Join Swami Ramananda, a renowned Integral Yoga teacher, as he shares profound insights on finding peace in chaotic times through spiritual practice. From his Kentucky roots to his transformative journey with Swami Satchidananda, discover how yoga, meditation, and karma yoga cultivate resilience amid global challenges like injustice and political unrest.

🕉️ Key Wisdom from Swami Ramananda:

“A regular habitual spiritual practice on a daily basis is a great foundation for dealing with anything that comes up in life.”

“Make peace in your heart first and then you can be a presence for that.”

“The universe isn’t interested in smooth sailing, the universe is interested in challenging us to make us wake up.”

“Even when I’m meditating, when I’m practicing, that energy, hopefully a very peaceful loving energy, is radiating out into the world. So it’s not even that that is not doing anything.”

Explore the power of community, selfless service, and inner balance in this inspiring conversation. Like, share, and subscribe for more spiritual wisdom!

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

00:55 Spirituality in a Chaotic World

06:12 Daily Spiritual Practice

11:53 Karma Yoga Explained

18:59 Swami Ramananda’s Early Life

43:49 Meeting Swami Satchidananda

1:05:40 Lessons in Karma Yoga

1:08:26 Aging and Spiritual Community

---

Swami Ramananda, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, is the Executive Director of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco, C-IAYT, and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition who has been practicing Yoga for over 45 years. Ramananda offers practical methods of integrating the timeless teachings and practices of Yoga into daily life and transforming the painful aspects of human experience into steps toward realizing one’s full potential.

He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced-level Yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco and offers a variety of programs in many locations in the U.S., Europe and South America. Ramananda co-developed the Stress Management Teacher Training program with Swami Vidyananda, has trained many teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings, and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a certified Yoga therapist and founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. He co-founded The Spiritual Action Initiative (SAI), which brings together individuals committed to working for social justice for all beings and for the care and healing of our natural world. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Andrew Singer, owner of Flying Tree Yoga in Medellín, Colombia, and a yoga teacher trainer specializing in alignment-based yoga flow. Andrew shares his transformative journey from teaching languages worldwide to spreading yoga’s teachings across Latin America since 2014. He dives into how yoga, rooted in tantric philosophy and Anusara yoga, fosters joy, community, and a connection to the divine in everyone.

Explore Andrew’s insights on karma and bhakti yoga, and the challenge of staying present in daily life. He reflects on building a vibrant yoga community in Medellín, overcoming cultural resistance in a Catholic region, and how fatherhood has deepened his practice. Andrew also discusses the power of conscious language in teaching yoga and the unique openness of Colombian culture compared to secular yoga communities.

“Yoga doesn’t just provide us with physical and mental wellbeing, but also a sense of peace and joy. Yoga allows us to celebrate life!” – Andrew Singer

Learn about Flying Tree Yoga’s offerings, including teacher training and online Spanish courses for yoga teachers, at flyingtreeyoga.com.

About Andrew Singer

Andrew is the owner of Flying Tree Yoga in Medellín, Colombia and Yoga Internships Colombia. He is a teacher trainer specialising in alignment based yoga flow. After working for 10 years teaching different languages across the world, he decided in 2014 to dedicate himself to spreading the teachings of Yoga into Latin America and beyond. He believes in empowering individuals to find their own path and unique approach to yoga. His interests include getting hands on with adjusting and assisting, Thai bodywork, mindfulness meditation, Classical Yoga, Tantra and Buddhist philosophy and the Spanish language.

Connect with Andrew & Flying Tree Yoga

🌿 Flying Tree Yoga Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flying_tree_yoga/

🌿 Yoga Internships Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yogainternships

🌿 Andrew Singer Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewjsinger/

🌿 Flying Tree Yoga Website: https://www.flyingtreeyoga.com/

🌿 Yoga Internships Website: https://www.yogainternships.com/

Enjoyed this episode? Like, share, and subscribe for more conversations on yoga, spirituality, and personal growth!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this podcast episode, Karen Fabian, a seasoned yoga teacher with over 22 years of experience, discusses imposter syndrome and its impact on yoga instructors. She describes imposter syndrome as a feeling of inadequacy or self-doubt, where teachers feel they are "faking it" or not qualified enough, despite their training and expertise. This often stems from the pressure of public speaking, the deep responsibility of guiding students through a practice rooted in ancient traditions, and personal limiting beliefs tied to past experiences.

Karen emphasizes the importance of detachment from external validation to build confidence, advocating for a consistent teaching approach, such as using a signature sequence, to reduce anxiety and foster authenticity. She shares practical strategies, like grounding exercises and pre-class breathing, to manage nerves and encourages teachers to reflect on their teaching experiences to find balance and authenticity.

--

Yoga teacher, Podcast Host, Author and Founder of Bare Bones Yoga, Karen Fabian has a background in rehabilitative medicine and healthcare. Her passion for anatomy and human movement is behind all she does, including her work with yoga teachers inside her program, The Yoga Anatomy Blueprint Learning Program. Along with her qualifications as a yoga teacher, she also earned her Certified Personal Trainer certification in 2017 and Corrective Exercise certification in 2019 with the National Association of Sports Medicine to deepen her knowledge of human movement.

Her mission is to empower and educate yoga teachers so that they can share exceptional and accessible classes in their communities, online and in a variety of settings. She firmly believes in the ripple effect of yoga’s benefits moving from teacher to student to family and community. Her podcast, “Conversations for Yoga Teachers” has over 300 episodes and over 200K downloads and shares lessons in anatomy, cueing and sequencing and shares stories from other yoga teachers and experts in related fields.

She’s written several books including “Stretched: Build Your Yoga Business, Grow Your Teaching Techniques,” and “Structure and Spirit.”

Karen has her B.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling from Boston University and her Master’s in Health Care Administration from Simmons College. She is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher, a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider and was one of the first Certified Baptiste Yoga Teachers. She has been teaching since 2002 and lives in Boston.

Links

https://barebonesyoga.com/

https://www.tiktok.com/@barebonesyoga

https://www.instagram.com/barebonesyoga/reels/

https://www.youtube.com/@KarenFabian

Karen’s Freebies

https://barebonesyoga.lpages.co/the-5-day-confidence-challenge/

https://barebonesyoga.lpages.co/the-bare-bones-yoga-guide-to-incredible-yoga-teaching/

https://barebonesyoga.lpages.co/free-guide-steps-to-confident-teaching/

https://barebonesyoga.lpages.co/how-to-build-a-yoga-sequence-lead-page/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.