Live Like You Love Yourself

Have you ever thought about the role that the body plays in… prosperity? In this fun meeting of the minds, Chara and Michelle Boulé discuss what has led Michelle to where she is today. With Michelle being a dancer, Chara was curious about the connections between how she moves, lives in her body, how she is in the world, and how that translates to how she supports others in breaking through the thi...

Who doesn’t love a story of embracing change and seeing where it will take you? In this conversation between Chara and long-time yoga teacher, trainer and mentor Julie Smerdon, we hear the story of how Julie came to yoga, or how yoga came to her. It’s one of the more colorful and beautiful stories of how yoga can genuinely change lives and it’s full of harrowing moments and profound wisdom. Resour...

What are the most important synergies between yoga and psychology? Chara speaks with Dr. Lauren Tober about her evolution as a yoga teacher and psychologist and how that has been informed by the ways that yoga and modern-day psychology have slowly moved toward each other over the course of the last couple of decades. We explore why and how yoga is an important context for yoga teachers and student...

The honest, fresh and activating energy of Reggie Hubbard shines through as he speaks with Chara about his passion for yoga, politics and activism. They dive into his background, ambitions and what motivates him. Reggie started Active Peace Yoga with a mission to make the practice of yoga and living the yogic lifestyle more accessible to all - regardless of race, gender, body type or practice leve...

Bronnie Ware shares with Chara some beautiful and inspiring lessons she has experienced. She has walked through life with her eyes and heart wide open and has generously shared the lessons of living and dying in her books, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, Your Year for Change, and Bloom. Dig into this episode and embrace the richness found in living that fills the gaps in our understanding of wh...

Chara speaks with David Charlton and Ranju Roy to dig into some deep questions about life. They look at the many fibers that make up who we are in this moment and what the process looks like in getting to know yourself. They discuss the struggles and pitfalls that come up and the overall beauty within the gift of knowing yourself.  Resources Embodying the Yoga Sutra: Patanjali for the 21st Ce...

A diving off point for a deeper inquiry into the practice of Living Like You Love Yourself.  What are the life challenges that keep us from holding ourselves in more sacred, informed and loving ways?  What is our relationship with the concept of self love and how does that bleed into our actions with ourselves and the world?  In this episode we explore a view on the elements of "liv...

A deep dive into the nature of consciousness, supported by the yoga sutras and our experience of everyday life!  Michael de Manincor returns to the podcast to share wisdom and insights into the most challenging questions of our existence.  In this brilliant conversation we wonder about unanswerable questions and how asking them can change who and how we are forever! Resources: The Yoga I...

What if the most powerful tool for waking up is sleep itself? Chara and Lucy chat with Lucy's dear friend, John Vosler, holistic wellness educator, conscious coach and yoga nidra guide and deeply wise soul about his practice of Yoga Nidra “Yogic sleep” and its potential to transform the way we relate to ourselves and the world around us. John Vosler’s passion is providing education on how thoughts...

Lucy and Chara are joined by Maya Breuer, to talk about the shape and future of yoga as a tool for connection across and within cultures.  Maya shares the story of the creation of the retreat for women of color and how she sees yoga alliance expanding its focus and reach to better include and support  its diverse membership and ever-broadening reach. Maya Breuer, Yoga Alliance Vice Presi...

Chara and Lucy connect with Jana Long, the founder and executive director of Black Yoga Teachers Alliance, in an exploration of the stories that define who we are and provide a foundation for who we can be.  We get a look into a life touched by 50 years of yoga practice and we get a sense for why Yoga Journal named Jana one of it’s Game Changers!  Resources & Mentions: Black Yog...

What is pain and how can the tools of yoga and yoga therapy best acknowledge, manage and heal the complex experience of those living with it on a daily basis? Lucy and Chara speak with Yoga therapist, researcher and author Marlysa Sullivan about her work in Yoga therapy and pain management and how yoga provides a holistic lens for understanding and alleviating the root causes of pain. Marlysa's...

