Episode 1 of the DC Yoga Podcast.  Discussion with Julia Romano on finding yoga, the joys of teaching and the practice that sustains us.

For more about Julia:

http://www.empoweryogatherapy.com/

DC Yoga Podcast- Guest Julia Romano, yogi and owner of Yoga NoMa

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 2- Jessica Pierno on teacher training, opening studios, the business of yoga and much more.

For more about Jess and Yoga Heights:

Yoga Heights 
3506 Georgia Ave. NW
255 Carroll St. NW

follow: @YogaHeightsDC
like: facebook.com/YogaHeights
web: www.yogaheightsdc.com

DC Yoga Podcast- Guest Jessica Pierno, yogi and owner of Yoga Heights Petworth and Takoma Park

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 3- Abby Dobbs drops in to chat about the beginnings of her practice, spirituality, Forrest Yoga, the practice of teaching, the purpose of studios, adulting, and Eka Pada Galavasana.

For more on Abby:

IG: @gratefulweirdo

Website: www.abbydobbs.com

FB: www.facebook.com/abbydobbsyoga

DC Yoga Podcast- Guest Abby Dobbs, Yogi, body worker and owner of Kali Yoga

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 4- Michael Joel Hall talks Mysore (the Place and the Practice), his journey, cross training, philosophy and the trajectory of yoga in DC since the 2000s.

DC Yoga Podcast- Guest Michael Joel Hall, Yogi, Philosopher, Leader of DC Ashtanga

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 4- Sam Attard joins us to chat playlists, Yoga in the Big Apple, the yoga business outside the studio, yoga fashion, and Ayurveda.

For more about Sam:

Website: Behappyhealthyhuman.com.
Instagram: @behappyhealthyhuman
Facebook: facebook.com/behappyhealthyhuman

DC Yoga Podcast- Guest Samantha Attard, yogi, Ayurvedic Coach, and Happy Healthy Human

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 6- Jennie Light shows on building a yoga community in Brookland, rock climbing, how a personal practice changes over time, and taking risks building a class schedule.
For more about Jennie and Bluebird Sky Yoga:

Bluebird Sky:

http://www.bluebirdskyyoga.com/
https://www.instagram.com/bluebirdskyyoga/ 
https://www.facebook.com/BluebirdSkyYoga/

Jennie:

http://jennielightyoga.com/
https://www.instagram.com/jennielightyoga/

DC Yoga Podcast- Guest Jennie Light, yogi, rock climber and owner of Bluebird Sky yoga

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 11-  Sid and Liz McNairy join the podcast and chat about their journey from football and gymnastics to challenge and change to teaching yoga together and building a healing a practice for everyone.

DC Yoga Podcast- Sid and Liz McNairy

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 12- Alicia Moyer drops by to chat about the evolution of teaching, connecting more fully, cross training, anatomy and Evil Corporate librarians.

DC Yoga Podcast- Alicia Moyer

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 14- Hawah Kasat drops by and joins the DC Yoga Podcast and chats about his travels in India (and elsewhere), yoga traditions, personal retreats, teaching yoga in the studio and the world, leadership, and community healing work. He has authored several books and produced 3 documentary films.

Check out all the awesome work he does as the co-founder and executive director of the non-profit organization One Common Unity and also on his personal website:

OneCommonUnity.org/

www.Hawah.Us

DC Yoga Podcast- Hawah

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 15- My first yoga teacher, Angela Meyer is my guest this week for a big episode with lots to discuss: empathing, death, cliff jumping (not actual), finding your gift, teaching as yoga practice, presence, recovery from injury, martial arts, discipline, real intimacy, and punching people in the face.

For more with Angela:

IG: @warriorwomanrepublic

Website: www.warriorwomanrepublic.com

Elephant Journal: https://www.elephantjournal.com/author/angela-meyer/

DC Yoga Podcast- Angela Meyer

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 16- Mimi Rieger joins the podcast this week.  She was one of my first yoga teachers and huge influence on my own teaching and is a mentor to many teachers and students in the DC area.  We talked personal transformations, work ethic, love for teaching yoga, what lights us up, yoga teacher training, martial arts, injury and recovery, and her first job as a lobbyist.

