Finding Harmony Podcast

The Odyssey of Kristina Karitinou

If you ever wondered how gods are made, our guest today will tell you they start out as heroes. They become big enough to thrust out at Brad Pitt and decide the fate of thousands of women and children. Hector must have been like that… a giant like Priapus or Goliath standing in the way of Achilles.
Probably a good sized lad. Maybe even 6 foot 4 and full of muscles.
Our guest today is very much like this. She is larger than life and it makes sense that she married a Golden God like Derek Ireland and bore him two children. They used to make statues of people like them (think Venus de Milo). These two took a heroes journey that the rest of us just read about or gaze at in museums.
Kristina Karitinou sits with us today and talks about her epic life story, including her true romance with Derek Ireland, nursing him through cancer, and her subsequent depression upon his death. The pain of this event along with their two small children, shaped the rest of her journey.
Is there one of us in the Ashtanga Yoga culture more wrapped into the fabric of this legendary tapestry?
Derek looms larger than life. He who practiced in Mysore, India wearing body, ankle, and wrist weights; he who ran up and down Chamundi Hill every morning like Lester Dent’s “Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze!” (Russell’s wouldn’t have been surprised at all to find Doc Savage practicing Ashtanga Yoga next to Derek and Kristina in a cave on the island of Crete, recovering from some epic adventure).
The Ashtanga yoga practice is a method that brings the maximum beauty to both the male and female body. - Kristina Karitinou
Kristina is an Ashtanga Yoga teacher and Zen practitioner from Athens, Greece, who’s been teaching in the tradition of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois since 1991. She was qualified as an Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga teacher by her late husband Derek Ireland, authorized by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and Certified by his son, Manju Pattabhi Jois in 2012.
After many years of assisting Derek Ireland around the world, Kristina became one of the first Ashtanga yoga teachers in Europe.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT KRISTINA
WEBSITE I INSTAGRAM I FACEBOOK - https://yogapractice.gr/
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case. Your contributions have allowed us to keep our podcast ad and sponsor free. Creating, editing and producing each episode takes a lot of time. It is a labor of love. And would not be possible without your kind support.
If you’ve enjoyed today’s podcast, please consider supporting our future episodes by making a donation. http://www.harmonyslater.com/
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! ❤ Give us a 5★ rating!
We love to read and respond to your comments - So drop us a note in the comments below and give us a shout out on IG!
Opening and closing music by Nick Evans. Listen to entire album on Spotify - Click Here.
To purchase your own copy - Click Here.

Taylor Hunt: In Recovery

September is National Recovery Month. This national observance has been held every September since 1989, to educate and increase awareness around mental health and substance use disorders. It’s also a month to celebrate the people who have recovered and honor their strength in living healthy and rewarding lives.
We are reminded of Malcolm X when he wrote in the forward to his autobiography that 'the lurid gossipy details of his misspent youth were not meant to simply entertain but to educate those on the rewards of a spiritual life.'
Taylor came on our podcast with great patience as he explains just how different an addict’s life is from a “normie.”
It’s really different. Harmony and Russell share deeply traumatized, addictive personalities, where sobriety was rare in their family. And, strangely enough the family behaviour modeled for them was actually quite different from Taylor; yet, unlike him, when they have a drink, or use substances they likely won’t, as Taylor said, “Burn Mysore to the Ground.”
We invite you to sit with us today as we explore Taylor’s life and ask him about the inspiring work of his non-profit organization, the Trini Foundation, which is dedicated to sharing the life-changing practice of Ashtanga Yoga with those suffering from addiction. Their mission is to provide yoga as a tool to aid in the recovery process and help people who are suffering, maintain long-term sobriety.
They partner with treatment centers, recovery programs, and yoga studios nationwide to help offer yoga classes to individuals in early recovery.
Harmony will be offering a class on Saturday September 18th in support of the Trini Foundation and their initiative to bring Ashtanga Yoga to those recovering from alcohol and drug addiction.
REGISTER NOW - http://www.harmonyslater.com/trinifoundationrecoveryclass
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT TAYLOR - https://www.taylorhuntyoga.com/
& TRINI FOUNDATION - https://www.trinifoundation.org/
ASHTANGA YOGA COLUMBUS I TAYLOR HUNT WEBSITE I TAYLOR HUNT IG I TRINI FOUNDATION I TRINI FOUNDATION IG I BOOK: AWAY FROM DARKNESS
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case. Your contributions have allowed us to keep our podcast ad and sponsor free. Creating, editing and producing each episode takes a lot of time. It is a labor of love. And would not be possible without your kind support. If you’ve enjoyed today’s podcast, please consider supporting our future episodes by making a donation. Every little bit goes a long way and we are immensely grateful for any and all of your support.
MAKE A DONATION - http://www.harmonyslater.com/donate
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! ❤ Give us a 5★ rating!We love to read and respond to your comments - So drop us a note in the comments below and give us a shoutout on IG!

