The Uplifted Yoga Podcast

Brett Larkin
  • 4.8 (620)
  • SPIRITUALITY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Uplift your personal life and accelerate your yoga career leveraging yoga's ancient wisdom. Explore yoga philosophy from the Yoga Sutras, the Vedas, psychology, kundalini and self-help. Brett Larkin helps you get closer to making consistent daily yoga a reality, while empowering you to acknowledge your role as a leader and healer of others. Whether you're experiencing a kundalini awakening, resolving unprocessed trauma, suffering as a "hidden healer," in a cycle of self-sabotage, feeling "imposter syndrome," or stuck trying to grow your wellness business, the Uplifted Yoga podcast is where you come to slay your mindset blocks and indulge in yoga's rich philosophy in a way that's practical and fun. ✨Pre-Order Brett's Book on Amazon ✨Make your yoga practice 2x more potent in 1/2 the time here ✨Download four free yoga business plan Become a member at brettlarkin.com/uplifted

  1. 22H AGO

    Yoga Doesn't Have a Devil. So What's the Enemy? (Part 1)

    Let's talk about something a little controversial today… the forces of evil. 👀 How do different wisdom traditions frame temptation, demons, and the dark forces that often appear right before a spiritual breakthrough? I'll explore the story of Eve in the garden, Jesus in the desert, and Buddha under the Bodhi tree, comparing how each figure faces illusion, doubt, and distraction—and what we can learn from them in our own practice. I'll also break down how yogic philosophy (and Hinduism more broadly) defines the "enemy" very differently—from the ego as adversary to karmic patterns of desire and delusion. We'll explore: 🔹 Why the darkest moments often come before awakening 🔹 Jesus vs. Mara: how two traditions handle temptation 🔹 The serpent's tactic: twist truth, create doubt 🔹 Why contentment (Santosha) is spiritual protection 🔹 Vedanta's view: ego, craving, and identification as the true 'enemy' 🔹 How to tell if you're in a "spiritual setup" moment This is part one of a two-part conversation exploring temptation, truth, and the psychological and spiritual forces we encounter on the path. Whether you're deep into the Gita or just navigating your own spiritual uplevel, this one's for you. 💖 Ready to deepen your practice and live from your true nature? Explore the Uplifted Membership here => https://www.brettlarkin.com/uplifted/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=uplifted   Book mentioned: Deceived No More by Doreen Virtue FREE Practice: 10 Min Kundalini Kriya For Awakening For Beginners | GUIDED KUNDALINI MEDITATION Relevant Blog: What Is Santosha? Yoga's Philosophy of Happiness.   Relevant to Today's Episode: ✅ History of Yoga 📖 Yoga Life Book  🐍 Yoga for Self Mastery 💖 Uplifted Membership 🎧 Also Listen to: #362 – Somatics, Catholicism & Tantra – A Big Picture Inquiry #395 – The Role of "God" in Yoga + Tantric Shadow Work w/ Katie Silcox #408 - Aparigraha vs. Hustle Culture: I Quit Maximizing. Here's What Happened   © 2026 Uplifted Yoga | BrettLarkin.com

    31 min

  2. 5D AGO ·  BONUS

    How the Chakras Relate to Polyvagal Theory + Your FAQ

    What if your chakra "block" isn't a block — but your nervous system doing its job? In this bonus episode, I go deeper into your most advanced chakra questions: from how the polyvagal ladder maps onto the energy body, to why certain life patterns keep repeating. We'll explore how trauma, somatics, and subtle anatomy intersect — and why your healing path isn't linear (and was never meant to be). We'll explore: 🔹 Are chakras sequential or cyclical? 🔹 Why trauma theory transforms how we understand energy centers 🔹 How the koshas and gunas make chakra work more precise 🔹 Why you keep facing the same life lessons — and what to do about it 🔹 How each chakra reflects your nervous system's state (fight/flight/freeze) This is a practical, somatic deep-dive into energy anatomy, grounded in compassion, science, and lived experience. If you've ever said "I feel stuck," this one's for you. 🌈  Discover your dominant chakra with my FREE dominant chakra test => https://www.brettlarkin.com/chakra-test/ 🎁 Grab my new book: Healing with Somatic Yoga: A 6-Week Journey to Release Emotions, Rewire Your Nervous System, and Reclaim Your Body → https://amzn.to/3WGulGG   FREE Practice: 30 Min Somatic Yoga Flow through Somatic Movement for Hips, Lower Back, Sacral Chakra Relevant Blog: Opening Root Chakra Symptoms And How To Balance Muladhara   Relevant to Today's Episode: 📚 Healing with Somatic Yoga Book  🔮 300-hour Online Yoga Teacher Training 🐍 Yoga for Self Mastery 💖 Uplifted Membership 🎧 Also Listen to: #303 – The 7 Chakras as a Tool for Personal Growth #324 – The Importance of Emotional Processing and Regulation: DENT Model Trauma #390 – The Koshas Decoded: Energy Layers, Leadership + Financial Flow with Carla Cline Thomas   © 2026 Uplifted Yoga | BrettLarkin.com

