Anecdotal Anatomy

This is an unusual episode as it started with an announcement and casually moved into a discussion on the Seat of the Teacher. The announcement was that the hosts of Anecdotal Anatomy are heading to Las Vegas for a Podcast Convention and will be taking a week or two off from dropping full episodes. They are planning to do “lives” on social media, as well as other recordings that will fill these Th...

Samyama includes Dharana (single focus concentration), Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (bliss, dissolution of duality) This episode joins the final three limbs of yoga into one conversation.  The hosts use source material and personal experiences to clarify and illuminate these subtle, yet profound, practices. Following are top 10 lists generated by MagicWrite (testing out the AI progra...

Withdrawal of the Senses. Returning to Yoga-8, the limbs of practice, E61 is all about Pratyahara (the fifth limb) withdrawal of the senses. Even after decades of study, practice, and teaching, there are aspects of Yoga that are a constant curiosity, Pratyahara is one of them. Sherry & Theresa decided to go on a field trip before tackling this notion of sense withdrawal and went floating. That...

Discover Your Excellence - The Power of Personal Practice Click above to sign up for FREE VIRTUAL program coming up 2/26/23 from 11am to 12:30pm EST [This episode can also be viewed at Anecdotal Anatomy on YouTube ] Theresa & Sherry take listeners (and viewers) on a walk through Five Mile Woods, a local natural sanctuary, complete with diverse flora, streams of water (in various wintry states)...

The channels referred to in the title are energetic channels of the body, some represented by gross anatomy landmarks and others categorized by subtle body anatomy. This episode may be the science-y one yet, as the hosts overlay a template of cranialsacral anatomy over the subtle anatomy of the chakras and three main nadis (Sushumna, Ida, & Pingala).  In order to provide clarity around so...

Be the Change! Here is Mahatma Gandhi's actual quote: " We but mirror the wold. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the...

2.Yogas Citta Vrtti Nirodhah Second Yoga Sutra as written in The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali , written by Sri Swami Satchidananda "The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga." Yogas = Yoga Chitta = of the mind-stuff Vritti = modifications Nirodhah = restraint Click the link above for more on this publication of the Yoga Sutras. Different authors influences on the sutras is an intere...

This episode is a companion to the Winter Wander in Wonder Walks. It is an invitation to more BEing & less DOing. It is a reminder that we are a part of the natural world and not apart from it. It is a call to action to notice what you notice and move on. This is a very casual conversation.  Being in nature is a clear reflection and can offer the support, clarity, and guidance we des...

This episode pauses in the middle of the limbs to assess them through the lens of patience.  Taking time, not always hurrying onto the next thing, allows us to widen our view and see how everything relates. Practice and results of practice can sometimes feel like the same thing.  Practice patience, for example.  We can practice patience by changing our breathing patte...

This episode focuses on the fourth limb of Yoga which is Pranayama (breath control).  In Yoga, breath work is designed to maximize the life-force in the body through various breathing techniques.   These techniques are said to help reduce anxiety, balance emotions, clarify the mind, create the causes & conditions to open to gratitude and more peaceful feelings.  S...

The third limb of Yoga is Asana, sometimes defined as “seat” and often as “posture,” is what people typically think of as Yoga.  It is the collection of evolved shapes designed to prepare the body for deeper pranayama practice (breath work), to sit in meditation with more ease in the body, as well as being a sharp tool for self-study.  It’s also fun! The conversation recognizes...

Happy Birthday to Anecdotal Anatomy who just complete a full year of podcasting! This humble conversation started, in part, as a means to dive deeper into understanding our anatomy, functionally and academically. It turned into a bigger conversation about the stories the body holds & tells. Aspects of the original intention have been sprinkled in throughout the year, but both hosts chose to fo...