You can find out more about Mimi at her website:

http://www.mimiriegeryoga.com/offerings/retreats/

and can even watch her in action:

https://yogainternational.com/profile/381422

DC Yoga Podcast- Mimi Rieger

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 17- Clare Kelley joins the show for a wide ranging discussion from yoga to Pilates and Group Fitness, Step Aerobic Championships, what advanced yoga means, purity, body image, hyper mobility, hands on assisting, Forest Bathing, lineage and dogma, Denise Austin and much, much more.

For more with Clare:

www.facebook.com/borrachica
www.facebook.com/dcforestbathing/
IG: @theclarelife

DC Yoga Podcast- Clare Kelley

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 19-Ariele Foster joins me for an epic episode about yoga lineage and dogma, the real Power yoga, Bramacharya, the Environment, Demographic shifts in yoga classes, the miracle of Physical Therapists, the futility of trying to fix people with yoga, yoga as hard work or mystical experience (or both), and learning yoga from your grandmother.

For more about Ariele:

Web: sacredsourceyoga.com and yogaanatomyacademy.com
Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/SacredSourceYoga
Facebook: facebook.com/arielef
Twitter: @ArieleYoga
Insta: @ariele.foster @YogaAnatomyAcademy

DC Yoga Podcast- Ariele Foster

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 20- Liz Bernstein joins us this time for an asana, anatomy and meditation packed episode: going past the 200 hour training, injuries, cueing, Yoga Alliance, full time fitness, type A personalities, Pilates, meditation and perception, and Disability Adjusted Life Years for 30 Chronic Conditions (its a thing).  

For more with Liz:

website: Soulfulelephant.com

FB- elizabeth.bernstein.7

IG: @soulfulelephant

DC Yoga Podcast Liz Bernstein

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 21- Kevin Waldorf Cruz is my guest this week.  Kevin has a unique story as a long time DC resident and yoga teacher and we covered a lot- yoga on college campuses, 9/11, trauma, Tranquil Space, running, Dis Integrated vs. Integrated body/mind, starting out as a yoga teacher, the importance of going off script, complaint to convert, Power Yoga, Teacher Training Programs and working towards a more inclusive yoga

DC Yoga Podcast - Kevin Waldorf Cruz

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 22- The show is back after a month long hiatus with Audrey Roxas.  We chat about her time at the Krishnamacharya Institute in Chennai, yoga prescriptions, Bikram Yoga as boot camp, the decision to teach, Thai Massage, introverts, growing up, what to do when someone leaves your class, the Ganges, and dancing like Elaine Benes.

For more about Audrey:

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/AudreyRoxasYoga/

Youtube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCHp8p1XM6xBcr1tjZvV6mg?fbclid=IwAR1tAxlAP-DTDsZ1LGCMUXcANBm_6G532_ceHEh8NIKTLZEZEF8PABP8ftY

DC Yoga Podcast- Audrey Roxas

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 23- Christine Kontra drops by the podcast to chat about Yoga On the Hill, transitioning to a full time fitness professional, being a "good yogi", the Path to Self Realization, shedding your own bullshit, Sanskrit, teaching beginners, body awareness, yoga retreats, and much more 

More about Christine:

Christine Kontra is a yoga teacher, personal trainer, health coach, and martial artist in Washington, DC.  Since completing her yoga teacher training in 2012, she has taught classes, led workshops and trainings, and incorporated yoga into programs for her personal training clients. Christine is also a Master Trainer and Personal Training Manager at VIDA Fitness U Street, where she is passionate about helping each client reach their potential, while prioritizing mental fitness as an essential part of building physical fitness and overall wellbeing.  Martial arts has become an important influence in her life, building on many of the same principles of self-awareness and resilience that she began developing in her yoga practice.  She has competed in Muay Thai and Kickboxing on the local, national, and international level, winning her first amateur world championship in 2018.  She has lived in DC for the past 10 years after graduating from Ohio State University with a B.A. in History of Art and Political Science.  When not doing the work that she loves, she enjoys long distance running, live music, and traveling.

