Practice You with Elena Brower

On bridging psychological insight into the yoga space, infusing everything with choice and invitation. 0:00 — Introduction and Background of Dr. Lauren Tober 2:36 — Dr. Tober's Journey and Integration of Disciplines 4:29 — Evolution of Trauma-Informed Yoga 7:24 — Rescuer Mentality and Mindful Communication 11:30 — Adapting Yoga Practices for Trauma Sensitivity 16:06 — Training and Supporting Yoga Teachers 19:56 — Personal and Professional Evolution 24:20 — Mentorship and Private Work 27:53 — New Book and Its Impact 31:11 — Podcast and Final Thoughts Dr. Lauren Tober (she/her) is a Clinical Psychologist, Yoga Teacher, author of Mental Health Aware Yoga: A Guide for Yoga Teachers, host of the A Grateful Life Podcast, mother-of-two, spiritual seeker, beach-lover, book-reader, world-traveller and an eternal student of life. She has been a practicing psychologist and yoga teacher for over 20 years and is the founder of the Yoga Psychology Institute where she teaches yoga teachers about mental health, mental health professionals about yoga, and offers programs for anyone interested in the intersection of yoga, psychology and living a good life. With a passion for health, healing, happiness and awakening, Dr Lauren integrates the best of western psychology with yogic wisdom, both on and off the mat. Her work is soulful without being new-agey. It's evidence based without being clinical. It's authentic, heartfelt and life changing. Find out more at www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com. Lauren's new book - Mental Health Aware Yoga: A Guide for Yoga Teachers - www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/book Lauren's masterclass - How to Teach Yoga for Nervous System Regulation - www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/how-to-teach-yoga-for-nervous-system-regulation/

On the nuances of grief and loss, personal rituals, and our willingness to be transformed. 0:00 — Introduction and Guest Introduction 3:04 — Marissa's Personal Story and Grief Journey 7:38 — Building a Grief Plan 13:24 — Understanding Trauma and Its Impact 17:27 — Boundaries and Self-Care 22:52 — The Role of Prayer and Rituals 28:22 — Memorializing Losses and Rituals 32:18 — Connecting with Nature and Finding Support 37:46 — Conclusion and Final Thoughts Merissa Nathan Gerson is the author of Forget Prayers, Bring Cake: A Single Woman's Guide to Grieving, and her writing appears in Modern Love for the New York Times, The Atlantic, Playboy, Tablet, CNN.com and beyond. Merissa trained in Shambhala Shamatha meditation, graduated with an MFA in Writing and Poetics from Naropa University, is a certified Sivananda yoga teacher, and holds an MA in Jewish Studies with a focus on inherited trauma as well as sex and gender from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She was the Inherited Trauma consultant to Amazon's Transparent and is the daughter and granddaughter of war refugees. She is currently training to be a rabbi. Forget Prayers, Bring Cake: A Single Woman's Guide to Grieving came out in 2021 from Mandala Press for Simon & Schuster. This book is a companion for these times. As McArthur Genius Kiese Laymon describes: "Merissa Gerson has created a neon treatise on the art and necessity of grieving."

On participating in your life by orienting to practice; befriending time to stabilize your mind, meditating polarities to map your world. (0:00) – Introduction to Nevine Michaan and Her Journey (2:26) – The Katonah Yoga Calendar (6:36) – The Concept of Mapping in Yoga (16:48) – The Magic House and Personal Responsibility (20:55) – Balancing Self-Actualization and Interbeing (36:15) – The Role of Numbers and Measurement in Yoga (39:03) – Practical Techniques for Maintaining Energy and Vitality (39:16) – The Importance of Personal Responsibility and Discipline (39:33) – The Role of Myths and Fairy Tales in Understanding Yoga (39:51) – Final Thoughts and Practical Advice Born in Egypt in 1954, Nevine moved to New York at the age of three. In her early 20's, while studying history and comparative religion at Vassar College, she discovered meditation. She understood that there is a function, a formality and a fit to the universe and that yoga is a tool, a technique – a practice with repetition which gives us the opportunity to participate in life with intelligence and joy. Nevine started a daily practice in NYC with renowned yoga instructor Allan Bateman in the 1970s and became fully immersed in what would become her life's work. She began teaching yoga in 1978, and founded the Katonah Yoga Center in Katonah, New York in 1986. Nevine seamlessly relates her approach to yoga through comparing it to the likes of a musician. Her artful use of metaphor is one of her most well honed techniques when articulating her teachings, which are empowered by her practical approach to integrating the mind, the body and the breath. Nevine continues to teach both online and in person through her studio, the Katonah Yoga Collective in Bedford Hills NY and others throughout the community. Number Magic, new 2026 Katonah Yoga Calendar Katonah Yoga practices and theory Katonah Yoga certifications and learn more about our Mentorship Program happening twice a year online: Practice online; Video Library:

On respecting the evolution of this life and consistently responding to the call of the brightest light of all. (0:00) – Introduction and Welcome (3:01) – Experience of Performing Live (7:24) – Deva's Connection to Miten (11:01) – Life on the Road and Practices (14:01) – Evolution of Deva's Work (18:18) – Collaboration with India.Arie (23:55) – New Album and Favorite Tracks (27:05) – Upcoming Tours and Retreats Deva Premal is a world-renowned, Grammy-nominated mantra singer whose ethereal voice and sacred chant-based music have touched millions around the globe. Blending ancient Sanskrit mantras with contemporary melodies, her work creates a powerful space for inner peace, healing, and spiritual awakening. In collaboration with her partner, musician/composer Miten, she has played a key role in bringing mantra music to a worldwide audience through concerts, retreats, and acclaimed recordings. Deva and Miten's music is celebrated for its depth, purity, and universal resonance, making them beloved figures in the global yoga, wellness, and mindfulness communities. Deva's new album: The Inevitable Blossoming of the Heart

On staying true to the practices of yoga by living a life of conscious care and respect. (0:00) — Ignite Your Yoga: Introduction and Book Overview (4:26) — Cultural Appropriation and Service in Yoga (4:47) — Living the Yoga: Practical Applications (6:31) — Cultural Appropriation and Respect in Yoga Practice (15:03) — Inner Decolonization and Self-Care in Yoga (15:14) — The Four Stages of Sadhana (35:32) — Practical Tools for Inner Decolonization (40:53) — Reparations and Decolonizing Yoga Practices (42:42) — Resistance and Trust in Yoga Practice (47:55) — Final Reflections and Gratitude Susanna Barkataki is a yoga teacher, bestselling author, viral TEDx speaker, and currently pursuing her PhD in yoga philosophy. She is the founder of Ignite Institute and Yoke Yoga. Susanna's new book, Ignite Your Yoga, is a resource for teachers and practitioners alike, replete with prompts, practices, reminders, and respect.

On the quiet work of befriending ourselves, and the remembered language of healing. (0:00) – Introduction and Guest Overview (2:47) – Daria's Childhood and Early Life (9:01) – Impact of Grandmother's Death and Early Loss (12:14) – Discovering the Truth About Her Grandmother's Death (20:14) – Intergenerational Trauma and Addiction (26:12) – Emergence and Mentoring (34:19) – Success and Ambition (41:48) – Meditation and Emotional Independence (46:13) – Letter to Her Mother Daria Burke is an American writer, speaker, and wellbeing advocate. A marketer by trade and a seeker at heart, Daria is a storyteller and sense-maker, weaving together personal experience and the science of healing and transformation to explore new ways of understanding how we choose who we become. Her debut memoir, OF MY OWN MAKING (Spring 2025), is a soulful and scientific exploration of overcoming adversity, healing from childhood trauma, and rewriting one's own story. As a Chief Marketing Officer, Daria was named a 2020 AdAge Woman to Watch whose work has been recognized by Women's Wear Daily, Forbes, Vogue, Town & Country and the Cut. She has written for Fast Company, The Huffington Post, and Black Enterprise, and has appeared on The Melissa Harris-Perry Show on MSNBC. A distinguished alumna of NYU Stern School of Business (MBA) and the University of Michigan (BA), Daria was born in Detroit and now calls Los Angeles and East Hampton home. Daria's memoir OF MY OWN MAKING. Part memoir, part methodology, OF MY OWN MAKING is a soulful and scientific exploration of the power to shape one's destiny and a fearless rallying cry to excavate and examine the stories that define our lives.

