All of Yoga Podcast

All of Yoga Podcast – Episode list:

Episode 1: Yoga Nidra for deep sleep
Sleep can be elusive… but we all know how much we need it. Get tucked up in bed, pop a sleep timer on your phone, and pop on this Nidra to help you drift off. Sweet dreams!

Episode 2: Ujjayi breath; the what, why and how
Often, in a yoga class, your yoga teacher will say ‘now engage the Ujjayi breath if you have that in your practice’, or ‘now start your Ujjayi breath’ or something along those lines which is a time efficient way of teaching… However, if you don’t know Ujjayi, or you were never quite sure how to do it then this doesn’t help too much.
This episode has been created for you to listen to now, and come back to as often as you like, to guide you through the what, the why and the how of the Ujjayi breath. The what, the why and the how are all timestamped in the show notes if you want to skip to a particular section!

Episode 3: What is yoga?
What is yoga? Is yoga working towards a handstand, or towards splits? Is yoga holding hands, chanting with eyes closed while incense burns? Is yoga for bendy people? Let’s find out!

Episode 4: The thing about thoughts
In this episode we explore: what a thought is, how biology isn’t exactly working in our favour, and how we can take small, practical, implementable steps to overcome thoughts and thought patterns that don’t serve us. An incredibly important topic, and potentially, absolutely life-changing. 

Episode 5: Self-love: The what, why and how
Self love is very subjective and very open to interpretation, and it might well feel very, very far away. But this episode is practical, immediately implementable to work to feel better about yourself and towards yourself. 

Episode 6: Yoga teacher training: The what, why and how
Yoga Teacher Training – can be a life-changing transformative experience, but it’s also a big commitment of your time, and your finances. Plus, you might think that you can’t enroll on a yoga teacher training because… [insert your relevant reservation here]. 

With that in mind, we thought it was time to talk about yoga teacher training; what is is, why you would embark on a training, and how’s best to go about it. 

Episode 7: Micro resting, midi resting, maxi resting

Rest is often something that we think of, as something to do when everything else is done, or when everything else is under control. But, when we leave rest to do, when everything else is ticked off…. well, we never get to it.

We’ve created this podcast episode to give you tips, tricks and techniques to bring more rest in to your life, whether that’s micro, midi, or maxi rest. 

Episode 8: Ways to deepen and advance your yoga practice

We break down some ways to deepen and advance your yoga practice, to help you stay inspired and motivated in your practice, and to ensure that your yoga is benefiting all areas of your life as much as possible!

Episode 9: Styles of Yoga – Ashtanga

There are many styles of yoga – Ashtanga is just one of these. In this podcast episode, we look at what Ashtanga yoga is, the benefits of Ashtanga yoga and some bits and bobs to bear in mind, and then we’ll let you know how you can practice Ashtanga with us at Yoga Hero if you’d like to.

Episode 10: Forgiveness

This podcast episode is all about a huge thing that can be a drain on joy: FORGIVENESS. 

We start by looking at what forgiveness is. (It seems obvious, but let’s unpick it anyway.) Then we’ll look at some ideas and concepts from yoga philosophy that can help understand how to forgive. The road to forgiving someone can be long and bumpy, but it’s not never ending. So let’s start down that road…

Episode 11: Styles of yoga – Yin yoga

Yin yoga is, in essence, a slow, passive style of yoga, that’s all about letting go. In yin yoga, the postures are held for minutes, rather than breaths, which means that the body weight and gravity work together to release holding patterns, tension and stress. This style of practising isn’t necessarily ‘easy’, although yin yoga is great for beginners to yoga as there’s plenty of time for you to get in to the pose.

Episode 12: The four types of people, and the four ways to treat them (AKA the four locks, and four keys)

This episode is the four types of people, and the four ways to treat them. Otherwise known as the four locks and four keys. Otherwise known as sutra 1:33! 

Sutra 1:33 is: 

‘By cultivating attitudes of friendliness towards the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous and disregard toward the wicked, the mind retains its undisturbed calmness.’ 

This is such an important and incredibly useful sutra. If someone tells us they got a promotion or they’ve met someone they’re really excited about, our first thought is to compare that to our own life ‘I haven’t had a promotion in years’ or ‘things are a bit stale in my relationship at the moment’. If someone tell us that they’re struggling, things at home are just too tough or work is way too much of a challenge, we compare that to our own lives. When someone mentions they’ve volunteered for a charity or run 10k for the first time or they’re learning a new language, we immediately start to think of our own achievements, and if there’s wicked, non-virtuous actions, we condemn them and think how we’d never, ever do something like that. 

As you may, or may not know, yoga is the state of a peaceful mind – AND it’s the practice of working towards that state of a peaceful mind too. 

In this episode, we break down how the four locks, and the four keys help us cultivate, and retain, a peaceful mind. 

