Finding Harmony Podcast

The Psychedelic Renaissance: What to Know Before You Journey | with Zappy Zapolin

What if the most important part of a psychedelic experience isn't the journey at all — but what you do when you come home?
In this episode, Harmony Slater and co-host Russell Case sit down with Zappy Zapolin, entrepreneur, filmmaker, and founder of Psychedelic Concierge, an educational platform for training facilitators in preparation, holding space, and integration. Zappy directed the documentary The Reality of Truth, which features voices from across the consciousness and wellness world.
Together they explore the “psychedelic renaissance” unfolding alongside AI: the difference between substances like ayahuasca, ibogaine, San Pedro, and medically supervised ketamine; why set, setting, and belief shape everything; and why integration may matter more than the experience itself. Harmony and Russell also share, honestly, their own recent first ayahuasca ceremony and what surfaced.
This is a frank, adult conversation about consciousness, trauma, addiction recovery, and the ethics of guiding others through altered states. It's offered for reflection and education — not as medical advice, and not as encouragement to use substances that remain illegal in many places.
In this episode
Why Zappy calls this “the greatest moment in human history”
Set, setting, and the role of your worldview in shaping an experience
Why integration — not the journey — is where the real work happens
The distinct “personalities” of different plant medicines
Medically supervised ketamine vs. recreational misuse — and why the distinction matters
Holding space ethically: the case for trained facilitators over the “garage shaman”
How yoga and meditation relate to (and differ from) plant-medicine work
Harmony and Russell's reflections on their own ceremony and the value of preparation
Connect & support
Guest: Zappy Zapolin — Psychedelic Concierge
Support resources: U.S. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline · SAMHSA National Helpline 1-800-662-4357
The Inner Rejuvenation Codes: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/inner-rejuvenation-codes-mc Join the Lightworker Mastermind:  https://harmonyslater.com/lightworker-mastermindFIND Harmony online: https://harmonyslater.com/Harmony on IG: https://www.instagram.com/harmonyslaterofficial/Finding Harmony Podcast on IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingharmonypodcast/FREE Manifestation Activation: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/manifestation-activation

The Psychedelic Renaissance: What to Know Before You Journey | with Zappy Zapolin [Video]

What if the most important part of a psychedelic experience isn't the journey at all — but what you do when you come home?
In this episode, Harmony Slater and co-host Russell Case sit down with Zappy Zapolin, entrepreneur, filmmaker, and founder of Psychedelic Concierge, an educational platform for training facilitators in preparation, holding space, and integration. Zappy directed the documentary The Reality of Truth, which features voices from across the consciousness and wellness world.
Together they explore the “psychedelic renaissance” unfolding alongside AI: the difference between substances like ayahuasca, ibogaine, San Pedro, and medically supervised ketamine; why set, setting, and belief shape everything; and why integration may matter more than the experience itself. Harmony and Russell also share, honestly, their own recent first ayahuasca ceremony and what surfaced.
This is a frank, adult conversation about consciousness, trauma, addiction recovery, and the ethics of guiding others through altered states. It's offered for reflection and education — not as medical advice, and not as encouragement to use substances that remain illegal in many places.
In this episode
Why Zappy calls this “the greatest moment in human history”
Set, setting, and the role of your worldview in shaping an experience
Why integration — not the journey — is where the real work happens
The distinct “personalities” of different plant medicines
Medically supervised ketamine vs. recreational misuse — and why the distinction matters
Holding space ethically: the case for trained facilitators over the “garage shaman”
How yoga and meditation relate to (and differ from) plant-medicine work
Harmony and Russell's reflections on their own ceremony and the value of preparation
Connect & support
Guest: Zappy Zapolin — Psychedelic Concierge
Support resources: U.S. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline · SAMHSA National Helpline 1-800-662-4357
The Inner Rejuvenation Codes: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/inner-rejuvenation-codes-mc Join the Lightworker Mastermind:  https://harmonyslater.com/lightworker-mastermindFIND Harmony online: https://harmonyslater.com/Harmony on IG: https://www.instagram.com/harmonyslaterofficial/Finding Harmony Podcast on IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingharmonypodcast/FREE Manifestation Activation: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/manifestation-activation

When Your Guru Is Gone: Grief, Practice, and the Tradition That Remains (Audio)

What does it mean to keep practicing after the loss of the teacher who gave you the practice?
 
