The Karmic Warrior

As its popularity continues to surge, especially in the yoga scene, it seems like everyone's ‘going tantra'. But with so many different interpretations and practices out there, how do you separate the hype from the authentic teachings? Join me as I share my personal journey in traditional Tantra and offer tips for seekers looking to navigate this complex and transformative path.

Do you believe that anything is possible if you put your mind to it? While this notion may seem empowering, it's crucial to consider the limitations and realities of pursuing your passions. In this episode we'll delve into 3 dangers of blindly following personal growth mottos like 'follow your bliss' and 'anything is possible', and explore what yoga wisdom has to teach us about finding true fulfillment.

Energy leaks are almost always the cause of getting stuck in our spiritual growth. In fact, most people have energy leaks and don't even know it. This is why in the tantric tradition, fortifying the energy body is a standard practice. In this episode of the Karmic Warrior Podcast, I'm going to talk about why you need a strong energy body on the spiritual path, three tell-tale signs of a weak energy body, and what to do to strengthen your energy body.

Mantra music, or kirtan is a growing phenomenon in the west. Over the past decade, as yoga has become more popular, so too has kirtan. What most people who go to a kirtan gathering or concert will say is that it enlivens you, lifts you up– and then takes you on a journey inward. My guest for this podcast is Aleah Gandharvika, a kirtan singer who has traveled the world for over a decade with her partner in the kirtan duo the Love Keys. She's performed at thousands of events and festivals in over 15 countries – and has toured with other kirtan artists including Shantala, Adam Bauer, and Tina Malia. Aleah is also a vocal coach and facilities Bhakti Yoga immersions. In today's episode, we're going to take a deep dive into the mystical world of mantra… Our program begins with a short two-minute performance by Aleah, which, unfortunately, doesn't have the best sound due to zoom, but I decided to keep it in the podcast because you can still feel the deep beauty of her voice and transmission. Enjoy!

My guest today is Dr. Sally Adnams Jones– She is an expressive arts educator, researcher, counselor, and author of the book Art Making with Refugees and Survivors which was published in 2018. The book has become deeply relevant to our times, especially as refugees from the Ukraine War are flooding into Europe, the US and Canada. But also as climate change and all the natural disasters that come with it are uprooting people from their homes and communities. The US National Art Education Association has also endorsed her book to it's 1800 members to use as a resource in their classrooms to be become more trauma informed and to understand how art educators can facilitate healing through the expressive arts. (Quite an accomplishment!) Today we're going to talk about her book and the intersection between art, psychology, and spirituality…

One of the most important aspects of our spiritual journey is community — being able to come together with like-minded people on the same path, who share a similar view. However, the potential danger of this is getting caught in an echo chamber and therefore not being able to perceive when or where we might be getting detoured. My guest for this episode of the Karmic Warrior podcast spent nearly 2 decades building an interfaith community of spiritual and religious leaders committed to promoting global peace and healing. Reverend Charles Gibbs is an Episcopal priest, Sufi, visionary, peace builder and poet, and today he's going to share his insights about the challenges of bringing people together of different spiritual and religious views and how these challenges can ultimately lead to a profound sense of shared identity and purpose.

Sooner or later every spiritual seeker finds themselves stuck, plateaued, or unable to make progress spiritually. It can be a real challenge to overcome this stage and reach the next level of spiritual growth. In this episode you'll learn the 4 things needed to get out of your spiritual rut.

Karmic Warrior Podcast Episode 14: The Healthy Body Myth There's a popular myth in many spiritual circles that the cause of an unhealthy body is your thoughts and beliefs. In this episode of the Karmic Warrior podcast, I'm going to dismantle some of the most common myths about health and healing on the spiritual path

As a high-performing runner and triathlete for over 20 years of my life, I suffered from body dysmorphia, due partly to the messages that I got as a teenager from my running coaches but also because of all the images I saw in magazines of pro-athletes and my constantly comparing myself to them. I know that this is a big problem in certain groups of athletes- dancers, gymnasts, runners, and triathletes in particular. In this episode of the Karmic Warrior Podcast, I have an important conversation with a fellow colleague, meditation teacher, and intuitive mentor Khadijih Mitchell Polka about our shared journeys as athletes and how we both discovered freedom from being overly identified with our bodies through yoga and our meditation practices… Enjoy!

In this episode of the Karmic Warrior Podcast, I sit down with Mary Jo Lorei, self-mastery mentor and author of the book Practical Inspirations. In this conversation, we talk about what it means for YOU to meet YOU with love and humor… and how your relationship with yourself informs how you relate to others and life. We also talk about leaning into painful experiences, and knowing what types of personal and spiritual growth tools you need on your journey to awakening to who you really are. Enjoy!

