In today’s episode Em and Kylie chat about stress and burnout and how we might use Yoga techniques to better listen to our body’s stress signals and then how we might help to support ourselves and others through periods of stress. This is a topic that has been on many folks’ minds during and as we emerge from the global pandemic. We talk about what stress is and how it plays out in our body and nervous system - using science-based mindfulness research. We explore the impact of the world around us, including the media and our incredibly busy Western culture, and our propensity to want to constantly achieve and to fix things! Yet, we also talk about the impact of our own mindsets and ways of responding to external challenges as well. How often do we celebrate and prioritise asking for help and taking time to rest in our society? And, of course, true to our podcast vision we offer some practical tools and tips to help you manage stress and burnout in your own life using the philosophy and practice of Yoga and Mindfulness. Enjoy the episode today and may it serve you well.

Welcome to Bright Fierce Hearts podcast. In this episode, Kylie and Em chat to The Adaptive Yogi, Jennie Jackson, about practicing and teaching adaptive and inclusive Yoga and coming to fiercely and unconditionally love your body. Jennie Jackson’s vision and purpose is, as a ‘peaceful warrior’, to help her students achieve body peace and acceptance through her Hatha Yoga classes that focus on accessibility, inclusivity and body positivity. We met Jen in a coaching group and absolutely fell in love with her infectious kindness and humour and loved having this beautiful conversation with her. We hear Jen’s journey to become a Yoga teacher and the milestones of acceptance of living in a curvy body, with a disability, along the way. We dive into the pitfalls of Western Yoga’s body focused, goal oriented culture. We talk about the philosophy that underpins Yoga, especially around non-harming and non-attachment. Jen tells us about the barriers that she has faced along the way and shares some of the powerful stories of her students that are living with disabilities, who have benefited from Yoga practices. She also shares some beautiful practices that we can take into our lives to find ways to be more accepting of the bodies we are in and to offer ourselves fierce love. Enjoy the conversation this week. We certainly did! NOTES: Jennie Jackson – The Adaptive Yogi Jen is a yoga teacher from New Zealand and is a passionate advocate for the powerful practice of Yoga, including mindfulness, breathing and meditation. She has experienced how profoundly life changing these practices have been for herself and her students. Jen found her self-confidence, self-worth and a desire to help others grow through Yoga. She was gifted a new lease on life after living with a degenerative disability and through a challenging journey of immobility and pain, was lucky to end up with a prosthesis device that helps her walk and do yoga pain free – amazing! Jen has been a certified yoga teacher since 2016 and a yoga practitioner since 1998. She specializes in restorative and accessible Yoga for ALL, breathing, mindfulness and meditation. Offering group and private classes, courses and retreats in New Zealand and Bali. Her ‘Yoga for ALL’ philosophy attracts those that previously thought they ‘couldn’t’ take part, advocating diversity and inclusion, no matter what ability, size, age or state you are in, you are welcomed and catered for! Jen has her own home boutique studio and is online with an impressive class library! Also, she teaches chair Yoga at a Senior Citizens Hall and a very special wheelchair adaptive class at a university with 4th year students to assist, and contributes to a popular American based adapted Yoga platform. Jen’s drive is to make Yoga more inclusive for all bodies, showing up as a Yoga teacher with a disability and a Curvylicious physique – she’s not your ‘normal’ Yogi! Loving helping women on the journey towards body peace and celebrating the joy of movement! Find Jen here: Instagram: @theadaptiveyogi Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theadaptiveyogi Website: https://www.theadaptiveyogi.co.nz/ And here is the link to the prime time ‘TV appearance’! https://fb.watch/ewJUKAfhx9/