In this deeply personal episode, Harmony Slater speaks with Bianca Oliviera — a Brazilian-born Ashtanga teacher now living in Katowice, Poland — about the sudden passing of Sharath Jois, the grief that followed, and how she continues to carry the teachings forward. Bianca was present at the Active Series training in Virginia when Sharath passed, and she shares her firsthand account of that day with honesty, grief, and deep reverence.
 
This conversation explores what happens to devotion when its outer form disappears — and why the essence of the practice, once received, can never truly be lost.
 
IN THIS EPISODE:
How Bianca discovered yoga in Rio de Janeiro through her grandmother
Moving to the U.S., a teaching training scholarship, and the DVD that changed everything
First encountering Sharath on the 2013 U.S. tour — and knowing she'd found her teacher
Six trips to Mysore, practicing with both Saraswati and Sharath
Navigating practice with a young child — and a supportive Polish artist husband
Injuries, catching debates, and learning to listen to the body
Teaching evening Mysore in Katowice, organizing family-friendly retreats
Being present in Virginia for the Active Series launch — and the hike that ended everything
The shock, the circle of prayer, the blanket, and the nights no one could sleep
Life since Sharath's passing: mixed feelings, shifted priorities, community bonds
Impermanence as the ultimate teacher — in practice, in family, and in loss
 
KEY QUOTES:
"Each time I finish, I feel good. Something inside feels better."
"He sacrificed so much so I could practice with Sharaji because he knew it was super special and important for me."
"Nothing is forever. Not our bodies, not our communities, not our guru, not our practices."
 
GUEST BIO:
BIANCA RAPOSO DE OLIVEIRA is a Brazilian-born Ashtanga yoga teacher based in Katowice, Poland. She discovered yoga in Rio de Janeiro and found Ashtanga after watching the Ashtanga New York DVD during a 200-hour teacher training in North Carolina. She traveled to Mysore approximately six times to practice with Saraswati Jois and Sharath Jois. She now runs an evening Mysore program and teaches online, and organizes yoga retreats with her husband and son Surya.
 
CONNECT WITH BIANCA:
Instagram: @biancayoga
Website: ashtangayogakatowice.com
 
HARMONY IS TEACHING IN PORTUGAL:
Agora Lisboa (Lisbon) — June 25–28
Ashtanga House Faro — Five-day immersion in Faro, Portugal – DM Harmony on Instagram @harmonyslaterofficial
 
SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW:
Find Finding Harmony on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Podbean.
The Inner Rejuvenation Codes: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/inner-rejuvenation-codes-mc Join the Lightworker Mastermind:  https://harmonyslater.com/lightworker-mastermindFIND Harmony online: https://harmonyslater.com/Harmony on IG: https://www.instagram.com/harmonyslaterofficial/Finding Harmony Podcast on IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingharmonypodcast/FREE Manifestation Activation: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/manifestation-activation

When Your Guru Is Gone: Grief, Practice, and the Tradition That Remains [VIDEO]

What does it mean to keep practicing after the loss of the teacher who gave you the practice?
 
In this deeply personal episode, Harmony Slater speaks with Bianca Oliviera — a Brazilian-born Ashtanga teacher now living in Katowice, Poland — about the sudden passing of Sharath Jois, the grief that followed, and how she continues to carry the teachings forward. Bianca was present at the Active Series training in Virginia when Sharath passed, and she shares her firsthand account of that day with honesty, grief, and deep reverence.
 
This conversation explores what happens to devotion when its outer form disappears — and why the essence of the practice, once received, can never truly be lost.
 
