The Chai Sessions - Merchant City Yoga

In this episode of the Chai Sessions I’m talking to good friend and yoga philosophy maestro, James Boag. He’s a regular guest with me here on the podcast. Because we’re chatting ahead of James’s next visit to MCY when he’ll be taking us on a deep dive into the Bhagavad Gita I wanted to talk more about the Gita and what it might have for us as we live today. The Bhagavad Gita goes right back to the...

In this episode of The Chai Sessions I’m talking to friend and fellow Ashtanga teacher Scott Johnson. This is our fourth conversation so I feel we can now say he’s a regular here on the podcast! For many of you he needs no introduction, but for those of you who haven’t met Scott yet he’s been practising yoga since 1998, and teaching Ashtanga yoga since 2004. He’s been the director and senior teach...

This episode is the fifth and last (at least for now!) in my short series, Ashtanga Love Notes , where I talk with friends who like me still practise and teach Ashtanga. And still love it too! My guest and I spoke for the first time on the Chai Sessions way back in the depths of lock down and I’m really excited to have persuaded her to join me again. It is of course my good friend and fellow teach...

This episode is the fourth in my short series, Ashtanga Love Notes , where I talk with friends who like me still practise and teach Ashtanga. And still love it too! My guest on this episode is good friend and very favourite Australian Allison Dearling. Allison’s the founder and principle of Live & Breath Yoga in Townsville, North Queensland. We met on our teacher training programme here in Gla...

This episode is the third in my short series, Ashtanga Love Notes . I feel Ashtanga has fallen a bit out of fashion and gets a bad rep for being too difficult, rigid, and well, old fashioned but we’ll talk about what we love, what keeps us coming back and what challenges and highlights it’s brought us along the way. Imagine these love notes handwritten and close to my heart... And so to my guest o...

This episode is the second in my short podcast series, Ashtanga Love Notes . My guest on this episode is Emma Isokivi. She is a devoted Ashtanga practitioner and teacher and is the owner of Ashtanga Yoga Edinburgh . I was really excited when Emma not only agreed to join me on the podcast but came through to Glasgow so we could chat in-person. I start by asking Emma about her Ashtanga story. She ta...

This episode is the first in a short series I’m sharing called Ashtanga Love Notes. I feel Ashtanga has fallen a bit out of fashion and often gets a bad rep for being too difficult, rigid, and well, old school! So I want to talk with friends who like me still practise and teach Ashtanga. And still love it too! We’ll talk about what we love, what keeps us coming back and what challenges and highlig...

In this episode of the Chai Sessions, I'm talking to good friend, podcast regular and yoga philosophy maestro James Boag. We explore the relationship between two of the best known yoga texts, the Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. We talk about how each is presented in a different form and how there’s a different purpose for each these texts too. The Yoga Sutras is ultra distilled. It concisely de...

In this episode of the Chai Sessions I'm talking to clinical research and health professional Heather Gwyneth Bird. I first met Heather way back in 2015 when she joined our Yoga Teacher Training programme here at MCY. We explore the concept of well-being and the intersection of self-improvement, self-acceptance and personal development from a yoga perspective. We talk about some of the significant...

In this episode of The Chai Sessions I'm talking with Osteopath Gareth McGee. Some of you might know Gareth already from his anatomy and physiology sessions on our yoga teacher training programme here at MCY. In this conversation, he talks about the work he does as an osteopath, allowing each individual body to find connection again and create place and space for self-healing. We discuss how peopl...

This is Ema's third time on The Chai Sessions! I think that makes her a regular guest now. I'm thrilled she was able to join me again for a chat and a cuppa on the sofa. Ema offers courses rooted in the classical texts associated with the yoga tradition. Her courses are designed to help us understand these texts a little better and challenge us to put some of what we learn into practice. In this e...

When James joined me on The Chai Sessions (episode #28) to discuss the 8 limbs of yoga ahead of his weekend immersion here at MCY in March, we dived into a few conversations that didn't make it into the final episode. They were so good I just had to hit record and share them with you. This second bonus bit explores yoga and religion... Enjoy! James will be here at Merchant City Yoga Friday 22 to S...

When James joined me on The Chai Sessions (episode #28) to discuss the 8 limbs of yoga ahead of his weekend immersion here at MCY in March, we dived into a few conversations that didn't make it into the final episode. They were so good I just had to hit record and share them with you. This first bonus bit explores one of the yamas, bramacharya... Enjoy! James will be here at Merchant City Yoga Fri...

