101 Comfort, Challenge & Compassion: Community Conversations with Aisha Fakhro

Coming home from another yoga teacher training, full of new information and techniques to utilize, can be exciting…and also overwhelming. In today’s episode, hosts Tiffany and Rachel talk about how to integrate all the tools you learn in training in a way that is meaningful for your students. In this episode, we stress the importance of a slow and steady approach guided by clarity of purpose for each class. Listen in to learn how to incorporate new material and when to use which teaching tools in both group classes and when working with students one-on-one. ---- Show Notes:   The challenge of integrating new information into classes in a meaningful way [1:33] Focus on one area of content at a time, in practice and teaching [4:31] The importance of setting and meeting student expectations [9:30] “Drip-feed” new content or techniques into your teaching [12:10] Creating classes for the students who come back [16:41] Using a class series to introduce new content gradually [18:36] Combining techniques in group classes versus one-to-one [22:05] A real-world example [28:58] Summing up: simplicity, clarity, repetition, patience, and individuality [31:26] --- Links Mentioned:   Watch this episode on YouTube   You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-108. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Burnout is becoming a more common experience than ever, in the yoga world and beyond, so today hosts Tiffany and Rachel dive into the varied experiences of and solutions to this problem. We discuss three common precursors to burnout and how challenging it can be to generate the energy required to recognize and resolve it. We also share the role yoga practice can play in helping us build long-term physical and mental resilience as an antidote to burnout. Listen to this episode to learn what burnout is, what causes contribute, and the intangible game-changers you could be overlooking when trying to overcome burnout. --- Show Notes:   The three key symptoms of burnout [3:50] Perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and a potential up-side of burnout [5:10] Difficulty generating the energy to find a way out [7:30] Is restorative yoga the solution to burnout? [9:17] Burnout as a long-term imbalance between inputs and outputs [13:08] Individuality in burnout, emotional labour, and the role yoga can play [17:11] Training long-term resilience to burnout [23:59] A three-part approach: nervous system, connective tissue & mental resilience [27:00] Where to start [32.28] The Yoga Medicine Resilience Retreat and other resources [35:38] --- Links Mentioned:   Watch this episode on YouTube Yoga Medicine® Resilience Retreat with Tiffany Cruikshank – Boulder, CO Yoga Medicine® Resilience Retreat with Tiffany Cruikshank – Norfolk, VA Yoga Medicine® Podcast Episode 05: Sustainability & Yoga YMO Resources: Tiffany’s Burnout Resilience Playlist Valerie Knopik’s Burnout Series   You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-107. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Today host Katja talks with Dr. Stephanie Otto about exercise oncology, exercise, and fascia. We discuss the biological foundations of cancer and the research link between fascia and cancer.  We also talk about therapeutic interventions related to cancer exercise and fascia and explain what distinguishes healthy tissue from cancerous tissue. Listen in to learn how important effective exercise can be for our oncology and how exercise oncology interventions relate to fascial tissues. Show Notes: What makes cancer develop [3:47] Can we affect cells that become cancerous [6:45] Exercises to target biometrics of tissues [8:18] Optional treatment paths for exercise for oncology [11:37] Breathing and nervous system approaches [19:26] What is next for the field of exercise oncology research [25:32]   Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Connect with Dr. Stephanie Otto:          LinkedIn | Twitter | ResearchGate You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-106. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

It’s common knowledge that the vast majority of us will experience low back pain at some point in our lives. Today we hone in on an aspect of low back pain that is less commonly considered and discussed: pain in or around the sacroiliac joints. Rachel Land hosts yoga studio owner, YACEP, Yoga Medicine Therapeutic Specialist, and 1000-hour teacher Kelsea Wright, whose capstone research project was a comparison of two interventions for long-term SI joint pain. In this episode, we share key practices for strength, stability, and body awareness as well as tips for postural and positional awareness off the yoga mat. We also unpack the importance of detailed student intake interviews and their usefulness in pain education and student empowerment. Listen in to hear key takeaways from Kelsea’s 1000-hour project on SI joint pain.   