IN THIS EPISODE:
How Bianca discovered yoga in Rio de Janeiro through her grandmother
Moving to the U.S., a teaching training scholarship, and the DVD that changed everything
First encountering Sharath on the 2013 U.S. tour — and knowing she'd found her teacher
Six trips to Mysore, practicing with both Saraswati and Sharath
Navigating practice with a young child — and a supportive Polish artist husband
Injuries, catching debates, and learning to listen to the body
Teaching evening Mysore in Katowice, organizing family-friendly retreats
Being present in Virginia for the Active Series launch — and the hike that ended everything
The shock, the circle of prayer, the blanket, and the nights no one could sleep
Life since Sharath's passing: mixed feelings, shifted priorities, community bonds
Impermanence as the ultimate teacher — in practice, in family, and in loss
 
KEY QUOTES:
"Each time I finish, I feel good. Something inside feels better."
"He sacrificed so much so I could practice with Sharaji because he knew it was super special and important for me."
"Nothing is forever. Not our bodies, not our communities, not our guru, not our practices."
 
GUEST BIO:
BIANCA RAPOSO DE
OLIVEIRA is a Brazilian-born Ashtanga yoga teacher based in Katowice, Poland. She discovered yoga in Rio de Janeiro and found Ashtanga after watching the Ashtanga New York DVD during a 200-hour teacher training in North Carolina. She traveled to Mysore approximately six times to practice with Saraswati Jois and Sharath Jois. She now runs an evening Mysore program and teaches online, and organizes yoga retreats with her husband and son Surya.
 
CONNECT WITH BIANCA:
Instagram: @biancayoga
Website: ashtangayogakatowice.com
 
HARMONY IS TEACHING IN PORTUGAL:
Agora Lisboa (Lisbon) — June 25–28
Ashtanga House Faro — Five-day immersion in Faro, Portugal – DM Harmony on Instagram @harmonyslaterofficial
 
SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW:
Find Finding Harmony on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Podbean.
The Inner Rejuvenation Codes: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/inner-rejuvenation-codes-mc Join the Lightworker Mastermind:  https://harmonyslater.com/lightworker-mastermindFIND Harmony online: https://harmonyslater.com/Harmony on IG: https://www.instagram.com/harmonyslaterofficial/Finding Harmony Podcast on IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingharmonypodcast/FREE Manifestation Activation: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/manifestation-activation

Selling Without Selling Out: Why Healers Struggle to Share Their Gifts (and How to Change That) | with Mel Brandt

Harmony sits down with her fellow Canadian and spinal energetics colleague, Mel Brandt — chiropractor, coach, and founder of a new paradigm for healer-entrepreneurs. After 18 years building a multidisciplinary chiropractic clinic in Kelowna, BC, Mel recently sold her practice to step fully into the work she believes she was always meant to do: helping healers clear the energetic and subconscious blocks that keep them playing small in their businesses and their lives.
What begins as a conversation about spinal energetics quickly opens into something much larger: the emotional roots of physical pain, the limiting scope of institutional medicine, the spiritual initiation of selling a business you built from scratch, and the deep identity work required to ask yourself, "Who am I without what I do?"
Mel shares how a back injury she couldn't heal using conventional methods led her to German New Medicine — and the revelation that her pain was actually part of a healing phase, not a sign that something was broken. She traces her path from that awakening through subconscious coaching, spinal energetics training, and ultimately the decision to fully release her clinic identity and build something new.
Together, Harmony and Mel explore why healers so often undervalue their services, what makes coaching categorically different from training, and why the discomfort of evolving is — for both of them — far less painful than the discomfort of staying put.
This episode is for anyone navigating a calling that doesn't fit inside the box they've been living in.
Key Topics Covered
Spinal energetics as a bridge between physical anatomy and energetic healing
German New Medicine and the emotional-conflict roots of chronic pain
Why BC chiropractic scope limits prevented integration of energy work
Identity dissolution: releasing 18 years as a clinic owner
The healer's wound: compassion, undervaluing services, and the fear of being salesy
Coaching vs. training — the mirror vs. the curriculum
Insurance-covered care and the mindset it creates in clients
Accountability, skin in the game, and 'jumping timelines'
Outgrowing professional communities without making it mean something about you
Spinal energetics as ritual: structure holding spontaneous transformation
About Mel Brandt
Mel Brandt is a chiropractor, certified spinal energetics practitioner, and business coach based in Kelowna, British Columbia. She founded and ran a multidisciplinary health clinic for 18 years, growing it to 16 practitioners before selling in early 2026 to focus entirely on her coaching work. Mel now helps healers, coaches, and practitioners expand their impact, clear subconscious blocks, and build businesses that are aligned with their deeper purpose. Her current signature programs blend spinal energetics, subconscious work, and business strategy for practitioners ready to move beyond the treatment room.
 