    20 min

  3. MAR 18

    How to Get Inspired and Be Inspired (Even When You Feel Burned Out)

    If you've been feeling stuck or uninspired—whether in your personal practice or your teaching—this episode is for you. I'm sharing how I've reignited my own creativity over the years, not by pushing harder, but by allowing myself to breathe in new experiences. From Da Vinci to Mirabai, from Einstein's violin to the poetry of Lalla, I'll take you on a journey that reveals the true source of inspiration—and how you can access it again (and again). Here's what I'll explore: 🔹 What "inspiration" really means (and why you can't force it) 🔹 How to feed your creativity through multi-disciplinary learning 🔹 Why your students crave emotion more than information 🔹 The power of music, beauty, and sensory detail to awaken your teaching 🔹 How you showing up in your element is the greatest gift you can give 🔹 Why "how" something is offered matters as much as what's offered If you've been wondering how to get inspired again—or how to truly inspire others—this episode will give you a whole new lens. And maybe, a little fire in your belly. 🎉 And if you need just a little extra teaching inspiration download my sequences and get my free yoga playlist => https://www.brettlarkin.com/teach?utm_medium=social&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=teach  💖 Join our book club! We're starting with the Yoga Sutras inside the Uplifted Membership here => https://www.brettlarkin.com/uplifted/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=uplifted   FREE Practice: MORNING YOGA STRETCHES TO HELP KICK START YOUR DAY | Beginner Women's Yoga - Hips, Shoulders & Psoas Relevant Blog: Somatic Yoga For Yoga Teachers: Everything You Need to Know in 10 Steps   Relevant to Today's Episode: ✅ 200-hour Online Yoga Teacher Training 🔮 300-hour Online Yoga Teacher Training 🐍 Yoga for Self Mastery 🌀 Somatic Yoga Life Coaching  💫 Somatic Certification 🎧 Also Listen to: #299 – Strategies to Slay Imposter Syndrome and Share Your Gifts #363 – How to Become a Magnet for Loyal Students & Own the Room with Confidence with Taylor Lorenz #401 – Who Has Your Attention? Attention Economy vs the Ancient Path   © 2026 Uplifted Yoga | BrettLarkin.com

    27 min

  4. MAR 11

    The Adi Shakti Mantra for Overwhelmed Women with Polly Standeven

    If you've been feeling braced, overextended, or stuck in your head — this episode is for you. In this conversation with one of my Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training graduates, Polly of North & Soul, we explore the Adi Shakti mantra not as theory… but as medicine. This isn't just a breakdown of Sanskrit. It's a conversation about what happens when you stop micromanaging your life force — and allow energy to move again. In this episode, we explore: 🔹 Living at "two out of ten" versus fully expressed in your energy 🔹 Kundalini as your magnetism — your truest creative essence 🔹 How conditioning and trauma constrict your life force 🔹 Shiva and Shakti as awareness and energy inside the body 🔹 Why surrender feels unsafe when your nervous system learned to brace 🔹 The nurturing frequency of Mata Shakti (Divine Mother) 🔹 How to use the Adi Shakti mantra as an anchor when overwhelmed 🔹 The exact mudra and meditation setup We also talk about what it means to soften without collapsing. To allow energy to move instead of clamping down. To trust that you don't have to control everything in order to feel safe. If you've been trying to hold it all together — this episode invites you into a different way. And, if this conversation awakens something in you, my upcoming Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training goes deeper into: • Mantra & energetic anatomy • Shiva–Shakti integration • Nervous system regulation • Embodied leadership https://www.brettlarkin.com/online-kundalini-yoga-teacher-training/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=ku  GUEST EXPERT: Polly Standeven | @northandsoul  Polly Standeven is the founder of North & Soul, a Kundalini teacher, and community leader devoted to feminine alchemy, energy work, and heart-led living. She is a graduate of Brett's 200-hour YTT and Kundalini University and has taught inside Brett's programs. Connect with Polly: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/northandsoul  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/northandsoul  Community: solcircle.tv  Website: www.theinvinciblewoman.co.uk/lilnew    FREE Practice: 20 Min Kundalini Yoga for the Entire Body | KUNDALINI YOGA FOR HEALTH Relevant Blog: Adi Shakti Mantra: Manifest Your Divine Femininity   Relevant to Today's Episode: 📚 Healing with Somatic Yoga Book  🐍Kundalini 200-hour YTT 🔮Kundalini Demystified 🎧 Also Listen to: #43 – What is Kundalini Yoga and Can it Make You Crazy? #138 – The Secrets of Kundalini Demystified with Kia Miller #297 – What is Samkhya Philosophy and How is it Different from Yoga? #265 – What is the Kundalini Serpent? The Major Misunderstandings Demystified   © 2026 Uplifted Yoga | BrettLarkin.com