Part of the pain and the beauty of life is that we will experience the inevitable times of crisis. We can't avoid the unavoidable, but we can harness the power of our spiritual practice to navigate our way through personal and collective crises with grace and ease. In this episode of the Karmic Warrior podcast, I have a conversation with my dear friend, renowned trauma healing expert, and creator of the Grace Process, Dr. Lori Leyden. Dr. Leyden has worked worldwide to help communities in crisis– from working with genocide survivors in Rwanda to the survivors of school shootings in Sandy Hook, New England, and Parkland, Florida to working with the aboriginal communities of Australia to heal transgenerational trauma. In our conversation, we look at crisis from a spiritual perspective and discuss the different ways we can find our way through personal as well as collective crises while staying centered in our spiritual practice. Enjoy!

In Yoga tradition it's said that the mantra or sound Aum is the building block of reality. So when I met Kristin Hoffman, Julliard trained vocalist, composer, and creator of Sol-Aum sound healing (as in Om), I knew I had to have her on the Karmic Warrior Podcast. In this engaging conversation, Kristin and I talk about her unique work as a conscious musician and sonic guide who uses sound and melody to inspire awareness and awaken humanity to it's highest potential. We also talk about a project that she's spear-heading as part of the Evolutionary Leaders circle called Artists Catalyzying Evolution and how she hopes it can be a vehicle for people to realize the power of art as the master healer and integrator.

Many law of attraction experts say that one of the secrets to manifesting whatever you want in life is to access the power of desire-- in other words, when you elicit enough DESIRE for whatever it is that you want, then you will manifest it. But unfortunately, this is a very simplistic and frankly, dangerous approach to manifesting. In this episode of the Karmic Warriror Podcast, I'll be examining desire and manifestation from the perspective of Yoga Wisdom and sharing with you a more grounded and reliable way to manifest a life of ease, flow and fulfillment... enjoy!

How do you know if you're spiritually awakened? You can find a lot of articles and videos about this topic online, but unfortunately, many of them can be misleading or only partially correct because they're based on a new-age view of spirituality, versus being grounded in time-proven and tested tradition. In this episode of the Karmic Warrior Podcast, we'll see go straight to an ancient text that's been used by yogis for thousands of years to guide them on their journey of spiritual awakening.

What do you think about when you hear the word "power"? Do you associate it with authority, control, or maybe ‘abuse of power' comes to mind? Or do you associate it with feeling powerful or maybe powerless? One thing that hasn't changed over the span of time is the fact that as human beings, we all have to face challenges in life that can leave us feeling powerless. But luckily, the great wisdom teachers of non-dual tantra showed us how yoga is a practice of invoking and embodying our innate power. We all have the powers of the Divine within us… and we're invited to realize these powers… In this episode of the Karmic Warrior Podcast, we'll be talking about five powers of the Divine that are inherent (and hidden) within YOU, and how you can access those powers to express the fullness of who you really are.

It's inevitable that we will encounter difficult people in life. Whether it is a snarky barista, an inconsiderate friend or sibling, or a passive-aggressive co-worker, dealing with these kinds of people can be exhausting and leave us feeling irritated and angry. If you add of top of it, the holiday season-- all the excitement and joy you'd expect to feel can be overshadowed and even ruined! In this episode of the Karmic Warrior, I'm going to look at a powerful teaching from a text that's nearly 1000 years old that can help you stay centered and calm when dealing with difficult people... anytime, anywhere.

As a yogini and a karmic-warrior, I see the beauty and the power in giving and being generous... and there's so much out there about how important GIVING is on the spiritual path. But there's a darker side to generosity that's a lot less talked about- so in this episode I'm going to address a common misconception that we should always be generous.

Relationships are a cauldron of consciousness. In other words, all the ‘stuff' that makes up our relationships: the good, the bad, and the ugly, offers us the opportunity to gain knowledge about ourselves. In today's episode, we're going to look at how we can deepen our awareness of our own karmic patterns by looking at how we relate and interrelate in our relationships.

The Law of Karma tells us that everything we're experiencing right now is a result of our past actions. But hidden within this law is something deeper for spiritual seekers to explore-- that the more fundamental cause of all pain and suffering we experience on a personal and collective level is a result of not knowing who we are- I call it a case of mistaken identity. In this episode of The Karmic Warrior Podcast, I unpack The Law of Karma piece by piece so that you can begin to see how to live a more fulfilling, joyful life.

Over 37 million people practice yoga in the US alone- and nearly 300 million people practice yoga across the world. And while yoga has clearly become mainstream- for the vast majority, yoga is something that you DO on the mat, at your local studio or gym using an app. But YOGA isn't just a physical practice… in today's episode we'll dig into what it means to live a yoga lifestyle