Show Notes: Kelsey’s own experience: persistent SI joint pain & fear of flare-ups [3:03] Outlining Kelsey’s 1000-hour research project [6:38] Pain education as a key component of care [9:46] The impact of detailed intake interviews [16:39] Strength and stability practices for SI joint pain [20:31] Key myofascial release practices and approaches [30:37] MFR as a novel tool to improve mind-body connection [40:00] Key learnings from the results of Kelsey’s intervention [45:45] The under-estimated importance of keeping good notes [56:01] Cultivating a “glass half full” attitude [58:12] Final takeaways and the benefit of immediate relief [1:00:06]   Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Previous Yoga Medicine® Podcast Episodes: 15: Shifting Persistent Pain 26: Support the Low Back 70: Yoga & MFR: Fundamentals to Get the Most Out of Your Practice Connect with Kelsea Wright:          Instagram | Limitless Yoga Studio   You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-105. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Today hosts Tiffany and Rachel discuss a question many yoga teachers grapple with: should we aim to make our classes safe or fun? Is it possible to do both? In this episode, we talk about the challenges teachers face when balancing these two aims in all-levels classes. We offer tips on how to keep safety in mind as you plan and teach yoga classes, and dissect what fun could actually mean for your students.  Listen in as we talk about the pressure to teach appropriate and engaging classes to all-levels and share tips for encouraging your yoga students to become their own teachers. Show Notes: Is this the biggest question yoga teachers face? [1:03] Challenges teaching to the stated class level and description [2:26] Options are key [10:02] Empower students to be their own best teacher [12:22] Safe in the short-term isn’t always safe in the long-term [15:28] Curiosity over assumption; the importance of language [19:02] What actually makes a yoga class fun? [25:28] Countering the pressure for novelty and creativity [30:53] Big takeaways [36:20] Invest in in the students who come back, and your own ongoing inspiration [39:27] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Yoga Medicine Online Yoga Medicine Podcast Episode 74: Yoga for All: Community Conversations with Elena Cheung Sequencing with Purpose Yoga Teacher Training You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-104. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

The mention of yoga teacher training conjures up a bundle of images and ideas, many of which are inaccurate or at least incomplete. So today host Rachel talks with returning guest Dana Diament, lead teacher of the Yoga Medicine 200hr Teacher Training, about common misconceptions and misunderstandings about yoga training. In this episode, we discuss what personal qualities are (and aren’t) important for aspiring yoga teachers and unpack the realities of the training experience and how you might feel afterward. If you have been wondering if you should embark on yoga teacher training, this episode is for you. Show Notes: Myth #1: All yoga teachers must be… (pick your adjective) [2:21] Who should do a yoga teacher training? [2:22] Being yourself when teaching yoga [5:31] Charisma and comfort speaking to a group [12:07] Myth #2: Yoga must be all you do and care about [17:51] Myth #3: There’s only one pathway to teaching yoga [20:13] Myth #4: Yoga training is all about personal transformation [25:46] Myth #5: All yoga teacher trainings are the same [31:30] Myth #6: Yoga teacher training is fun and easy [35:48] Myth #7: You won’t be nervous to teach after teacher training [41:19] Myth #8: You’ll know everything about yoga [44:16] Myth #9: You’ll feel confident and complete as a teacher [48:02] Key takeaways [52:34] Yoga Medicine 200hr Teacher Training options for 2024 [55:27] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Yoga Medicine® 200hr Yoga Teacher Training Connect with Dana Diament:          Facebook | Instagram | Yoga Medicine Online | Raia Collective You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-103. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Today's hosts Tiffany and Katja return for a deeper discussion of fascia and pain. Recently, fascia is being more generally acknowledged as a pain generator, especially of one specific type of pain: myofascial pain. In this episode, Tiffany and Katja discuss the mobility of fascia, look at fascia as a sensory organ, and explain the influence of fascia on pain mechanisms. Listen to this episode to learn how to interact with and influence the fascia and what this information can teach us about implications for pain and mobility disorders. Show Notes: Understanding the complexities of pain [3:21] Myofascial and skeletal pain [4:47] Utility of trigger points [11:26] Mobility of fascia [15:19] Implications for yoga practice [21:37] Mobility of fascia a myofascial pain [28:20] Myofascial pain and mobility [31:31] Tools for treating mobility disorders [38:20] Fascia as a sensory organ [42:18] Proprioception and hypermobility [48:10] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Fascia Pain Continued Overview Myofascial Release Training Yoga Medicine® Online Yoga Medicine® Podcast Episode 19: Fascia & Pain Connect with Katja Bartsch:          Facebook | Instagram | Kalamana Yoga | Yoga Medicine® Online Guest Teacher You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-102. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.  

