Mo Yoga Less Problems Podcast

Emily LightMy guest for my final episode is Emily Light. Emily has been studying and practicing yoga for 17 years, and teaching for 12 years. She began formally studying yoga therapy in Southern India, under the guidance of Swami Turyeananada, in 2010. There, she learned the classical therapeutics of asana, pranayama, mantra and meditation. In the summer of 2015, she graduated from a two year yoga therapy training with Sarahjoy Marsh, and is now a certified yoga therapist through the International Association of Yoga Therapists.She’s an anatomy nerd and passionate about helping students find their ideal version of each posture. In her classes, she weaves practical application of yoga philosophy, Ayurveda, and neurobiology into movement, breath and mindfulness, encouraging a dynamic exploration into oneʼs true nature. Her intention is to create a safe and nurturing place for students to learn about themselves and to connect. In this episode, we talk about the using the breath for nervous system regulation. Many of us have heard about the parasympathetic and sympathetic aspects of the nervous system but Emily’s explanation went a bit deeper. To explain the nuance, Emily talked about polyvagal theory, a theory put forth by Dr. Stephen Porges. Watch the short video by Dr. Porges, below, to learn a bit more. During our chat, Emily mentioned some of her favorite poses to help connect to her breath and not only regulate the nervous system, but build its resliency. The following are photos of her demonstrating the poses for your reference. The first is Crocodile pose: Wall dog Sitting, grabbing the seat of the chair Thanks so much to Emily for sharing her knowledge with us! Follow Emily on instagram @emilylightyoga and check out her class schedule at http://emilylightyoga.com. .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_content { background-color: #ededed !important; } .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container .et_bloom_form_header { background-color: #ffffff !important; } .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .carrot_edge .et_bloom_form_content:before { border-top-color: #ffffff !important; } .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .carrot_edge.et_bloom_form_right .et_bloom_form_content:before, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .carrot_edge.et_bloom_form_left .et_bloom_form_content:before { border-top-color: transparent !important; border-left-color: #ffffff !important; } @media only screen and ( max-width: 767px ) {.et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .carrot_edge.et_bloom_form_right .et_bloom_form_content:before, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .carrot_edge.et_bloom_form_left .et_bloom_form_content:before { border-top-color: #ffffff !important; border-left-color: transparent !important; } }.et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_content button { background-color: #ad0075 !important; } .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_content .et_bloom_fields i { color: #ad0075 !important; } .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_content .et_bloom_custom_field_radio i:before { background: #ad0075 !important; } .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_content button { background-color: #ad0075 !important; } .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container h2, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container h2 span, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container h2 strong { font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; }.et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container p, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container p span, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container p strong, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container form input, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .

Katherine Parker is a yoga instructor, owner of Studio PDX, and co-owner of Yomassage. Listen to her interview and be sure to check out her signature class, 6 Weeks to Splits™.

Diana joins us again in this episode for a chat on yoga philosophy. We focused on one of the most loved Upanishads, the Kata Upanishad, which can be translated as "death of the teacher."

Megan Peterson is a doula and yoga teacher in Portland, OR who teaches pre and post natal yoga. Listen for tips on how to modify your practice!

Colin Hogan is a musician as well as a full time yoga teacher and plays in three bands - Ham Yam and the Hims, The Colin Trio and, my favorite, Beardz II Men.

Our guest this episode is Clarissa Evans: owner, trainer, and yoga teacher at Revivewell Training & Yoga in Southwest Portland. Listen to her story about creating a space where people could use exercise as a stress relief in a healthy way and not as an addiction!

Diana loves to teach yoga philosophy and has been teaching yoga in Portland since 2004. Currently, she is the director of the yoga program at Edge Fitness. Listen to hear her journey and be sure to catch our future philosophy chats!

Derek quit his job at Intel to start a company called Hatha Hikes. When you book a Hatha Hike, you get to experience all of Derek’s favorite things with him - yoga, food, the outdoors, and connecting with people!

This episode features a returning guest, Abby Kraai, who is leading a different kind of teacher training next year! Listen in to hear about her inspiration and approach!

This episode features Flex and Flow. We talked to Jamie King, the owner, as well as Liz Wilson and Nicci Randall, about their emphasis on community, their signature class HIIT & Flow, and Sweat Pink, their online community for instructors and practitioners alike.

This episode features Holly Bussmus and Chelsea Grubbs from Firelight Yoga. We talked about what it’s like to open a yoga studio and what the process was like, from picking a location to hiring the teachers and how their vision for the studio changed throughout the process.

This episode features an interview with Cynthia Pedraza, who taught the children’s class at Yoga Fest PDX. We talked about her approach to practicing with her daughters at home, her experience with teaching kids, and she shared some tips on getting your kids started in yoga.

This episode features Massage and Yoga Portland. We sat down with Stephanie O'Donnell-Peters, the owner of Massage and Yoga, along with Gabrielle Johnson and Cookie Jagger who gave hands-on adjustments to students while Stephanie taught her class at Yoga Fest.

The first in the series of Yoga Fest podcasts is an interview we did with a local Portland studio called Yoga Riot. Yoga Riot is a Baptiste yoga-inspired studio. We talked to Annie Ory, the founder of Yoga Riot, Kari Dougherty, Katie Presley, Stone Cairns, and two of their teacher training grads Taylor and Michael.

