Many of us kick off the new year ready to commit (or recommit) to a dedicated personal yoga practice. But as the days and weeks pass, this commitment can start to run out of steam. So today hosts Tiffany and Rachel share their personal practice tips as well as things that have been particularly helpful in keeping their practice going over the years. We emphasize the importance of flexibility of mind and how we can change our lens to turn needs into likes.

Listen in to learn how to build a realistic personal practice that supports you.

—

• Why personal practice matters, for teachers and students [3:07]
• What constitutes a personal practice? [12:37]
• Being honest with yourself about what is and isn’t yoga practice [23:19]
• Does frequency on the mat matter? [27:28]
• Should we prioritize needs or wants? [33:20]
• Does your personal practice have to be self-guided? [37:38]
• Takeaways & more tips [38:51]

—

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Previous Yoga Medicine® Podcast Episodes:
  
  • 05: Sustainability & Yoga
  • 96: Creating Change with Alison Heilig
• YMO Monthly Dose: Supporting & Building your Home Practice

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-128.

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 this special best-of episode for 2024, we feature clips from some of our favorite episodes, highlight common threads that weave different guests and topics together, and feature some of the gems you might have missed during the year.

—

• Fascia science behind the benefits of movement [1:17]
• Reframing tension: moderation over extremes [4:03]
• How yoga helps regulate the nervous system [7:12]
• Are we handling stress as well as we think? [9:38]
• Safe practice spaces as a refuge from overwhelm [12:21]
• The causes, components, and symptoms of burnout [14:11]
• Perpetual optimization of physical health at the expense of mental health [16:29]
• The “new stigma” of menopause [22:07]
• Yoga as self-discovery for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence [26:49]
• Body awareness and self-agency for persistent pain care [31:15]
• How yoga teachers help keep students “safe” [35:46]
• Is there one perfect breath rhythm or duration? [38:33]
• Answering student questions [42:22]
• Human complexity; we are more than machines [44:35]
• The power of truly listening [46:47]
• How to integrate new approaches, tools & techniques [51:33]
• Cultural relevance and appropriation [55:12]
• Can we separate yoga from its historical, philosophical, and religious influences? [59:28]
• Who is yoga for and who should be teaching it? [1:04:02]
• Is it less about what we do, and more about how we do it? [1:07:10]

—

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Find all the episodes mentioned at https://yogamedicine.com/podcast/

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-126.

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.

Change is constant and inevitable, but the sheer speed of recent changes in the yoga world leaves many of us confused about what it actually looks like and means to be a yoga teacher right now.

Today hosts Rachel and Tiffany look back over the massive changes that have occurred in the yoga world over the past few decades, and what they might signal for the years ahead. We debate the pros and cons of boom times, the rise of social media, and the ever-evolving needs of students.

Listen to this episode to learn how yoga teachers can continue to adapt to better serve our communities.

—

Show Notes:

• Looking back can help us move forward with more clarity [1:18]
• Early days of yoga in the West: underground, no-frills, “anti-influencer” [3:53]
• Big changes in the early 2000s [11:00]
• The first commercial teacher trainings and new yoga brands [15:35]
• Yoga celebrities, yoga fashion, and growing competition [16:46]
• Credibility from yoga lineage overtaken by social media following? [21:45]
• Yoga Medicine and explosive growth in YTT [27:38]
• The 2010s: The yoga boom and growing pains [31:35]
• Covid challenges and opportunities: meeting people where they’re at [33:56]
• Post-COVID era: options versus overwhelm [37:35]
• Takeaways: find your niche with patience, persistence, and presence [40:03]
• Takeaways: What feeds you changes over time [48:04]
• Takeaways: Know what you bring to the table [53:55]
• Takeaways: Be purpose-driven [58:45]
• Final thoughts [1:02:33]

—

Links Mentioned:

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Listen to Episode 82: Building a Healthy Relationship with Social Media
• Listen to Episode 5: Sustainability & Yoga

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-125.

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 topic is one of our favorites. Hosts Tiffany and Rachel dive deep into sequencing to unpack common pitfalls for yoga teachers and how they can be avoided.

Is there such a thing as too much of a good thing? How can we choose a class focal point or theme that resonates with students? Are we teaching from a place of thinking rather than feeling? In this episode, we talk about the most important aspects of sequencing, what to add to or trim out of your class, and how to shorten or elongate students’ perception of time.