DC Yoga Podcast- Christine Kontra

DC Yoga Podcast episode 25- Gopi Kinnikutt  "mantra clenses the mirror of the Heart"

- Moving to the USA
- Yoga, spiritual practice and depression
- Living in an Ashram
- Intense physical practice as gateway to feeling the body and living meditation 
- The body as a vehicle to express truth but also to cover up truth
- Bhakti Vinyasa
- The purpose of Asana practice
- Giving back
- Jainism
- Mantra Meditation 
- Dualism and the exchange of love
- Exploring who we are separate from the story we tell ourselves
- The wonderful, mystical city of Vrindavan, the birthplace of Krishna
- And tree hugging

For more about Bhakti Yoga Studio:

www.bhaktiyogadc.com 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bhakti-Yoga-DC/1165151800165276

Retreats: 
https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/classic/ws?studioid=233017&stype=-8&sVT=53&sView=day&sLoc=0

Yoga Teacher Training:
https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/classic/ws?studioid=233017&stype=-8&sVT=46&sView=day&sLoc=0

About Gopi:

Gopi Kinnicutt  is a dynamic  Bhakti-infused yoga teacher who has developed her own unique teaching style. She organically creates and designs dynamic fluid yoga sequences, infused with deep spirituality.  In her classes she incorporates mantras, breath work and Kriyas to release untouched energy and Prana. She bridges the philosophy of Yoga and the authentic traditions coming from India, making them accessible to the modern 21st century Yogi. Gopi leads National and International yoga retreats. She has been the head of  RYT 200 hour and 300 hour teacher trainings .

Gopi has trained extensively with Shiva Rea, Ana Forrest and Gary Kraftsow, and is certified and trained in trauma-sensitive yoga. Gopi also lived in a Bhakti Yoga ashram for 10 years, where she studied and taught Indian philosophy and mantra meditation. Gopi is certified in Thai Yoga Body Work and Ayurvedic Body Work, offering a vigorous herbal oil body massage (Vishesh) and a deep relaxation head treatment called Shirodhara.

DC Yoga Podcast Gopi Kinnicutt

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 26- Julie Eisenberg.  "Creating Teachers, not Disciples"

- The creation of Lighthouse Yoga
- Being an awful yoga student
- An exercise junkie finds yoga (but not in the way you might think)
- The first taste os Spirituality
- Iyengar and geeking out on alignment 
- Kundalini Yoga
- Sadhana
- Yoga Teacher Training Transformations
- A short history of Kundalini yoga in the US and Yogi Bhajan
- Kundalini mantra and Sikhism
- The purpose of Mantra in Kundalini yoga 
- Structure of a Kundalini yoga class
- Pranayama 
- The Kriyas of Kundalini

Bio:
Jiwan Shakti Kaur (Julie Eisenberg) ERYT-500 started practicing yoga in the 1990s as a way to decompress from a stressful job. Over the years, as her practice deepened and evolved, she began to understand yoga as a tool of personal transformation and empowerment. She is a Kundalini Level 2 Teacher and Professional Teacher Trainer with the Kundalini Research Institute (KRI), with advanced certifications in therapeutics and other modalities.

Jiwan Shakti opened Lighthouse Yoga Center in 2013 in her home community of Petworth, DC as a way to share the teachings of yoga with the residents of her diverse neighborhood. Outside the studio she has taught yoga to DC’s homeless population and low-income Spanish-speaking immigrants in Washington, DC and is involved in many community and civic organizations. Her classes, retreats and trainings are energetic, spiritual and often powerfully transformational.

For more about Julie and Lighthouse yoga:

www.lighthouseyogacenter.com

www.facebook.com/lighthouseyogadc/

KRI Level 1 Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training at Lighthouse Yoga Center starts in March, 2020. Details:

https://lighthouseyogacenter.com/teacher-training/kundalini

DC Yoga Podcast Julie Eisenberg

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 28- Maelis Mittig "surround yourself in Yellow."

