Andrew Tanner is the official spokesperson for the Yoga Alliance. He reached out to J to record this conversation about a new policy that was announced regarding the use of yoga therapy terminology. Andrew explains what the new policy is and why it was implemented. J pushes back for a compelling talk on some aspects of the new policy, as well as other issues surrounding the YA, yoga teacher training, and the industry at large.

When it comes to the inside track on being a yoga teacher and the industry, Leslie Kaminoff has been part of the conversation since it started. In this conversation, they talk about the early times before J got on the scene, the origins of the Yoga Alliance, the International Association of Yoga Therapists, regulation of yoga, the business of independent studios and the heart of why they do what we do.

Chase Bossart is J’s go-to-guy for all things Sanskrit and ancient texts. In this rare conversation, Chase shares insights into the translation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, and opens up about his long-time relationship with the Desikachar family and the tragedy that has befallen the lineage. As they trace Chase’s trajectory, the conversation touches on many pressing topics including the difference between Yoga and Yoga Therapy,

Cristina Kuhn opened The Yogi Underground last year and invited J to teach some workshops there. They sat down to talk about the process of becoming a teacher and opening a center, all while being a wife and mother of three children. From her experience of being out there in the “big bad yoga world” teaching in gyms to the intricacies and nuances of managing her own local center, Cristina shares her viewpoint and insights.

Lilia Mead was the owner of Go Yoga in Brooklyn NY, recently closed after fifteen years of operation. J taught there as a senior teacher for seven years before he opened a center himself. They sit down together to talk over the last twenty years. The discussion tracks from the early nineties until today and comments on the way yoga teachers are trained, make a living, and the immense changes that have taken place affecting both.

For more than five years, J has been buying yoga mats from yogalifestyle.com. He always appreciated that it was independently owned and operated. So he decided to have a talk with the owner, Ray Greenberg. They discuss how he fell into the yoga supply business, nuances in the yoga products market, insider business considerations (i.e. Amazon), and how things have changed in the yoga world.

J spends time with Roberta Karp, a long-time friend and student. They talk about Roberta’s ongoing struggle with chronic pain, due to several chronic conditions including diabetes, fibromyalgia and colitis. Roberta shares openly about her grieving process after her husband’s death and how yoga has been a “game changer.” J and Roberta come together on what it means to be OK despite our difficulties, and the beauty that life holds.

Renowned yoga teacher and author, Elena Brower, talks with J about the early boom times, the rise and fall of Anusara yoga, closing her own center after twelve years, what it’s like to teach 10,000, and the challenges of making a living as a yoga teacher in today’s climate. They reminisce on their shared past and discuss Elena’s forthcoming projects, including a new book with co-author Gabrielle Hartley entitled: Your Elegant Divorce.

J sits down with the former manager of BackBay Yoga Boston, Ryan Cunningham, to discuss how he got to yoga, became the manager of BackBay, and the surprising announcement that Yoga Works bought the center three days before J got there to teach workshops. They also discuss yoga teacher training and the dawning realities that independent yoga teachers and centers are facing.

J talks with Richard Karpel about his brief tenure as the President and CEO of the Yoga Alliance. They discuss the circumstances surrounding his hiring, limitations in not-for-profit structures, working with boards of directors, the need for ‘radical transparency’, and the ‘yoga of bureaucracy’. J also shares an example of how yoga is applied in his personal life, and comes clean on his ambivalence regarding the Yoga Alliance.

Distinguished yoga teacher and movement expert Amy Matthews and J talk about their dance, theater and movement roots, shared history, and ongoing evolution as yoga teachers. Amy gives background and insight into the field of somatics and they engage in spirited debate on subtle points of disagreement, exploring the relationship between our movement and practice patterns and how we are in the world.

J. talks with his producer, friend, and long-time student, Josh Sitron. Perhaps better known as the composer for Dora the Explorer, Josh, a self-described 'manic NY Jew', talks about how he came to do yoga back in 1993, how he found his way to J's yoga class and their re-acquaintance years later which led to producing J's yoga video and now podcast. Josh shares how yoga helped his struggles with depression, anger, and his wife's cancer.