looks like. Just as her inspiration, the late guru Sri Anandamayi Ma, our guest today, Mae Yoshikawa, also embodies this eternal nature of divine joy. Late in today’s episode, Mae speaks about her status as a widow and what that means for her as well (be sure to listen all the way… so not to miss both the beautiful and tragic events that broke her heart wide open).
JOHN & JULIA SCOTT: Stand Fast Together in Love
If you thought you knew John and Julia Scott, you’re going to get a whole new look into their personalities here on our podcast today. You’ll hear about John Scott’s roots growing up in New Zealand and the similarities between clans, even from different parts of the world. Our conversation looks at how ancient rituals from different cultures effect us still to this day.
From Norway to Nepal with Ellen Johannesen
Our guest today is a lovely Elvish woman, who could’ve easily descended from a family of Wood Nymphs. Ellen Johannesen was born in Norway but has spent many years living abroad, mainly in India and Nepal. She was first introduced to yoga during her career as a professional dancer and has been teaching now for over 20 years.
Homeward Bound with Michael Schabort
Today our guest is South African born Michael Schabort, an indubitable ‘child of the wind.’
Michael is an interesting person, who ever so naturally goes with the flow. Someone who floats through space and time like a salmon swimming up river. There are bears. There are female salmon. But there is also the journey home. And the journey for the sake of journeying itself.
Yoga Talks on Pirate Radio with J. Brown
We caught up with J Brown, podcast creator, and host of Yoga Talks for the last seven years. With tears shed all around, J shared with us the story of how he lost his mum as a very young man. It’s a heart rending story. And, for all of us when our heart rends it is an opportunity for healing. To heal is a blessing. We just don’t often do it.
The Long Way Home with Vikram Jeet Singh
Armed with Pasasana as a superpower our guest today, Vikram Jeet Singh joins us to talk about the evolution of the asana practice and our attachment to the physicality of it and how we can begin to embrace a wider scope of practice.
You’ll find we touch upon interesting and somewhat difficult topics of racism, cultural appropriation, fascism, the relationship between yoga in the West vs East, and how our mind, higher intellect, and ego interface to make sense of our experiences in life.
A Golden Journey with Diana Christinson
Diana Christinson takes us on quite a journey. It reminds us of Leonard Cohen’s Dance Me To The End of Love, a sacred vision of love and life that reflects our Hero’s quest to find meaning in both. Diana has a wonderful quality of goodness about her, steadiness in the midst of turmoil. We talk about death of loved ones and the space loss leaves; yet, Diana maintains a balance of mind and spirit of loveliness. She is an inspiration and a testament that yoga actually does work.
Zeena Kalisperides: A Greek Warrior Princess?
During the course of this morning’s conversation we touched on the subject of authenticity. How does someone become real we asked? We spoke with Zeena on some surprisingly hot topics. We went looking for answers to some difficult questions regarding appropriation and appreciation? What is the difference? Does appropriation have to do with breaking ahimsa (non-harming)?
We talked about privilege, racism, and defining our present understanding of past experiences — as uncomfortable as that new understanding might be… like our work with the transgressions of Pattabhi Jois.
Eddie Stern: I'll Be Your Mirror
We have someone we have wanted to speak to ever since we first initiated this Podcast: The Inimitable Eddie Stern! You’ll feel absolutely transported as you jump right into our conversation with the iconic Eddie Stern… Talking about rectangles of all things and their place of importance in our world!
Around 3 minutes in, you’ll get to hear why (or why not) we always do postures to the right side first! And, of all the outrageously unorthodox things we said in this interview, “jumping to the left” seems to epitomize how unconventional we’ve all become.
The Ever Ebullient Yan Ong
Yan, like a good champagne, has a sparkling personality. We very much enjoyed chatting with her in Portugal about her life, Injuries with the practice, and learning to thrive despite suffering from an autoimmune disorder… And So Much More!
Sat Inder Khalsa The Kwisatz Haderach
In this week’s Finding Harmony Podcast episode, you’ll come to the confluence where Kundalini and Ashtanga yoga meet… In the heart of Sat Inder Khalsa: the Kwisatz Haderach.
Our beloved Sat Inder is a devotee of the Divine Mother and shishya to her servant Yogavidananda. Sat Inder is an Authorized Ashtanga Yoga teacher, lover of mythology, a great storyteller, and a retired “Kundaloonie” (as he likes to say)…
On Tour with Jens Bache
Jens Bache is not your ordinary Ashtanga yoga practitioner or teacher. He came to yoga as a highly celebrated Engineer, in the middle of a very normal career trajectory, yet he was looking for more… and he most certainly found it!
Electric Man : Stan Woodman
What makes someone electric?
In today’s episode we’re going to find out.
Stan Woodman joins us in conversation. He has that beautiful esprit de corps that comes from overcoming adversity with a team in fellowship, even in the face of great tragedy there's still Love in the group.
Stan has a confidence in him that he is loved and will always be loved. Not in an arrogant way whatsoever, but as a man who loves all beings and naturally sees Love within them.
Magic and the Mysore Yoga Tradition with Andrew Eppler
Merry Christmas! For this year-end special we have a little present for you all. Some Magic!
Andrew Eppler began practicing yoga with his father, Ray Eppler, at age 14. Cliff Barber was their first teacher. Andrew has continued practising and teaching Ashtanga yoga all over the world for the past 35 years. Andrew has given us all an incredible gift. He has made and produced the documentary film: The Mysore Yoga Traditions. This film is a deep dive into the myriad practices and teachers, who are alive, available, and relevant in Mysore today. Andrew also studied magic and enjoys diving into anything that seems to be impossible. He is well known as The Yogi Magician.
Coming Full Circle with Nea Ferrier
Accessing the deepest, most personal parts of herself, and bringing them into the light is at the heart of Nea’s practice. Like Bhuvaneshwari, the great cosmic mother of the universe, who represents space and who creates space for all things. Nea herself, has become a cosmic womb. She creates space within her own consciousness for beautiful experiences to grow and flourish, and is focused on giving birth to her very own divine nature.
Susanna Finocchi: Transitions Through Time and Space
Similar to Ganesha the elephant-headed deity in India, Janus is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings in ancient Roman mythology. He is usually depicted as having two faces. Susanna Finocchi, (our first Italian guest!) is a woman who knows these transitions well.
Susanna expounds on the weirdness of being a Southerner in the North. You become a kind of “in-between person,” neither here nor there, but like all these mythological figures you are given a special insight to human nature. And Susanna, in her loving and enthusiastic way, gifts us with her wisdom today.
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.
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.
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.