Yoga and Beyond Episodes 1-56

More critical thinking. Less dogma.

This is the archive for all 63 episodes of Yoga & Beyond, which I started in 2015 in order to share engaging discussions about WHY and HOW we teachers teach yoga and movement.

The "beyond" part reflects how yoga fits into to the bigger picture of human movement and scientific research. In the first 50+ episodes I interviewed authors, biomechanists, physical therapists, pilates teachers, rolfers, chiropractors, yoga teachers, anatomy teachers and more.  Later episodes feature discussions about published research on yoga and movement. The content changed but the goals remain the same: to expand our knowledge about the body and to provide more grounded, science-based information.

Episode details continued…

ep 56: Osteoporosis and yoga

Can 12 minutes of yoga a day reverse osteoporotic bone loss? The title of this study "Twelve-Minute Daily Yoga Regimen Reverses Osteoporotic Bone Loss" might lead you to believe so, but the results and data are incomplete and inconclusive.

ep 55: Chronic pain and hypermobility

Catherine Cowey and I discuss an article on chronic pain and hypermobility syndrome (HMS) from the Journal of Pain Research.

ep 54: Are headstands safe?

Jules Mitchell and I discuss a study about headstands from 2014. This is the first study of its kind that assessed loads on the neck and head in headstand.

ep 53: Distal mobility for proximal stability

Jenn Pilotti and I talk about how distal joints affect more proximal ones.

ep 52: Proximal stability for distal mobility

Proximal hamstring tendinopathy (PHT) is a pathology of the tendon with a combination of tissue damage, inflammation, and possibly pain at the proximal tendon where the hamstring attaches to the ischial tuberosity. PHT is very common among yoga practitioners as well as in other populations.

ep 51: Yoga and athletic performance

Does Yoga improve athletic performance? It might, but we don't know exactly how.

ep 50: ACE study Bikram yoga

In this episode we reviewed an ACE (American Council on Exercise) study, which examines the effect of Bikram yoga on core temperature, heart rate and rate of perceived exertion of 20 Bikram practitioners.

ep 49: Core stability and low back pain

Jenn Pilotti and I discuss a thorough review of 29 studies that answers this question: Are core stability exercises the best for back pain?

ep 48: Movement science and yoga asana

Jules Mitchell and I talk about the role of movement science in yoga asana.

ep 47: Should we use mirrors and yoga?

Jules Mitchell and I talk about the efficacy of using mirrors when learning yoga asana based on a study entitled, "Effect on performance of learning a pilates skill with or without a mirror."

episodes 57-63

 

ep 46: Dan John- body mind and soul

We talk about strength training for women, mindset in competition, why he hates terms like cardio, the cult of stretching, and more.

ep 45: Charlie Reid - Real world fitness advice for real people

We talk about strength and mobility training, some research behind the The Biggest Loser, how most commercial group fitness just makes people tired not better and more.

ep 44: Greg Lehman - Biomechanics and pain science

Greg Lehman talks about why pain science and biomechanics need to be reconciled.

ep 43: Shelly Prosko - yoga and healthcare

We discuss what yoga therapy is, how it can be used in healthcare professions, pelvic floor health, and “optimal alignment”

ep 42: Exposing Yoga Myths part 4

Melissa Gutierrez, Kim Lien-Kendall and I dispel some of the popular claims we hear in mainstream yoga classes

ep 41: PhysiYoga - Diana Zotos and Helen O'Neill

We talk about applicable and teachable knowledge regarding functional anatomy both for the yoga teacher and the physical therapist.

ep 40: Lauren Ohayon

We talk about power yoga, kegels and diastisis recti.

ep 39: Jules Mitchell part 2

We talk about her upcoming book, different types of stretching like PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation), the shoulder joint in downward dog and why she doesn’t say the word "tight" anymore when referring to muscles.

ep 38: Dana Santas pt 2

Dana talks more about how she works with athletes, why breathing is THE fundamental movement pattern and her beef with good posture.

ep 37: Exposing Yoga Myths pt 3

We talk about long, lean muscles, body image/body shame and eating disorders.

ep 36: Exposing Yoga Myths pt 2

We riff about cultural misappropriation, yoga teachers trying to make a living and Lululemon.

ep 35: Exposing Yoga Myths pt 1

We talk about how we started working together, cultural misappropriation in the yoga world, infallible gurus, and how we're not afraid to contextualize yoga in science and physiology.

ep 34: J. Brown’s slow yoga revolution

How has modern yoga practice changed since the early 90s - especially as we've experienced it in New York? What can the Yoga Alliance and the International Association of Yoga Therapists do to improve their teacher credential standards?

