Spira Power Yoga's Podcast

EPISODE DESCRIPTIONDora is the owner of Spira Power Yoga; she teaches mindfulness, resilience, and burnout prevention classes and yoga teacher trainings. Cam is a yoga student at Spira Yoga who is seeking a new journey at midlife.We sat down and recorded a few casual conversations about life, yoga, philosophy, and books.This recording is our first conversation. Enjoy!This episode is our second meeting where we tackle the midlife issue, meaning of life, you know, just light conversation :-) And pros and cons of technology.

Dora is the owner of Spira Power Yoga; she teaches mindfulness, resilience, and burnout prevention classes and yoga teacher trainings. Cam is a yoga student at Spira Yoga who is seeking a new journey at midlife.We sat down and recorded a few casual conversations about life, yoga, philosophy, and books.This recording is our first conversation. Enjoy!Below you will the timeline: -              Gratitude 1.35      Orientation to place in life 2.15      Involuntary nature of interest 2.55      What about this studio drew my attention 3.30      description of something "missing"  4.12      Autopoietic 6.30      the persistent draw of yoga practice 7.50      Hard to put a finger on it 8.27      difference between yoga and manipulative bodywork 10.15    sacred nature/all in one place at one time 10.15    Operation of imagination  11.55    Loving attention  12.39    Maya - illusion 15.15    Teacher  15.70    What is real (figure it out?) 16.45    Assertion: growth only happens under adversity 17.30    Love and grief  18.15    lila, dukkha 18.41    Figuring it out  18.45    Trickster  18.73    Deadly serious game (nobody gets out alive not even Jesus Christ) 20.15    Everyone is a teacher  20.22    Definition of adult: taking responsibility for one's actions in an honest manner (that's teaching 20.55    Useful pattern of behavior (not necessary to figure it out) 21.62    Joy of sharing motivates teaching  21.74    Not cling the o outcome  22.12    Attempt to manipulate blocks flow of information  22.71    Not feeding the beast limits a certain growth (maybe good future conversation 24.70    "Beast " of capitalist culture/ teaching as opposed to "following" 25.02    Teacher shows way (not one you "follow ") from the book Desikachar - The Heart of Yoga 25.62    Sticky nature of popularity  26.02    Quality of exchange with students after closing "robust" studio. 27.12    Fundamental motivation to act  28.02    Sense of wonder 29.72    Paradox of the world  30.92    The journey is the point  32.02    we mentioned author Jonathan Haidt , The Happiness Hypothesis, The Righteous Mind 32.02    Book mentioned; Fourth Turning 35.42    Relationship between the state of physiology and familiarity with the  36.07    Culture and nature (epigenetic brothers; error to separate) 37.47    Put a pin in nature/nurture dialog 39.16    What is truly necessary ("real need") 40.12    Living necessity/need for order 41.40    Attempt to come back to topic of Fourth Turning and the hopeful message that we are at the end of a speculum (a length of time roughly equal to the potential lifetime of a person or, equivalently, the complete renewal of a human population). 43.32    Proposition: we carry history in our bodies (attribute nose comment to Sadhguru) 43.32    What do we (mid-life and elder) need to let go of, and what are the essential elements of history that the youngsters are ignorant of? Need to "hold space for something greater." 44.47    timeline of yogic teaching 46.32    The nature of how we create love and foster relationship does not change; we (as a species) sometimes forget how; that's what changes. 46.47    Nature of verbal language 47.62    Fear of and clumsiness with emotion 50.82    Communicating is "the practice" 52.52    Perception of, "not being right" as a primary threat 53.32    Beauty of living yoga: allow self to tease back reality 54.42    Responsibility to create as little harm as possible

Spend 20 min with Dr. Larry Silber, a Chiropractor, and Functional Medicine doctor, as well as a Crossfit and Yoga enthusiast. Learn why Yoga is essential for folks who love endurance and power sports, and yes, it is beneficial for everybody. Yoga is still mostly considered a “sport for the ladies,” it is time to change this mainstream perception. Yoga is very beneficial for men, and no, you do not need to be able to touch your toes. Dr. Silber graduated from Life Chiropractic College in Marietta, Georgia with academic honors. He practiced for many years in both the Atlanta and the Seattle areas before continuing his education and focusing on Functional Medicine. Dr. Silber's decision to add in a focus on nutritional healing as well as chiropractic care, came out of his desire to help his family. He has seen first-hand the damaging effects of stress, poor diet and lack of physical activity on several family members. In addition, he currently gets to see the impact of sleep, food and stress management on both his own athletic performance and the many athletes with whom he works.Dr. Silber believes that physical health is the platform for achieving one's goals and spiritual and emotional expansion. Working with people living with all types of health concerns, including weight gain, fatigue, depression, female hormone and gut problems, Dr. Silber shows people how to build a strong foundation of well-being and re-claim their birthright of physical health.You can find Dr. Silber teaching yoga Monday nights at Spira. If you wish to get in touch with him, send us an email; info@spirapoweryoga.com