- Touring with Sting (maybe we just stop there?)
- Yoga instead of gym class in High School
- Studying yoga in College
- Developing a personal Religion
- Going to church without being Religious
- Epiphanies and breakdowns (the difference is in how you react)
- Talking to your body (and listening to it)
- Leaving the Corporate world
- Succulents 
- Becoming an organized dreamer 
- All you ever wanted to know about Chakras
- Gross vs. Subtle Body
- Tweeting for McDonalds
- Starting a Yoga company from the ground up
- Teaching quality classes over quantity

Bio:

Maelis is the owner of Bounce Yoga, a new style of yoga under construction, as well as the host of The Bounce Back Podcast, a podcast about yoga as it relates to being a tool for resiliency. She began her personal practice over 10 years ago, studied yoga technique and history in college and over the last few years, has decided to take her curiosity and passion to the next level by becoming a certified yoga instructor. She completed her first RYT® 200 training at Evolution Power Yoga in 2016 and followed it with becoming a Level 1 and 2 Reiki Practitioner under the teaching of Reiki Master Guillaume Gauthereau in NYC. She recently completed a RYT® 200 Alignment Yoga training through The Yoga Sanctuary School in Lancaster, PA, and since has taught hundreds of classes from NYC, PA & DMV to her most recent stint in Jamaica. Maëlis is passionate and on a life-long quest to learn about how relational energy, philosophy, psychology, meditation, mindfulness and spirituality can be used for healing. The ultimate goal — create space for self-empowerment and in turn, make the world a more joyful place. Her personal yoga practice is quite diverse and includes trampoline yoga, hip-hop yoga, Bhakti yoga, traditional vinyasa and more. Maëlis’ classes are designed to activate the body, mind and spirit and to create joy, peace and universal love. She often bases her classes on chakra yoga techniques, relating her lessons to colors and energetic movement. She enjoys teaching a weekly class at Gold's Gym Rockville at Randolph Road (which she also manages) and at local schools for elementary school aged kids. You can also find Maelis' classes online on a platform called Burnalong.

IG:
@bounceyogaco
@maelismittig

Website:

www.bounceyogaco.com

DC Yoga Podcast Maelis Mittig

DC Yoga Podcast episode 31- Hari-kirtana das.  "A reciprocal relationship of love with God."

-What's in a name?
- Living in Yoga communities
- Finding yoga as a teenager
- Yoga and the counter culture of the 1960's
- Seeing Reality as a person
- Learning Yoga as spiritual philosophy instead of asana
-Living in the Hare Krishna Temple in NYC
- Jivanmukti yoga
- Teaching asana as a platform for devotional practice
- A day in the life of living in an Ashram
- Kirtan and Japa practice
- Yoga as Religion or Spirituality
- A reciprocal relationship of love with God
- Yoga as spiritual technology and science
- Religion as healing your soul by reconnecting with our Being
- Travels in India
- Getting started as an asana teacher in DC
- Weaving philosophy into the asana practice
- Types of meditation and how to practice

Bio:

Hari-kirtana das is an E-RYT 500 yoga teacher and the author of In Search of the Highest Truth: Adventures in Yoga Philosophy. He's been practicing bhakti-yoga and other yogic disciplines for the better part of 40 years, has lived in devotional yoga ashrams and intentional spiritual communities, worked for Fortune 500 companies and Silicon Valley start-ups, and brings a wide range of spiritual knowledge and life experience to his classes, workshops, and presentations. Hari-kirtana is on the faculty of numerous Yoga Teacher Training programs and leads his own Advanced Yoga Teacher Training program in Washington, DC. You can learn more about Hari-kirtana on his website, hari-kirtana.com.

For more info:

https://hari-kirtana.com/

https://www.facebook.com/harikirtana (friend) and https://www.facebook.com/HariKirtanaYoga/ (follow)

https://www.instagram.com/hari.kirtana/

DC Yoga Podcast- Hari- kirtana das

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 34- Annie and Amir "Paying fierce attention to whatever arises in the moment."

