J. Brown Yoga Talks

Paul JJ Alix, founder of Yoga for All, talks with J about his time during the formative years of yoga coming into the mainstream and the rifts between teaching and consumerism that emerged. They discuss the intersection of meditation and ballet, being an early adopter of pilates and choosing yoga as a focus, meeting TKV Desichackar, teaching in NY and setting conditions to attract only committed students, causing a raucous over start times at Ananda Ashram, the need for clarity, staying true to principles, and the enduring power of practice.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Nate Klemp, author of OPEN: Living with an Expansive Mind in a Distracted World, talks with J about making your life your practice, digital realities, and political universes. They discuss the limitations of thinking to experiencing, the tradition of living philosophy, blogging about a life beyond logic, family life and yogic caves, the 80/80 marriage plan, a mindset of radical generosity, strategies for addressing screen cravings and addiction, lethal mass partisanship, and when surrendering to joy and possibility becomes your only best option.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Josh Thomas is a friend of J's who joins the show to talk about intuitive facility and luminous darkness. They discuss transition states, being motivated by an undercurrent of "not good enough-ness," dissolving boundaries and destruction of ego structures, becoming somebody to become nobody, parapsychology proven real beyond probability, fear of being shunned by the culture, taking belief out of the equation, spiritual healing, radiating peacefulness in everyday life, and marking your intention to a guiding true north of love.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Weena Pauly, creator of SE+AM (Somatic Experiencing + Authentic Movement) and host of the Reverence for Impulse Podcast, talks with J about reclaiming how your body wants to move and the focus of seeing and being seen. They discuss sturdy containers for letting the unknown be revealed, nothingness and staying with trembling discomfort, distinguishing impulse from being impulsive, attributing value, power dynamics and reciprocity of wisdom, hope for our children, and experience as a language of the divine.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Keith Parker, co-founder of Field Dynamics and host of the Field Dynamics Podcast, talks with J about energy healing, the human aura, and infinity exploring the finite. They discuss transitioning from music to yoga, being tamed by India, striving for liberation or enlightenment, limits of a materialistic paradigm, seeing human auras, gross/subtle/causal relationships, the structure of a soul, Chakras and identity, palpating energy, magical realms, higher intelligence and serving a greater good, and helping to bring subtlety into the foreground of perception.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

J repeats his ritual of reflecting on where he’s at what he’s facing as the year comes to a close. He discusses his cat being diagnosed with diabetes, the Dalai Lama's twitter/x account, genetically modified butter, the feeling of not being able to say what you really think, trying to open a yoga center, predictions from the 2016 Yoga in America study, a changing internet, making ends meet, taking stock in the exchanges that make all the difficulties worthwhile, and somehow finding the resilience and fortitude needed to meet life's uncertainty.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Katie Hemphill, author of We Are The Forest, talks with J about expanding the scope of our understanding through embodied living and collective healing. They discuss why Katie decided to study biomedical engineering, discovering yoga and marathon running, programming a cell, a problem/solution perspective, corporate jobs, grey areas in risk analysis of medical devices, meaning making in scientific process, nutrition science, optimizing connection, balanced containers, and questioning the stories that shape our reality.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Radha Metro-Midkiff, Executive Director for the Integral Yoga Institute New York, talks with J about Swami Satchidananda, Integral Yoga, and the major shifts in the industry and culture that have taken place over the last few years. They discuss her childhood growing up at Yogaville, her relationship to Swami Satchidananda, choosing faith or fear, teachings and the growth of institutions, the difference between the guru and the human being, authentic transmission of yoga, and making sense of life’s complexity through transparent dialogue.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Brett Larkin, founder of an award-winning YouTube channel and Uplifted Online Yoga Teacher Training, talks with J about building her platform and the state of yoga online. They discuss graduating from NYU, exploring different styles of practice, creating fitness and dance video games, starting to post on YouTube and gaining subscribers, leveraging social media, legitimizing online training, the influence of kundalini yoga and asking hard questions, working with Ayurveda, energy bodies, and learning from the past so we can proceed with integrity.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Diana May talks with J about yoga for the nervous system and somatic experiencing. They discuss moving to a big city before leaving and being closer to nature, dissociation from our bodies, being with the full range of human emotion, somatic experiencing based on the work of Dr Peter Levine, resonance fields, lowering levels of activation, honoring the value of anxiety and becoming less defensive of our responses, making a nervous system supported class, tolerance for different views, and maximizing capacity for connection.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