Guest Links & Resources
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melbrandtrewired/
https://melbrandt.com/beyond-the-table
 
Host Announcement: Portugal Sessions
Harmony Slater will be offering in-person spinal energetics sessions in Portugal this summer:• Lisbon (Agora Lisboa): June 25–28• Faro: July 8–12DM @harmonyslaterofficial on Instagram to book.
The Inner Rejuvenation Codes: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/inner-rejuvenation-codes-mc Join the Lightworker Mastermind:  https://harmonyslater.com/lightworker-mastermindFIND Harmony online: https://harmonyslater.com/Harmony on IG: https://www.instagram.com/harmonyslaterofficial/Finding Harmony Podcast on IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingharmonypodcast/FREE Manifestation Activation: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/manifestation-activation

Selling Without Selling Out: Why Healers Struggle to Share Their Gifts (and How to Change That) | with Mel Brandt (VIDEO)

Harmony sits down with her fellow Canadian and spinal energetics colleague, Mel Brandt — chiropractor, coach, and founder of a new paradigm for healer-entrepreneurs. After 18 years building a multidisciplinary chiropractic clinic in Kelowna, BC, Mel recently sold her practice to step fully into the work she believes she was always meant to do: helping healers clear the energetic and subconscious blocks that keep them playing small in their businesses and their lives.
What begins as a conversation about spinal energetics quickly opens into something much larger: the emotional roots of physical pain, the limiting scope of institutional medicine, the spiritual initiation of selling a business you built from scratch, and the deep identity work required to ask yourself, "Who am I without what I do?"
Mel shares how a back injury she couldn't heal using conventional methods led her to German New Medicine — and the revelation that her pain was actually part of a healing phase, not a sign that something was broken. She traces her path from that awakening through subconscious coaching, spinal energetics training, and ultimately the decision to fully release her clinic identity and build something new.
Together, Harmony and Mel explore why healers so often undervalue their services, what makes coaching categorically different from training, and why the discomfort of evolving is — for both of them — far less painful than the discomfort of staying put.
This episode is for anyone navigating a calling that doesn't fit inside the box they've been living in.
Key Topics Covered
Spinal energetics as a bridge between physical anatomy and energetic healing
German New Medicine and the emotional-conflict roots of chronic pain
Why BC chiropractic scope limits prevented integration of energy work
Identity dissolution: releasing 18 years as a clinic owner
The healer's wound: compassion, undervaluing services, and the fear of being salesy
Coaching vs. training — the mirror vs. the curriculum
Insurance-covered care and the mindset it creates in clients
Accountability, skin in the game, and 'jumping timelines'
Outgrowing professional communities without making it mean something about you
Spinal energetics as ritual: structure holding spontaneous transformation
About Mel Brandt
Mel Brandt is a chiropractor, certified spinal energetics practitioner, and business coach based in Kelowna, British Columbia. She founded and ran a multidisciplinary health clinic for 18 years, growing it to 16 practitioners before selling in early 2026 to focus entirely on her coaching work. Mel now helps healers, coaches, and practitioners expand their impact, clear subconscious blocks, and build businesses that are aligned with their deeper purpose. Her current signature programs blend spinal energetics, subconscious work, and business strategy for practitioners ready to move beyond the treatment room.
 
