Show Notes
Join Jivana Heyman and Deanna Michalopoulos for the final episode of the Accessible Yoga Podcast’s fourth season, celebrating Jivana's 30 years of teaching. In this reflective conversation, Deanna turns the tables and interviews Jivana about his journey, asking him to answer the paramount question posed to every guest throughout the season, “What is one teaching that's made an impact on your life and continues to today?”
The episode offers an intimate look at what this yearlong series has meant, with heartfelt gratitude to the guests, team, sponsors, and listeners who made it possible. The conversation ends with appreciation for everyone who has been part of this journey and the promise of returning after a short break with a new season.
Topics Include:
Non-attachment and selfless service
Yoga as preparation for death
The transformative impact of yoga practice and teaching
How service benefits both the giver and the receiver
Yoga as a living tradition passed down through generations
The future of yoga and the yoga community
Hope for moving beyond capitalism toward collective kindness
Connect with Jivana:
Check out Jivana’s books, Accessible Yoga, Yoga Revolution, and The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about Accessible Yoga at accessibleyoga.org
www.jivanaheyman.com | @jivanaheyman | facebook.com/jivanaheyman
Thank You to Our Sponsors!
beYogi
Comprehensive insurance for yoga instructors and wellness practitioners. Get $20 off our annual yoga teacher insurance policy at beyogi.com/jivana.
OfferingTree
Simplify your yoga business with their all-in-one platform. Visit offeringtree.com/accessible-yoga to save 50% off your first 3 months on a monthly subscription or 15% off an annual subscription.
Credit: Mikus Dharma (they/them), AY Podcast Sound Engineer
More from Accessible Yoga Podcast
In this episode, Jivana sits down with Sally SJ Brown, author of the newly released book The Diversity Gap in UK Yoga: Outsider Perspectives, which examines barriers to yoga access and ways the yoga community can address exclusion. Sally shares how the book draws from interviews with 17 people from marginalized groups in northern UK cities, her PhD research, and her experience as a community yoga teacher. Together, Jivana and Sally examine why good intentions are not enough and what it would actually take to make yoga accessible to the people who need it most.
Join Jivana as he talks with Theo Wildcroft and Beverley Nolan about their new book Leading Safe and Simple Yoga Nidras. Theo and Beverley unpack the complex history of yoga nidra, its relationship to sleep science, and why demystifying the practice is one of the most important things we can do to make it safer. Together they explore the ethical responsibilities of anyone who leads this practice and why yoga nidra is ultimately a neurological process that any skilled yoga teacher can learn to lead with confidence and care.
Join host Jivana Heyman and guest Becky Aten, founder of Yoga for Neurodiversity, for a conversation about making yoga accessible and affirming for neurodivergent students. Becky shares how their autism diagnosis at age 38 shaped their approach as a yoga facilitator and led them to create peer support spaces for neurodivergent people. Together, Jivana and Becky explore what makes a neurodiversity-affirming space different and why affinity spaces and more welcoming general spaces are both needed.
In this episode, Jivana sits down with Tracee Stanley, author of the newly released book Living Ritual: Infuse Each Day with Purpose and Spirit. Tracee shares how she treated the writing of the book itself as a ritual and shares how practicing Bhakti Yoga through chants, mantras, and mental puja (manas puja) blossomed her personal practice. Together, Jivana and Tracee talk about the devotional aspect at the heart of the yoga tradition and why contemporary yoga has drifted away from Bhakti Yoga and devotional practice.
Join host Jivana as he talks with his friend and fellow author, Indu Arora, about the philosophical essence of yoga, the householder path, and the importance of individual experience. Indu shares about what it really means to "teach" yoga, why she calls herself a student rather than a teacher, and how her own teachers shaped that humility. They talk about living yoga philosophy and why yoga's health and wellness benefits are only side effects of a much deeper spiritual purpose.