Who could you be if you knew that just by loving yourself you could change the world? Chara and Lucy speak with yoga teacher, social justice educator and author Jacoby Ballard about the beauty, power, and challenges of making a difference in the world by starting from within. They discuss Jacoby’s new book and his path as a queer activist, educator, and advocate for the power of self-love, compass...

How can yoga support us in improving our relationship with our bodies?  This was the question that we explored with psychologist and yoga therapist Janet Lowndes, a dear friend of Lucy’s and a woman who is doing amazing things in the world.  Her Melbourne, Australia based practice assists people with eating disorders and body image challenges.  So we talk about the part that yoga pl...

Touching base to let you know what’s coming up in Season 2 and to introduce you to my guest Co-host for the season! Resources & Mentions Elements of Yoga Ayurveda for Yoga Teachers Course The Center for Holding Space - Foundation Program Yoga Communication

How to find yourself is a question that new age self help… and yoga, to some degree, have made infamous. But it's a journey that all of us are consciously or unconsciously engaged in every day.  In this final episode of season one of the podcast, Maria and Chara unpack the principles and particulars of self seeking. What does it really mean?  What does it look like?  And more import...

What do we all need to know as human beings walking around on this earth with a pelvis? What are some of the misconceptions around what the pelvic floor is, how it supports and impacts our experience of living and  how to keep it (and us) healthy  In this penultimate episode of Season 1 of the Live Like You Love Yourself podcast,  Chara and Maria speak with , yoga teacher, podcaster...

A beautiful moment of connection and introduction.  Saved from an earlier start at the podcast, this unpublished conversation was one of the first recorded conversations we ever had.  It was a “first meeting” on air and has turned out to be a sweet goodbye to a beautiful friend. Chara interviews Maria about her life, her discovery of yoga and what she’s learned along her journey of teach...

What is the role of yoga in times like these? Who must we be as practitioners to experience its full potential and ours as well? How can we characterize the dance that yoga and modern science are currently engaged in, and what are the potential pitfalls and windfalls of this pairing? What does the world need from yoga teachers right now? These are just a few of the inquiries that shaped our conver...

A candid conversation with Maria and Chara about the challenges of living and how our yoga can serve us when aspects of life (like Covid and cancer) take us by surprise. The conversation started as an inquiry into what the world needs from yoga right now. Our answer came through the lens of our own current struggles and hopes for the future. Resources & Mentions Yoga for Older Grown ups course...

What do you do when the physical and financial foundation you’ve been building all your life starts to crumble? What is the process for coming to terms with the reality that you’ll never be disease free? What goes through the mind of someone who has lost everything and gained themselves in the process? And what does it look like to discover your true gifts and share them? These are just a few of t...

What is meditation supposed to look like? How are meditation and yoga supposed to serve us in our lives? What happens when reality messes with our stories about how things are supposed to be? We dive into these questions and so much more with the amazing Caitlin Cady author of Heavily Meditated and self professed Meditation Junkie, who’s used the power of the “good sit” to turn her health, happine...

What are the key tools we need as individuals and groups moving through challenging moments of transition. What supports create opportunities for transitions to truly transform? Why is holding space a vitally important skill to cultivate at this point in our history? Chara & Maria explore these questions and more in this enlightening conversation with Heather Plett, author or The Art of Holdin...

What is it about conversation that changes us and the world around us? Is there a meditative quality to discussion that has the potential to shift aspects of our character and relationships that might not otherwise be noticed or moved? Our chat with Rane Bowen and Jo Stewart, hosts of The Flow Artists podcast shed some internal and external light on these questions! It was an opportunity to dive d...

2020 has been a challenging year for so many reasons, some of which we’ve talked about and a number of which we haven’t. In this bonus episode Maria and Chare dive into one of the biggest issues that we’ve been quiet about this year… Maria’s cancer diagnosis. Chara has a chance to ask the questions she’s avoided asking and Maria has an opportunity to share what it feels like to come face to face w...