ep 33: Dr. Wendy Suzuki

We talk about her new book, Healthy Brain, Happy Life: A Personal Program to Activate Your Brain & Do Everything Better, how exercise affects the brain, brain hacks, brain myths and more.

ep 32: Dr. Evan Osar

He shares why you probably don't need to release your psoas, why we probably don't need stretching, we just need better alignment when we move and more.

ep 31: Mike Fitch

He talks about what we get out of quadrupedal movements, Parkour, and Animal Flow.

ep 30: Dana Santas

We talk about functional mobility, the prevalence of conjecture in yoga education, and a fresh take on #YogaEveryDamnDay

ep 29: Joanne Elphinston

We talk about her method as well as her book entitled Stability, Sport and Performance Movement

ep 28: Dr Ray McClanahan

Tips on foot strengthening, stretching, making smart shoe choices and dealing with the wear and tear of high heels.

ep 27: Katy Bowman Whole Body Barefoot

We talk about some key points in her new book, Whole Body Barefoot: Transitioning Well to Minimal Footwear.

ep 26: Gary Ward on footwear

This time talk about how the feet affect the whole body, footwear, the joy of going barefoot and how to mobilize the feet.

ep 25: Dr Mark Cheng

Dr. Mark Cheng dedicates his life to improving the human condition through strength, performance, discipline, and learning.

ep 24: Charlie Weingroff

We talk about functional movement, squats, why Russian Twists are obsolete, why the diaphragm is the most important core muscle.

ep 23: James Earls

We talk about his book, Born to Walk : Myofascial Efficiency and the Body in Movement which draws from evolutionary anatomy, the Anatomy Trains model and the latest research on fascia.

ep 22: Andrew Biel

We talk about Trail Guide to Movement, the fact that Western society is in the midst of a movement/proprioception crisis, why there's no such thing as perfect posture, and new word...balmoture!

ep 21: Jill Miller

Jill Miller is the creator of the corrective exercise format Yoga Tune Up®, and the author of The Roll Model: A Step-by-Step Guide to Erase Pain, Improve Mobility, and Live Better in Your Body.

ep 20: David Weinstock

David talks about neurokinetic therapy and movement compensation patterns

ep 19: Dr. Kathy Dooley

We talk about the stability/mobility puzzle, gait analysis, the importance of breath and more.

ep 18: Tom Myers

Tom talks about updates to Anatomy Trains (3rd edition), the latest in fascia research, the new biomechanics and more.

ep 17: Todd Hargrove

We talk about pain science, what good movement is, some myths about pain and why perfect biomechanics doesn’t guarantee pain-free movement.

ep 16: Brent Brookbush

We talk about the benefits of stretching, hypermobility, why women should lift, hot yoga and more.

ep 15: Perry Nickelston

We talk about his Primal Chains Workshop and what Stop Chasing Pain is about.

ep 14: Katy Bowman Move Your DNA

Katy offers guidelines on how to move, sit, stand and rest to make every moment of your life count on the cellular level.

ep 13: Matthew Remski

Matthew Remski is a Writer, Therapist and Yoga Asana Teacher working on an inspired book project called “WAWADIA: What Are We Actually Doing In Asana?”.

ep 12: Gary Ward - What the Foot"?

Referred to as a “next generation” movement therapy technique, the AiM method enhances sports performance, prevents injuries and eliminates existing and often long term physical problems.

ep 11: Kiambu Dickerson

We talk about his teachers, the modalities he uses, internal martial arts and how he raps in a group called Get Open

ep 10: Marjorie Brook

For the last 1o years she has been educating people about the significance of scar tissue and the importance of stretching.

ep 9: Dr Andreo Spina

We talk about his functional range conditioning, about stretching, yoga injuries, mobility and more.

ep 8: Jules Mitchell

Jules talks about her thesis on the science of stretching

ep 7: Jamie Francis

Phyical therapist, Jamie Francis talks about how she uses NKT with children at Shriners Hospital and Crossfitters.

ep 6: Dr Emily Splichal

Dr Splichal is a Podiatrist in NYC with a passion for analyzing and optimizing human movement potential.

ep 5: Jason Brown

Jason talks about his extensive anatomy studies for yoga teachers program.

ep 4: Katy Bowman

We talk about her book Alignment Matters, a collection of her first 5 years of blog posts.

ep 3: Brooke Thomas

Brooke talks about her ebook, Why Fascia Matters.

ep 2: Chrissy Carter

We talk about the popularity of yoga teacher trainings, anatomy and Paris.

ep 1: Brooke Siler

We talk about Joseph Pilates, the story behind the apparatus and her new Big Book on Pilates.

episodes 57-63