Just to mix things up a little at The Yoga Talk Show, this week, Lucas will lead you through a guided yoga breathing exercises called, Box Breathing. Box breathing is an easy-to-learn and highly effective practice that you’ll feel benefits from immediately.

Listen & Learn:

• How to slow your heart rate

• How to increase your heart rate variability

• How to stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system

• How to encourage alpha brain wave states

• How to reduce stress hormones and find stillness

And all this from a simple breathing practice!

References from the show:

• Basic pranayama mudra (see hand position below)

Thanks to our sponsors!

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As a yoga student, you’ve no-doubt heard of pranayama (yogic breathing practices), but you’ve probably had very little experience practicing it. Yoga breath work is mostly a “lost art” today partly due to the fears and myths that surround the practice. The typical advice from teachers is that pranayama can only be learned after years of asana practice and then you must learn from a master - but is there any truth to that? Probably not. 

Breathing practices can serve as a very comfy bridge between asana practice and seated meditation, and for aspiring students, it’s a shame to to miss this bridge. On this week’s Yoga Talk Show, record-holding free diver, Sara Campbell, joins us to share her experiences with breath-holding, breathing techniques and benefits.

Sara Campbell is the founder of, Discover Your Depths, a training program and philosophy that uses yoga, meditation and freediving to help people achieve personal transformation in all areas of their lives.

Sara discovered yoga and meditation over a decade ago when her own health was suffering, and just a few years later achieved a record of 90 meter free dive on just one breath of air.

Sara teaches yoga, meditation, breath-work and free diving.

In this Show, You'll learn:

• What the “dive reflex” is and how it impacts our breath & body 
• How safe and/or dangerous is it to reduce breathing?
• The real vs perceived risks of pranayama (on land) 
• How breathing can lead to personal and even spiritual experiences 

Links & References from the Show:

www.discoveryourdepths.com

Got questions?

Write to us: podcast@yogabody.com

Thanks to our sponsors: www.Onzie.com 

Yoga teaching was dominated by men until Russian-born, Indra Devi, came to Los Angeles in 1947 and quietly changed the direction of modern yoga forever. Devi was not only the first woman to break through the gender barrier, she was also the first western woman to study and teach in India with Krishnamacharya, a modern master whose students spread yoga throughout the world.

On this week’s Yoga Talk Show, writer and researcher, Michelle Goldberg, shares highlights from her newest book all about the exceptional life of Indra Devi who is affectionately referred to as the grandmother of modern yoga. 

Michelle Goldberg is an author and senior contributing writer for The Nation and her work has appeared in Salon.com, The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, Glamour, Rolling Stone,  New York, The Guardian (UK) and The New Republic.

 Her books include: Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power and the Future of the World, and her newest title, The Goddess Pose: The Audacious Life of Indra Devi, the Woman Who Helped Bring Yoga to the West

In this Show, You'll learn:

• How a Russian-born woman became a leading voice for yoga in the West during a time when Indian men were considered the authorities on yoga
• The peculiar India-Los Angeles connection in most modern yoga
• What it meant to be a yoga teacher over 50 years ago
• Why modern yoga is much “younger” than most people believe

Links & References from the Show:

www.MichelleGoldberg.net  

Got questions?

Write to us: podcast@yogabody.com

Environmental toxins, genetically modified food, chronic stress, and the rise in autoimmune conditions have all contributed to an explosion of thyroid problems. Dr. Will Cole joins Lucas on this week’s Yoga Talk Show to explore thyroid health, how you can get tested, treatment options, and the importance of your microbiome. 

Dr. William Cole D.C, graduated from Southern California University of Health Sciences in Los Angeles, California. He has his post doctorate education and training in Functional Medicine and Clinical Nutrition. Dr. Cole consults in the Pittsburgh area and phone or webcam consultations for people around the world. He specializes in clinically investigating  underlying factors and customizing health programs for chronic conditions such as thyroid issues, autoimmune, hormonal dysfunctions, digestive disorders, diabetes, heart disease and fibromyalgia.

Dr. Cole has been featured numerous times on Pittsburgh news affiliates WTAE-TV, KDKA-TV and WPGH-FOX. He is a health writer for international publications and lectures nationally.

In this Show, You'll learn:

• Why there is a rise in thyroid problems
• Warning signs to look out for, and how to get yourself tested 
• To what extent it is possible to improve thyroid function with natural medicine
• What you can start doing right away to start nursing your body back to health

Links & References from the Show:

www.drwillcole.com 

Got questions?

Write to us: podcast@yogabody.com