A Grateful Life Dr Lauren Tober

Am I contributing to the cultural appropriation of yoga? As a white yoga student and teacher, how can I do better?

These are questions that I’ve been wrestling with over the past two decades of practicing and teaching yoga, and so I’m delighted to be speaking to Susanna Barkataki about them in this podcast episode.

Susanna (she/her) is a teacher, coach, inclusivity promoter, yoga culture advocate, the founder of the Ignite Yoga and Wellness Institute and the author of Embrace Yoga’s Roots.

In our conversation Susanna and I talk about where yoga actually comes from, the colonisation of yoga, cultural appropriation and its antidote, how we can honour the roots or lineage of yoga in our practice and teaching, even when there has been abuse in our lineage, and if it is ever appropriate to use the word namaste when teaching and practicing yoga (hint: it’s not a simple answer!).

It’s such a great episode, and one that I would love all yoga practitioners and teachers to listen to, so I’m glad that you’re here!

Connect with Susanna Barkataki at https://www.susannabarkataki.com 

Download the free Patañjali's Eight Limbs and Mental Health Aware Yoga ebook by Dr Lauren Tober at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/8limbs

Visit the Yoga Psychology Institute at https://www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com

Find the Yoga Psychology Institute on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/yogapsychologyinstitute 

Find the Yoga Psychology Institute on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/yogapsychologyinstitute 

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia, at  https://yogaaustralia.org.au 


This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or training. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute for professional training.

What does it mean to truly make yoga accessible?

Accessible yoga is more than simply using yoga props in your classes or reminding your students that Child’s Pose is always an option.

In today’s podcast episode, I’m joined by yoga teacher Jivana Heyman (he/him) from Accessible Yoga and we talk about how we can truly make our yoga classes accessible.

Listen in as we explore accessible yoga as seeing ourselves and our students as whole and not in need of fixing, as diversity and representation in yoga teachers and imagery online, as teaching in a trauma-sensitive and mental health aware way, and about continuing to engage in thoughtful discussions with peers on the ethics of being a human and a teacher, in the world. 

Jivana also shares about the challenges that he faced as a young gay man in the midst of the AIDS epidemic, and the ways in which yoga was such a refuge for him during this time. 

We also unpack the ways in which yoga is taught, both traditionally with the guru system and more recently in the west in drop-in yoga studios, and the pros and cons of both.

This is an episode not to be missed!

Connect with Jivana Heyman at www.jivanaheyman.com

Join the online Mental Health Aware Yoga training starting 25th March 2024 at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/online

Visit our Yoga Psychology Institute workshop and training calendar  https://www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com/calendar 

Download the free Patañjali's Eight Limbs and Mental Health Aware Yoga ebook by Dr Lauren Tober at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/8limbs

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia, at https://yogaaustralia.org.au 


This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or training. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute for professional training.

Want to meditate, but don’t have the time? This episode is for you!

In today’s podcast episode, I sat down with Ann Swanson (she/her) to talk about all things meditation. Ann is a yoga therapist and the author of the internationally bestselling book the Science of Yoga and the brand new book Meditation for the Real World.

Listen in to hear us talk about the science of meditation, how Ann’s own mental health struggles led her to the physical aspect of yoga, and then eventually to meditation, why long formal meditation practices aren’t necessarily better than frequent shorter meditations and how to practice meditation in accordance with the seasons of your life and your menstrual cycle. 

As someone who has tried loads of different meditation styles, I love the way that Ann makes meditation so accessible, and really understands the science behind the why and the how of meditation.

Connect with Ann Swanson at https://www.meditationfortherealworld.com

Sign up to the free How to Teach Yoga for Nervous System Regulation workshop on the 15th March 2024 at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/workshop 

Join the online Mental Health Aware Yoga training starting 25th March 2024 at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/online

Visit our Yoga Psychology Institute workshop and training calendar  https://www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com/calendar 

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia, at https://yogaaustralia.org.au

This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or training. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute for professional training.

In today’s podcast episode, I had intended to ask J. Brown about topics that I know him for, like ‘gentle is the new advanced’ and ‘slower is stronger’.