- Yoga Studios as community centers
- Asana to help alleviate back pain and correct body imbalances
- Alignment based yoga classes
- Economics of Yoga Studios
- Psychoemotional benefits of yoga
- Learning to weave philosophy into asana practice
- Yoga in the DMV in the mid to late 1990s  (the outfits definitely were not as nice)
- Offering a real life alternative to instagram
- Specificity when cuing poses
- The value in naming or not naming poses
- The Heart of the Bhagavad Gita
- Dharma talks
- Teaching with authenticity
- Creating the schedule for a yoga studio
- How being a yoga studio owner has changed over the years
- Competition with small box gyms

Bios:

Amir stands at the helm as the most senior and followed teacher at, as well as the owner of, the nationally renowned Sun & Moon Yoga Studios in Northern Virginia. In his packed weekly public classes and private one-on-one yoga therapy sessions, he works attentively with students who want an enhanced quality of life through a plainspoken and sensible approach to health and well-being. His innovative techniques blending traditional Indian and Thai yoga influences with restorative postures, therapeutic applications, and somatic movement help students move gently forward on a path of healing, and encourages taking the mindfulness of yoga practice into everyday life. He holds Yoga Alliance’s highest certification level and is also a practitioner of Thai Yoga Therapy.

During her former career as a high school English teacher, Annie began practicing yoga in the 1990s in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in a casual apartment setting with a small group of neighbors and one devoted teacher.

After her twin daughters were born in 1999, Annie moved to Arlington, VA, and completed teacher training in 2002 at Sun & Moon Yoga, with the intention of bringing yoga philosophy back into the high school classroom. 

Along the way, Annie has taught yoga, meditation, and yoga philosophy to thousands of yoga students in public classes at Sun & Moon, in corporate settings, in private one-on-one sessions, as part of basic and advanced teacher trainings, and on retreats. Annie’s regular weekly classes at Sun & Moon are organized by a quarterly theme, and each week presents a short philosophical talk on the theme, followed by a well-rounded physical practice of postures and breathing tied to the theme. Relaxations are long and luxurious. Discussion and questions are welcome. Laughter happens.

Web:

www.sunandmoonstudio.com

DC Yoga Podcast- Sun and Moon Yoga owners Annie And Amir

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 35- Willow Street Yoga Director Joe Miller "yoga is how to die well"."

- Anusara
- Iyengar
- Kung Fu
- Kripalu
- Amrit Desai
- Depression and Demons
- Rags to Riches
- Potatoes and Pot
- Self-esteem 
- Masculinity
- Anger
- New Mexico
- John Friend
- The teaching voice
- Yoga sutras
- The Trantric Tradition 
- Regardless of if you come to a yoga class for peace or for a tight ass, you get more than you bargained for.
- Bhagavad Gita

Bio:

Joe Miller, E-RYT500, draws upon his 20 years of yogic exploration and study of anatomy to recognize and celebrate our endless potential to align with the intelligence of the body. With humor and lots of individualized attention, Joe uses his deep understanding of Hatha Yoga, Tantric Philosophy, and Ayurveda to give students practical tools to experience fully this gift of life. Joe co-leads Willow Street's Teacher Training program, and continues to deepen his own practice by studying with his principal teachers and his amazing family.

Website:

https://www.willowstreetyoga.com/

DC Yoga Podcast- Joe Miller

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 36- Siohban Troy-Carranza

- Tranquil Space
- Yoga in the church (with mosquitos!)
- Kim Wilson
- Teacher Training
- The Art of Sequencing
- Yoga for Tots and Tykes
- The Art of Touch
- Seeing bodies 
- Always remembering your first down dog
- Owning a studio versus not owning a studio
- Managing Teachers
- Vinyasa Yoga
- Practicing yoga/doing anything other than working and raising your kids/motherhood 
- YogaWorks

Bio:

Since May 2002, I have been teaching vinyasa yoga in Washington, DC. After falling in love with the practice and wanting to learn more, I completed my 200-hr teacher training with Kimberly Wilson at Tranquil Space. I get to teach students of many levels and backgrounds to move their body and explore how the practice of yoga can positively influence their lives both on and off the mat. I teach group classes, privates, workshops and I am a teacher trainer at Tranquil Space which became part of the YogaWorks Family in August of 2017. I am a Continuing Education Provider with Yoga Alliance. In 2014, I completed my 500-hr training and have over 9,000 hours of teaching. I teach five classes per week at YogaWorks in Dupont Circle.

Website:

https://www.2yogajoy.com/

DC Yoga Podcast- Siobhan Troy-Carranza

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 37a- John Schumacher "The body as a vehicle to awaken our true nature."