Lee Seung-Eun: Lost in Translation

You know her as Lee. We know her as 이성은
It is with great honor and joy that we introduce you to our very special friend, Lee (this is her last name of course). In the Korean language the last name is introduced first before the first name. Why would that be? What kind of culture believes that family is more important that the individual?
The answer is a Confucian culture.
Or Kong Ja Nim in Hangul which is of course Korean for the their Language and alphabet: 콩자님 한글
We discussed at length the impact a Confucian society has on our individual decisions like how to treat your elders in school or society, how to pay respect to the individual, how to be respectful to your life goals and education, or whether Russell is heart centered or a comedian.
To Lee, Russell is heart centered, nor does she recognize him as rude, but sees him as a very polite person.
Russell points out, “You are the second girl, second oldest. You could do absolutely anything with you life and no one would care, right?”
Lee doesn’t hesitate. “That is correct.” She says.
Knowing Lee as we do, and Russell having been immersed in the deeply traditional and Confucian culture of the city of Andong in middle of South Korea, allows us a picture of Lee. You cannot know her without understanding her in the context of Confucius, which is very deeply Korean to say that you cannot know someone without their cultural and environmental circle.
With that in mind we explored concepts about being in someone’s debt, whether sadness and melancholy “Han” 한 is still a Korean virtue or rather something held nostalgically for one’s grandparents.
We talk about K-Pop, and whether it’s a counter cultural revolution in Korea, antagonistic to melancholy and “Han.” To which, Lee responded “I know nothing about K-Pop. So I cannot answer that question.”
This is out first episode making use of a translator.
But, it will not be our last.
It was a deeply personal and intriguing window into another culture. Yet, here we all are, passionately invested over a long period of time, daily practicing Patanjali’s yoga of transformation.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT LEE: INSTAGRAM I WEBSITE - https://www.instagram.com/ashtanga_pranayoga/
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case. Your contributions have allowed us to keep our podcast ad and sponsor free. Creating, editing and producing each episode takes a lot of time. It is a labor of love. And would not be possible without your kind support. Make a Donation - http://www.harmonyslater.com/
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! ❤ Give us a 5★ rating!
Opening and closing music compliments of Nick Evans, with his band “dawnSong” from the album “for Morgan.” Listen to the entire album on Spotify - Click Here.