    44 min

  5. MAR 4

    Trauma-Conscious Kundalini: A New Era of Teaching with Katrina Marie

    Does Kundalini yoga have to be intense and activating? What if it could be trauma-conscious, deeply supportive, and even soothing? In this powerful conversation, I sit down with Katrina Marie—trauma survivor, author, and lead trainer in Uplifted's 200, 300, and Kundalini tracks—to explore how Kundalini yoga can be safely adapted for students with trauma and nervous system sensitivity. We talk about how to teach from a place of safety, how to create choice instead of pressure, and why your unique experience as a teacher is your gift. In this episode, we explore: 🔹 The difference between trauma-informed and trauma-conscious teaching 🔹 How to safely adapt kriyas and breathwork for trauma-sensitive students 🔹 Which meditations actually help regulate the nervous system (and which don't) 🔹 Why choice and agency matter more than "pushing through" 🔹 The healing power of intuitive movement in Kundalini Whether you're a teacher or a student, if you've ever felt overwhelmed in Kundalini—or unsure how to adapt it—this episode offers tools, compassion, and inspiration. 💖 If you're ready to dive deeper — Join me in the upcoming  Uplifted 200-Hour Somatic Trauma-Informed Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training: https://www.brettlarkin.com/online-kundalini-yoga-teacher-training/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=ku    GUEST EXPERT: Katrina Marie | https://katrinamarieyoga.com/  Katrina is an E-RYT 500 with Trauma Informed and Kids Yoga specialities. Katrina's mission is to help yoga instructors find their Trauma Informed voice through the Uplifted training, and to empower kids and adults with her yoga. Katrina has survived an abusive marriage, a school shooting, and strives to turn her own trauma into her dharma as she facilitates healing experiences for others.   Mentioned Practices: Kundalini Meditation for a Calm Heart 10-Min Meditation and Pranayama | Easy Morning Kundalini Kriya For Stress Relief  Relevant Blog: Trauma-Informed Kundalini Yoga: A Heart-Centered Approach to Healing   Relevant to Today's Episode: 🐍Kundalini 200-hour YTT 💖Kundalini Demystified ✅ 200-hour Online Yoga Teacher Training 🔮 300-hour Online Yoga Teacher Training 🎧 Also Listen to: #308 – Kriyanology: The Inside Science of Kundalini Sequencing #373 – Kundalini Awakening or Psychosis? Psychology of Spiritual Awakening with Steven Taylor, PhD #394 – What is Feminine Form Kundalini Yoga?   © 2026 Uplifted Yoga | BrettLarkin.com

    41 min

  6. FEB 25

    Aparigraha vs. Hustle Culture: I Quit Maximizing. Here's What Happened

    Are you addicted to efficiency? This episode explores the fifth Yama, Aparigraha — non-grasping, through the lens of modern life. We talk hoarding… not of stuff, but of tasks, to-dos, and productivity itself. If you've ever found yourself trying to "earn" your rest or multitasking even in your downtime, this one's for you. Let's talk about: 🔹 What it really means to stop grasping (hint: it's not just about material things) 🔹 The dark side of the "maximizer" mindset 🔹 Why we hoard productivity (and how it erodes presence) 🔹 How contentment (Santosha) offers an antidote to overwhelm 🔹 What Mary & Martha can teach us about being vs. doing Yoga begins with your relationship to time, tasks, and how you be with yourself. Let this episode be your reminder: You don't need to do more to be more. 💖 Give yourself permission to slow down, check in, and come home to yourself with my Yoga For Self Mastery course  => https://www.brettlarkin.com/yoga-for-self-mastery/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=ysm   FREE Practice: Yoga for Anxiety & Anger: Yoga to Surrender & Calm Down (25-min) - All Levels Relevant Blog: Aparigraha: 6 Ways To Completely Let Go In Yoga   Relevant to Today's Episode: 📖 Yoga Life Book  📚 Healing with Somatic Yoga Book 🐍 Yoga for Self Mastery 💖 Uplifted Membership 🌀 Somatic Yoga Life Coaching  🎧 Also Listen to: #384 – Do Less, Heal More: 7 Invitations to Resolve Trauma from Organic Intelligence #403 – Why You Keep Failing at Self-Care — and What to Do Differently #404 – What If I Fail? Krishna's Answer to Your Inner Critic (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6) © 2026 Uplifted Yoga | BrettLarkin.com