- Looking for health in the early 1970s
- Swami Vishnudevananda
- An hour a day asana for health straight from the book
- Working as a musician
- Yoga Institute of Washington
- Teaching for $8 a class
- Yoga classes at the DC Rec department in the 1970s
- Learning yoga from your elders
- Hustling as a yoga teacher 
- Finding Light on Yoga
- Beat, Kick, and Slap Iyengar
- Learning with Victor Van Kooten
- Traveling to Pune to study yoga with BKS Iyengar
- Sheep Skin, Tiger Skin, Deer Skin yoga mats and purple speedos
- Three weeks with Iyengar (with mixed feelings)
- and then back for more :-) 
- The Iyengar "system" of postures
- Pranayama
- What was a BKS Iyengar class like?
- Weaving philosophy into asana class
- Rooting asana classes in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras
- How Iyengar developed the poses in his system
- Yoga as an adaptable practice 

Bio:

John Schumacher has practiced yoga for 50 years. He is the founder and Director of Unity Woods Yoga Center, serving the DMV area since 1979. For 33 years, he studied in India with B.K.S. Iyengar, who personally certified him as an Advanced Iyengar Yoga Teacher. Only 14 teachers in the US hold certificates at this level.
John’s clear, precise style and his engaging sense of humor have made him one of America’s leading yoga teachers. In 2015, Yoga Journal awarded him its prestigious Good Karma Award for spending “40-plus years sharing [his] practice to help authenticate yoga in America today”. 

John has written for a variety of publications, has appeared in numerous local and national media, and speaks about the practice and benefits of yoga across the country. He conducts workshops for students and teachers throughout the world.

Website:

schumacheryoga.com

unitywoods.com

DC Yoga Podcast- John Schumacher Part 1

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 37b- John Schumacher "Deep relaxation without force."

- "I do yoga and people have come to call it Iyengar Yoga."
- Bringing Iyengar yoga to the DMV area
- Opening Unity Woods in 1979 on 40 acres in MD
- Letting the Universe decide
- The parallels between music and yoga
- Opening Unity Woods Bethesda in 1985- the first yoga studio in the area
- Apprenticeship instead of Yoga Teacher Training
- The traits of a good yoga teacher: strong and disciplined personal practice 
- Becoming a nationally recognized yoga teacher
- Leading annual retreats to Jamaica...for the last 37 years
- The daily morning practice
- Urban legends 
- What is fitness?  The purpose of an Asana practice
- The explosion of yoga industry in the US
- Pranayama
- Pratyahara
- Meditation
- Sitting instead of meditating 
- Quiet in a full sense
- Changing people's consciousness instead of changing the world
- The 8 limbs of Patanjali's yoga

DC Yoga Podcast - John Schumacher Part II Final

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 38 - Catching up

- Welcome back
- Effects of Quarantine
- Yoga Alliance Webinar on Yoga and Anxiety
- Surviving the Quarantine 
- Stress showing up on the mat 
- The reorganizing of every aspect of life
- Recognizing emotions and thoughts associated with each day being the same and yet different
- Re-establishing a Pranayama practice
- Discipline in a time of chaos
- Creating boundaries for your mind
- Teaching yoga virtually
- Demonstrating and teaching virtually over Facebook versus teaching over Zoom
- Authenticity in a virtual class
- The value of a virtual class and the necessity of a studio class
- How did studios and gyms approach the Quarantine?
- What's next?

Yoga and Stress workshop:

https://www.yogaalliance.org/Get_Involved/COVID-19_Resources/Archived_COVID-19_Workshops_and_Events/CE_Workshop_Scientific_Research_on_Yoga_and_Stress_Part_1

DC Yoga Podcast - Kim Weeks and Chris Parkison

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 39a- Participating in the World instead of Renouncing it

- Studying Philosophy at Georgetown and Fordham
- Meditation as the introduction to yoga
- Learning from Swami Muktananda
- The connection between flexible hamstrings and spirituality
- Unlocking prana through asana
- Living in an Ashram in India for 7 years...starting in the kitchen
- Ego stretching and getting out of the intellectual mind
- Relationship between temperament and environment
- The balance between Grace and Effort
- The surprise of and attachment to profound experiences
- Being deconstructed physiologially
- Leaving academia for a life of Experience
- Self awareness to realize what you need to let go of
- Tracing thoughts back to the wellspring
- Finding the knots within
- Working to make the ego transparent instead of discarding it entirely
- Tantric yoga and gurus vs. Hatha yoga without 
- Recognizing truth you already know instead of adopting another's truth
- Meister Eckhart
- And finally...teaching asana.