Ann Svärdfelt: A Field of Swords

It’s our pleasure to introduce you to Ann Svärdfelt. Many of you know here as her the proprietor of the Santosha Cafe. Her experience of Mysore is unique. She came to Ashtanga Yoga later in life, already with small children, and as a responsible adult. She stepped into the practice from a very different space than many of us, who were in somewhat of a state of arrested development, bugged out drop outs, wannabe hippies, overgrown, and still living with our parents.
Ann didn’t have these advantages (if you could call them that) but had all of the sincerity and devotion, and most certainly Sharath saw this in her and you could say that’s what’s most important to him — the heart of his student.
So, especially for Ann, balancing practice with renunciation was critical. It’s important to practice and at the same time let go of the outcome. That’s easier when there is no low hanging fruit, no golden fleece to achieve. Jason sailed across the Seas with his giants, his Argonauts, with every expectation to spectacular achievement. That was many of us — we thought.
We thought 3rd Series would be an easy win. Would bestow us with some special powers.
But what of the meek tho?
What of tender of the hearth, the provider of a family, who is seeking the humble lesson of learning to let go through their personal experience inside their simple yoga practice?
Comparing one’s own practice with other people is a complete waste of time, since we are all different.
Ann emphasizes that it’s good to just listen to oneself and try to follow the energy that rises.
Ann is also an Ayurvedic consultant prescribing remedies based on pulse diagnosis and principles of holistic life balance. We hope that sitting with her will allow you a gentle space to value the little victories of a life cherished for what it is.
Find Out More About Ann Svärdfelt: ASHTANGA YOGA AHUS I INSTAGRAM
Join Harmony & Ashtanga Yoga Ahus ONLINE Workshop October 9th - https://www.ashtangayogaahus.com/event-details/harmony-slater-online-class-conference
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.
Your contributions have allowed us to keep our podcast ad and sponsor free. Creating, editing and producing each episode takes a lot of time. It is a labor of love. And would not be possible without your kind support. We are truly grateful!
Make A Donation - http://www.harmonyslater.com/
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! ❤ Give us a 5★ rating!
Opening and closing music compliments of Nick Evans - Listen to the entire album on Spotify - Click Here. To purchase your own copy - Click Here.

Casey Palmer: A Proto Punk Pioneer in Portland

As you’re quickly becoming aware, We, in our little Ashtanga Yoga Land, have a culture. This word stems from the Latin meaning “to cultivate or to toil over.” And, this cultivation of the soil, slowly became a cultivation of the mind.
This is were we get the word ‘cult’ from... which is to say, “cultivated, or inhabited.”
In a way, our work in yoga, leads our mind to become inhabited. We become Self-possessed.
Without really sitting down to talk with Casey Palmer before now, what we noticed immediately, is that we share a common experience and culture. In fact, meeting him in this podcast was like meeting a family member, a twin, a lost older brother. Something akin to when Arjuna meets Karna for the first time and recognizes him immediately.
Casey is a ‘Gen-Xer’ — a punk, ‘Do-It-Yourselfer.’ Fiercely independent and skeptical of hierarchies and monetization of that which is pure and authentic.
You see, we Gen-Xers often adhere to this ethos in spite of ourselves — we’re armed and ready to cut off our nose to spite our face.
Why do we do this?
Well, let me introduce you to Lloyd Dobler.
The quote from the movie, Say Anything, “I don’t want to produce anything sold, bought or produced” is so woven into the fabric of our personality that Harmony and Casey didn’t even register it as a pop culture quote (and really, what could be more Gen-X?) - It is simply who we are.
As the Buddha says “Nothing is permanent, except change”
Please sit and listen to a fascinating discussion on a number of different topics like the culture in Mysore, holding multiple frames of consideration for Pattabhi Jois, growing up in Alaska, leading a yoga community as as an anarchist collective, and whether we can really hold onto anything for more than a passing moment in time.
Or as Lloyd Dobler, our fearless Gen-X archetype says,
“I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. I just want to love your daughter, and I think Kickboxing might be the sport of the future.”
As we all now know… Lloyd’s vision has come true.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT CASEY & NEAR EAST YOGA: WEBSITE I FACEBOOK - neareastyoga.com
THE FINDING HARMONY PODCAST IS HOSTED, EDITED AND PRODUCED BY HARMONY SLATER AND CO-HOSTED BY RUSSELL CASE.
Your contributions have allowed us to keep our podcast ad and sponsor free. Creating, editing and producing each episode takes a lot of time. It is a labor of love. And would not be possible without your kind support. If you’ve enjoyed today’s podcast, please consider supporting our future episodes by making a donation. Every little bit goes a long way and we are immensely grateful for any and all of your support.
MAKE A DONATION - harmonyslater.com
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! ❤ Give us a 5★ rating!
Opening and closing music from Ashtanga yoga in Eindhoven - Nick Evans - To purchase your own copy - Click Here