    31 min

  7. FEB 20 ·  BONUS

    Root Chakra Meditation

    Ready to reconnect with your roots? This short guided meditation focuses on the first chakra — Muladhara, the root chakra — helping you ground into your body and feel deeply supported by the earth beneath you. Whether you're feeling anxious, scattered, or just want to center yourself before your day, this practice is here to help you return to solid ground. In this meditation I'll guide you to: 🔹 Visualize the root chakra and the fire at the earth's core 🔹 Feel your body anchoring into the present moment 🔹 Explore the void — the energetic origin point of grounding and support 🔹 A simple but profound breath practice for nervous system regulation This is a powerful reset anytime you're overwhelmed or unmoored. Drop in and return to yourself. 💖 Ready to deepen your practice and live from your true nature? Explore the Uplifted Membership here => https://www.brettlarkin.com/uplifted/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=uplifted   Relevant to Today's Episode: 🔮 300-hour Online Yoga Teacher Training 🐍 Yoga for Self Mastery 💖 Uplifted Membership   © 2026 Uplifted Yoga | BrettLarkin.com

    16 min

  8. FEB 18

    Vedanta vs. Christianity: Bliss, Grace & the Divine in Two Spiritual Paths

    We recently completed Chapter 6 of the Bhagavad Gita — a raw and honest moment where Arjuna admits, "My mind is more restless than the wind." But before we dive into Chapter 7 (where everything shifts), I want to pause and explore an important question that naturally arises right here: How do the yogic teachings on Ananda (bliss) compare to the Christian understanding of grace — and why do these two paths feel so different in the body? This episode is a bridge — between effort and surrender, empowerment and comfort, self-regulation and devotion — as we explore this question from a comparative, academic, and curious lens.  This is not to prescribe belief, but to deepen understanding and set the stage for what's coming next in the Gita. 🔹 Why yoga teaches bliss is uncovered through discipline 🔹 Why Christianity emphasizes grace and relationship 🔹 Effort vs. surrender — and how both live in the nervous system 🔹 How this sets the stage for Bhakti Yoga in Chapter 7 📚 Get your copy of my new book: Healing with Somatic Yoga: A 6-Week Journey to Release Emotions, Rewire Your Nervous System, and Reclaim Your Body → https://amzn.to/3WGulGG   FREE Practice: 10-Min Easy Yoga For Spine and Neck Flexibility | YOGA FOR BACK PAIN Relevant Blog: How To Create An Everyday Yogic Lifestyle   Relevant to Today's Episode: 🐍 History of Yoga 📚 Healing with Somatic Yoga Book ✅ 200-hour Online Yoga Teacher Training 🔮 300-hour Online Yoga Teacher Training 💫 Yoga for Self Mastery 🎧 Also Listen to: #297 – What is Samkhya Philosophy and How is it Different from Yoga? #358 – Intro to The Bhagavad Gita: How Do You Navigate Moral Dilemmas? #387 – Book 4 of the Yoga Sutras: The Mystical Path to Liberation Explained © 2026 Uplifted Yoga | BrettLarkin.com

    28 min
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4.8
out of 5
620 Ratings

About

Uplift your personal life and accelerate your yoga career leveraging yoga's ancient wisdom. Explore yoga philosophy from the Yoga Sutras, the Vedas, psychology, kundalini and self-help. Brett Larkin helps you get closer to making consistent daily yoga a reality, while empowering you to acknowledge your role as a leader and healer of others. Whether you're experiencing a kundalini awakening, resolving unprocessed trauma, suffering as a "hidden healer," in a cycle of self-sabotage, feeling "imposter syndrome," or stuck trying to grow your wellness business, the Uplifted Yoga podcast is where you come to slay your mindset blocks and indulge in yoga's rich philosophy in a way that's practical and fun. ✨Pre-Order Brett's Book on Amazon ✨Make your yoga practice 2x more potent in 1/2 the time here ✨Download four free yoga business plan Become a member at brettlarkin.com/uplifted

Information

  • Creator
    Brett Larkin
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    415
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2023 Uplifted Yoga
  • Show Website
    The Uplifted Yoga Podcast

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