Season 3 Episode 7: Dr. Domonick Wegesin - Neuroscientist and Yoga Teacher

Miller is the Founder, and Director of the iRest Institute. Miller is a clinical psychologist, author, researcher, yogic scholar and spiritual teacher. For over 40 years, Miller has devoted his life and work to integrating the nondual wisdom teachings of Yoga, Tantra, Advaita, Taoism and Buddhism with Western psychology. Miller is also the co-founder of The International Association of Yoga Therapy and founding editor of the professional Journal of IAYT. He is also a founding member and past president of the Institute for Spirituality and Psychology and a senior advisor for the Baumann Foundation for the study of Awareness and its impact on well-being. Author of Yoga Nidra: The Meditative Heart of Yoga, Miller serves as a research consultant studying the iRest Yoga Nidra protocol that he has developed. iRest stands for Integrative Restoration, a modern adaptation of the ancient nondual meditation practice of Yoga Nidra. Miller researches its efficacy on health, healing and well-being with diverse populations including active-duty soldiers, veterans, college students, children, seniors, the homeless, the incarcerated, and people experiencing issues, such as sleep disorders, PTSD, chemical dependency, chronic pain, and related disorders. In this episode, we talk with Miller about the difference between Eastern and Western practices, how yoga can help us understand the wholeness of ourselves and how we can train our minds to better handle everyday stress. Listen in as we discuss Yoga Nidra and the benefits it can provide.

Wegesin is a yogi, neuroscientist and dancer with a passion towards meditation and the healing arts. After moving to New York City, Wegesin worked for ten years as Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Columbia University. Wegesin's research focused on neuroimaging of the aging brain, and how aging impacts memory and executive functions, such as attention. At the same time, Wegesin began his journey into yoga and was immediately hooked by the practice. Wegesin now works as a yoga teacher, mindfulness teacher and message therapist. He trains the brains and bodies of his yoga students, helping them wake up to their mental, emotional and physical experience in a way that cultivates awareness, acceptance and ease. In this episode, we talk with Wegesin about how aging affects our brains and how mindfulness and yoga can help us as we age. Listen in as we discuss the benefits yoga can have on our minds and our bodies.

Sparrowe is a writer, editor, speaker, and mentor in holistic healing, with a special emphasis on women’s health. She is the former editor-in-chief of Yoga International magazine and past managing editor of Yoga Journal, as such she has been instrumental in bringing the authentic voice of yoga to thousands of practitioners and teachers. Sparrowe is also on the advisory board of the Yoga and Body Image Coalition. Sparrowe co-leads the Courageous Women, Fearless Living retreats for women touched by cancer. She also gives talks and provides workshops for women who are facing any number of challenges, including body issues, pregnancy, anxiety, depression, menopause and more.In this episode, we talk with Sparrowe about the promise of yoga and how it can help us learn to love ourselves and our bodies. Listen in as we discuss the true benefits of yoga, and why you don't need to be a thin or flexible to do yoga.

Myers is a yoga therapist, a somatic experiencing practitioner, addictions recovery specialist, and a certified health coach. Myers is also the founder of Y12SR - Yoga of 12-Step Recovery. Y12SR is a 12-step recovery program designed to help address the physical, mental and spiritual disease of addiction. Myers founded Y12SR after her own struggles with addiction. Myers believed recovery programs needed to combine the cognitive approach of traditional 12-step programs with the somatic approach of yoga; this is the goal of Y12SR. In today's episode, we talk with Myers about yoga as a path to healing and how yoga has influenced her life. Listen in as we discuss how yoga helps us align with ourselves and embrace our true self.

Castillo has been teaching yoga in NYC and San Francisco for over 20 years. She has studied with many renowned master teachers and had the honor of studying Vedic chanting and yoga philosophy with T.K.V. Desikachar. These days she spreads her love and knowledge of Bhakti yoga to aspiring teachers around the Bay Area. Since 2012, Castillo has been leading her band the Cosmic Caravan locally, nationally and internationally. She passionately guides communities in the ancient art of kirtan - singing the names of the divine through call-and-response chanting. In this episode we talk with Castillo about the heritage of Bhakti yoga and the power of mantra. Listen in as we discuss why chanting can be such a powerful tool and what Bhakti means to her.