Moving from the restraints of the Yamas (E50) to the Observances of the Niyamas (E51), the hosts steer the conversation to the second set of Yoga’s ethical offerings. From discussions about cleanliness and digestion of the worlds around them to golden shadows and the presence of creation in all things, this conversation touches on the myriad experiences of being human.   These talks are...

In this episode, the hosts discuss the first limb of Yoga, the Yamas. The Yamas (restraints) are part of Yoga's ethical code, which underscores the importance of being in alignment on all levels of engagement. Next episode, they will expand into the second limb, The Niyamas (observances). They break it down into the five parts and offer anecdotes & quotes from other sources to paint a real-lif...

This episode drops on Thanksgiving, so it made sense for the hosts to ruminate on gratitude.  Theresa reframed the question from what are you grateful for, to what feels like a gift right now?  Sometimes just saying or asking something in a different way can lead our minds to otherwise unseen spaces and new clarity. The hosts share some of the highlights from the Rhythm & R...

This new season is all about the 8 limbs of Yoga.  Sherry & Theresa, both longtime practitioners & teachers, take listeners on a journey beyond asana (physical poses), but not excluding it. There will be episodes that are designed around specific limbs and others that will reveal how yoga shows up in our lives off the mat in very real and daily ways. This first episode begins wit...

In this final episode of Season 4, Theresa & Sherry dive into the elements & senses as tools for transformation & making sense of the world. They touch on Ayurveda (Science of Wellness - sister science to Yoga) where the elements are foundational to understanding our own constitutions (a/k/a Doshas*). While everything is made up of the elements, it is our senses that allow for the expe...

This episode touches on the language & tone we often experience (and sometimes contribute to) in the Yoga world.  Theresa & Sherry talk a lot about what it is to “hold space” and how important it is to be able to feel and express the full range of emotions.  Even when we do, there can be a residual that seeps into the body, held by its fibers and other connective tissue...

Today is a circular conversation that starts with what lives in our blind spots & how our shadows are sometimes connected.  When we’re willing to see the world as our mirror, and things as they are, we get to grow.  Taking the mirror metaphor a step further, “Things in mirror are closer than they appear” is often etched into a car’s side mirrors.  We see & fee...

Last episode was about Theresa’s experience in a mindful outdoor leadership training at Kripalu.  In a few weeks, Anecdotal Anatomy in Action is hosting a retreat (3 days in November).  Couched in the middle is the question of Retreat; what value is there in withdrawing from the daily doings to move into the bareness of being? Priorities get revealed and often self-care barely...

On today's episode, Theresa is a guest on her own show! Following nine days in the forest at Kripalu in the Berkshire Mountains, Theresa recounts her adventure. She participated in a mindfulness outdoor leadership training which had participants outside approximately eight hours a day. Sherry asks many questions including how the training program related to the stories our bodies hold & tell a...

A continuation, of sorts, from last episode discussing divine feminine energy.  This episode has a larger focus on shifting energies, finding balance (divine feminine & divine masculine), while identifying light & dark energies.  Last week the wise woman of autumn & superhero archetypes arose from the chat, this week fairytale witch was added to the mix.  ...

On this road to the Divine Feminine, Theresa & Sherry take many turns.  They share stories & opinions, while quoting articles and asking questions, all in service of understanding a little bit better. The Maiden, The Mother, and The Crone are the three major stages of the Divine Feminine.  In this episode, the hosts touch on the qualities of each stage and how they are...

Even the most spiritual seekers experience times of aridity in their quest for the Divine.  These dry times are potent with inquiry, curiosity and possibility and inform something of the value of emptiness. While some may experience the breath as a spiritual guide, others may see it as a practical way to come into rest & restore (activating the parasympathetic nervous system). &...

Shit Grows Flowers - Our Road of Trials “When people put you down enough you start to believe it.  The bad stuff is always easier to believe, you ever notice that?” Line from Pretty Woman Theresa & Sherry talk a good deal about finding balance, not negating one experience or energy for another, rather finding ways for synthesis, cooperation and resolution.  This is true eve...