Finding Harmony Podcast

Rebirth, Restart, and the New Year with Guy Donahaye

Happy New Year, Thundercats!
(That’s the name Russell’s come up with for “the Finding Harmony fanclub.” Shout out to Valerie Swift for setting this up! hint hint…. lol!)
To start your year, here’s wonderful interview, with the one person who made Russell the most nervous to talk to!
Yet, like all things, the experience of actually sitting down with Guy Donahaye was an absolute delight.
Guy Donahaye was Russell’s first Mysore style Ashtanga teacher in NYC, his mentor, and the last man certified by Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois — and possibly the first Certified teacher to publicly reject him as “Guruji.”
Guy has a very natural and shy reticence about him. It’s one of his strongest characteristics and is something his students would all immediately ascribe to him. So we were absolutely thrilled to have him join us and talk so much! He was loving, humble and engaged with our conversation in a sincere way, with the intention of cultivating a deeper understanding around why we do the things we do, what’s the true purpose for practicing yoga, and how this might be approached in different ways.
We believe that he very much appreciated our work and we are honored to add his voice and point of view to our collection of esteemed perspectives from practitioners and teachers all over the world.
With Guy, we spoke about regret a great deal, and whether regret and learning are both possible.
For example, can you regret getting into a bad marriage and subsequently a divorce, if you, as a person, learned so much from the experience?
Isn’t this what the Dalai Lama teaches us when he says that China’s treatment of Tibet is and was his greatest teacher?
Still, Guy seems to regret his treatment of Russell in his Mysore room 20 years ago. Whereas Russell was deeply grateful for his experience, and regrets ever leaving him.
So here we are. Now. Where we are.
And really, what regrets can we truly carry when we look deeply into the turbulent stillness of our hearts with kindness, humour, and compassion?
All our love to you, with the dawning of new days, in 2022!
Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats Ho!
Fire up your sword of Omens!
LEARN MORE ABOUT GUY - FACEBOOK I INSTAGRAM - https://www.integralashtanga.com/
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FINDING HARMONY INSIDE CIRCLE! - https://www.harmonyslater-programs.com/
BE THE FIRST TO KNOW! SIGN UP - https://www.harmonyslater.com/
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.
A big heart of thanks to our friends, family, and students from around the world, who’ve generously supported this podcast through your comments, sharing, and financial donations. 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
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! ❤ Give us a 5★ rating!
Music by Nick Evans - Listen to the entire album on Spotify - Click Here.
FIND 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

Magic and the Mysore Yoga Tradition with Andrew Eppler

Merry Christmas! For this year-end special we have a little present for you all. Some Magic!
We would like to introduce you to an incredibly interesting practitioner and teacher, Andrew Eppler. At one time, he was a kind of young-prince in the Ashtanga Yoga culture. Introduced to the practice by the late Cliff Barber as a 14 year old. He was Guy Donahaye’s first Ashtanga teacher in Oxford when he was assisting Danny Paradise, as a 19 year old.
Andrew has given us all an incredible gift. He has made and produced the documentary film: The Mysore Yoga Traditions. This film is a deep dive into the myriad practices and teachers, who are alive, available, and relevant in Mysore today.
“Tradition” is a funny word. It comes from the Latin Tradere: to hold on to. And so, quite literally means attachment.
But it begs the question: How can we have a system to reproduce enlightenment without being attached to certain things?
Does enlightenment arise spontaneously? Or do we need to cultivate and nurture the conditions to support this arousal?
Andrew Eppler began practicing yoga with his father, Ray Eppler, at age 14. Cliff Barber was their first teacher. Three years later, Andrew began travelling the world, studying with many teachers including Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Mr. BNS Iyengar, Cliff Barber, David Williams and Danny Paradise.
In 1992, Andrew lived with David Williams for several weeks, and continued to visit and practice with him over the next 18 years. Enjoying a friendship forged in yoga, trust and admiration. David's views on yoga were very influential for Andrew.
Andrew continued to journey to Mysore to study pranayama, philosophy, and mudras with Sri BNS Iyengar. The ascetic lifestyle and unconventional views of Cliff Barber, which included living outdoors, going barefoot, practising in nature, and cooking on an open fire, have also been one of the main influences in Andrew’s understanding of yoga.
And then there was Danny Paradise, who convinced Andrew to travel to India for the first time at the age of 18, opening Andrew's eyes to a new way of seeing the world. He stoked the fire of Andrew’s strong nomadic tendencies: "I think through his guidance, perhaps more than anyone else, I came to see myself as a citizen of the world."
Andrew also studied magic and enjoys diving into anything that seems to be impossible. He is well known as The Yogi Magician. He’s the owner and director of Ashtanga Yoga Studio in Oklahoma, founded in 1999.
Join the Mysore Yoga Conference with Andrew and many other teachers online: February 8-18, 2022
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ANDREW
INSTAGRAM I WEBSITE I MYSORE YOGA TRADITIONS DOCUMENTARY I Mysore Yoga Conference
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.
A big heart of thanks to our friends, family, and students from around the world, who’ve generously supported this podcast through your comments, sharing, and financial donations. Make A Donation - harmonyslater.com
FIND 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