Welcome to Bright Fierce Hearts podcast. Today’s episode, Emily explores the different ways we can use our Yoga and meditation practice to build inner resilience. Resilience can be defined as our capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, or in nature it is the capacity for something to spring back into shape! It can also be that ability to weather a storm and to thrive, rather than just survive, in difficult conditions. The image of the tree growing on the side of a wind beaten mountainside, or a flower poking through the cracks in the concrete. Life blooming. Yoga offers wonderful tools and techniques to help us to listen in to our inner state. To know when we need to find more support - perhaps noticing when we are not bouncing back, but falling apart or breaking or burning out. We can call on practices that support, balance and calm our nervous system such as Pranayama, Nidra and Restorative shapes. We can also use Yogic techniques such as mindfulness, san kalpa (intentions and affirmations) and maitri/metta (self love), as well as gratitude practice, to bring a positive mind-set to our life (without bypassing the difficulties that might be going on - just not adding the extra layer of judgment and self-criticism). And, while we are building resilience within, we are never truly alone in this journey. Part of learning how to listen in to ourselves is also knowing when to reach out and call in external support, whether that is from your family, friends, a practitioner, mentor or the wider community. Listen in to this week’s Bright Fierce Hearts podcast for a dive into this theme. NOTES: Tara Brach’s RAIN practice: https://www.tarabrach.com/rain/ Emily’s RAIN meditation: www.brightyogaspace.com//bright-fierce-hearts-podcast/stepping-into-fire Sharon Salzberg (Metta Practice): https://www.sharonsalzberg.com/ Helpful resources to call for mental health crises. Beyond Blue aims to increase awareness of depression and anxiety and reduce stigma. Call 1300 22 4636, 24 hours/7 days a week, chat online or email. FriendLine supports anyone who's feeling lonely, needs to reconnect or just wants a chat. You can call them 7 days a week on 1800 424 287, or chat online with one of their trained volunteers. All conversations with FriendLine are anonymous. Kids Helpline is Australia’s only free 24/7 confidential and private counseling service specifically for children and young people aged 5 – 25. Call 1800 55 1800. Lifeline provides 24-hour crisis counselling, support groups and suicide prevention services. Call 13 11 14, text on 0477 13 11 14 (12pm to midnight AEST) or chat online. MensLine Australia is a professional telephone and online counselling service offering support to Australian men. Call 1300 78 99 78, 24 hours/7 days a week, chat online or organise a video chat. MindSpot is a free telephone and online service for people with anxiety, stress, low mood or depression. It provides online assessment and treatment for anxiety and depression. MindSpot is not an emergency or instant response service. Call 1800 61 44 34. QLife provides nationwide telephone and web-based services for lesbian peer support and referral for people wanting to talk about a range of issues including sexuality, identity, gender, bodies, feelings or relationships. Call 1800 184 527, 3pm – 12am (midnight) AEST/7 days a week. PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia) supports women, men and families across Australia affected by anxiety and depression during pregnancy and in the first year of parenthood. Call 1300 726 306, 9am – 7:30pm AEST (Mon-Fri). SANE Australia provides support to anyone in Australia affected by complex mental health issues, as well as their friends, family members and health professionals. Call 1800 18 7263, 10am – 10pm AEST (Mon – Fri), or chat online. [Source: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/mental-health-helplines] If you’re enjoying the podcast and would like to deepen your yoga practice with us, sign up now for our ‘Fierce Heart’ mini-course. It’s packed with tools, inspiration and practices to bring more love, strength and compassion into your life. Sign up here: https://www.brightyogaspace.com/living-from-fierce-heart-mini-course

Welcome to Bright Fierce Hearts podcast. In today’s episode, Kylie shares a beautiful Sister Circle Heart meditation in line with the Virgo New Moon on 27th August 2022. Virgo looks for meaning, wants to be of service and to contribute to the greater good in some way, whether big or small. Virgo energy invites you to be uniquely and fearlessly you in the ways that you serve in the world. Enjoy this meditation before journaling about your new moon intention. Find a safe and quiet space, sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor with grounded sit bones and a tall spine. If you’re enjoying the podcast and would like to deepen your yoga practice with us, sign up now for our ‘Fierce Heart’ mini-course. It’s packed with tools, inspiration and practices to bring more love, strength and compassion into your life. Sign up here: https://www.brightyogaspace.com/living-from-fierce-heart-mini-course

This episode is a conversation between Kylie, Em and their good friend and colleague, Kirstie. Kirstie May is a local to Bright, she is an inspirational educator and creator. Kirstie studied to become an environmental scientist and has a deep connection to nature and has evolved over the last few years to become a trained Doula and birth worker. She continues to nurture the land as a sustainable gardener and walks with women through her pre and postal natal support work with birthing families. Today we are talking to Kirstie about Fierce Motherhood and all its stages. This convo goes deep into the reclaiming of women’s power through the process of birth itself, how we can better honour the transition of maiden to mother as a rite of passage and walk with each other through the journey. We also speak to an acknowledgement of the challenges that come with choosing to become a mother. Through these themes we also navigate the different ways that we create and birth as women, not always limited to the physical birth of children. This was such a juicy conversation. We hope that you enjoy! You can find Kirstie and get in contact with her via Instagram: @kirstie_may_ If you’re enjoying the podcast and would like to deepen your yoga practice with us, sign up now for our ‘Fierce Heart’ mini-course. It’s packed with tools, inspiration and practices to bring more love, strength and compassion into your life. Sign up here: https://www.brightyogaspace.com/living-from-fierce-heart-mini-course

Life is full of challenge and discomfort. In today’s episode, Emily shares a practice based on RAIN mindfulness technique to support you to lean in to challenge. Utilising visualisation and mindfulness this practice is all about opening to and embracing our challenges and leaning into their transformative power. Listen to and be guided by your body's wisdom today. Go gently and kindly with yourself. Make sure you are in a safe space to turn inwards. Not driving your car! If you’re enjoying the podcast and would like to deepen your yoga practice with us, sign up now for our ‘Fierce Heart’ mini-course. It’s packed with tools, inspiration and practices to bring more love, strength and compassion into your life. Sign up here: https://www.brightyogaspace.com/living-from-fierce-heart-mini-course