Tiffany Cruikshank is the founder of Yoga Medicine®, a community of teachers focused on fusing anatomy and western medicine with traditional yoga practices to serve the medical communities. Cruikshank has trained thousands of teachers around the world, graced the cover of over 15 magazines, been featured regularly in major media outlets, authored two books, and released over 150 classes on various topics on YogaGlo.com. With a background in Acupuncture and Sports Medicine, Cruikshank has worked with celebrities, athletes, and corporate professionals alike in her own private clinics and Nike World Headquarters. Cruikshank also founded and continues to run two nonprofits — one conducting research on yoga’s therapeutic benefits and the other supporting to end human trafficking in India. In this episode, we talk with Cruikshank about what inspired her to start Yoga Medicine®, how Traditional Chinese Medicine and yoga complement each other, and how yoga affects the different systems in our body. Listen in as we discuss how yoga can help us become observers with non-judgemental attentions. If you wish to support the Yoga Medicine® Seva Foundation and help empower impoverished communities through education and entrepreneurship, please visit the Yoga Medicine® Seva Foundation website to learn how you can help.

For over 20 years, Bossart was the private student of T.K.V. Desikachar studying Viniyoga. Bossart is a certified International Association of Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) and E-RYT 500 yoga teacher. Bossart is also the Director of the Yoga Well Institute and Co-Director of Yoga as Therapy North America (YATNA). Today, Bossart travels around the world to present workshops and trainings on yoga and yoga therapy. Bossart also regularly develops yoga interventions for scientific research, and he formerly served as the Director of Therapy and Education at the Healing Yoga Foundation in San Francisco. In this episode, we talk with Bossart about how yoga influences our physical bodies and what the true meaning of yoga really is. Listen in as we discuss how yoga was brought to the west and how it influences our prana.

Twenty years ago, Pransky left the corporate world and transformed her passion for yoga into a full-time career. Pransky is a registered Yoga Alliance teacher (E-RYT 500), certified Yoga Therapist recognized by the International Association of Yoga Therapy and the director of Restorative Therapeutic Yoga teacher training for YogaWorks. Pransky is also the author of Deep Listening, which presents her 'Calm Body, Clear Mind, Open Heart' program. Pranksy also created and leads Yoga Journal's Restorative Yoga 101 and is a featured yoga expert for Prevention Magazine. In this episode, we talk with Pransky about her own personal journey into yoga. We discuss how restorative yoga can help us combat stress and anxiety in our modern world and how we can learn to truly relax. Listen in as Pransky shares her knowledge on how we can build our own conscious relaxation.

Albert Flynn DeSilver is an American poet, novelist and meditation teacher. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Colorado and his Master of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute. His writing has been published in hundreds of literary journals across the world. DeSilver is also the founder of Writing as a Path to Awakening, which is an embodied approach to creativity and writing. DeSilver runs workshops and retreats that aim to rekindle one's writing process by bringing more joy and spontaneity in the practice of writing. DeSilver has been practicing meditation for over 20 years and was trained as a meditation teach at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. DeSilver believes merging the art of writing with mindfulness meditation, which he discusses in his book "Writing as a Path to Awakening," based off his workshops of the same name. Listen with us as we discuss how writing can assist in reaching an awakening and the benefits of meditation when it comes to nurturing a writing practice.

Judith Blackstone is an experienced teacher in the fields of nondual realization and spiritual, relational and somatic psychotherapy. Blackstone is the creator of The Realization Process, which is an integrated approach to embodiment for psychological, relational, physical and spiritual healing. Blackstone has a Ph.D. in Psychology, Embodiment and Eastern Religion. Blackstone is a clinical psychologist, a meditation practitioner and student of contemplative traditions with more than 40 years of experience. In addition, she is the author of several books, including Belonging Here and The Enlightenment Process. Blackstone and her husband, Zoran Josipovic, founded the Nonduality Institute, which is dedicated to the science and practice of nonduality. In our interview, Blackstone talks about The Realization Process and the radical openness that comes with nondual realization. Blackstone discusses methods for releasing tension and constriction, as well as the difference between awareness of the body and inhabiting it. Blackstone also leads listeners in a core breath practice for settling into the body and attuning to the fundamental consciousness that is always available to us.