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:
A Trip Towards the Self with Barry Silver
Today we interview Barry Silver, traveling artist, explorer of the mystic and esoteric realms. Barry is astonishingly self aware of his own pursuit of cool, and seeking to be cool in the myriad communities he merged with. Whether it was Disco, Kundalini Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, or the “Burner Community,” he has come back to being himself again and again, finding comfort in acknowledging who he is. Like the Alchemist’s journey, he’s realized that there was nothing to strive for or become, and he oozed cool all along.
From altar building to cathartic scrapbook journaling, Barry Silver has traveled an interesting path to becoming a full-time artist… His work is comic, genius, and generous in a wondrously mysterious way.
Karyn Grenfell: A Hero's Journey
Karyn Grenfell has a very particular and idiosyncratic way of living her life. She is not dissimilar to a Tibetan nun, simply here and present, offering goodness to all beings. She’s not bored. Or at least she’s come to terms with a certain pace of life. And, she’s inculcating that same quality of patience and peacefulness in her child. Karyn is keeping alive traditions that feel as if they belong in another century, a predigital age, activities that keep her refreshingly grounded and self-aware.
If you’re at all in doubt about the value of an Ashtanga Yoga practice, or if you’re fretting and insecure, be assured that the 20 years of practice in a dark room at 3:00 in the morning DOES HAVE an effect…
Joey Solano: Accountant to the Bollywood Stars
Grab a coffee, brew your tea, crack a coconut, because this is a real “chai-stand” conversation!
In today’s episode you’ll hear story after story about different people and events within our global yoga community, including celebrity encounters, and funny stories about our time in Mysore, both together and separately.
Our guest is not a professional yoga teacher, but is someone known and loved far and wide within our global yoga family.
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….
Lu Duong: The Western Wing
Lu Duong is Principal Director for the Tech and STEM Initiatives unit for The United Negro College Fund and a former communications lead at the very influential education initiative the Aspen Institute. He took his degree in Political Science at Virginia Commonwealth University and applied his expertise in growth and marketing to his interest in Ashtanga Yoga (in his spare time!). We think it’s fair to say, Lu is kind of a big deal (not to mention a incredibly talented, thoughtful, empathetic and all-round fabulous human being).
In today’s episode we asked Lu his professional opinion to the question... “What would you do with the Ashtanga Yoga brand?”
Listen along as he reluctantly explains his opinion from the perspective of a political marketing expert…
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
A Delicious Poison with Kate
Today we’ve created a Venn diagram of interesting listening…. Here you’ll find the intersection of the dedicated The Last Kingdom fan (secretly in love with Uhtred of Uhtred; and Aethelfled her personal hero), mixing with a keen interest in True Crime Detective procedurals, along with a curiosity in what it might take to become a female weight lifter, or body building champion (and this may or may not have nosedived into an obsession with professional wrestling, who’s to say really). All this crosses over with a love for tea, running, meditation, yoga and nutrition.
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.
Sparky's 9th Life
It is with great pleasure to introduce you to our dear friend Mark Stephen Pomianowski, known only as Sparky. He is a kind of Bay Area legend, infamous for his sense of humor, and his constant confrontations with wild (and quite literal) death defying situations. Sparky’s first life took shape as a student of the guitar and aspiring musician. Currently, he’s a sailboat captain, who took our Ashtanga yoga teacher R. Sharath Jois and his family out on a boat trip around the San Francisco Bay during his last U.S. tour in 2019.
Sparky is also a surfer (who nearly died just last week by a great white shark attack), a yogi, and most of all a father of three, who you’ll hear crawling all over him, in the background during this insanely hilarious episode!
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.
Sista Shree: Gotta Serve Somebody
Sistashree, born Regina French, in the First Nation State of Sequoyah (what is now referred to as Oklahoma— okla humma) is an embodiment of the benevolent magic Earth-Mother figure that we all need in our lives.
She is a kind of blue-skinned Krishna, who vibrates peace and love and makes all beings in her vicinity feel friendship towards her.
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.