Finding Harmony Podcast

What is a spiritual practice? How does it work? How will it improve my life? How will deepening my self-care transform me? What strategies can I use to improve my life, increase my health, and create wellness? How can craft a life that I love? The Finding Harmony Podcast gets to the root of all these questions. Each episode is full of inspiration, humour, honest observations, and actionable steps that you can integrate to enhance your experience of self-love, develop a connection to Spirit, and create a life you truly love.

Listen on:

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Episodes

The Yogi Aristocat

Sunday Mar 07, 2021

Sunday Mar 07, 2021

Our guest today is the American Aristocrat, Robbie Cavallero. There is something ineffable but unmistakable in the effect he has on people directly in his sphere of reach. He’s a bit like Lord Krishna really, attracting Gopies with his sweetness. And the ardent admirers of this gentleman will notice that even the rocks melt, ever so slightly, in his presence.
Robbie is a strange American archetype: The Aristocrat. He is the scion of an Italian Noble Family (his uncle was the Field Marshall for Erwin Rommel); and yet, surprisingly, his family came to America with very little - immigrants - self made. They arrived in Oakland, and within a few generations, their brilliant little child ‘Robbie’ was married to the bluest of bluebloods - the “ancient régime” of Republican Californians. Robbie soon found himself sitting at the illustrious Pacific Chapter of the Union Club, with the Rockefellers, Nixons, and Weinbergers.
Yet, Robbie is something else altogether.
He is like a star-child that has no use for any of these social trappings. He seeks harmony in all things and with all people. He has Wu or the impression of realness in his character. Robbie flows like water through your hands when you try to grasp hold of him — the gentlest of creatures.
All we sought in this interview was to discover if the hole in his chest actually occurred when traveling to Esalen to study Buddhism and Self-Actualization, (in the 70’s) where he ran his father’s Mercedes into a light pole.
We’re still not sure.
Please have a listen and discover for yourself.
Robbie tells us that a Bull’s horn may have contributed to the hole in his heart, during a disturbing incident where he was attacked by a Holy Cow in Mysore, India.
How perfect.
We would include a bio of Robbie here, but nothing about him is writ or known or published.
He cannot even be found.
Follow ROBBIE ON 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.
Make A Donation
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! ❤
Leave 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 - Simply Click Here.
To purchase your own copy - Click Here.

Share Knowledge Share Power

Sunday Feb 28, 2021

Sunday Feb 28, 2021

Sixteen years ago Russell called Hamish from Brighton and asked for his much needed help...
“What I am doing wrong, Hamish? I’ve only got 6 students. I don’t know if I can do this.”
Hamish answered with his usual affable enthusiasm, “You’re doing great! 6 students is great!” That he even took the time to take the call is an example of Hamish’s heart. He really, truly cares for people.
A year later Hamish went to Russell’s wedding in Essex and read this poem there from the Isha Upanishad:
“The Lord is enshrined in the hearts of all.
The Lord is the supreme Reality.
Rejoice in him through renunciation.
Covet nothing. All belongs to the Supreme.”
This sacred verse describes our beloved international treasure to a tee. Hamish Hendry is a friend to all of us. He’s so effortlessly dedicated to yoga and to the practice itself, that he makes his unearthly personal discipline both seem easily attainable and endlessly enjoyable.
He has a mesmerizing and rich intelligence that makes yoga sound like it’s something easily explained down at the pub. And, as Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t really understand it.” What’s clear, is that Hamish most certainly does.
He explains yoga, Sanskrit, philosophy, and his innumerable adventures with ease. Our particularly favorite story was how he recounted being possibly the only person in the universe shot during an Ashtanga yoga practice:
“I think I’ve been shot, Derek!” he exclaimed one morning in Greece during his studies with the Man of Bronze, the legendary Derek Ireland.
It was a great privilege and pleasure to spend time with Mr. Hendry and we're sure you'll feel as we did, that it all comes to an end much too quickly. We hope you enjoy being a part of our conversation with this unique, humble, and goodhearted man.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HAMISHASTANGA YOGA LONDON I PUSHPAM MAGAZINE 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. Find out more about HARMONY.
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
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! ❤
Leave 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 - Simply Click Here.
To purchase your own copy - Click Here.

When Miles Smiles

Sunday Feb 21, 2021

Sunday Feb 21, 2021

This week we have a really good story for you. Most folks we talk to on the Finding Harmony Podcast seem hell bent on making an interesting life for themselves. Perhaps anytime you sit down with a friend and carefully examine why they are the way they are, their story and life becomes scintillating, effortlessly so, as they are just quite simply unique when being themselves.
Sarah Miles, a Hypno-Therapist, an Ashtanga yoga teacher, a Celebrant, and Mortician.
She was also Russell’s apprentice in Brighton. You might hear it in Russell’s accent (as he can’t help himself) — He’s quite impressionable and their meeting came at a formative time for them both.
We learned how she likes to directly face and immerse herself in those activities that scare her most, so she can explore and understand why it makes her feel a certain way, and ultimately, overcome that sense of fear or dread. This is, again, the main reason she is great teacher: She has touched the center of fear that this practice can bring up and is able to compassionately guide others through the darkness.
We talked about her work as a Hypno-Therapist and the value it has in helping folks visualize through their own suffering, to be with themselves on the mat or otherwise.
And of course ultimately, we talked about death.
Mortality frightened Sarah and so in her typical fashion, she explored it by becoming a Mortician. She describes the first time she felt the flood of sensation overwhelm her when washing a dead body, and how it eventually became a spiritual ritual which she embraced. And what an enormous privilege it has become to care for the dead, and to help those who’ve lost their loved ones.
Sarah is also a Celebrant, who not only walks beside those who are experiencing great loss, but also holds hands with those who are celebrating new life and love, officiating weddings, and helping to join lives together.
She is the real salt of the earth - U.K. style - and we think you will find sitting with her to be a delight!
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SARAH MILES
YOGA WEBSITE I CELEBRANT WEBSITE I INSTAGRAM I FACEBOOK
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HARMONY
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
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 - Simply Click Here.
To purchase your own copy - Click Here.

Sunday Feb 14, 2021

Today’s episode is a lovely heartfelt conversation with an old friend in our Community Treasure, the ever elusive Dr. John Campbell.
John did us a valuable kindness in opening the program with a Tibetan prayer for the Dead. It is with a deep sadness that a mentor to Russell and dear friend Eugene Ruffin passed away of CoVid, shortly before this podcast was recorded. Valentine’s Day is Gene’s Birthday. So we honor him with this prayer.
John, Russell, and Gene founded the Jois Foundation together in 2011 with the hopes of providing under-served children with tools and techniques of yoga to help regulate their lives.
Of course the three of them (and Harmony too for that matter) all deeply struggled as children and it wasn’t until they were adults that yoga became available to salve their childhood wound. It is an irony that the damaged are often the best healers.
We spoke to John about his life, and how it all fell apart for him as he found himself seeking and using external substances to change the way he felt. And, of course the only way one can truly do that is is to sit and wait it out. Things move of their own accord, especially if we stop adding twigs to the flame. Certainly pouring gasoline on the fire doesn’t help either.
Even after practicing for decades, and finishing Advanced Series in Mysore with Pattabhi Jois, John found himself isolated, studying and writing his Ph.D thesis in Varanasi. Feeling alone, and confused in an alien environment, John found himself attracted to the darkness… And eventually lost himself in cycle of addiction. After returning to the States he turned to alcohol, once again seeking to alter and change the feelings that were arising to the surface. He was pulled into the downward spiral of secrecy and shame, hiding his growing addiction.
We explored together the mind-body connection in relation to substance use and addiction, gurus, the big Self, and how the practice can create a cycle of chasing dragons. Often, when we are involved deeply in a physically transformative practice like Ashtanga yoga, we experience deep openings that can leave us feelingly raw, slightly ungrounded, or destabilized. This might make one vulnerable to all kinds of unhealthy habits. In part, the value of the practice boils down to reducing our violent interaction within the world, and learning to cultivate more compassion towards ourselves as well as to others.
Hang on until the end because you’ll get the delicious treat of hearing John’s Ashtanga Yoga Origin Story (which is a true delight!).
LEARN MORE ABOUT DR. JOHN CAMPBELL
INSTAGRAM I FACEBOOK
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
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, simply click Here.

A Rebirthing of Self

Sunday Feb 07, 2021

Sunday Feb 07, 2021

On today’s podcast we are extremely delighted to welcome back Bibi Lorenzeti. Bibi came to us with an interesting topic that we were intrigued to explore: What happens to your self of self when you, as a new mother, become two people instead of one?
Becoming a mother is often a difficult transition. Especially for women who are dedicated Ashtanga yoga practitioners before becoming pregnant. We gain a beautiful baby, but our bodies go through a very intense process, not only from the nine months of pregnancy, but also through delivery, and also with a sometimes longer than expected period of recovery. Our physical self changes dramatically, and our spiritual, emotional and psychological selves are all undergoing a significant transformation also.
If your identity was wrapped up in being an Olympic level athlete and your entire day was absorbed with getting enough rest to combat excess inflammation so that you could improve your practice and perform your asanas again the next day, then it can feel like a bit of a struggle when you are suddenly consumed by the daily activities of feeding, nurturing, observing, and holding a child. Your main focus suddenly shifts and you’re left with the question: Who Am I Now?
Bibi and Harmony describe this process of letting go. Letting go of your idea of who you are, how you feel or look in your body, releasing your imaginary ideal birthing plan, along with any anticipation of how your body might feel after giving birth. They speak to how the practice changed for them and the importance of finding time for yourself.
Ashtanga Yoga gives us a set structure; yet, once we become mothers, we have to let go of the structure so the practice becomes then a fluid moving thing. Which any serious practitioner knows is counter-constructive to that growth that comes with an organized and consistent lifestyle.
Before pregnancy we tend to use the practice to transcend our current state, to reach some ideal goal, whether it’s enlightenment or fitness or purification. After giving birth, the focus shifts to a more internal space. We practice to find peace, contentment within the present moment, and to hold space for ourselves where we can learn to accept that things can never the same. We must create a place where we, ourselves, can feel nourished internally and cultivate the strength to build ourselves up again.
Harmony and Bibi discuss the inner turmoil of wanting things to be like they used to be, and recognizing that they will never be that way, coming up against obstacles of time, obligations, responsibilities, and fatigue. Yet, here they are, mothers, yogis, businesswomen, and beautiful beings.
Bibi Lorenzetti is a Level 2 Authorized Ashtanga Yoga Teacher & Holistic Health Coach, and now a Doula.
Harmony Slater is a Certified Ashtanga Yoga Teacher, Life & Wellness Coach, and host of the Finding Harmony Podcast.
LEARN MORE ABOUT BIBI:
PERSONAL WEBSITE I INSTAGRAM I Birth with Bibi I ASHTANGA YOGA NEWBURGH
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.
Please make a donation and FIND OUT MORE at HARMONYSLATER.COM

Life Beyond Power Yoga

Sunday Jan 31, 2021

Sunday Jan 31, 2021

Very often our podcasts are a coming together of old friends, conversations which sometimes unravel into talking about something funny, strange, a little bit weird, or “culty,” just like we would be sitting at a chai-stand in Mysore, India. Sometimes though, we call on a person who looms much larger in our minds, a giant in our industry, whose life experience, we know, has fundamentally altered ours; just by the sheer courage of the choices made in their era.
Beryl Bender Birch is one of those people. Without her, and without her books, Power Yoga and Beyond Power Yoga, how could we possibly “be here now” doing any kind of yoga at all?
Yet, so magically and with great kismet, we find out that Beryl, and others like her, are just like you and I.
That they came before us is an accident of birth only. The richness of their experiences mirror our own.
Beryl told it like it was, and continues to tell it like is, and we were thrilled to have her acerbic sense of humor and enjoyed her salt-of-the-earth presence. Beryl tells us about meeting, traveling, and meditating with her spiritual guide, Munishree Chitrabhanu, a Jain monk. She also speaks candidly about Pattabhi Jois’ indiscretions while teaching in the classroom, as well as how she began her Ashtanga yoga studies with Norman Allen in NYC.
You’ll hear finally, Beryl and Russell recount a time sitting with the Mindful Congressional Rep. Tim Ryan in San Francisco and being publicly harangued for cultural appropriation. With some side bars on the value of mind altering substances, Beryl congratulated Russell on being sterile… ‘a good start,’ she said, ‘on our population and environmental problems.’
This interview is provocative, historical, and sprinkled with a bit of magic.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT BERYL BENDER BIRCH
WEBSITE I INSTAGRAM I FACEBOOK
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
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! ❤
Leave 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 - Simply Click Here.
To purchase your own copy - Click Here.

Yoga and Social Activism

Sunday Jan 24, 2021

Sunday Jan 24, 2021

If there is one thing we have learned this year it’s that no matter how uncomfortable we are, it’s always better to try and engage in conversation whereby we can learn our neighbor’s perspective.
We should, whether it be our Trans or Trumpist family members, attempt to reach deeply into the wound that’s created a particular pattern and find compassion and understanding for hearts, that like our own, experience fear, grief, and pain.
To that end, we’ve asked the ebullient Shanna Small onto our program to answer some very personal questions regarding her perspective on multicultural ethnicity and implicit biases.
This sincere conversation will leave the listener in a precarious position of having to make different choices. And, these choices can impact one’s very sense of self and identity.
Who I am? Where do I fit in? Am I doing enough to subvert white supremacy? How do I take a stand for justice and equality? How do I present myself on social media? Do I eat ice cream or no? Vegan or vaccinated?
Shanna very graciously allowed us a moment to be curious and sincerely engaged in a conversation about MLK Jr. and performative activism, what sits at the heart of ahimsa and social justice; whiteness, ethnicity, gendered language; and her passion for making the practices and teachings of yoga accessible to anyone who wants to learn regardless of age, income, ability, ethnicity, or mobility.
If we look naive, we are. However, we’re deeply grateful to Shanna for her generous spirit and enthusiasm, and for gentle, patient instruction. Shanna has a powerful voice that speaks to our highest truth as human beings.
There was a time when the deeply racist phrase “white man’s burden” was acceptable. Not ever any more.
Today, you might say, the “Black Woman’s Burden” is this: Holding our civilization together.
Shanna Small is a writer and Yoga teacher who speaks to the intersectionality of yoga and social justice. She has practiced Ashtanga Yoga and studied the Yoga Sutras since 2001. She has studied in Ashtanga in Mysore with Sharath Jois and finds joy in making the Ashtanga practice accessible for all.
She is a founding member of Yoga For Recovery Foundation, a non-profit that helps those recovering from addiction, trauma, and systemic oppression.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SHANNA
WEBSITE I INSTAGRAM I YOGA FOR RECOVERY FOUNDATION I
Yoga & Social Justice Immersion with Shanna
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.
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! ❤
Leave us a 5★ rating!

Lost Angels Yoga Club

Sunday Jan 17, 2021

Sunday Jan 17, 2021

In our 43rd episode we sit down with Spiros and Erica. On the surface this is an unlikely pair. What is perversely intriguing however, on speaking with these two, is how uniquely suited they are to each other.
What shines through their every interaction is intelligence and insight. With every topic we brought up whether it was Los Angeles, the criminal justice system, the State of Ohio, the Tarot, or the Trumpist identity, they brought a profound sense of layered self-aware contextual discernment to their own thoughts, which compassionately penetrated to the heart of each complicated issue.
This was truly one of the weirder interviews we’ve ever had the delight to showcase, if only to count the number of times Harmony and Russell were gobsmacked silent by revelations to cultural contexts and deeper meanings uncovered.
We delved deep into Erica’s story and learned that she has been practicing yoga since she was a teenager. The practice has been the thread that has stitched together her adult years. She trained as a social scientist in Medical Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley; and spent over a decade at the intersection of yoga and social justice teaching yoga, mindfulness, meditation, writing and art to incarcerated and at-risk teenage girls in the San Francisco Bay Area where she and Russell worked together on occasion.
Spiros is a little harder to nail down. Not because he is Christian, but rather he is reticent and too humble to speak of himself. He is most fascinated by the nature of consciousness and speak eloquently on this subject, in addition to examining the culture and context of language, thoughts, and pretty much everything.
We did learn that he began studying yoga and consciousness in his teens and initiated a diligent daily practice in 1993 in Taos, NM, under the tutelage of a Western Magickal group focused on yoga, breathwork, meditation, and chanting. During this time he used psychedelics to steer explorations, discovery, and reality.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SPIROS & ERICA
WEBSITE I ALMANAC I INSTAGRAM I FACEBOOK I TWITTER
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.
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! ❤
Leave 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 - Simply Click Here.
To purchase your own copy - Click Here.

The Mayor of Mysore

Sunday Jan 10, 2021

Sunday Jan 10, 2021

Every once in a while on this show we like to pull the blinds down (or the pull the curtain away) and show you what it really sounds like at the Chai Stand gossiping on Gokulum High Street in India.
Tim Feldmann is hilarious (unfortunately for him not quite Jewish) and shares a very similar sense of humor to Russell. The two of them create their own little giggling world together and we are delighted to share this hour exploring Tim’s life with you!
Tim appears to be a Dane. He comes from a nice, boring, Danish town that is unpronounceable to North Americans (believe us, we tried!) and he is a shining an example of how good and wonderful a boy can grow up to be when raised with loving parents.
Tim is full of charm, and unlike most of our guests, had a childhood free of trauma or other secondary causalities. He became a dancer as he loved movement and was an energetic child, who had a fabulous mother that encouraged him in every way. His father, despite being an engineer, was astonished that his son got paid to work as a dancer in Australia, and thus, supported his dream wholeheartedly.
However, after a fall of some 6 stories down a mountainside cliff, Tim found himself finally having to change things up and discovered yoga as an avenue for self healing. You do sometimes have to hit rock bottom, and in Tim’s case, that was quite literal.
Tim found that Ashtanga Yoga was a unique and interesting form and pursued it with hungry passion every since his first introduction. He was set on the yoga path by his first teacher Lino Miele and was Authorized to teach directly by the founder of the Ashtanga Yoga Method, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and his grandson, R. Sharath Jois.
Tim’s humorous, straight forward yet profound teaching style makes him a cherished teacher in the Ashtanga yoga lineage, traveling extensively throughout Asia, Australia, Europe and the Americas. He also founded the Miami Life Center with his wife Kino MacGregor, which continues to expand to this day!
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT TIM FELDMANN
WEBSITE I INSTAGRAM I MIAMI LIFE CENTER
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
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! ❤
Leave 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 - Simply Click Here.
To purchase your own copy - Click Here.

When Love Comes To Light

Sunday Jan 03, 2021

Sunday Jan 03, 2021

For the New Year and for the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius that it seems we’ve now fully entered… We have done the impossible for you!
We’ve nailed down the spinning melodic kites that are Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor.
What is truly incredible about these two is their enormous sense of self-awareness to the fishbowl world in which we all live.
They know themselves and they see you, seeing them, and within this awareness Love comes to light.
They become (as one of Richard’s books suggests) “The Mirror of Yoga.” It’s deeply uncomfortable to be human and to know our own weaknesses; yet, they manage to emanate grace and compassion throughout the kaleidoscopic lens of their lives. And in turn it reflects back on ours… Because, sitting next to someone— ‘Upana’ is how we learn. And we are able to raise our own vibration simply by being near these two souls.
Richard Freeman has been a student of yoga since 1968, beginning with one simple sitting posture in the Zen tradition. He spent nine years in Asia studying yoga asana, Sufism, Sanskrit language, and Indian philosophical texts; contextualizing them within the turbulent political times of that period in history. In 1974 Richard began working with B.K.S. Iyengar, with whom he studied precise alignment principles, applying them to his own internally rooted experience of the forms. Drawing from this variety of contemplative traditions, and from Buddhism, in which he cultivates a deep interest, Richard teaches the Ashtanga Vinyasa method of yoga as taught by his principal teacher, the late Sri K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India
Mary tells us about developing an eating disorder during her time in College, which led her to embrace the culinary arts as a way of mastering the beast that is anorexia, through food itself.
With both Richard and Mary we discus at length our Ashtanga Yoga culture and the pitfalls. We believe that you will find this hour with them as fascinating and engrossing as we did. Somehow time in their presence is never enough.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT RICHARD FREEMAN & MARY TAYLOR
WEBSITE I INSTAGRAM I FACEBOOK
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.
DONATE NOW
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! ❤
Leave 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 - Simply Click Here.
To purchase your own copy - Click Here.

Harmony Slater

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