Bio:

Doug Keller’s background reflects a lifelong commitment to studying, imbibing and sharing the vast field of knowledge and practice known as yoga. After receiving honors and graduate degrees in philosophy from the top Jesuit universities in the United States, Georgetown and Fordham Universities, and teaching philosophy at a college level for several years, he then pursued his ‘post-graduate’ education in the practical experience of yoga at the Siddha Meditation Ashram, Gurudev Siddha Peeth in India, for seven years. He spent a total of 14 years doing service, practicing, training in and teaching yoga in Siddha Meditation Ashrams worldwide. He received intensive training in the Iyengar system in New York City, mainly with senior certified Iyengar teacher Kevin Gardiner. He also practiced Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in India, and became one of the first certified Anusara Yoga teachers, producing three highly respected books on asana, pranayama and yoga philosophy. 

His further expansion in learning is reflected in his latest and most in-depth work, ‘Yoga as Therapy,’ which is truly one of the most comprehensive, innovative and useful treatments of the structural aspect of yoga therapy available. And for three years he was a regular columnist for Yoga+ Magazine (formerly Yoga International, published by the Himalayan Institute), writing the ‘Asana Solutions’ column that addresses specific therapeutic problems. He is at the highest level of certification with Yoga Alliance, ERYT500, and a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists.

For more about Doug:

http://www.doyoga.com/about-us.htm

DC Yoga Podcast - Doug Keller Part 1

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 39b- "Spiritual growth is expansion of consciousness not a contraction out of fear."

-Writing books about yoga
- Recent research into history of yoga philosophy
- Karma and reincarnation 
- Cross pollinatization of ideas between cultures of the Indian sub continent
- Tracing the path and change of yoga as concentration and yoga as union
- Hatha as a simplified democratized response to the Tantric tradition 
- Separating Hatha yoga from religious iconography
- Religions laying claim to yoga
- The Varna or Caste system in India
- Brahmin in action during the day and Tantric in thought by night
- The influence of Patanjali and the yoga sutras (The sage has not always been popular, especially in India)
-  Patanjali's resurgence the result of Krishnamacharya and his students, Pattabhi Jois and Iyengar
- Vedanta's influence on the 19th century Transcendentalists and their influence on the Indian independence movement
- The evolution of the concept of Dharma
- Internal and external yoga- responsibility to ourselves and responsibility to our community
- John Friend and Anusara
- Developing "systems" of yoga
- Teaching therapeutic yoga around the world
- The Vagus nerve and the Central Nervous System

Bio:

Doug Keller’s background reflects a lifelong commitment to studying, imbibing and sharing the vast field of knowledge and practice known as yoga. After receiving honors and graduate degrees in philosophy from the top Jesuit universities in the United States, Georgetown and Fordham Universities, and teaching philosophy at a college level for several years, he then pursued his ‘post-graduate’ education in the practical experience of yoga at the Siddha Meditation Ashram, Gurudev Siddha Peeth in India, for seven years. He spent a total of 14 years doing service, practicing, training in and teaching yoga in Siddha Meditation Ashrams worldwide. He received intensive training in the Iyengar system in New York City, mainly with senior certified Iyengar teacher Kevin Gardiner. He also practiced Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in India, and became one of the first certified Anusara Yoga teachers, producing three highly respected books on asana, pranayama and yoga philosophy. 

His further expansion in learning is reflected in his latest and most in-depth work, ‘Yoga as Therapy,’ which is truly one of the most comprehensive, innovative and useful treatments of the structural aspect of yoga therapy available. And for three years he was a regular columnist for Yoga+ Magazine (formerly Yoga International, published by the Himalayan Institute), writing the ‘Asana Solutions’ column that addresses specific therapeutic problems. He is at the highest level of certification with Yoga Alliance, ERYT500, and a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists.

For more about Doug:

http://www.doyoga.com/about-us.htm

DC Yoga Podcast - Doug Keller Part 2

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 40- "Even if the body doesn't move like we want, there's an elegance there and maybe something better."