In the yoga world, as elsewhere, opinions seem more polarized than ever. Today we’re making space to explore one popular all-or-nothing topic in the wellness sphere: whether our practice is intended to create comfort or offer challenge. Host Rachel explores the delicate balance yoga teachers seek between challenge and comfort and the compassion required to do so with returning guest Aisha Fakhro LAPHP, LNRPC, a licensed psychotherapist and yoga teacher who specializes in working with anxiety, trauma, grief, relationships, stress management and personal growth. Listen in as we compare, and perhaps reconcile, the case for the comfort of safe and welcoming practice spaces with the growth we might experience from venturing outside our comfort zones. Show Notes: Do we even need to know what students need? [3:58] The case for comfort: who we become in welcoming & inclusive spaces [5:53] The case for courage: challenging our comfort zones [12:15] The need for safety with the challenge [16:19] Empowering students to choose what they need: it starts with us [20:33] Compassion as the thread drawing extremes toward each other [25:46] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Yoga Medicine Online Guest Teacher Connect with Aisha Fakhro:           Instagram | Soft Strength Podcast | Aisha Fakhro   You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-101. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Many yoga students and teachers feel part of a culture and tradition we don't fully understand, leading to the necessity for open, honest, and potentially uncomfortable conversations about the wider context our practice exists within - including its long and complicated history and its intersections with culture, commerce, and politics. Today host Rachel is joined by Firdose Moonda - a journalist, academic, yoga teacher, and researcher - to explore some of these intersecting issues, and offer an introduction to important definitions and common misunderstandings about the practice.  Listen in to learn about the historical and cultural context of yoga and its contributions to our unique and individual in-body experiences. Show Notes:  Firdose’s early experience with yoga; the drive to deeper study [3:22] The inspiration for Firdose’s new Yoga Medicine course [6:40] Definition and geographical origins of yoga [9:38] Politics and privilege in yoga [12:21] Is yoga actually intended to make us feel good? [17:10] Is yoga really for everyone? [21:59] Chakras, and other concepts we misconstrue as part of yoga tradition [24:52] Acknowledging varied individual embodied experiences of yoga [29:11] Yoga’s origin and religious association; implications for appropriation [36:47] Valuing ongoing education for its own sake [41:19] Yoga’s relationship to colonization [47:15] Details on Firdose's new Yoga Medicine course [49:24] The most powerful three words yoga teachers can say [52:29] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Yoga & Politics Online Course Episode 21: South Asian Teacher Panel Connect with Firdose Moonda:           Instagram | Souldier Yoga   You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-100. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Today hosts Katja and Tiffany dive into the importance of dynamic mobility training and its broader applications. Stretching is always a loaded topic. There are lots of different opinions and broad research available, with new research being released regularly. In this episode, we talk about the newer research on dynamic stretching and how it relates to athletic performance and injury prevention.  Listen in to learn the purpose of stretching, how to incorporate dynamic stretching before exercising, and the different psychological aspects of different stretching modalities.  Show Notes: Static stretching before sports [2:31] Purpose and type of stretching [5:15] What is dynamic stretching [9:00] Dynamic stretching and athletic performance [15:08] Injury incidence and dynamic stretching [16:09] How much range of motion (ROM) do we really need? [22:55] Mechanisms of ROM increase [27:15] Mechanisms – balance and proprioception [33:39] Psychological aspects [39:34] How to use different stretching applications [44:04] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Yoga for Athletes Teacher Training Online Dynamic Stretching Overview Connect with Katja Bartsch: Facebook | Instagram | Kalamana Yoga | Yoga Medicine® Online Guest Teacher You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-99. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.