Spira Talk Radio, Episode #6Spend 30 min. listening to Marti, a Spira Yogi, talking about her new venture in life, volunteering at the Doney Coe Pet Clinic in Seattle.Doney Coe Pet Clinic supports the unconditional love between humans and their pets by offering veterinary services and wellness care to the pets of qualifying low-income families experiencing homelessness in Seattle, Washington.Why? Because every animal matters, and that all pets deserve to live a happy, healthy life. If you are interested in working with Doney Coe Pet Clinic, send Spira an email; info@spirapoweryoga.com. We will get you in touch with the right person.

Spira is gearing up for our annual yoga retreat, Kandie has been our private chef for the past 4 years. Listen to us reminisce about the fantastic food and surrounding. Spira holds annual retreats at Huntly's lodge. Those of you who have been to the estate, you know; it is spacious and private.The estate is on a private 20 acres8 spacious cabins with their own bathrooms.The cabins are far apart from each other.Classes are held outside by the pool.Food is served outside in the garden.Let's spend a little time together! Let's do it safely, let's make it fun! For more info: https://www.spirapoweryoga.com/yoga-retreat

Fitness is great, we need it, but yoga is so much more than Fitness. Yoga is about health and balance for mind and body; it is not concerned about looking good. Unfortunately, the more prolific yoga gets in mainstream culture with social media and large corporations, the more it loses its content as a wisdom tradition. Ayurveda is about bringing balance to self and the universe. In this episode, we will explain the basic concept of Ayurveda and discuss how these ideas could bring our current culture into greater health in both mind and body. If you are curious about learning more about Ayurveda, check out the following workshops: https://www.spirapoweryoga.com/events-1/find-balance-through-ayurveda-short-workshop

Get to know your teachers better. Many of you know Chuck from his fun, music-filled classes at Spira. Here is your chance to get to know him as a person; he is also a dad to two amazing teens. Listen to this casual 30-minute conversation about raising a family and how yoga and meditation became his anchor on and off the mat.

Conversation with Kristen, a Licenced Mental Health counselor about difficulties that youth face during Covid-19. We chat about how yoga can be a helpful tool for young adults.If you are interested she has a workshop coming up at Spira: https://www.spirapoweryoga.com/events-1/young-adult-yoga-workshop-2Of course, we don't think yoga is the solution in all situations. If anxiety and depression symptoms are severe Seek Professional help:Start with a pediatrician, school counselor/social worker, teacher then a therapist.Help lines:Seattle Children's crisis line text HOME to 741741.https://www.hca.wa.gov/health-care-services-supports/behavioral-health-recovery/mental-health-crisis-lines1-800-273-8255 National Suicide Help Line

Get to know your teachers better! Spira's Talk-Radio is casual, light-hearted conversations with teachers and the community about anything from Yoga to current events.Our first interview is with Carina; we will discuss the new book "Breath" by James Nestor, while we learn fun tidbits about each other, like eating rattlesnakes and such. Spira does not receive any money from any organization or author. We simply talk about stuff we like.

Yoga requires us to let go of perfection and enjoy the flow. The Japanese have an expression for finding beauty in imperfection, or imbalance; Wabi-Sabi. Well, this is a fun Spira Power Yoga flow class where nothing went as planned. Dora taught a perfect morning class on the breath, which went so well that she decided to repeat the class in the afternoon and record it… Well, Wabi-Sabi, the class ended being very different, with emphasis on letting go of perfection. Did we tell you? You can never repeat the past; everything is flow, everything changes. Enjoy wabi-sabi!

Live recording of Dora's class from December 2017. Always spontaneous, always new. Enjoy

Learn to pronounce the Bija Mantras correctly. Listen to Carina recite the Bija Mantras. This is a perfect companion to meditation.

Expand your knowledge of yoga!Listen to Carina explain what Bija Mantras.

A powerful basic flow good for beginners and advanced alike - long holds with easy choreography.