Guest Links & Resources
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melbrandtrewired/
https://melbrandt.com/beyond-the-table
 
Host Announcement: Portugal Sessions
Harmony Slater will be offering in-person spinal energetics sessions in Portugal this summer:• Lisbon (Agora Lisboa): June 25–28• Faro: July 8–12DM @harmonyslaterofficial on Instagram to book.
The Inner Rejuvenation Codes: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/inner-rejuvenation-codes-mc Join the Lightworker Mastermind:  https://harmonyslater.com/lightworker-mastermindFIND Harmony online: https://harmonyslater.com/Harmony on IG: https://www.instagram.com/harmonyslaterofficial/Finding Harmony Podcast on IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingharmonypodcast/FREE Manifestation Activation: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/manifestation-activation

The Language of Yoga: Sanskrit, Ashtanga, and the Pursuit of True Meaning | with Zoë Slatoff

What does yoga actually mean? If you answered 'union,' Harmony and Russell have a fascinating surprise for you. In this deeply rich conversation with Sanskrit scholar and Ashtanga teacher Zoë Slatoff, the trio explores the ancient philosophical roots beneath the practices many of us do every day.
Zoë is the author of Yogavataranam: The Translation of Yoga, A New Approach to Sanskrit, Associate Director of the Yoga Studies MA program at Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles), and a PhD candidate whose dissertation may permanently change the way you think about what yoga is for.
The conversation moves from Zoë's early years in Brooklyn and a pivotal Rodney Yee VHS tape, to engineering studies at the elite Cooper Union, to teaching 16 yoga classes a week in New York City, to the magic of Lakshmi Puram in Mysore before the internet existed. It arrives, finally, at the big philosophical question at the heart of her dissertation: how did yoga go from meaning separation to meaning union?
What You'll Learn in This Episode
Why "yoga" in the Yoga Sutras means separation—not union—and how Advaita Vedanta changed everything
The role of the Upadesha Sahasri (attributed to Shankaracharya) in bridging dualism and non-duality
How Pattabhi Jois used to quote ancient Vedantic texts every single day in conference in Lakshmi Puram
Why the neti neti practice ('not this, not that') is a powerful tool for modern meditators
How Zoë began her Sanskrit journey in Mysore and transformed it into a published textbook and academic career
What it means to teach Sanskrit in a way that actually serves yoga practitioners (not classical scholars)
The magic—and the chaos—of traveling to India without the internet, using hand-drawn maps and STD phone boxes
Why Zoë believes dualism and non-duality are ultimately describing the same thing, just from different angles
Guest Bio: Zoë Slatoff
Zoë Slatoff is a Sanskrit scholar, longtime Ashtanga yoga practitioner and teacher, and author of Yogavataranam: The Translation of Yoga—a groundbreaking Sanskrit grammar textbook designed specifically for yoga practitioners who want to read the texts that inform their practice. She holds a master's degree from Columbia University in Asian Languages and Cultures, is completing her PhD at Lancaster University, and currently serves as Associate Director (and incoming Director) of the Yoga Studies MA program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She also teaches Sanskrit online through the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.
Resources & Links Mentioned
Yogavataranam: The Translation of Yoga by Zoë Slatoff — available wherever books are sold (new edition coming soon)
Yoga Studies MA Program at Loyola Marymount University — visit lmu.edu for admissions info
Sanskrit classes online through the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies — check Zoë's website at ashtangayogasanskrit.com
Yoga Gives Back — the charity whose fundraising gala reunited Zoë, Harmony, and Russell in LA
Harmony Slater's Portugal intensives — Lisbon and Faro (end of June through mid-July); details in show links
The Being Gathering festival, Portugal
The Inner Rejuvenation Codes: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/inner-rejuvenation-codes-mc Join the Lightworker Mastermind:  https://harmonyslater.com/lightworker-mastermindFIND Harmony online: https://harmonyslater.com/Harmony on IG: https://www.instagram.com/harmonyslaterofficial/Finding Harmony Podcast on IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingharmonypodcast/FREE Manifestation Activation: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/manifestation-activation

The Language of Yoga: Sanskrit, Ashtanga, and the Pursuit of True Meaning | with Zoë Slatoff (VIDEO)