Episode 13: Align your intentions and actions

This episode is a guided meditation to help you align your intentions and actions.

Aligning your intentions and actions… It sounds so simple doesn’t it; that when the things that you spend your time, your mental bandwidth and your energy doing, are different to the things that you enjoy, to the things that light you up, this difference becomes problematic.

However, when the things that you spend your valuable resources doing align with the characteristics, skills and values that you want to cultivate, something incredible special happens.

This meditation is inspired by one of the Yamas, from the Eight Limbs of Yoga. The Yamas are ‘ethical guidelines’ – ways that you live that affect yourselves and others.

PLUS We have a brilliant masterclass ‘What is Yoga’ which explains the eight limbs of yoga, and how we can bring them in to our lives in a non-stressful but incredible beneficial way – take a look…

Episode 14: How to prepare for your first yoga class

If you were to happen to stumble across yoga in a yoga magazine or on Instagram or TikTok, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s just for skinny, very flexible people who can tie themselves up in knots and walk on their hands. But the truth is, yoga is for everyone. Not every style is for everyone. Not every teacher is for everyone. But, yoga, by its very nature of what it truly is, is for everyone.

With that in mind, we thought it would be useful to put together some tips for how to prepare for your first yoga class, to try to take some of the unknowns and anxiety out of attending a class, so that you can just crack on with setting up a yoga practice that suits you, and that’s beneficial to you.

Episode 15: Tips for developing a regular yoga practice

If you’re looking to bring more yoga in to your life, to practice with more consistency or regularity and you’d like some motivation or guidance, this episode is for you; whether you’ve done 1 yoga class or 100! 

Episode 16: Start Yoga in September

September has that back-to-school, new-term, lovely-fresh start feeling about it. And because of that, it’s often a time where people start a gym membership or a new routine, or maybe  start to think about their roles and values and intentions in life. Obviously, we at Yoga Hero think yoga is one of THE best things that you can do for your mind, body and soul. And so, we wanted to make it as easy as possible for you to start a yoga practice in September, if that’s what you’d like to do. 

We’ll take a minute to look at the benefits of a yoga practice… Then we’ll have a look at what yoga really is… And lastly, we’ll look at some of the most common reservations, and how to jump over these hurdles!

Episode 17: Styles of yoga – Restorative Yoga

Navigating your way through the different styles of yoga can be a bit of a minefield, so, in this episode we break down what Restorative yoga is, the many benefits of Restorative yoga and some bits and bobs to bear in mind when you’re practicing, and then we’ll let you know how you can learn more about Restorative yoga with us at Yoga Hero if you’d like to. 

Episode 18: Beautiful guided Savasana

Savasana – Corpse pose – is the rest and relaxation at the end of a yoga class. Although it is practiced in most of our yoga classes… sometimes you feel like you could just do with a bit longer there!

Well…. this is for you!

This is 15 minutes of beautiful guided Savasana to round off your practice, help you feel rested and refreshed and balance energy levels. Grab any props you need, and enjoy!

Episode 19: Control the controllables

You have a finite amount of time, mental bandwidth and energy -and being mindful of where you spend these valuable resources is incredibly important.  Put simply if you’re trying to  control things that are outside of your control,  you’re spending your valuable resources in a way that won’t give you  any benefit at all.  

There are just three things that you can control, which are your thoughts, your spoken words, and your physical deeds, your actions.  If a large portion of your valuable resources is being spent on uncontrollables,  that’s going to be a big  time suck, a big energy suck, a big mental bandwidth suck,  or maybe all three!

So: how do you control the controllables…?! 

Episode 20: How to stop overthinking, according to yoga

⁠There’s a REALLY important concept to explain here, to show you how much emphasis yoga places on the activity of the mind, and that is that the Sanskrit word for thought is vritti, which also translates as – and this is really important – vortex, or whirlpool!⁠

So now that there’s some acknowledgement, about how powerful thoughts can be, let’s look at what yoga says about overthinking.⁠

Firstly yoga asks us to be present. When you’re thinking about your breath right now, it diverts your attention away from overthinking.⁠

Secondly, physical yoga, is effectively a moving meditation and meditation is an incredibly powerful tool in being able to discern between helpful thoughts, like planning your day and hindering thoughts, like “I’m not good enough for this”⁠

Remember – learning to meditate is a skill just like learning to cook or to play the piano – it takes time. Be patient with yourself!⁠

Episode 21: Morning Yoga Nidra for a great day!

Yoga Nidra is a relaxing, impactful meditation. 
 
 All you need to do is get as comfortable as possible, and be guided – that’s it! 

This Yoga Nidra has been designed for the morning to help you have a great day. You can Nidra sat in a chair, laid on your bed or the floor. You could do it first thing in the morning, or as an afternoon pick-me-up. 

There’s no rules here. Just relax, and enjoy!