In today’s episode, Kylie and Em have a deep conversation around the inquiry “what is ‘women’s work’”? The result is a search for what it means to reclaim the sacred feminine and find balance. The discussion starts with an explanation of how we might do the ‘work’ of becoming more aware of our femininity, setting the scene with the history of our patriarchal culture and unpacking what feminine and masculine qualities might be (acknowledging that they are fluid and relative). Reclaiming the feminine is not about tipping the scales towards a situation that might mold women into a power over men relationship. It is about bringing balance and allowing all to acknowledge and celebrate the feminine qualities of receptivity, embracing cycles and sustainability. This work is also challenging and requires us to look into the deepest layers of ourselves and also to hold space for others. Femininity is also fierce and wild too. There is dark and light on both sides of the polarities. We talk about practical ideas of how to bring in more of the sacred feminine into your life. Tune in to hear more about this journey of reclamation and what happens in women’s circles. Enjoy! If you’re enjoying the podcast and would like to deepen your yoga practice with us, sign up now for our ‘Fierce Heart’ mini-course. It’s packed with tools, inspiration and practices to bring more love, strength and compassion into your life. Sign up here: https://www.brightyogaspace.com/living-from-fierce-heart-mini-course

Today’s episode is a bit of a deep dive with Emily into the theme of how we meet obstacles or challenges in our practice and life. This journey of life has one thing for sure. There will be obstacles to meet on our path. How do we view challenge in life, how do we challenge ourselves, how do we meet that challenge? Yoga traditions have many stories, philosophical ideas and tools we can use to better understand all of this and more. In this podcast, Emily explores the Yogic myths and characters (including seeing our journey as non-linear), the ways we can approach our practice, and aspects of energetic anatomy (such as Chakras and Granthis). These ideas are always traversed in a way that [hopefully] is useful for our lived experience in the world so we hope you at least get a fresh perspective on how obstacles can show up in your life and how you might view them. Enjoy! If you’re enjoying the podcast and would like to deepen your yoga practice with us, sign up now for our ‘Fierce Heart’ mini-course. It’s packed with tools, inspiration and practices to bring more love, strength and compassion into your life. Sign up here: https://www.brightyogaspace.com/living-from-fierce-heart-mini-course

Join Emily for today’s short practice of meditation. This is a very simple meditation practice to help build focused attention on the breath. By counting each breath as we feel it enter and leave the body we can train the mind to stay present. This class includes instruction and a little guidance and then space to practice the technique yourself. This is a wonderful tool to learn if you are a beginner to meditation or you find that your mind is especially busy. Make sure you are in a safe place to practice meditation. Not one for the long drive! If you’re enjoying the podcast and would like to deepen your yoga practice with us, sign up now for our ‘Fierce Heart’ mini-course. It’s packed with tools, inspiration and practices to bring more love, strength and compassion into your life. Sign up here: https://www.brightyogaspace.com/living-from-fierce-heart-mini-course

Today’s episode, is a conversation with Amy McDonald where we talk about the power of myth and story telling and how we can work with the ancient stories of the Yogic tradition to support our practice and life! Amy McDonald is a spiritual business coach and yoga teacher from Australia. She’s also the host of the Abundant Yoga Teachers Podcast. Amy has been teaching yoga since 2009 and has taught freelance classes, corporate yoga, and yoga classes in studios— she’s even taught yoga classes in a men’s prison! She has led workshops and retreats in Australia, Bali, Singapore, Thailand, the UK, Europe, and the USA. And she doesn’t just teach yoga classes, she also teaches yoga teachers how to succeed in their careers. She offers business coaching, Yoga mythology courses, and more. Amy is dedicated to helping yoga teachers grow in their businesses to create abundance. In this episode Amy talks about how she came to blend her skills as a creative writer, yoga teacher and coach to be mentoring Yoga teachers in small business utilising the philosophy and mythology of Yoga as tools. Amy speaks about the key elements of myth and how we can bring the teachings of these stories into our lives in a practical way. Even though Amy doesn’t have ‘favourites’ she does share with us some of her most loved stories and gives us some ideas of where to start delving into myth yourself, including exploring the Indian epics, and how to tell these stories in a way that is unique to you while still honouring the culture and tradition they are a part of. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did! You can find more information about Amy McDonald at: www.amymcdonald.com.au @amyyogabizcoach on Instagram The Abundant Yoga Teacher Podcast If you’re enjoying the podcast and would like to deepen your yoga practice with us, sign up now for our ‘Fierce Heart’ mini-course. It’s packed with tools, inspiration and practices to bring more love, strength and compassion into your life. Sign up here: https://www.brightyogaspace.com/living-from-fierce-heart-mini-course