Yoga Medicine – Details, episodes & analysis

Ahimsa or non-harming is a central value of yoga philosophy, but looking at the world around us it’s all too easy to find examples of systemic suffering that seem impossible to solve. Today’s episode tackles one such issue; gender-based violence and sex trafficking.

Host Rachel speaks with Sarah Symons, founder of international non-profit Her Future Coalition which has been working since 2005 to ensure that survivors of trafficking have what they need to remain free, safe and independent.

As well as sharing her own story, Sarah gives tips for those wanting to get involved in this or any other service work, including the importance of starting with a single step, listening to those who are closest to the issue, making mistakes and learning from them, and focusing your energy on the positives.

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• The mission of Her Future Coalition [2:17]
• Why it’s so difficult to face gender-based violence [3:25]
• Sarah takes her inspiration from survivors [7:04]
• Early mistakes: trying to rush the healing process [10:26]
• Survivors often can’t return to their family [13:38]
• Benefits of the shelter environment for survivors [17:05]
• The power of non-verbal healing modalities – art, movement, games [18:59]
• Looking to the long-term: vocational education [22:39]
• Ripple effect: Survivors become part of the solution [24:50]
• Handling despair [28:51]
• Keys to success in service work [31:26]
• Savoring joy [34:48]
• Final takeaways [40:04]

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• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Previous Yoga Medicine® Podcast Episodes:
  • 37: Yoga as Service with Amanda Cunningham
• Yoga Medicine® Seva Foundation
• Connect with Sarah Symons:

         Facebook | Instagram | Her Future Coalition | TEDx

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-117.

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.

Perhaps you’ve heard that menopause is having a moment. But while menopause is more present in the media, there’s still a lack of balanced, nuanced, and honest information around this stage of life.

In this episode, host Rachel talks with yoga and Pilates teacher and teacher-trainer Niamh Daly about her passion project: yoga for the late reproductive stage, perimenopause, menopause, and beyond.

We discuss the lesser-known physical and mental implications of this menopause, and how we can fine-tune our yoga practice to support our changing needs.

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• The challenges of measuring the effects of yoga with research [3:00]
• What inspired Niamh’s fascination with this life stage [5:14]
• The new stigma around menopause [10:28]
• Perimenopause can trigger existential angst [14:57]
• Less discussed impacts of menopause: changes in perceived capacity [19:48]
• Rage and menopause [24:54]
• Changes in self esteem [28:47]
• The medicalization of menopause & health worries [31:01]
• Shifts in purpose, career, relationships & libido [33:35]
• Yoga asana through late reproductive stage, perimenopause & menopause [38:32]
• Differences in approach: perimenopause vs menopause [47:58]
• The vital importance of Satya in media coverage & in our teaching [51:58]
• Research on menopause and pranayama [58:00]
• Meditation, self-judgement, CBT & Pratipaksha Bhavana [1:02:46]
• Wrap up & more resources [1:05:07]

—

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Female Health Yoga Teacher Training
• Previous Yoga Medicine® Podcast Episodes:
  • 63: Yoga & Osteoporosis with Michaela Smith
  • 91: Balance Myths Busted with Sava Papos
• Connect with Niamh Daly:

         Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Yinstinct Yoga

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-116.

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.

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• 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]

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• 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.

If you have ever felt unwelcome, unheard, or disempowered, you will relate to the content of today’s conversation between Rachel and Nicole Calhoun, PhD. Nicole has an undergraduate degree in Biology, a PhD in molecular genetics, and years of experience as a post-doctoral researcher, but has pivoted to working as a yoga teacher and studio owner.

After being told she “didn’t belong” in a yoga studio, Nicole was inspired to open her own space, becoming the change she wanted to see in her community. She shares her experience with racism in the yoga world and explains why she has decided to put diversity and inclusion in yoga at the forefront of her career.

Listen in as Nicole talks about how she uses a physically challenging yoga practice to support herself and her community and offers concrete actions we can take all address the lack of diversity in yoga.