Pranayama flow to release stress and tension.

This guided meditation led by Carina Terra talks about the space between thoughts and the pause (or space) between breaths.

Excerpt: As the adrenaline wore off I replayed the accident in my mind and realized how lucky I was to have walked away. I also realize that according to the rules of the road I had the right of way and yet the other driver was seething and acted as if it was my fault! Even then I'm still not mad at her. Why? I should be mad as hell! But I know that everyone has a story and she clearly was going through a lot. I could make all sorts of judgments about her but I believe in karma and that there is a lesson in instances like this - perhaps she's a single mom who never gets a break, maybe she is on her way to her first day at a new job or maybe she's going to lose her job if she's late, maybe she doesn't have insurance or a license and yet she chose to take the risk because she still has to put food on the table. Maybe she's going through a divorce. OR maybe it's none of those things and she just had a rough morning. OR perhaps it's not about her at all and it's about ME. Maybe I need to slow down, be more mindful and aware of my surroundings. We live in a world of constant distractions and with the recent election it seems people are straight up hostile, sad, depressed, have anxiety and are more distracted than ever. I was given a choice on how to handle this situation and I chose to have perspective.

Super Power Yoga flow with stories about my godchildren.

Excerpt: Free speech only works when it is responsible, and people in public eye, television stations and news organizations need to recognize their power and take responsibility. I know this is a sticky wicket since it sounds like controlling free speech. I will stay away from that very complex legal argument that has tremendous merit. For now, I would like to discuss this responsibility that we all have in life when we speak to our family, our neighbor, the grocery store clerk...

The post-presidential debate class on the importance of harmony and kind words.

I understand that Spira Power Yoga and Spira Teachers or Affiliates are not responsible for my participation in an exercise program and it is my responsibility to consult with a physician prior to and regarding my participation in any exercise program.

A power flow class inspired by love and creating a peaceful world.

Shoulder and chest opening flow. For further instruction on a couple of the chest and shoulder openers visit our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/SpiraPowerYoga.

Excerpt: There is a fog like quality to mourning a loved one and unlike sadness from another cause this one we wish to hold onto and linger in the fog. Yes, the Egyptians were absolutely right. Just the sheer idea of not remembering, not being this heavy with thoughts can make one feel even worse. It's like we are desperately trying to hold onto what is left of the person and sadness makes us feel that we are closer to our memories, so we cling, we cling onto the sadness. Of course eventually, life literally shakes us up. One must go on, there are things that need to get done. Thank goodness life has a very much relentless quality that demands our attention.

Excerpt: Though this is a simple concept, it is by no means an easy one to practice. Most of our life is made up of conditioned, habitual thoughts and actions. We are so often in our routine that we often don't even recognize how much our thoughts are running on an auto-pilot. We operate most of our life in a semi-conscious state. Our reactions to the situation have evolved over our lifetime to a point that we don't even recognize that we mostly react in a knee-jerk fashion to most dilemmas in our life. We have little awareness to how our mind functions; how we reach conclusions, decisions, and opinions.

Excerpt: Yin Yoga specifically targets the joints and connective tissues (i.e. the "yin" tissues of the body, which includes ligaments and fascia). It is a form of yoga that works deeply into the connective tissues, strengthening the ligaments around the joints, and increasing joint lubrication and range of motion through safe, slow, gentle, and sustained traction. When practiced correctly, Yin Yoga is a great way to increase overall mobility without compromising stability.

Excerpt: If you are a regular practitioner in my classes, you probably heard me saying; “We are all related. This is not your yoga. This is not YOUR time.” I know some of you are a bit shaken by this statement and may even take it personally in a hurtful way. That is not my intention. My intention is to teach yoga, meditation, and mindfulness.

Excerpt: The philosophy of yoga is very much occupied with finding “true self”, but what that means can be quite tricky to figure out. We are changing and the world around us is certainly changing whether or not we wish for a change. The story you are about to read is a day in a yogi's life examining the topic of identity and self through cultural identity. This yogi happens to be an immigrant, naturalized citizen to the USA. This yogi is me, Dora your teacher.

Excerpt: What is in an image? Can beauty be harmful?When is an image information, art or communication? When does an image fill us with beauty, and when does it demand expectations or communicate standards.What are the roles of images in our modern culture of yoga? To answer that question one must first look at history to understand our current nature. I will start my essay from an image from 500 years ago.