The Three Stigmata of Mariela Cruz

It is with great pleasure that we introduce you to our great friend Mariela Cruz. Mariela is one of those phenomenal human that you might find in an Alexandre Dumas classic like ‘The Count of Monte Christo’ or ‘The Man in the Iron Mask.’
Someone who’s heart-centered and gifted with supreme powers of intelligence, wit, and physical prowess!
With 7 children, a lawyer, a gifted solo pianist, she also happened to finished Advanced A Series with Sharath Jois in Mysore, India. She was an ambassador to India on behalf of Costa Rica…. and the list of accomplishments goes on and on, reading like an epic novel. All this, and she still has half a lifetime more to live.
Mariela recounts her life growing up in beatific peace loving Costa Rica, where as a young child she was immersed into a yoga practice with her mother and developed a lifelong passion for music.
Richard Freeman once said, “Obstacles are the bread and butter of Ashtanga Yoga” and Mariela has faced her fair share.
In the face of life’s challenges, Mariela’s accomplishments are extraordinary. Her patience, love, humour, self effacement, devotion, and discipline color every aspect of her life.
The most recent chapter of her story is deeply tragic and harrowing. Yet, she fights on like Durga, with the energy of her yoga practice fueling her current legal battle. We are sure that dharma will lift her and she’ll rise victorious, chasing away the darkness with her light.
“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself”
― Khalil Gibran, The Prophet
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MARIELA: YOGA PROFILE I INSTAGRAM
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case. Your contributions have allowed us to keep our podcast ad and sponsor free. Creating, editing and producing each episode takes a lot of time. It is a labor of love. And would not be possible without your kind support. Make a Donation - Harmonyslater.com
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! ❤ Give us a 5★ rating!
Opening and closing music compliments Nick Evans. Listen to the entire album on Spotify - Click Here.
To purchase your own copy - Click Here.

A Delicious Poison with Kate Winter

Today we’ve created a Venn diagram of interesting listening…. Here you’ll find the intersection of the dedicated The Last Kingdom fan (secretly in love with Uhtred of Uhtred; and Aethelfled her personal hero), mixing with a keen interest in True Crime Detective procedurals, along with a curiosity in what it might take to become a female weight lifter, or body building champion (and this may or may not have nosedived into an obsession with professional wrestling, who’s to say really).
All this crosses over with a love for tea, running, meditation, yoga and nutrition.
Recovered from an eating disorder? Practicing Ashtanga Yoga? British?
If even three quarters of these things are true about you then we would like to introduce you to Ashtanga Yoga Practitioner, Detective Kate Winter, former body builder. She is going to talk to us about eating disorders, gun violence, tea, and Warwick—a settlement within the kingdom of Mercia.
Obviously, Russell kind of loses his mind a little and can’t keep track of what accent he is going to put on…
But, by all means — Do listen. And, put the kettle on.
FOLLOW KATE ON INSTAGRAM @bimswinter
FOLLOW HARMONY ON INSTAGRAM @harmonyslateryoga
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case. Your contributions have allowed us to keep our podcast ad and sponsor free. Creating, editing and producing each episode takes a lot of time. It is a labor of love. And would not be possible without your kind support.
If you’ve enjoyed today’s podcast, please consider supporting our future episodes by making a donation. harmonyslater.com/donate
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! ❤
Give us a 5★ rating!
We love to read and respond to your comments - So drop us a note in the comments below and give us a shout out on IG!
Music by Nick Evans, with his band “dawnSong” from the album “for Morgan.”
Listen to the entire album on Spotify - Click Here.
To purchase your own copy - Click Here.

