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I am so excited to welcome Anna Ritner to the podcast. I met Anna at a studio where she practiced acupuncture and I taught yoga years ago, and I was immediately drawn to her. She is an empathic old soul with an easy laugh who knows how to have a good time. She taught me that dancing in public (totally sober) can actually be fun sometimes and that rest is just as an important as movement. It was a pleasure to catch with her in this interview and I’m so excited for everyone to hear it! We talk about what acupuncture actually is and the science backed reasons it works, what she thinks most women need to balance their hormones (hint: it’s not bone broth or chia seeds) and her approach to working with clients. She shares how this year has brought her to her knees and how letting go has changed her life for the better. This podcast is a must listen if you’re a woman or have women in your life. So, yes, all of you!

It’s September and we are back-to-podcast! Lucky us, we are kicking off with an amazing guest, Rachel Rajput. Rachel owns Left Coast Power Yoga where she also teaches classes and teacher trainings. It was wonderful to chat about life these days and we covered many things, including -how people are practicing yoga post pandemic -how she led LCPY through the the the last few years -how she’s created community at LCPY -how she thinks about interviewing teachers -Her own self-care -building sequences with her fellow teachers This would be a great listen for yoga instructors, small business owners and anyone interested in hearing more about the inner workings of a yoga studios.

I’ve lived many lifetimes of yoga and loved them all.

I’ve lived many lifetimes of yoga and loved them all.

If a bunch of people get together, anything is possible.

In a capitalistic society, rest is a rebellion.

“..and that’s what yoga is..the surrender of the things I don’t know that I’m hiding from or even that I have to deal with…but it’s coming up and coming out..and I’m going to roll with it….” -Robin Wilner

Yoga is really a mindset. SO if you’re doing something that’s physically challenging, where does your mind wonder to? Where is your breath? Defining yoga as just something that happens on our yoga mat and is just these ubiquitous postures is really limiting and doesn’t honor where yoga comes from in the first place.

And I think that’s what guides my practice..where is my body speaking to me, and how can I get into that place no  matter what it looks like.  -Valerie Starr, Homebodies Yoga Podcast, episode 5

“I’m not the kind of person that says, “shucks, that doesn’t exist” I say “I guess I need to make it” 

“I don’t always think about having any intention in my practice..but I have such an obvious intention ...which is to do art without feeling pain.”

It’s all about paying attention

I think we tend to limit what’s spiritual and what’s not, when really everything is spiritual, and theres an opportunity for service in everything. 

Yoga has always encouraged us to do this internal work so we can then show up for the world around us.

“There were a lot of times where I might’ve  feel alone, but I always felt like I wasn’t. I had this relationship with my practice and this relationship with myself that was really rich and fulfilling, so I could draw about how lonely was, and then I could be interchanged by my emotions instead of being caught up in them. “

“Because we’re not supposed to love ourselves, that’s not what they want, they want us to be more insecure so we buy more shit.  And so that work we do on the mat and in our self-care practices are a way to take a pause, to say no…. to rework our way of relating to ourselves and each other. “ - Kameko Shibata