I'm delighted James Boag could join me on The Chai Sessions for a third time to chat about yoga and yoga philosophy. For anyone who hasn't met James yet, he has been teaching yoga for over 20 years. I first met him in 2011 in Mysore, South India. He was not only sharing the teachings of yoga back then, he was also studying for an MA in Sanskrit!  James brings a holistic approach to his practi...

What is a mindful approach to Ashtanga yoga? Scott Johnson joined me for a chat to explore this and chat about his upcoming visit to Merchant City Yoga on Friday 2nd to Sunday 4th February. This is Scott's third time on The Chai Sessions! I think at this point he needs no introduction but for anyone who hasn't had the pleasure, Scott is the director and co-founder of Stillpoint Yoga London . He is...

Debbie is back! She joined me for a catch up and this time brought some very special guests to chat about Yogability. Yogability is a local Glasgow-based charity who offer yoga to children and adults with special needs, their families and carers. We raise funds for them each Christmas here at MCY through our  108 Sun Salutations event . Debbie's son Cameron, now a trustee of Yogability (AMAZI...

Lucy Crawford is a very well known and respected international Ashtanga yoga teacher. I'm thrilled I got the opportunity to chat with her and so excited she'll be here at Merchant City Yoga this weekend!  This chat is full of inspirational nuggets I know you'll love. We even get into chatting about teaching the practice, the role of the yoga teacher is to empower , and what it is to be Ashtan...

Laura Breckenridge joined me for a chat about yoga for children. If you haven't met Laura, she's a qualified child development officer and has worked in the education sector for many years. She's one of our CYS Glasgow yoga teacher training graduates too! Laura will be bringing her knowledge and experience of both fields, yoga and education, together to offer a very special workshop here at MCY on...

Lucie and I are both very passionate about the benefits of yoga nidra. She regularly comes to MCY to share her beautiful seasonal practices with everyone. If you haven’t heard yet, her late summer session on Friday 29th September (7-8.30pm) is now open for booking! I think deep conscious relaxation is hugely underrated. I wonder if it might even be getting a bit lost in the modern yoga scene. That...

If you haven't met Ranjana yet, let me introduce you. She's a Glasgow-based artist and lecturer. She's been a regular at Merchant City Yoga since 2016 and we've had many rich and diverse conversations over the years. She'll soon be offering a very special course here starting in September, "An Introduction to Self-Knowledge According to Advaitya Vedanta" . In this, my twenty-second Chai Session, R...

I'm delighted to welcome and introduce you to Dan Gronan in this, my 21st Chai Session! Dan is offering a brand new weekly class, Movement & Yoga Nidra, here at MCY on Tuesdays 6-7.15pm. I thought it would be lovely to sit down for a chat and a cuppa to get to know him a little better. Dan begins by sharing what got him started with yoga. Referencing one of my favourite movies, The Karate Kid,...

This is my 20th Chai Session and I’m delighted to be chatting with Ema about yoga philosophy, specifically yama-niyama. Yama-niyama are a living, breathing, moving, real life practice. Our understanding of them changes depending on where we’re at. Each can offer a fresh perspective at different times in our life. If you’d like to explore further, Ema’s Yama-Niyama course is coming up here at the s...

Nadia Gilani is an author, yoga teacher and former news journalist. Her book, The Yoga Manifesto, is what brought us together to chat. Plus she’ll be coming to visit us here at Merchant City Yoga next month! For me, Nadia's book is a call to action. An open honest look at modern yoga, how we engage with it and integrate it into our lives. Nadia says, "without action the yoga isn't working... we ha...

We begin our chat by considering if these traditional, more esoteric systems of yoga are getting a little left behind in this modern age of yoga. Tony explains just what we're talking about when we say energetic or subtle body. He says, "it's a lot more down-to-earth and practical than you might think." This knowledge, this framework can be used to explore and understand our human experience. This...

If you haven't had the pleasure, Scott is the founder of Stillpoint Yoga in London, host of Stillpoint Podcast, and good friend and regular visitor to MCY. For Scott, practice is about listening, uncovering and being aware of the conversations we're having with our body. "What communication is happening, what conversations can be had..." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.