Listen in to learn how to create a balanced and intention-based yoga class sequence.

—

• The pressure of the “perfect” sequence [1:26]
• Pitfall #1: Timing, timing, timing [5:09]
• Pitfall #2: No central theme to create clarity & cohesion [15:30]
• Pitfall #3: Too much of a good thing [21:18]
• Pitfall #4: Picking the wrong theme for your students [26:32]
• Pitfall #5: Unintentional overload [30:15]
• Pitfall #6: Sequencing purely for novelty or complexity [36:03]
• More rapid-fire sequencing tips [41:00]
• Yoga Medicine® Sequencing with Purpose online training [49:12]

—

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Sequencing with Purpose Online Yoga Teacher Training
• Yoga Medicine® Podcast Episode 95: Smarter Not Harder: Creative Sequencing
• 5 Most Common Sequencing Mistakes That (Even Experienced) Yoga Teachers Make
• Yoga Teachers: Here’s How to Get 5 Completely Different Classes Out of the Same Exact Sequence of Poses

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-123.

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 Katja discuss recent research on estrogen’s effects on muscle. This is a hot topic at the moment, so in this episode, we share the importance of understanding the background of our hormones and the effect of estrogen on areas like muscle mass, neuromuscular activation, and recovery.

Listen in to learn how the effects of estrogen are being studied in research and the different ways that estrogen impacts our muscular tissues.

—

• Background on estrogen’s relationship with fascia and tissue [1:59]
• How is the effect of estrogen on muscle being studied [3:31]
• Different types of estrogen [8:38]
• Impact of estrogen on muscles specifically [9:43]
• Importance of individuality when working with women’s bodies [16:29]
• Impact of estrogen on strength on a molecular level [19:03]
• Ways that estrogen impacts recovery [24:26]
• Takeaways [33:41]

—

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Traditional Chinese Medicine Yoga Teacher Training
• Female Health Yoga Teacher Training
• Traditional Chinese Medicine + Female Health Yoga Teacher Training | Tulum, Mexico – March 23-30, 2025
• Yoga for Athletes Yoga Teacher Training
• 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-122.

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.

We all know that yoga is much more than a physical practice; it is underpinned by a framework of philosophy that is centuries old. But as a yoga teacher, you may or may not have incorporated this theoretical understanding into daily action - or helped your students do so.

So today we talk about the practical application of some key yoga sutras with returning guest Diane Malaspina PhD. In this episode, Diane helps host Rachel appreciate how three of Patanjali's sutras apply to the challenges we face in daily modern life.

Listen in as we discuss the balancing act we must manage to realize any important long term goals, and how self-compassion can be a powerful tool for connection.

—

• Defining the yoga sutras [3:16]
• What yoga philosophy teaches us about the nature of life [6:58]
• Committed practice (abhyasa) & non-attachment (vairagya) [10:54]
• Rolf Gates’ definition of abhyasa [14:35]
• Another definition of sutras 1:12-1:16 – “Trust the Process” [19:42]
• Ahimsa as a counter to fear & polarization [30:36]
• The change begins with us; self-compassion leads to connection [35:07]
• Boundaries as a sustainable balance to Ahimsa [48:15]
• More resources & Diane’s Yoga Medicine courses [51:02]

—

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Inside the Yoga Sutras – The Path to Freedom Online Course
• Exploring the Yamas through Meditation & Practice Online Course
• Join Diane LIVE & IN-PERSON for the Yoga Medicine® Resilience Retreat from Nov 2nd – 3rd in Santa Rosa, CA
• Suggested reading:
  • Meditations from the Mat, Rolf Gates
  • The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Chip Hartranft
  • The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Swami Satchidananda
  • Inside the Yoga Sutras, Jaganath Carrera
  • Kristin Neff, Self Compassion Journaling
• Previous Yoga Medicine® Podcast Episodes with Diane Malaspina PhD:
  • 04: Find Ease in Uncertainty
  • 31: The Power of Intention
  • 57: Drishti, the Potency of Our Focus – Research Roundup
• Connect with Diane Malaspina:

Facebook | Instagram | Diane Malaspina

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-121.

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.