What does yoga actually mean? If you answered 'union,' Harmony and Russell have a fascinating surprise for you. In this deeply rich conversation with Sanskrit scholar and Ashtanga teacher Zoë  Slatoff, the trio explores the ancient philosophical roots beneath the practices many of us do every day.
Zoë is the author of Yogavataranam: The Translation of Yoga, A New Approach to Sanskrit, Associate Director of the Yoga Studies MA program at Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles), and a PhD candidate whose dissertation may permanently change the way you think about what yoga is for.
The conversation moves from Zoë 's early years in Brooklyn and a pivotal Rodney Yee VHS tape, to engineering studies at the elite Cooper Union, to teaching 16 yoga classes a week in New York City, to the magic of Lakshmi Puram in Mysore before the internet existed. It arrives, finally, at the big philosophical question at the heart of her dissertation: how did yoga go from meaning separation to meaning union?
What You'll Learn in This Episode
Why "yoga" in the Yoga Sutras means separation—not union—and how Advaita Vedanta changed everything
The role of the Upadesha Sahasri (attributed to Shankaracharya) in bridging dualism and non-duality
How Pattabhi Jois used to quote ancient Vedantic texts every single day in conference in Lakshmi Puram
Why the neti neti practice ('not this, not that') is a powerful tool for modern meditators
How Zoe began her Sanskrit journey in Mysore and transformed it into a published textbook and academic career
What it means to teach Sanskrit in a way that actually serves yoga practitioners (not classical scholars)
The magic—and the chaos—of traveling to India without the internet, using hand-drawn maps and STD phone boxes
Why Zoe believes dualism and non-duality are ultimately describing the same thing, just from different angles
Guest Bio: Zoë  Slatoff
Zoë  Slatoff is a Sanskrit scholar, longtime Ashtanga yoga practitioner and teacher, and author of Yogavataranam: The Translation of Yoga—a groundbreaking Sanskrit grammar textbook designed specifically for yoga practitioners who want to read the texts that inform their practice. She holds a master's degree from Columbia University in Asian Languages and Cultures, is completing her PhD at Lancaster University, and currently serves as Associate Director (and incoming Director) of the Yoga Studies MA program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She also teaches Sanskrit online through the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.
Resources & Links Mentioned
Yogavataranam: The Translation of Yoga by Zoe Slatoff — available wherever books are sold (new edition coming soon)
Yoga Studies MA Program at Loyola Marymount University — visit lmu.edu for admissions info
Sanskrit classes online through the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies — check Zoe's website at ashtangayogasanskrit.com
Yoga Gives Back — the charity whose fundraising gala reunited Zoe, Harmony, and Russell in LA
Harmony Slater's Portugal intensives — Lisbon and Faro (end of June through mid-July); details in show links
The Being Gathering festival, Portugal
The Inner Rejuvenation Codes: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/inner-rejuvenation-codes-mc Join the Lightworker Mastermind:  https://harmonyslater.com/lightworker-mastermindFIND Harmony online: https://harmonyslater.com/Harmony on IG: https://www.instagram.com/harmonyslaterofficial/Finding Harmony Podcast on IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingharmonypodcast/FREE Manifestation Activation: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/manifestation-activation

Are You Actually Practicing Yoga? A Yoga Therapist's Honest Answer

What does it actually mean to practice yoga — and are any of us really doing it? In this rich and unhurried conversation, Harmony sits down with Tara Mitra: Ashtanga teacher, yoga therapist, and devoted Vedic chanting practitioner who has spent decades tracing the practice back to its roots.
Tara's path moved from high-stress corporate life in Toronto to studying Ashtanga with dedicated teachers in Canada and California, then four years assisting in the Mysore shala, and finally into the Krishnamacharya lineage in Chennai — where yoga therapy, pranayama, Vedic chanting, and philosophy became her deepest studies. Today she works with everyone from cancer patients to hospice clients, with the simple premise: if you can breathe, she can teach you something.
This conversation is a slow, deliberate unwinding of everything we think we know about yoga — and an invitation back to what it actually is.
 
In this episode you'll explore:
Why 'nobody is really practicing yoga' — and what that actually means
The journey from Ashtanga to yoga therapy: what made Tara go deeper
How chanting and philosophy naturally shift the inner landscape
Samasthiti as 'the pregnant pause' — and why skipping it misses the point
The monkey mind: drunk, stung by a scorpion, and haunted — and what practice does to each layer
Chitta vritti nirodha and what the Yoga Sutras actually say about the mind
Spiritual bypassing: the 'good vibes only' trap and premature transcendence
The radical practice of doing nothing — no phone, no tea, just thirty minutes at a window
Ayurveda and the body's natural rhythms in the age of artificial light and screen time
The pancha vayus and why pranayama is far subtler than it looks
The breath as the great friend — and its connection to spirit in every tradition
Redefining the guru: someone who isn't caught in your own distortions
Sangha: why community isn't optional on the path
How beginners should start: not by thinking
The butterfly mind vs. the stability of genuine practice
Boundaries as an expression of love, not a closing off
Equanimity (upeksha) as a lifelong practice, not a destination
 