Saraswati the Goddess of Learning with Tara Mitra

What does cooking, painting and yoga all have in common?
Listen to this week’s episode of Finding Harmony with Tara Mitra to find out.
Tara is a life long lover of learning, discovering new ideas, people, and places. It seems no accident that her mentor, Guru, and main teacher was named after the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning: Saraswati.
Growing up in an abusive situation, she searched for different therapies to help heal from the past trauma. She found herself in cooking. After spending years in the food and beverage industry, becoming a distinguished sommelier, Tara Mitra started searching for a difference kind of solace.
She made her way to Mysore, India, where she found immediate resonance with Sri Saraswathi Jois, the daughter of Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois, and mother of Sharath Jois, who soon became her main teacher, and mentor in the art of teaching yoga.
Tara is also a dedicated student of traditional Yoga Therapy, studying within the lineage of Krishnamacharya, with his son T. K. V. Desikachar’s longest standing students in Chennai, India. Her interest in yoga therapy is a focus to help heal others from injury and imbalances within the body. She has helped many students return back to health and stability through yoga therapy.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT TARA - taramitrayoga.comWEBSITE I INSTAGRAM
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.
A big heart of thanks to our friends, family, and students from around the world, who’ve generously supported this podcast through your comments, sharing, and financial donations.
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
FIND 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

Coming Full Circle with Nea Ferrier

The truly bizarre thing about living in an intentional ‘spiritually aspirant’ community (for decades) is that you share profound memories with a select group of folks who you know only incidentally. Yet, those shared memories are quite intense and emotional for both of you.
You can imagine a professional athlete might feel the same or a developer in Silicon Valley. You watch from afar sometimes as friends you’ve known for 20 or 30 years develop “Google” or win an NBA championship; and yet, understand exactly what they are going through.
With our guest today Nea Ferrier, Harmony and Russell also share this very personal history. For example, it came out that Nea had stayed in Russell’s apartment in Taiwan for a weekend and they had climbed a sacred Buddhist mountain together, prostrating each length of the journey. Russell had only a dim memory of this event, but remembered it in color as Nea described it.
Accessing the deepest, most personal parts of herself, and bringing them into the light is at the heart of Nea’s practice.
Like Bhuvaneshwari, the great cosmic mother of the universe, who represents space and who creates space for all things. Nea herself, has become a cosmic womb. She creates space within her own consciousness for beautiful experiences to grow and flourish, and is focused on giving birth to her very own divine nature.
This goddess become her guide in the creation of Nilaya House and through her metaphysical womb she embraced her role as a mother to many.
Listening to Nea now, you’ll be fascinated to hear she was once a wild child. In early adult life, she came face to face with some pretty self-destructive tendencies, which brought her to the practice of yoga. Over the years, she has deepened her connection to the goddess energy and intimately observe how the female cycle can become profoundly transformative, not only to one’s practice, but to one’s whole personality.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT NEA - INSTAGRAM I WEBSITE I ASHTANGA YOGA DUBAI - neaferrieryoga.com
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.
A big heart of thanks to our friends, family, and students from around the world, who’ve generously supported this podcast through your comments, sharing, and financial donations. 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!
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 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.
FIND 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