Excerpt: The reason I am rambling about all my medical records to you is to say, I don't get it. It never crossed my mind to not get vaccinated. As a matter of fact, since this country made sure that I had all this protection I was absolutely flabbergasted to learn that American born children don't have to go through all this rigor to go to school! Why the double standard? What will these unvaccinated children do if there is an outbreak? Or, if they get lucky and there is no outbreak of any diseases in their lifetime, what if they want to travel or become researchers or doctors? I wanted to find out why people are scared to vaccinate their kids. To me this concept was so foreign. Like I mentioned, I am a naturalized citizen of United States. In a lot of ways, I am embedded in the American culture but since I was born and raised in Europe many of my thought processes are still stuck on the other side of the pond… I don't understand why people are afraid of vaccines. I wanted to find out. Also, in light of the recent outbreak of measles, I wanted to reach out to folks who may be confused about vaccines and they don't know where to look among so much information.

Excerpt: As a naturalized citizen to the United States, 4th of July carries a special meaning to me. I am not blinded by romantic patriotism that can be seen in commercials, but I am also not jaded by our troubles. I say this all the time, and I will say now; the United States is an imperfect country, but it is still the best among all the imperfect countries out there… I usually don't use the word “imperfect” when I make this comment, please do make your unique substitutions to the word.

Excerpt: Some of us have more anxiety than others, I have to admit, I had to learn how to handle anxiety. It was just the luck of the draw, somehow genetics and circumstances shaped me to be a bit more on edge. If you don't know this about me you may probably never peg me for a nervous type. I am pretty sure I am not alone.

Excerpt: I click on Gmail: “Look, two surveys!” I say out loud to my dogs. “No surprise there! Does anybody ever find out anything through these things? They never ask the questions that you want to answer, only the ones that cross their narrow visions of relevance. Also the only people that are taking these darn surveys are either super pissed off or in-love with the company/product. Either way the little I remember from my statistics class these folks are in the tail ends of the bell curve and should be tossed anyway.” Albert and Panni don't even look up through my rant–they know when not to get involved with the humans.

Excerpt: I occasionally hear instruction from yoga teachers to roll either to the left or the right side of the body after savasana to allow blood flow to go either to the linear-analytical-masculine left side of the brain or the creative- feminine right side. I have to be honest, hearing this always makes me cringe. I will not go into the ways the human body compensates blood pressure (when it is healthy) to make sure that we get even circulation… If you think about this, it is absolutely necessary, a few minutes without oxygen to the brain causes brain cells to die, so we cannot mess around with uneven flow.

Excerpt: Liberal education is not only useful, it's a prerequisite, the life blood of a healthy society. I am not advocating that we should all have degrees in art history or literature, but I do believe that we should all take courses in philosophy, literature and art. Practical degrees in science, medicine, computer science and vocational trades should have a strong mandatory curriculum in liberal education. Instead, what we have is a constant reduction in arts, music and literature, starting in junior high. We mock and question philosophy and art history degrees, we hear this dialogue from our President and our media. I feel this is a great mistake, like I said, liberal education is the life blood of a healthy society.

Excerpt: The short answer is that happiness, etiquette and yoga lives in symbiosis with community. That is community creates the platform of happiness, etiquette and yoga. But yoga, etiquette and happiness can also create community. Let me explain how this works.

I understand that Spira Power Yoga and Spira Teachers or Affiliates are not responsible for my participation in an exercise program and it is my responsibility to consult with a physician prior to and regarding my participation in any exercise program.

Class focused on hamstring strengthening and lengthening as well as an oblique core workout.I understand that Spira Power Yoga and Spira Teachers or Affiliates are not responsible for my participation in an exercise program and it is my responsibility to consult with a physician prior to and regarding my participation in any exercise program.

A fun Spira flow with many creative varieties to spinal twists. The perfect flow for rinsing out the winter blues. Step into spring with a powerful twisted flow.I understand that Spira Power Yoga and Spira Teachers or Affiliates are not responsible for my participation in an exercise program and it is my responsibility to consult with a physician prior to and regarding my participation in any exercise program.

A live recording of a 75-minute class mostly focused on thighs, glutes and core strength with lots of push ups thrown in as well. I understand that Spira Power Yoga and Spira Teachers or Affiliates are not responsible for my participation in an exercise program and it is my responsibility to consult with a physician prior to and regarding my participation in any exercise program.

Full body workout. I understand that Spira Power Yoga and Spira Teachers or Affiliates are not responsible for my participation in an exercise program and it is my responsibility to consult with a physician prior to and regarding my participation in any exercise program.