Show Notes:

• Defining molecular genetics [4:06]
• Nicole’s early relationship with yoga [8:43]
• Using a challenging physical yoga practice therapeutically [11:02]
• What inspired Nicole to teach despite an established career in science [12:09]
• Feeling “othered” – Nicole’s experience with racism in yoga [15:35]
• Practicing yoga while Black [18:33]
• Opening her own yoga studio [24:57]
• Finding the courage to share uncomfortable truths [26:06]
• Diversity and inclusion in yoga [30:02]
• A physically demanding yoga practice can teach us how to handle adversity in life [35:02]
• How Nicole tailors her practice to support strength and confidence [36:56]
• Committing to diversity & inclusion 365 days a year [40:14]
• Actions we can take to make yoga more welcoming to all [44:19]

Links Mentioned:

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Connect with Nicole Calhoun, PhD:
  LinkedIn | Instagram | Mind Body Online | Elxr Yoga Lounge | YM Online Guest Teacher

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at www.YogaMedicine.com/podcast-17.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at www.YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Let’s dive into the world of sleep and its effects on our physical and mental health. Today’s guest, Dr. Amy Sedgwick, is a board-certified and practicing emergency physician and a yoga and meditation teacher – putting her in the perfect position to help us unpack the importance of sleep duration and quality from varied perspectives.

In this episode, Amy and Rachel talk about how she found her calling and how both her colleagues and her patients benefit from healthy stress relief outlets like yoga and meditation. Amy shares tips for falling asleep, staying asleep, and getting high-quality sleep even when your personal life is hectic. She also talks about how to find the tools that work for you and why we should trust our “earth suits” over the latest trends in sleep science.

Listen in to learn the negative effects of poor sleep quality or duration over the long-term, why Amy sleeps in the cold, and ways to honor your natural sleep rhythms.

Show Notes:

• How Amy found her way to emergency medicine [6:26]
• Processing the stress and tragedy of emergency medical work [7:52]
• The Yin & Yang of Amy’s yoga journey [9:07]
• The underrated impact of recovery [11:55]
• Self-care for health workers [12:37]
• The call to teach yoga [14:35]
• Navigating a career in the ER with being a yoga teacher and studio owner [19:02]
• Effects of insufficient sleep quality or duration over the long-term [24:10]
• Honoring natural, seasonal rhythms [30:12]
• Human sleep cycles and REM vs non-REM sleep [31:55]
• How do we know if we have slept well? [33:13]
• Tips for better sleep duration and quality [35:45]
• How alcohol and late meals affect sleep [37:23]
• Evening wind-down routines, electronics and blue light [39:30]
• Blue light and sleep – evening vs morning practices [43:24]
• Morning routines also impact sleep quality and duration [44:13]
• Tips for people who wake up in the middle of the night [49:20]
• Mitigating the impact of periods of low sleep quality [53:01]
• Final thoughts, including sleep trackers [57:57]

Links Mentioned:

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Nervous System & Restorative Yoga Teacher Training
• Connect with Amy Sedgwick:
  LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter | Medicine Within

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at www.YogaMedicine.com/podcast-16.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at www.YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

In today’s episode, we unpack persistent pain with Marnie Hartman. Marnie has a doctorate in physical therapy and is a certified strength and conditioning coach as well as being a yoga teacher, putting her in a unique position to help us understand pain, particularly lasting or persistent pain, from varied perspectives.

Marnie talks to Rachel about some of the myths and misconceptions around pain. She explains how the experience of pain is an output of the nervous system rather than an input, making it highly individual, and how that knowledge can inform the yoga techniques we use in pain care. She offers a range of suggestions on how we can work with pain in a more caring and compassionate way, whether it’s our own or that of others, by harnessing the power of curiosity and playfulness.

Listen in to learn how pain works and how we can work with it.

Show Notes:

• Marnie’s journey from physical therapist to yoga teacher [3:43]
• Defining pain and common misconceptions about pain [7:26]
• Is pain a reliable indicator of tissue damage? [11:14]
• Our tendency to frame pain as an unpleasant experience [13:19]
• Environmental influences on pain perception [14:45]
• The relationship between pain and stress, the first and second dart [17:27]
• Yoga in pain care and the pain mandala model [23:52]
• The power of simple practices, including listening, when working with someone in pain [30:02]
• Teasing out the details of the pain experience to shift our neurologic maps [34:21]
• Body scanning to invite curiosity around sensation, “and this too” [38:49]
• Other yoga applications for people with persistent pain [42:10]
• The importance of language in pain care [58:35]