Connect with Tara Mitra:
Website: taramitrayoga.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taramitrayoga/
Offerings: Yoga Sutras classes, Vedic chanting, Upanishad study, mentorship program
 
Resources mentioned:
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali — chitta vritti nirodha (YS 1.2); the nine obstacles; YS 1.33 brahmaviharas
Shanti mantra: Purnamadah Purnamidam (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)
Krishnamacharya lineage (Mysore & Chennai / Desikachar branch)
Ashtanga trishthana — breath, drishti, bandha
Ayurveda and the concept of natural daily rhythms (dinacharya)
Harmony's upcoming Portugal workshops — harmonyslater.com/events
The Inner Rejuvenation Codes: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/inner-rejuvenation-codes-mc Join the Lightworker Mastermind:  https://harmonyslater.com/lightworker-mastermindFIND Harmony online: https://harmonyslater.com/Harmony on IG: https://www.instagram.com/harmonyslaterofficial/Finding Harmony Podcast on IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingharmonypodcast/FREE Manifestation Activation: https://harmonyslater.kit.com/manifestation-activation

Are You Actually Practicing Yoga? A Yoga Therapist's Honest Answer (VIDEO)

What does it actually mean to practice yoga — and are any of us really doing it? In this rich and unhurried conversation, Harmony sits down with Tara Mitra: Ashtanga teacher, yoga therapist, and devoted Vedic chanting practitioner who has spent decades tracing the practice back to its roots.
Tara's path moved from high-stress corporate life in Toronto to studying Ashtanga with dedicated teachers in Canada and California, then four years assisting in the Mysore shala, and finally into the Krishnamacharya lineage in Chennai — where yoga therapy, pranayama, Vedic chanting, and philosophy became her deepest studies. Today she works with everyone from cancer patients to hospice clients, with the simple premise: if you can breathe, she can teach you something.
This conversation is a slow, deliberate unwinding of everything we think we know about yoga — and an invitation back to what it actually is.
 
In this episode you'll explore:
Why 'nobody is really practicing yoga' — and what that actually means
The journey from Ashtanga to yoga therapy: what made Tara go deeper
How chanting and philosophy naturally shift the inner landscape
Samasthiti as 'the pregnant pause' — and why skipping it misses the point
The monkey mind: drunk, stung by a scorpion, and haunted — and what practice does to each layer
Chitta vritti nirodha and what the Yoga Sutras actually say about the mind
Spiritual bypassing: the 'good vibes only' trap and premature transcendence
The radical practice of doing nothing — no phone, no tea, just thirty minutes at a window
Ayurveda and the body's natural rhythms in the age of artificial light and screen time
The pancha vayus and why pranayama is far subtler than it looks
The breath as the great friend — and its connection to spirit in every tradition
Redefining the guru: someone who isn't caught in your own distortions
Sangha: why community isn't optional on the path
How beginners should start: not by thinking
The butterfly mind vs. the stability of genuine practice
Boundaries as an expression of love, not a closing off
Equanimity (upeksha) as a lifelong practice, not a destination
 
Connect with Tara Mitra:
Website: taramitrayoga.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taramitrayoga/
Offerings: Yoga Sutras classes, Vedic chanting, Upanishad study, mentorship program
 
Resources mentioned:
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali — chitta vritti nirodha (YS 1.2); the nine obstacles; YS 1.33 brahmaviharas
Shanti mantra: Purnamadah Purnamidam (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)
Krishnamacharya lineage (Mysore & Chennai / Desikachar branch)
Ashtanga trishthana — breath, drishti, bandha
Ayurveda and the concept of natural daily rhythms (dinacharya)
Harmony's upcoming Portugal workshops — harmonyslater.com/events
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