On the facets of grief, the joy in the depths, and the presence we bring. (0:00) — Introduction and Guest Introduction (3:23) — Rosemerry's Son Finn (6:05) — Grief and Connection with Finn (11:53) — Exploring Darkness and Light (18:39) — Metaphors and Connection (24:30) — Meadow and Listening (28:15) — Talking to the Dead (29:53) — Rosemerry's Work and Resources Devoted to helping others explore creative practice, Rosemerry is co-host of Emerging Form, a podcast on creative process, co-founder of Secret Agents of Change (a surreptitious kindness cabal), and co-leader of Soul Writers Circle. She directed the Telluride Writers Guild for ten years and co-hosted Telluride's Talking Gourds Poetry Club for another ten years. She teaches and performs poetry for mindfulness retreats, women's retreats, teachers, addiction recovery programs, scientists, hospice, literary burlesque and more. Clients include Craig Hospital, Business & Professional Women, Think 360, Ah Haa School, Desert Dharma, Well for the Journey, and the Women's Dermatological Society. She performs as a storyteller, including shows in Aspen at the Wheeler Opera House, at the Taos Storytelling Festival, Page Storytelling Festival and the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. Her TEDx talk explores changing our outdated metaphors. For five years, she performed in the Telluride Literary Burlesque. She has been writing a poem a day since 2006, posting them since 2011 on her blog, A Hundred Falling Veils. In 2023, her poems can be heard daily on the Ritual app, The Poetic Path. Favorite themes include parenting, gardening, ecology, love, science, thriving/failure, grief and daily life. She has 13 collections of poetry, and her work has appeared in O Magazine, A Prairie Home Companion, PBS News Hour, American Life in Poetry, on fences, in back alleys, on Carnegie Hall Stage and on hundreds of river rocks she leaves around town. Her poems have been used for choral works by composers Paul Fowler and Jeffrey Nytch and performed around America. Her most recent collection, Hush, won the Halcyon prize. Naked for Tea was a finalist for the Able Muse Book Award. Other books include Even Now, The Less I Hold and If You Listen, a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. In 2023 she released All the Honey; Beneath All Appearances an Unwavering Peace (a book for grieving parents with artist Rashani Réa); a book of writing prompts, Exploring Poetry of Presence II; and Dark Praise, a spoken word album with Steve Law. She's won the Fischer Prize, Rattle's Ekphrastic Challenge (thrice), the Dwell Press Solstice Prize, the Writer's Studio Literary Contest (twice) and The Blackberry Peach Prize. She's widely anthologized including Poetry of Presence, How to Love the World, The Path to Kindness, Send My Roots Rain, Come Together: Imagine Peace, Dawn Songs, and To Love One Another. She's been an organic fruit grower, a newspaper and magazine editor, and a parent educator for Parents as Teachers. She earned her MA in English Language & Linguistics at UW–Madison. One-word mantra: Adjust. Three-word mantra: I'm still learning.

On embodying the creative, intuitive, fortifying feminine spirit at every stage of our lives. (0:00) - Introduction to Mara Branscombe and Her Work (2:01) - The Importance of Ritual in Daily Life (5:27) - Elemental Wisdom and Connecting with Nature (8:53) - Exploring the Archetypes in "Sage Huntress Lover, Queen" (14:58) - The Role of the Sage and Huntress Archetypes (20:20) - Navigating the Transition from Huntress to Lover and Mystic (29:41) - The Queen Archetype and Leadership with Love (32:32) - The Weaver Archetype and Centric Consciousness (35:49) Conclusion and Call to Action Author of Ritual as Remedy (Findhorn Press, 2022) and Sage, Huntress, Lover, Queen (Findhorn Press, 2023), Mara Branscombe is a yoga and meditation teacher, author, artist, ceremonialist, and spiritual mentor. Teaching for twenty years, she runs international retreats, corporate leadership programs, and online personal development programs. She is a regular contributor for Spirituality and Health and Wanderlust, and lives with her husband and two daughters in Vancouver, Canada. Ritual As Remedy: Embodied Practices for Soul Care https://www.ritualasremedy.com Sage, Huntress, Lover, Queen: Access Your Power and Creativity through Sacred Female Archetypes https://www.femininearchetypesbook.com