Tristan Katz talks about the process of going through multiple teacher trainings, teaching for a few years, and then realizing it’s not the right fit. Have you ever been through something similar? If so, you’re not alone - it’s more common than you might realize! This episode is about listening to your gut and following your own path.

This episode is all about yin yoga. My guest is Sarasvati Hewitt, who has been teaching yoga for over 13 years. She teaches vinyasa but her passion and her focus is yin, especially the intersection of neurobiology and yin. Listen to the episode to hear her explain how a yin practice can help regulate hormones, help with anxiety, and even PTSD. Visit the blog post for links to her teachers, more resources, and my fave yin yoga props.

Ever feel like you have the possibility to be so much more? Do you feel stuck, like you don’t know what’s holding you back? My friend Lisa Headley, a self-actualization teacher, sat down with me to talk about using mind, body, and spirit to move towards our most possible ourselves.

Episode 8 of Mo Yoga Less Problems features a returning guest, Chris Calarco. He and I talked about the intersection of depression and yoga, and specifically about his own personal experience. It’s a very honest and vulnerable conversation. If you know someone who suffers from depression, please share the episode with them.

Jill Case has been teaching yoga for over 20 years. Jill uses a variety of ways to work with the energetics of our bodies in her approach to holistic healing. She incorporates astrology into yoga because she believes that the energy of what’s happening with the planets affects everybody, so she gives her students tools to work through it in their bodies.

Abby Kraai isn’t only a yoga teacher, but also an improv performer! She’s been teaching yoga and performing in improv shows since 2012. She was diagnosed with scoliosis when she was 12 years old and eventually had to have 11 vertebrae in her spine fused together. In this episode, Abby talked about how she’s learned to appreciate what her body can do instead of resenting it for its limitations. She also shared lessons from improv we can all apply to our yoga practices.

In this episode, Chris Calarco talks to us about his journey from student to teacher, what he learned along the way, and what he's working on now. Chris has been studying and teaching yoga for over 10 years. Before that, he was a mental health therapist. He teaches vinyasa, hatha, and an “advancing asana” workshop series. His style combines elements from many different lineages to find what works for different bodies.

Ying's practice and teaching are based in the Ashtanga tradition, and integrate alignment influence from the Iyengar school. Her style has evolved from a physically-focused fast paced Power Yoga flow to a more introspective flow that challenges the mind and body. In addition to teaching yoga, Ying teaches skiing during the winter at Mt Hood Meadows.

Listen to how Erin turned around her life from substance abuse, and used yoga to focus on becoming a better person and feeling better both inside and out.

Listen to this episode with Chris Davis, a full time yoga teacher and artist. He teaches vinyasa classes and inversions workshops at several different studios and gyms in Portland.

01: Audrey Magnuson, founder of EOS Yoga http://moyogalessproblems.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Ep-1-EOS-MoYoga-podcast.mp3 Since the airing of this podcast episode, EOS Yoga is under new management and is now Studio PDX. Audrey and many of the other EOS teachers still teach at the space, so be sure to check it out! Today's guest is Audrey Magnuson, founder of EOS Yoga (now Studio PDX); a new studio on E. Burnside and 30th. Whether you’re a regular in her classes or haven’t yet gotten to a class, listen to get to know more about Audrey on a personal level. In this episode, Audrey talks to us about how she got started with $10 yoga, the difficulty with which her yoga journey started out, how her practice preferences changed over time and a little bit about the space. Check out a virtual tour of the yoga studio below! Check out the class schedule, 6-week workshop series, and how to rent out the space at http://www.studio-pdx.com/. Follow them on Instagram @studiopdx. .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_content { background-color: #ededed !important; } .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container .et_bloom_form_header { background-color: #ffffff !important; } .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .carrot_edge .et_bloom_form_content:before { border-top-color: #ffffff !important; } .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .carrot_edge.et_bloom_form_right .et_bloom_form_content:before, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .carrot_edge.et_bloom_form_left .et_bloom_form_content:before { border-top-color: transparent !important; border-left-color: #ffffff !important; } @media only screen and ( max-width: 767px ) {.et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .carrot_edge.et_bloom_form_right .et_bloom_form_content:before, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .carrot_edge.et_bloom_form_left .et_bloom_form_content:before { border-top-color: #ffffff !important; border-left-color: transparent !important; } }.et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_content button { background-color: #ad0075 !important; } .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_content .et_bloom_fields i { color: #ad0075 !important; } .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_content .et_bloom_custom_field_radio i:before { background: #ad0075 !important; } .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_content button { background-color: #ad0075 !important; } .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container h2, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container h2 span, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container h2 strong { font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; }.et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container p, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container p span, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container p strong, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container form input, .et_bloom .et_bloom_optin_2 .et_bloom_form_container form button span { font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; } Sign up for the NewsletterPodcast episodes, videos, and products right to your inbox. Sign me up! You have Successfully Subscribed! About Me Hi, I’m Jas. I hope you enjoy learning more about local yoga teachers with me! I love hatha, slooow vinyasa, milk chocolate Lindt truffles, and pistachio gelato. Yay, you just learned something new!