Links Mentioned:

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Pain Science – Yoga – Life by Niamh Moloney & Marnie Hartman
• Pain Science for Yoga Teachers Online Course
• Connect with Marnie Hartman:

Body IQ PT | LinkedIn | Email | Pain Science Yoga Life | YM Online Guest Teacher

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at www.YogaMedicine.com/podcast-15.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at www.YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Today’s episode is all about fascia as a sensory organ. Whether you are a healthcare provider, body worker, or yoga teacher, it is so important to have all the information on this issue that we so often disregard. Listen in as Tiffany and Katja talk all about proprioception, take a look at interception and discuss how they relate to the fascial system and yoga practice. 

They explain the recent research on sensory nerves and point out how important is it for the body to be able to collect a really rich picture of what’s happening within us. They also talk about how we can stimulate fascial receptors and the varied functions of free nerve endings.

Listen to this episode to learn about the different types of fascial receptors, practical uses of proprioception, and to get an idea about what interoception is about.

Show Notes:

• Defining exteroception [2:15]
• What proprioception is [2:40]
• Describing interoception [3:01]
• Fascia is our richest sensory organ [4:35]
• What can happen when our body senses don’t work [7:37]
• Explaining sensory nerves [10:55]
• Role of Pacini receptors [11:45]
• Understanding Ruffini endings [14:28]
• Why it’s important to stimulate fascial receptors [17:50]
• Creating sensory input with MFR [20:33]
• The complexity of muscle spindles [22:49]
• Implications of Golgi endings [24:14]
• Body check-ins as sensory information collection [26:02]
• The many functions of free nerve endings [28:59]
• Receptors in superficial fascia [33:51]
• Sensory “hot spots” in deeper fascial layers [37:05]
• The importance of the superficial fascia layer [38:53]
• Recent research on thoracolumbar fascia [39:59]
• Practical uses of interoception [42:32]
• Feeling and listening to create body awareness [44:50]
• The nervous system and the Nobel Prize 2021 [58:08]

Links Mentioned:

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Myofascial Release Teacher Training
• Myofascial Release Bundle Online Course: for the Legs & Feet, Hips, Neck & Shoulders
• Research Resources Doc
• Connect with Katja Bartsch:

Facebook | Instagram | Kalamana Yoga | YM Online Teacher

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at www.YogaMedicine.com/podcast-14.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at www.YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Most of us will run into unexpected setbacks in life. Today's guest Megan Kearney knows plenty about using those situations as opportunities to learn and grow stronger. An admitted type-a personality and “recovering triathlete”, Megan has been in the health and wellness industry for more than 20 years. She is a Yoga Medicine therapeutic specialist with additional trainings in mental health and traumatic brain injury resilience and iRest Yoga Nidra.

When COVID-19 hit, Megan’s previously successful yoga studios closed, and her marriage ended. In this episode, she talks with Rachel Land about turning these, and other, setbacks into success by practicing relentless realistic optimism. She also talks about the importance of self-care rituals, movement, getting outdoors, gratitude, relationships, journalling, therapy, and other practical ways to make space to feel and process both good and bad experiences until we feel ready to move on.

Listen in to learn how to pull yourself out of 'the suck’, and how to turn what we learn in that struggle into the source of our future success.

Show Notes:

• Megan’s journey to yoga starts with meditation [4:13]
• From Bikram yoga, through sports injuries, to yoga as a source of healing [6:29]
• The transition from practicing to teaching yoga [14:32]
• Opening two yoga studios [18:29]
• The professional and personal impact of the pandemic [19:58]
• Key self care techniques to create space to feel in times of crisis [23:08] and [31:51]
• The power of gratitude and ‘Five Things Friday’ [33:05]
• The importance of connection and relationship and Megan’s ‘Areas of Inquiry’ [35:40]
• Journalling, therapy and movement in nature to help us process our experiences and shift perspective [39:09]
• Megan’s Yoga Rx program and honest consideration of readiness to change [42:56]
• Final thoughts for anyone currently in ‘the suck’ [48:43]

Links Mentioned:

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Yoga & Mindfulness 101 for Physicians & Healthcare Providers Online Course
• Myofascial Release Teacher Training
• Connect with Megan Kearney:

LinkedIn | Instagram | Pinterest | Reset With Megan | YM Online Guest Teacher

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at www.yogamedicine.com/podcast-13.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at www.yogamedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Hip mobility is a hot topic on social media and in the movement world, seeming to generate strong opinions as to whether extreme range of motion is good or bad for us. So in today’s episode, Tiffany and Rachel unpack what is considered “normal” range of motion for the hip joint and its application in daily activities. They discuss the potential implications of significant limitations in hip mobility, as well as those of extreme mobility. They cover the difference between muscle tension and bony end range, and explore the roles of passive versus active range of motion.