A Trip Towards the Self with Barry Silver

New York, New York. If you can make it there you can make it anywhere.
Today we interview Barry Silver, traveling artist, explorer of the mystic and esoteric realms.
Although Barry is currently based in Mexico, we met him back in Mysore, India, as one of the “Cool Kids” from a thriving New York Ashtanga scene. At the time he was assistant to the revered Eddie Stern. And intimidatingly self-composed.
Looking back at those times in the quiet suburb of Gokulum, Barry has shared with us new insights into the trap of the “Super Cool.”
Now, with time and distance, he’s able to see his participation in it for what it was: A giant ego trip of self flattery and self flagellation, and opportunity to self masticate his own gloss.
Barry is astonishingly self aware of his own pursuit of cool, and seeking to be cool in the myriad communities he merged with.
Whether it was Disco, Kundalini Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, or the “Burner Community,” he has come back to being himself again and again, finding comfort in acknowledging who he is.
Like the Alchemist’s journey, he’s realized that there was nothing to strive for or become, and he oozed cool all along.
From altar building to cathartic scrapbook journaling, Barry Silver has traveled an interesting path to becoming a full-time artist.
It’s always super interesting to figure out who an audience is for a particular kind of art. How do you want them to react? What do you want them to perceive?
Do you want them to scrunch their eyes and stoop their shoulders as they peer closely at your surfaces?
Or do you want them to dance ecstatically, yoked in the embrace of a loving community?
Barry’s work seems to tie together the inter-connectedness of all the dynamic individuals and experiences he’s had within in his life. He is fascinated with these weird dudes and seeks to share his fascination with you.
His work is comic, genius, and generous in this wondrously mysterious way.
His dharma has led him to find the “Barry-ness” in all things. Whatever he creates, he does so with intention and spirit, drawing from his history, and a wide variety of very personal, spiritual experiences in different modalities.
His newest project is called: Nuestro Tarot. A Trip Towards the Self.
Pledge, support, participate, and take the trip.
“Like much of my art, I used this project as a vehicle to express and integrate the various aspects of myself. It has been an extremely healing and cathartic process.” - Barry Silver
LEARN MORE ABOUT BARRY SILVERINSTAGRAM I WEBSITE I Nuestro Tarot Kickstarter I GBSK SHOP - barrysilverstudio.com
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.
A big heart of thanks to our friends, family, and students from around the world, who’ve generously supported this podcast through your comments, sharing, and financial donations. 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
Opening and closing music by Nick Evans.
FIND 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

IKEA, ABBA and Lisa Lalér

Sweden is famous for IKEA, ABBA, Minecraft… and Spotify!
Today we speak with the lovely Lisa Lalér, who was born and raised in Stockholm in Sweden.
We’re extremely grateful that Lisa opened up to us about her turbulent childhood and the trauma accumulated in her body which manifested as stiffness; so much so, that when she came to the practice of Ashtanga yoga she was praised as the stiffest student Maria Boox had ever seen!
We spoke to Lisa about leaving her marriage to pursue her dreams, and the social issues with travelling to Mysore without either of her two young children, and how she processed many of the emotions that came up through the practice with the help of therapy.
We were struck with how life can take us in such unexpected directions and how love can come to us at any age!
Lisa Lalér is the head teacher and co-owner alongside her sister Lotta Lalér of the Yoga Shala Stockholm.
She is an Authorized Level 2 Ashtanga Yoga Teacher and devout student of R.Sharath Jois in Mysore, India.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT LISAWEBSITE I INSTAGRAM I YOGA SHALA STOCKHOLM - yogashalastockholm.se
Practice with Harmony Dec.19 for the ‘Three and a Half Acres Yoga’ Non-Profit Foundation - a non profit that broadens access to yoga, breathing, and mindfulness techniques, focusing on communities who have experienced trauma.
FIND OUT MORE - harmonyslater.com
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.
A big heart of thanks to our friends, family, and students from around the world, who’ve generously supported this podcast through your comments, sharing, and financial donations. 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 labour 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
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 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.
FIND 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