John Stirk, author of Deeper Still, talks with J about formation, transformation, and the feeling of existence. They discuss changing expectations for careers in yoga, digging deeper to change your perspective, the condition of understanding, getting in touch with insightfulness, healing fragmentation by highlighting that which is indivisible, transformation instead of information, authentic intelligence, mental indigestion, becoming more sensitive, knowing through direct perception, and relating to the unknown in an intelligent way.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Philip Deslippe, author of From Maharaj to Mahan Tantric, talks with J about his research into the real story behind Yogi Bhajan and the yoga empire he created. They discuss Philip's time as a Kundalini teacher, 3HO, the role of students in editing and elevating teachers to master status, legitimizing something by deferring to a false antiquity, value calculations within corrupted traditions, the life and significance of William Atkinson, the paradox of benefiting from hucksters, and possibilities for what yoga teaching might look like in the future.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Ruth White, author of Presence: The Truth of Yoga, talks with J about the earliest days of BKS Iyengar coming to the UK and developing a practice that endures. They discuss practicing in a living room with BKS Iyengar, the difference between classes in Pune compared to the UK, standardization and growth, whether or not Iyengar was an abusive teacher, starting a yoga prop company, why Iyengar focused primarily on postures, going inward, and the dropping away of ego identifications so we can see each other as one and the same.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Cristina & Diego, founders of Origo Shoes, talk with J about the philosophy behind barefoot shoes and our relationship to the natural world. They discuss the developmental issues their daughter faced and how that led to barefoot shoes, the detriment of conventional ideas about footwear, specifications that make a shoe barefoot, educating people about the benefits and making the appearance more accessible, doing business according to your values, embracing simple as better, and the benefits of slower living and a return to basic principles.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Joe Simek, co-owner of Dragonfly Yoga and co-founder of The Fiaria Project, talks with J about coming back from the pandemic and moving forward with purpose. They discuss the reopening of his brick and mortar space, leases and sustainability, competition among centers, re-envisioning memberships and community, shifting from information to transformation, economics of surrender, issues of certification and accreditation, marketing with soul, and the changing dynamics by which we set roots and measure success.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Mark Walsh, host of the The Embodiment Podcast and author of Embodiment: Working with the Body in Training and Coaching, talks with J about facilitating life skills and navigating the world around us. They discuss the emergence of coaching in the yoga world, embodiment as a practice and a principle, creating the largest online embodiment conference ever, trauma work and fads, early days of trolling online, political trends, decadence and the luxury of despair, overcoming grief, and the importance of finding ways to make sense and meaning.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Jason Shaw and Emily Brown, owners of Our Country Hearts and Binghamton Yoga, talk with J about scale, sustainability, and local community. They discuss slow flow circa 2014, grass roots politics and making change by focusing on shared intentions, post-pandemic realities, dedicated yoga spaces, co-creative aspect of in person classes, working inward rather than outward and feeling vs doing, soft sells and attraction over promotion, coming together in grounded states of mind, and opening doorways in a seemingly walled future.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Bobbi Paidel, founder of Tribe of Lambs and host of A Curious Yogi Podcast, talks with J about having a guru and what it means to live the principles of yoga. They discuss how a cattle ranchers daughter ends up becoming part of a spiritual community in India rooted in Vedic knowledge, keeping ourselves safe and surviving in this world, the role of asana, feeling free, unchanged awareness of an infinite self, moments of recognition, staying open and curious, truth and a deeper sense of connection, and expanding our frame of reference for existing.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Rod Stryker, founder of ParaYoga, talks with J about the formative events that shaped yoga becoming part of popular culture and the spiritual underpinnings that call it into question. They discuss Yoga Works and the 80's LA Scene, Manny and Alan Finger, westernizing the message, seeking vs career choices, branding and creating empires, defining Tantra, teacher/student relationship, guard rails in the pursuit of truth, nonduality and divinity, science of energy management, mapping out the nature of mind, and a singular vision of the heart.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Divya Kohli, author of Finding Peace in Difficult Times: grounding techniques for inner calm, returns to talk with J about the post-pandemic crossroads that many yoga teachers are facing. They discuss the halcyon days of wholly committed teachers, maturation in parallel with the evolution of modern yoga, organic communities, sweet spots and scalability, wanting in person vs actually showing up, class issues in marketing, inverting the pyramid of priorities, and countering a dystopian future with the power of shared ritual and intention.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.