Listen in to hear how gaining neurologic control of your mobility, and perhaps even losing some of your end range, could help you feel better in your body, and the value of viewing hip mobility not as an end goal, but through the context of how you would like your hips to function in a yoga context and beyond.

Show Notes:

• What is considered “normal” range of motion in hip flexion [3:15]
• Functional range of motion will differ for each of us [8:10]
• Implications of significant limitations in hip flexion [8:43]
• “Normal” range of motion in hip extension [11.02]
• The role of individual bony structure in range of motion [13:11]
• Hip extension in daily life, and implications of significant limitations in hip extension [13:51]
• Extreme hip range of motion after hip replacement [15:33]
• Hip abduction [16:45]
• Hip adduction [18:19]
• Stability is key for the IT band, the Yin & Yang of yoga and running [18:51]
• Hip external rotation [23:06]
• How our fascia adapts to repeated loading; implications for mobility [25:20]
• Hip internal rotation [28:01]
• Differentiating bony limitations from muscle tension at end range [29:06]
• Control over our mobility: passive versus active range of motion [31:13]
• Active range of motion and improved neurologic control, and the value of cross-training [35:14]
• Implications of big gaps between active and passive range [36:47]
• Can there be value in decreasing our passive range of motion? [40:42]
• Assessing hip mobility in the context of the demands of our individual lives [47:01]
• Suggestions from research on extremes in hip range of motion [53:50]
• Conclusions and take-away points [56:47]

Links Mentioned:

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Hip Intensive Yoga Teacher Training

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at www.YogaMedicine.com/podcast-12.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at www.YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

When was the last time you asked yourself: what do I truly want? Today we are talking about motivation and identity with someone who asks themselves that question multiple times a day. Author, yoga teacher, and fitness coach Kirsten Beverley-Waters holds a B.S. from Kent State University along with multiple qualifications from the American College of Sports Medicine, CrossFit, and Precision Nutrition.

No stranger to struggle, Kirsten teaches movement through the lens of mental wellness, setting her clients up for success when facing the inevitable challenges of life. In this episode Kirsten shares that, to keep up motivation in the long term, we need to choose goals that speak to us personally then find joy in the repetition of the little things that get us closer to our goals. She talks with Rachel about her plans to break a world record in 2022 in support of The Trevor Project and LGBTQ youth, and the importance of all of us understanding our own identity in order to show up more authentically in our lives.

Listen in to learn how to choose goals that excite and inspire, how to manage unavoidable ebbs and flows in motivation, and the importance of making friends with struggle.

Show Notes:

• What inspired Kirsten’s interest in sports performance and coaching [3:18]
• Running as an escape from early struggles [5:46]
• Beginning yoga practice during cancer treatment [9:17]
• Accepting the call to teach yoga [12:13]
• Kirsten’s world record goal for 2022, supporting the Trevor Project and LGBTQ youth [14:07]
• Finding life goals that inspire and excite us [21:40]
• Journalling as a tool to help us clarify our thoughts and intentions [26:51]
• How to keep showing up once we’ve chosen a goal [29:49]
• The power of repetition [32:30]
• Reframing struggle [36:10]
• Lessons from strength training: failure as a prompt for growth [41:05]
• More tips to sustain motivation longterm [44:19]
• The importance of rest and recovery [46:45]
• Why consideration of personal identity is important for all of us to show up authentically [52:28]

Links Mentioned:

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Sex, Gender, & Identity in Yoga Online Course
• Connect with Kirsten Beverley-Waters:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | K B Waters | YM Online Guest Teacher

You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at www.YogaMedicine.com/podcast-11.

And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at www.YogaMedicine.com.

To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.