Karyn Grenfell: A Hero’s Journey

We were engrossed in conversation with our dear friend, Certified teacher Karyn Grenfell, Founder of Ashtanga Yoga Melbourne, when she mentioned a hilarious old trick... Karyn recounted, while backpacking (back in the day, before cell phones and the internet) how she planned to meet a friend at a particular time, on a particular date, in a particular city neither had been to, on the corner of two streets... Months in advance!
These days, we’re so inured to the constant flow of information and communication, it’s difficult to remember a time (not so long ago) when we would have to use books as guides, public phone-booths for calls, Travelers Cheques for cash, and paper maps for directions.
Can you imagine opening a book to determine if a country you are trapped in takes Travelers Cheques?
Karyn has a very particular and idiosyncratic way of living her life. She is not dissimilar to a Tibetan nun, simply here and present, offering goodness to all beings.
She’s not bored. Or at least she’s come to terms with a certain pace of life. And, she’s inculcating that same quality of patience and peacefulness in her child. Karyn is keeping alive traditions that feel as if they belong in another century, a predigital age, activities that keep her refreshingly grounded and self-aware.
If you’re at all in doubt about the value of an Ashtanga Yoga practice, or if you’re fretting and insecure, be assured that the 20 years of practice in a dark room at 3:00 in the morning DOES HAVE an effect.
It changes a person.
And, for the better.
You can become someone that doesn’t need anything from anyone, but simply wants to help others with their suffering.
FIND OUR MORE ABOUT KARYN - WEBSITE I INSTAGRAM I FACEBOOK
Sign up for Harmony’s Workshop: Yoga Beyond Asana - November 27
harmonyslater.com/yogabeyondasana
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.
A big heart of thanks to our friends, family, and students from around the world, who’ve generously supported this podcast through your comments, sharing, and financial donations. 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.
Donate Here - 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!
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.
FIND 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

Joey Solano: Accountant to the Bollywood Stars

Grab a coffee, brew your tea, crack a coconut, because this is a real “chai-stand” conversation!
In today’s episode you’ll hear story after story about different people and events within our global yoga community, including celebrity encounters, and funny stories about our time in Mysore, both together and separately.
Our guest is not a professional yoga teacher, but is someone known and loved far and wide within our global yoga family.
Joey Solano is an accountant.
He is someone who finds great benefit from his regular practice, but has never had any intention to teach. This makes his perspective on the practice and the community in Mysore particularly unique. Growing up in Cebu, in the Philippines, Joey Solano moved to America to pursue his studies, where he found Ashtanga Yoga in Florida before moving to L.A to practice with Noah and Kimberly.
Joey made his first trip to Mysore in 2004, and he continued to return to India annually to practice with the Jois family, quitting his job each year to embark on another adventure!
He’s practiced with Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois, Sharath Jois, and Saraswathi. He continued returning year after year, not only because he fell in love with the Shala, but he fell in love with India and it’s many paradoxical ways.
Joey told us about his experience with Water-Fasting, the benefits he personally experienced, and the findings of the Japanese cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his research on how cells recycle and renew their content, a process called “autophagy.”
This was super interesting, so we took the opportunity to ask Joey about body image, and how he felt about being a larger sized person in a world of freakishly thin yogis.
You’re going to love spending time with our old friend Joey Solano!
Join Harmony in Palm Desert next weekend November 18-22. Find Out More - desertyogashala.com
Online Workshop with Harmony: Yoga Beyond Asana - Nov.27 - Register Now! - harmonyslater.com/yogabeyondasana
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.
A big heart of thanks to our friends, family, and students from around the world, who’ve generously supported this podcast through your comments, sharing, and financial donations.
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/donate
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.
FIND 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