Dena Kingsberg: That’s Where The Light Gets In

"By the practice of the limbs of Yoga, the impurities dwindle away and there dawns the light of wisdom, leading to discriminative discernment."
“Dukham evam sarvaam vivekinaha.” For a viveki, a person with discriminative knowledge, everything is painful and also, simultaneously, full and sweet.
As epic poet, Leonard Cohen wrote,
“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.”
When you allow yourself to break and you see your cracks for what they are, you cease to develop the painful pattern of grasping for perfection. In fact, when we embrace those painful cracks, we transform what was painfully imperfect into something supremely beautiful. Truly, if we read just that one sutra of Patanjali, and realize that everything manifests from pain, then there’s little more we need to know.
Our guest today shares her deep wisdom with us and it’s a tremendous honor.
Dena Kingsberg has seen things. She is a Viveki to be sure. She can anticipate the worst, while envisioning the best, and clearly discerning the cracks in the facade of those who come to her for teaching. Harmony shares this kind of understanding of the world, and recognizes the same mystic wonder, strength, courage, and discipline that Dena embodies through her teachings.
“Yoga Is Not Pretty.” — But we’re going to keep persevering anyway, because as Dena reminds us, “No one is going to help you heal yourself.”
And if you don’t do the work to sort out your citta vriti (thought patterns), samskaras (action patterns), and vasanas (unconscious desires) you’re going to live trapped with whatever you get.
We are blessed today to share our conversation with Dena about her personal transformation from an awkward child into an artist, poet, and rock-goddess architect. She built her home using her own hands and she’s built her life in much the same way.
It’s challenging to be a deeply introverted person, while also being called to publicly share the sacred wisdom gleaned from time spent inwardly looking. As a popular Australian cartoonist, Leunig, has shared in his poem…
Let it go
Let it out
Let it all unravel
Let it free
And it shall be
A path on which to travel
Between this breaking and unraveling, both Dena and Harmony have come to feel that the weight of life is Full and Sweet.
Knowing how painful things can be in this world, while honoring each simple blessing, and recognizing the flow of grace in every day life, is a kind of miracle in and of itself… And that’s where the light comes in.
Because after all, “It’s the sameness in each of us that makes us truly special.” - Dena Kingsberg
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT DENA: WEBSITE I FACEBOOK I INSTAGRAM - dena.net.au
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case. Your contributions have allowed us to keep our podcast ad and sponsor free. Creating, editing, and producing each episode takes a lot of time. It is a labor of love. And would not be possible without your kind support. Make A Donation - harmonyslater.com
Opening and closing music compliments of Nick Evans - To purchase your own copy - Click Here.