- The cycle of being a AAA type person
- Karate and Yoga to help deal with the sleeplessness accompanying the Type A 
- The obvious logic of movement to Karate but not always of asana practice at first glance
- Discovering yoga at the Fairfax rec center and then in Reston at Health Advantage
- Learning the logic of asana with Betsy Downing
- And how that is different from learning from a book
- Burning out at work
- Accidents and realizations (and broken noses)
- Purchasing Health Advantage
- Figuring out how to teach yoga full time
- Running a yoga studio in the early 2000s
- The popularization of yoga and the yoga boom of the late 2000s
- When yoga students became customers
- The rise of Yoga Teacher Trainings
- The rise of Yoga Alliance 
- Developing standards for yoga teachers 
- The Great Recession and the contraction of the yoga business 
- The Beginning of the End with Coronavirus
- The beginnings of Anusara yoga
- Becoming an Anusara teacher and then being asked to not be one
- Loops and spirals
- The end of Anusara yoga
- Becoming the Health Advantage Yoga Center
- The importance of a daily, personal yoga practice 

Bio:

Susan is the director of The Health Advantage Yoga Center. She has been a yoga practitioner since 1989 and began teaching in 1997. Susan has studied with many world-class teachers, focusing on alignment-based styles. She received a BS degree in computer science and linguistics from the College of William and Mary and she particularly enjoys applying the logic she learned while programming to the progressive teaching of yoga poses. Susan's approach is warm and clear with an appreciation of individual differences.

On the web:

http://www.healthadvantageyoga.com/

DC Yoga Podcast - Susan Van Nuys

DC Yoga Podcast Episode 41- Nancy Talley "You need to go to Yoga!"

- Working and teaching in Occoquan VA-  "mouth of the river."
- History of Soaring Spirit Yoga
- Falling into owning a yoga studio
- The nuts and bolts of running a yoga studio
- Working in the fashion industry...and then leaving the fashion industry
- Finding Kundalini yoga in California
- Yoga classes out West- pranayama, meditation, mantra.  Not just Asana
- Moving from 90 min classes to 75  min classes to 60 min classes over time
- Yoga clearing the mind to help deal with a job you don't like but also helping to realize the job isnt worth the dealing.  
- How gifts can fulfill and also drain
- Running a yoga studio during the explosion of yoga in the late 2000s
- Offering yoga to a community that practices for stress reduction not physical fitness
- Learning how to teach to the room
- The Quarantine
- Transitioning to Zoom classes...and seeing enrollment go up
- Virtual Yoga Teacher Training
- Developing studio culture without dictating content
- Self Practice and Self regulation
- The importance of Japppa
- The importance of adductor muscles
-  Riding motorcycles

Bio:

Nancy began her yogic journey in 1997 while working in the Los Angeles fashion industry. To relieve stress and insomnia she explored Kundalini and Restorative classes but soon found Vinyasa to be her calling. She attended the White Lotus Foundation to study under Ganga White and Tracey Rich for her 200 hour RYT in Santa Barbara, CA. Nancy received her 500 hour RYT through Beloved Yoga in Reston, VA in 2012. Nancy has also studied Yin Yoga and has completed the Self-Awakening Yoga Therapeutics Teacher Training under Don and Amba Stapleton.

Nancy reminds her students to work with compassion towards themselves and to stop and enjoy the journey rather than focus on the final pose they are trying to achieve. She purchased Soaring Spirit Yoga Studio in 2010 and hopes to continue to serve the growing yoga community in Prince William County and surrounding areas.

On the web:

soaringspirityoga.com
www.facebook.com/soaringspirityogastudio
@soaring_spirit_yoga

DC Yoga Podcast - Nancy Talley

Chris Parkison is the Group Program Manager at VIDA Fitness (Yards) in Washington DC.  He teaches Yoga, Pilates, and Group Fitness classes.  He is Director of the Yoga Alliance RYS-200 school at VIDA Fitness   The DC yoga Podcast is offered as an additional resource for yoga students and teachers who want to expand their studio experience.  A place for yogis all over the DMV to find out more about their local studios and favorite teachers.

IG: @chrisparkison

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