But in this interview we ended up talking about how as a 16 year old he grappled with his mother’s cancer diagnosis, the promise he made to her before she died, what it means to receive a message or a download that guides your life, and where that message actually comes from.

We talk about God, Christianity, the abuse in both Christianity and in yoga communities, if it’s possible to separate the teachings from the teacher when there’s been abuse in our lineage, and how important it is to engage in a non-hierarchical way as a teacher and with your teacher.

We ask a lot of questions, and don’t necessarily have all the answers, but it’s this asking and exploring that I find so important, and so interesting.

Connect with J. Brown at https://www.jbrownyoga.com

Listen to Dr Lauren Tober speak on J. Brown’s Yoga Talks podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-lauren-tober-the-frontline-of-mental-health-care/id1029751323?i=1000646835424

Sign up to the free How to Teach Yoga for Nervous System Regulation workshop on the 15th March 2024 at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/workshop

Join the online Mental Health Aware Yoga training starting 25th March 2024 at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/online

Visit our Yoga Psychology Institute workshop and training at https://www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com/calendar

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia at https://yogaaustralia.org.au

This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or training. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute for professional training.

Sixteen months ago, one of our beloved Mental Health Aware Yoga mentors, Sandra Palmer (she/her) was diagnosed with stage four cancer, and was told that it was likely that she had less than two years to live.

In today’s episode, Sandra talks about what it was like when she was first given this diagnosis totally out of the blue, how she has navigated the landscape of grieving, treatment, the medical system, communicating to others about her diagnosis, learning to listen to her own needs, and how yoga has helped.

Sandra told me that when she was first diagnosed she was seeking other people’s stories about living and thriving with cancer, and part of her reason for coming on the podcast was to share her own story to help others who are traversing similar terrain.

As a psychologist and yoga teacher, Sandra also shares ways in which teachers and therapists can support their clients and students who are living with cancer through yoga.

We are delighted that Sandra is feeling vibrant and well and has returned to mentoring with us for the online Mental Health Aware Yoga training, and currently supports our students in New Zealand, USA and Canada.

Connect with Sandra Palmer at https://www.integrativetherapy.co.nz

Sign up to the online Mental Health Aware Yoga training starting on March 25th 2024 at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/online

Join our Mental Health Aware Yoga Facebook community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mentalhealthawareyoga

Visit the Yoga Psychology Institute at https://www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com

Find the Yoga Psychology Institute on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/yogapsychologyinstitute

Download the free Patañjali's Eight Limbs of Mental Health Aware Yoga ebook by Dr Lauren Tober at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/8limbs

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia, at https://yogaaustralia.org.au


This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance.

Have you ever wondered why you tend to get sick after a busy or stressful period, and wished you could do something about it?

I certainly do! If you joined me for the Mental Health and Yoga Summits that we held in 2022, you might have noticed towards the end of each of the week-long Summits that my voice was getting pretty scratchy. After each Summit I came down with a cold, and spent a few days in bed afterwards recovering.

My guest today, Dr Kaitlin Harkess (she/her) researched yoga, stress and the immune system for her PhD thesis and is on the podcast today sharing about psychoneuroimmunology and yoga.
Kaitlin is a Clinical Psychologist and Yoga Teacher and the host of the wonderful Wisdom for Wellbeing podcast. She loves to help people develop the psychological skills they need to overcome burnout and change their life for the better.

If you are interested in stress, spirituality, science, movement, health and living a good life, you are going to love this episode!


Connect with Dr Kaitlin Harkess at www.drkaitlin.com

Sign up to the online Mental Health Aware Yoga training starting on March 25th 2024 at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/online

Join our Mental Health Aware Yoga Facebook community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mentalhealthawareyoga

Visit the Yoga Psychology Institute at https://www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com

Find the Yoga Psychology Institute on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/yogapsychologyinstitute

Download the free Patañjali's Eight Limbs of Mental Health Aware Yoga ebook by Dr Lauren Tober at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/8limbs

Find out more about our wonderful sponsor, Yoga Australia, at https://yogaaustralia.org.au


This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance.