9 Students, 1 Question: The Impact of Yoga on Their Lives

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This enlightening episode of the Native Yoga Todcast, brings together a diverse group of yoga practitioners to explore the profound impact of yoga on their lives. From managing anxiety to improving physical health, each guest shares unique perspectives on how their yoga journeys have evolved, inviting listeners to delve into the transformative power of practice.

About the Guest(s):

• Mandy Coleman: A yoga practitioner who finds solace and mental peace through yoga, specifically in managing anxiety and reconnecting with her inner self.
• Ilicia Koslow: Introduced to yoga after a car accident, she focuses on the emotional and mental healing aspects of yoga, utilizing mantra and yogic philosophy to overcome challenges.
• Barbara Dar: Found yoga initially as a pain management tool, which later evolved into a grounding and stabilizing practice for her mental health.
• Emily Content: Practices Mysore style Ashtanga yoga, which helps her manage anxiety and improve physical health, muscle control, and mindfulness.
• Polly Barr: A long-time practitioner of Mysore style Ashtanga yoga, she values the meditative and focus-building aspects that aid her in personal progress and adaptation with age.
• Maria Claudia: Utilizes yoga for physical mobility and mental balance, emphasizing the importance of movement for maintaining joint health.
• Steve Sanders: Yoga has helped him find relaxation and spiritual grounding amidst physical tightness and the complexities of life.
• Paula DeFabrizio: Enjoys the strength and balance yoga brings to her life, providing a mental and physical sanctuary from daily stressors.
• Jane Li: Discovered yoga during a retreat and a life-changing trip to India, leading to a holistic appreciation that combines physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.

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(01:04):
I'm so excited to have MandyColeman here. And Mandy just
walked in, and I asked her ifshe would sit down with me and
just answer a quick question,Mandy, how do you feel Yoga
improves your life?
Well, for one, it helped withthe anxiety I had for most of my
life, and it also gives me timeto reconnect with that quiet

(01:30):
part inside that sometimes getslost in the busy world.
Beautiful. Thank you. HaveIlicia Koslow here, who just
finished practicing. What kindof benefits do you see or feel
in your life based off of yourpractice?
When I first came into thepractice, I got into a car

(01:54):
accident, and I went to amassage therapist or a
chiropractor, and I remembertelling him, like, I don't want
to age and be cranky in my body.
And he was doing some adjustmenton me, and he said, have you
tried yoga? And at that point, Iwas not able to do any physical

(02:16):
Asana. So I went home, and I wasspeaking to my father, and I was
suffering deeply on an emotionallevel, and he challenged me,
told me about some emotionalpractices, and said, I don't
think you're ready. And I wentand locked myself in my room

(02:39):
while my body was healingphysically, and just started to
look up all different mantra andyogic I just came upon all of
these yogic method that were notphysical, Asana, origin related,
and I started to chant mantrathat was like the first thing

(03:04):
that brought me into thepractice. And I remember finding
a mantra, chanting the mantra,and actually someone finding my
mantra, because I thought thatwas very sacred, and kind of
crashing the energy that hadbeen pulled up. And that was the
first moment when I had, like,real insight, like, Oh, we're on

(03:25):
to something here. Wow. And Iwas able to heal so much
physically, as well as mentally,emotionally, a lot of what ways
of functioning that I thoughtwere actual methods of
functioning, because that's whatI was fed by the world. A lot of

(03:48):
those healed pretty quickly. Thebeginning of the practice, and
then the real work began, whereit just more and more opened up
and through the philosophy beingable to look at my humanness,

(04:09):
the things that challenge me onthis human journey, and that I
don't feel alone, there arepractitioners for 1000s and
1000s of years that have beenworking to heal the human
condition and define what thetrue self is that is not skewed

(04:30):
by samsara, right? Like in thethe opening mantra, right?
Samsara, Hara, Hala. Like thejungle physician coming in to
remove the delusions of samsara.
And I was, I was deeplyingrained into samsara, and

(04:50):
still I have, you know, layersof that delusion that I am
waking up from in this life.
Yeah, and I just find, I findthe asana and the pranayama
brings me back to my body andhelps me to tether back into the
intuitive sense, felt sense thatI find when you first ask me the

(05:18):
question, I find it very hard toarticulate how much this
practice really means to me,because it helps me every day,
heal so much of my humanness,you know, or become a better
human for others and for myselfand want that and to see Where I
am not being that and to lovemyself because I was. I've been

(05:42):
fed this and so of my ancestors.
Yeah. Anyway,oh, man, thanks. Ilicia. Love
it. Great benefits.
Yeah, yeah, thanks.
I have Barbara Dar here.
Barbara, good morning. Thankyou. I just pulled you out of
the ether and surprised you herewith a quick question about

(06:03):
yoga. Take out your comfortzone, but you're pretty
comfortable person, so I thinkit'll be easy. Why do you
practice yoga?
Because I would be insane if Ididn't practice I would
literally be a complete mess. Itstabilizes me. It gives me

(06:28):
perspective. Yeah, it took awhile, yeah, in the beginning of
what I started as a form ofexercise, and because of back
pain, and as I you know,uncovered layer after layer
after layer. It became much morethan that. It became a grounding
experience.

(06:49):
Amazing. Thanks for sharing.
All right. Thank you.
I'm so excited to have EmilyContent here. And I just, you
know, she just finishedpractice, and she had no idea I
was going to ask her. So she'slike, What am I doing? Emily,
why do you why do you have aconsistent yoga practice? Why do
you keep showing up every singleTuesday and Thursday at eight

(07:10):
o'clock to practice Mysore styleAshtanga Yoga with us?
I really, really like Mysore,especially here, I like the way
I can go at my own pace. I likethat. It's like having an
individual teacher. I struggle alot with anxiety, and yoga has

(07:37):
really, really helped me withthat. Like even the most simple
parts, the parts that are inbetween the poses, like just the
small breath when you sit up,like when you release the pose
and then sit up and then begin aVinyasa. Even that pattern and
thoughtfulness of breath hasmade a big difference for me and

(07:58):
my anxiety level and even theway I approach some situations,
some problems. So it's veryrestful for me mentally and then
all of the physical things thatI can see, my health, my
strength, my flexibility, mymuscle control, my ability to
know which muscle is doing, whatdevelops each time I'm here. So

(08:21):
those are a lot of benefits toglean from the investment of
twice a week yoga. I mean,that's huge, huge. Very
cool. Thank you. You're welcome.
I'm really excited to have PollyBarr here, and Polly's been
practicing with us at Nativeyoga center for, like, so many
years. Polly, how many years hasit been? I
think it's going on 15, amazing.

(08:44):
Why or what is it about AshtangaYoga, my source style, Ashtanga
Yoga, that has gotten you soinspired to come and practice so
regularly for 15 longer yearswith us.
Well, I love the meditative partof it, and also just advancing

(09:04):
it is makes you feel really goodwhen you can work really hard
and find something that you cando and do better all the time.
Yeah, so and you can modify asI've gotten older, I've had to
do that so, but it's the focusand the meditation that is

(09:25):
really special. Thank you.
I have Maria Claudia here andMaria Claudia. What is something
that you've benefited from inyour yoga practice throughout
your life?
Motion is lotion when you feelstagnant or lack of range of

(09:46):
motion, the worst thing that youcan do is just stay still. So
yoga for me, who I've had issueswith my joints all my life, have
given me the freedom. And it'sgiving me opportunity not to get
worse. So again, motion islotion and mentally is

(10:08):
incredible as well. Balance,physical and mental balance is
incredible, awesome. Thank you.
Thank you.
I'm so happy to have SteveSanders here. Steve, what is
something that you've noticedthat is one of the benefits that
has come out of your experiencewith yoga practice?

(10:30):
Well, we've been practicing withyou guys for years and years and
years, and there's been so manybenefits that I have
experienced. I'm naturally verytight, both physically, mentally
and spiritually, and yoga hasdefinitely provided an avenue
where I've been able to relax,to be able to find great motion

(10:55):
in my body and relax in my mindand my spirit. And centered me
has centered me a lot in thisvery, very busy world.
Great answer. You know, I got achance to ask you. And
previously, Maria cloudy and youguys both just came out from
doing the sound bath meditation.
You're so chill and relaxing. Ilike the vibe. Thank you.

(11:17):
I mean, you you guys have beenawesome, and you guys have been
it's been a such a greatexperience to be able to to be
led by you guys in his journey,and you guys have done a great
job. You feelthe same way. Thanks, Steve. I'm
so happy to have PaulaDeFabrizio here with me. And
Paula, what got you excited totry yoga for the first time?

(11:39):
Oh, well, let's see. Was 100years ago. I love yoga for so
many reasons. Yoga makes me feelstrong and gentle at the same
time. It helps me balance mymind and my body, and I can feel
like I can leave the rest of theworld outside, just for that

(12:02):
time we're in class together.
And the more I do it, I feel,the more I learn about my body.
And I really feel so much morecentered, even when I'm not in
yoga class. Yeah, from thethings I've learned in class,
like, if I'm stressed orirritated in real life, not real
life, you know? And outside,yeah, I use some techniques that

(12:23):
I've learned about breathing andjust the certain asanas, and it
just really helps, just withnormal life when I'm not in
class, then when I'm in class, Ihave more, like, tools and info
to help me when I'm not inclass, Yeah, amazing. Just
awesome. I couldn't live withoutit. I could live without the

(12:44):
chimichangas, but we'll let thatgo. That's
an inside joke. Every time I'dhave Paula do it Chaturanga. One
day she came out, she goes, Oh,there's too many chimichangas.
And I just, I'll bring somesalsa verde for you next time.
All right, thanks. I'm so happyto have Jane Li here. Jane just

(13:09):
finished practicing thismorning, and Jane, how did yoga
find you?
I don't know if I should sayyoga found me or I found a yoga
it's very well, it's veryinteresting question. I would

(13:33):
say first yoga found me one wasat a retreat like probably 12
years ago,I was curious, and I didn't know
anything about the yoga. I said,Okay, I'm just nothing to do in
the morning. Let me just go takea look and and then all these
stories in my head, thinkingabout, no, I'm not flexible

(13:58):
enough. I'm not listen enough,that enough. I'm not able to do
this. This is not for me, andlet me just go back to the gym.
And later on, there was anopportunity that I went to India

(14:20):
around that time that wasprobably one of the most, I
would say, heart Opening tripsin my life to see the culture to

(14:43):
witness how people live, and Ididn't see anyone really doing
yoga, per se. Butaround the same time I was
reading, I. Some books aboutIndia and naturally, about
Ayurveda and yoga. And then Irealized Yoga is not just

(15:11):
physical exercise or somethingyou do that when you are not
going to the gym, but it is.
It's a union. It's united body,mind and spirit. I said, Oh,

(15:31):
okay, let me give you yoga tryagain after I came back from
India, and I went to a yogastudio again. Then this time
around, it was totallydifferent. My mindset was
different. Then I would say Ifound yoga, and Yoga also found

(15:52):
me just like me in the middle,the midpoint and just Yeah, from
then on, always hear heartdisease yoga, and it's just so
profound effect on In my life.
Yeah,very grateful. Thank you, Jan. I

(16:20):
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(16:41):
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