Susanna Finocchi: Transitions Through Time and Space

Similar to Ganesha the elephant-headed deity in India, Janus is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings in ancient Roman mythology. He is usually depicted as having two faces. Susanna Finocchi, (our first Italian guest!) is a woman who knows these transitions well.
Susanna expounds on the weirdness of being a Southerner in the North. You become a kind of “in-between person,” neither here nor there, but like all these mythological figures you are given a special insight to human nature. And Susanna, in her loving and enthusiastic way, gifts us with her wisdom today.
Susanna’s mother was a Herbalist, and her father Dionysus was a connoisseur of wine, so it’s no surprise that she would grow to hold space for transformation and health. She details her childhood for us and her first encounter with Ashtanga Yoga, and her subsequent emigration to Denmark.
Together, with Jens Bache, she co-founded Astanga Yoga Copenhagen and was the main teacher there for almost 18 years, teaching hundreds of students.
In 2006, she hosted the entire Jois family in Copenhagen and in 2009 she had the honor of being the first school to invite her teacher Sharath Jois, as the incumbent Guru, on his debut tour, and has since hosted him 6 times since that year.
She made her first pilgrimages to Mysore in 1995 and 1996 and since 2003 has returned yearly to KPJAYI (now Sharath Yoga Centre) to practice and study.
Susanna studied Sanskrit at the University of Copenhagen and continues to learn together with chanting and Indian Philosophy during her trips to Mysore.
She currently is living in Rome, her place of birth, and travels all over Italy and Europe teaching the Ashtanga Yoga method.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SUSANNA WEBSITE I INSTAGRAM
FIND HARMONY WEBSITE I INSTAGRAM - harmonyslater.com
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.
A big heart of thanks to our friends, family, and students from around the world, who’ve generously supported this podcast through your comments, sharing, and financial donations. 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
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! ❤ Give us a 5★ rating!
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.
FIND 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

Emma O’Neill on this Samhain

Samhain or All Hollow’s Eve is an ancient festival of the northern Gaelic islands. It’s a celebration meant to honor the beginning of winter when the demarcation between this world the other is thinned. On this day the Aos Si (the Fairies! as they say) travel more easily into our world, and we must disguise ourselves or risk being taken by them!
And so... to celebrate this day and these celestial beings, we present our friend and fellow Canadian, an Irish born lass, Emma O’Neill.
She’s a lady who’s quite touched by the gifts that come from a long lineage of Pagan Irish Women. We explore what it means to have these psychic instincts and how they relate to what we call gut-instinct or a tingling of intuition.
We also explored the transitions we make between this world and that, between Canada and the far east, her late transition from the closet to out, which she hilariously describes in detail, her mother and sisters simply responding… “Why are you eating chicken? You said you were vegetarian. Pass the potatoes, would you.”
Emma O’Neill is a voice actor who in her own words, “was born and placed on stage.”
She’s also a Mala-Magician, a true artist with beads, imbuing them with her Witchy Irish intuition and Sanskrit incantations to enhance the sacred stone properties. This artistic work, in addition to her yoga practice, keeps her connected to the earth through deep listening and awakens healing energy.
The iconic Ashtanga legend, Nancy Gilgoff (another Wonderful Witchy Women) along with someone who turned out to be a kind of natural sister, Vanessa Gilgoff (Nancy’s daughter) were a significant influences for Emma on her spiritual path when she first met them in Goa, India. It was Nancy who told her to go to Mysore to meet Pattabhi Jois. Nancy connected with her on a deep heart level, and for Emma she will always be her “yoga mom.”
In this episode, you will also hear Russell and Emma reconnect on a shared time in Taiwan, where they spent many years working at Space and Pure Yoga in Asia, during a unique period in our history, that was quite unlike yoga at any other place or time before or after. Luxurious. Abundant. Extraordinary.
You can find Emma teaching Ashtanga Yoga Mysore Classes in Toronto, Canada.
Mysore Toronto’s classes run every Saturday at 7am (last Saturday of the month is Led Primary at 7:30am).
ALL CLASSES ARE AVAILABLE ON ZOOM.
For custom Mala design contact Emma directly.
For voice bookings email Emma here.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT EMMA: MALAS BY EMMA IG I MYSORE TORONTO IG I PERSONAL IG I YOUTUBE - www.mysoreto.com I www.malasbyemma.com I emmaoneillvo.com
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and Russell Case. If you enjoyed today's episode, please make a DONATION to help us continue our work: harmonyslater.com
FIND 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