Alex Medin: Relax Into Life

It is our great pleasure to introduce you to our old friend (and living legend) Certified Ashtanga Yoga Teacher, Alex Medin. Unfortunately this sentence doesn’t do him justice!
He’s an excellent and exceptional student in so many walks of life: a boxer, ballet dancer, a Sanskrit scholar, entrepreneur, and humanitarian to name but a few. In fact, if there is one allegory to describe Alex, it's that after our interview he immediately wanted to do it over so we could do it better the second time around!
Alex Medin is a native of Olso, Norway, and is the byproduct of an unstable and violent home. Discipline, breakdancing, and boxing began to transform his life from one that was recklessly circling around drugs and crime, to one that led him on an unexpectedly beautiful adventure of self discovered. The impact of this unfolding of Self, is a man who is focused on helping youth recovering from their own substance abuse issues and inmates in prison through his charity organization, Back in the Ring.
Alex stressed to us the importance of freewill as it imparts the weight of responsibility to make good choices. “We are spiritual beings trapped in our karmic patterns,” he said, threading in verses from the Yoga Sutra and Bhagavad Gita to contextualize our present-day circumstance effortlessly through this ancient wisdom like a kind of Sanskrit-Sage Savant (though, we’re pretty sure he would insist otherwise.)
“There’s plenty of madmen in the world and the enlightened ones are few. We live in dualism and although we sometimes feel glimpses of the purity of Supreme Consciousness, we are still ruled by our inner psycho-physio patterning, and this is our starting point for yoga.
We interpret life through our various samskaras.”
Taking ownership, being responsible, doing the very best we can is our starting place in life.
Prakriti (material nature) is for our enjoyment, development, and benefit. The patterns are always changing and through exploration it's up to us to figure out what creates lasting happiness. This is why we have to start with the patterns that drive us to work. It’s this urgency in Alex that makes him strive to be his best self.
“The only way to find freedom is through finding harmony within ourselves. Yoga is finding unity within diversity.”
The real grace of yoga happens in the letting go.
When yoga meets the man of Action, all good things flow towards him.
Alex holds his MA Thesis at SOAS University of London on the lineage of Krishnamacharya, which included interviews with T. K. V Desikachar, B. K. S. Iyengar, and K. Pattabhi Jois, as well as their lineage holders, Kausthub Desikachar, Prashant Iyengar, and R. Sharath Jois.
Towards the end of our lovely interview, Alex mentioned the multiple schisms that occurred within the Ashtanga Yoga Community near the end of 2017, and the deep heartbreaking disappointment that he felt when Sharath Jois removed of a whole generation of teachers from the “official” KPJAYI’s Recognized Teacher List.
“Yoga is a release. A cure for a pain we have not yet fully accessed or discovered.”
And, here we have discovered yet another wound…
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ALEX
WEBSITE I INSTAGRAM I PERSONAL I BACK IN THE RING
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HARMONY & B-SCHOOL: HarmonySlater.com

Sparky’s 9th Life

It is with great pleasure to introduce you to our dear friend Mark Stephen Pomianowski, known only as Sparky. He is a kind of Bay Area legend, infamous for his sense of humor, and his constant confrontations with wild (and quite literal) death defying situations.
“Sparx” (for short) was Russell’s Ashtanga Yoga student in San Francisco, as well as a great master of Chinese Medicine who helped cure Russell’s sciatica. Later, he became Russell’s teacher in acupuncture.
Sparky plays bass and classical guitar. His teacher is Jack Casady, the bassist for Jefferson Airplane—who in turn was the childhood friend of Jorma Kaukonen (the guitarist for Jefferson Airplane and the composer of their Embryonic Journey) and Sparky’s classical guitar teacher. If you listen to the end of the show you will hear Sparky give an impromptu, unrehearsed rendition of that song that left us breathless and speechless.
Sparky’s first life took shape as a student of the guitar and aspiring musician. Currently, he’s a sailboat captain, but first, many years ago, he somehow became a midshipman engineer (with no training and nearly died in by electrocution on a Sheik’s yacht in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean).
In another life he traveled as a roadie for R.E.M and became their lighting technician along with the Feelies. Also a Greenpeace rep, who Michael Stipe told in no uncertain terms to quit chasing a rock band and get on following his purpose as an acupuncturist. This sent him to China where he trained as a Chinese Medical doctor—and returned to practice acupuncture in the Bay Area, where he met Russell.
Sparky is also a surfer (who nearly died just last week by a great white shark attack), a yogi, and most of all a father of three, who you’ll hear crawling all over him, in the background during this insanely hilarious episode!
THE FINDING HARMONY PODCAST IS HOSTED, EDITED AND PRODUCED BY HARMONY SLATER AND CO-HOSTED BY RUSSELL CASE.
Your contributions have allowed us to keep our podcast ad and sponsor free. Creating, editing and producing each episode takes a lot of time. It is a labor of love. And would not be possible without your kind support.
If you’ve enjoyed today’s podcast, please consider supporting our future episodes by making a donation.
harmonyslater.com
Opening and closing music compliments of my dear friend teaching Ashtanga yoga in Eindhoven, Nick Evans, with his band “dawnSong” from the album “for Morgan.”
Listen to the entire album on Spotify - Click Here.
To purchase your own copy - Click Here.