Do you have a talky coworker who never gives you space to share your ideas? Do you have a neighbor who does home repairs at 2 am? Or a spouse that never follows through with their shared housework?

Welcome to everyday conflict.

We argue easily about the things we care most about, and the small things seem too petty to be bothered with. Instead, we let them brew and fester until finally, we explode. Healthy conflict is the sign of a healthy relationship, but how can you foster positive conflict at home and at work? What does that even look like? 

Listen & Learn: 

• Whether to avoid conflict or race to conflict (which is better?)
• How to identify your values and aligned with them 
• Exploring shadow values and inner conflict 
• Strategies for communication and positive outcomes 

Links & Resources:

• Dr Goldman-Wetzler’s Book
• Alignment Strategies Group
  
  

About Our Guest: 

Jennifer is a leading expert on conflict and organizational psychology, is founder and CEO of Alignment Strategies Group, and author of, Optimal Outcomes: Free Yourself from Conflict at Work, at Home, and in Life.  

Nutritional Tip of the Week:

• Monk Fruit

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: Ask Lucas a Question
• Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com 

Like the Show?

• Leave us a Review on iTunes

My piano lessons were a dark, 45-minute drive from home. Mom and I left home at 6:30 am on Tuesday mornings to get there before school. “Luke is really good at this,” Ms. McGill said after my third lesson. I was eight, and that simple comment, deliberately made within earshot, gave me confidence with music that I carry even to this day (despite my obvious lack of skill as an adult).

I never said thank you to Ms. McGill. I should have. 

My sophomore year in high school, Mrs. Johnston tortured every paper I gave her with red ink. It was a bloodbath, and I suffered. But at the end of the semester, she gave me an A. It was one of the more meaningful grades I ever received, and her red ink comments continue to help me write better to this day.

Mrs. Johnston smoked and was 50-years older than me, I’m sure she’s passed away by now. I should have said thank you. 

On this week’s podcast, we’ll discuss the simple and powerful practice of writing thank you letters: to people, to family members, to cities, to the diseased, and even to people with whom you’ll never see again. 

Listen & Learn: 

• How to leverage positive recall biased 
• Why gratitude rooted in real-life experiences anchors positivity 
• How to write letters and then decide later if you send or don’t send them
  
  

LInks & Resources:

• Nancy’s Site
• The Thank You Project

About Our Guest: 

Nancy Davis Kho is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, US Magazine, The Rumpus, and The Toast. Her new book is, The Thank You Project: Cultivating Happiness One Letter of Gratitude at a Time.

Nutritional Tip of the Week:

• Should I Eat Dairy

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: Ask Lucas a Question
• Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com 

Like the Show?

• Leave us a Review on iTunes

“I’m not sure if you feel things the way I do,” she said. “I feel everything.” I was twenty-one, she was twenty-three. The window looked out at a brick wall in my Lower East Side apartment. “I have emotional needs, and you’re buried in your books and your work. You can see me.”

That was how it started on a Sunday afternoon. By Friday, I was helping her load CDs and tattered books into the trunk of a taxi. My first big breakup. Need to know more? Probably not. You’ve probably lived some version of this yourself, maybe more than once. 

The quality of our lives are very much defined by the quality of our relationships, and that person next to you in bed is the most important relationship of all. So how are you doing with that? Do you have a plan? Are you growing or just getting by? Like most of us, it’s probably a work in progress.

On this week’s podcast, you’ll meet relationship expert Maya Diamond shares her experiences from her field work. 

Listen and learn: 

• How to determine and establish values and standards - and hold yourself to them
• Why emotional responsiveness is crucial to a lasting partnership
• Why men and women often express desires differently, but ultimately seek the same thing 
• How to navigate online connections, text messages, and modern technologies in your love life 

Links & Resources: 

• Maya’s website

About Our Guest: 

Maya is a Dating and Relationship Coach. She is also a YogaTeacher and Massage Therapist. She has a great TEDx talk you can find online, she holds a Master's in Somatic Psychology. 

Nutritional Tip of the Week:

• Maca

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: Ask Lucas a Question
• Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com 

Like the Show?

• Leave us a Review on iTunes

I always wanted to be a writer. Kerouac, Hemmingway, and Carver were my heros. Later it was playwrights Kushner, Ibsen, and Chekov. I’d drag home backpacks full of books from the public library, and I finagled my way into just about every theater I could find in New York City from Broadway to deep Brooklyn fringe venues. If you met me at age 20, you’d never predict I’d be teaching backbends and low glycemic diets at age 40 - but here we are.

Life is full of surprises. Sometimes the rug gets pulled out from under you; and sometimes, for no obvious reason, you simply shift gears and start driving another direction.

In 2002, I discovered yoga and alternative health. I was a much better writer (even back then) than I was a yoga student, but it didn’t matter. Passion is in short supply, so when you’ve got it, people want to be around you. By 2003, I was teaching and traveling; and by 2006, I founded the largest training school in South East Asia. What a change.

Learning and teaching are among the most rewarding things in my life, and on this week’s podcast, I’ll share with you the “best of” list from what I’ve observed after training more than 4,000 yoga teachers in the past 13 years. Hopefully my journey has some lessons of value for you, whatever your profession. 

Listen & Learn: 

• Why age, background, and athletic ability are NOT predictors of future teaching success
• How passion acts like magnet for opportunity 
• The importance of a life and career plan
• Why you social circle matters just as much as your goals  
• How speaking and teaching are meta skills 

Links & Resources:

• Yoga Teachers College (my school)
• Yoga Business Mastery Podcast
  

About Lucas Rockwood:

Lucas Rockwood is an internationally-renowned yoga trainer, TEDx Speaker, podcaster, writer, and entrepreneur. His early yoga and meditation teachers include Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (deceased), Paul Dallaghan, Alex Medin, Gabriel Cousens MD, and SN Goenka (deceased). Lucas left the USA in 2003 when he began traveling and teaching extensively before making Barcelona, Spain, his home base. In a previous life, he worked in theater, publishing, and as a vegan chef and nutritional coach. He’s the father of three international kids and remains as passionate about yoga as when he first began practicing in 2002.

Nutritional Tip of the Week:

• Fish Oil

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: Ask Lucas a Question
• Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com 

Like the Show?

• Leave us a Review on iTunes