The Yoga Addiction (2025)

24/03/2020

Sandy here.
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Amidst all the new changes in our world due to the Covid-19 pandemic, our profession as yoga teachers has been thrown up in the air.
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As a full-time yoga teacher, my income depends on studio doors staying open. And with all the closures across and the world, I no longer have the ability to generate an income with my skills and knowledge.
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As such, I have moved to offering classes which you can access via link in bio.
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If you have the ability to become a patron, for $10 a month you will have full access to every single video I create. And I'm planning on releasing new videos weekly (or better)!
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Check it out. Support each other. And spread love not germs ✌️
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18/03/2020

The End. Ughhh so many feels about this entire project! 64 episodes and I know we both feel like we scratched the surface. At the end of the day we both had to finally acknowledge that our time outside of our full time work is precious and needs to be spent in other ways.

So its a very bitter sweet ending and we are so grateful for everyone who tuned in and became a part of our community. We spoke with some absolutely amazing, inspiring people. Those conversations alone were worth the effort of keeping this thing going.

So now we leave you with a few things that we feel this whole project has been based around an that we want you to keep thinking about, as teachers and students. We hope that we were able to shine a light on the way yoga is taught and how we think about it. We definitely don't know all the answers, nor did we intend to. If we made you question something you've been taught and caused you to dig deeper for answers then, mission accomplished.

Sending love to each and everyone of you ❤️🧡💛💚💙💙💜🤎🖤🤍.

Listen to this LAST episode:
•link in bio
•theyogaaddiction.com/064
•find The Yoga Addiction episode 64 in your podcast player.

12/03/2020

Meditation is such a hot topic these days, and for good reason. It’s been shown to improve attention span, decrease stress and anxiety. New science is showing that meditation also changes the content of our brains, its gray matter. In today’s episode, we discuss the results of a number of studies done on meditation and the brain. Then, we discuss the potential for asana to also have a positive effect on the gray matter of the brain. Resources are linked in the show notes! Enjoy.

How to listen:
•link in bio
•theyogaaddiction.com/063
•search The Yoga Addiction episode 63 in your podcast player.

09/03/2020

It's GIVEAWAY time!
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If you've ever felt depleted after a vigorous yoga practice, dehydrated and drained, Miyama Yoga Wellness products are for you.
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And now you'll be able to try some awesome products for free!
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We are giving away one canister each of
After Practice Repair and the Green Energy Pre-Vinyasa Energizer.
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Here are the rules:
1) Must have a Canadian mailing address to enter
2) Follow
3) Follow
4) One entry per person by tagging one person in THIS post. One tag per comment line, please. Entries are unlimited!
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Contest will be closed on Monday March 15 at 12 noon. The winner will be selected at random and notified that day.
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@ Canada

12/02/2020

Today we take a deep dive into Jivana Heyman's amazing yoga mind: his views on yoga philosophy, ego, the teacher-student relationship, the use of touch and adjustments in the practice, just to name a few of the topics we cover. And of course, we dive into his new book, Accessible Yoga, and gain insight on why he wrote it, and who he wrote the book for.

About Jivana:

Jivana is the founder of Accessible Yoga, co-owner of the Santa Barbara Yoga Center and an Integral Yoga Minister. With over twenty years of training and teaching in a traditional yoga lineage, Jivana has specialized in teaching the subtle practices of yoga: pranayama, meditation, as well as sharing yoga philosophy. His passion is making Yoga accessible to everyone. Jivana’s strengths are sharing esoteric and complex teaching in a readily accessible way, and applying the ancient teachings of Yoga to our day-to-day lives.

10/02/2020

Today we have a short Q&A episode with Author, expert teacher and yoga teacher trainer Jivana Heyman!

Jivana is the author of a new book, Accessible Yoga, aimed at bringing the benefits of yoga to anyone who wants it.

Tune in on Wednesday for a full interview with Jivana!

We'll also be giving away a copy of his AMAZING book to one of our Instagram followers. More info on that this Wednesday!

Follow Jivana and the work he is doing here:

Listen to the quick teaser episode to get to know Jivana before we dive in on Wednesday:
•theyogaaddiction.com/058
•link in bio
•Find Episode 58 of The Yoga Addiction in your podcast player!

05/02/2020

As promised, we dissect a scientific study in this episode all about breath, contemplative practices and the vagus nerve (find the link in the notes below).

When the vagus nerve is stimulated, the body settles into “Rest and Digest” mode, or the parasympathetic nervous system. We discuss a few topics that stood out most strongly to us as yogis and explored how we can adjust our practices to make the most of the breath-based vagal stimulation.

One of the biggest takeaways from the study was that any contemplative practice yielded positive effects on a number of health parameters. Listen through for our discussion.

Listen to this episode
•link in bio
•theyogaaddiction.com/057
•Find The Yoga Addiction in your podcast player and listen to Episode 57

03/02/2020

Today...Sandy tells us a story of a student from her class who has increased her bone density over the last 5 years, which she has attributed to her yoga practice.

Listen to this episode:
•theyogaaddiction.com/056
•Search for The Yoga Addiction in your podcast player and find Episode 56
•Link in bio for 2 days

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29/01/2020

This week we have a light hearted chat about the ups and downs of being a yoga teacher.

Whether teaching full time is feasible for you depends on a whole bunch of factors!

Our advice - get really real with yourself about how you work. Do you like to work in the mornings / afternoons / evenings / weekends? Is teaching full time necessary to scratch your itch or is a once a week offering enough.

Looking at all these factors demands that you look at yourself, hard. We would both agree that this practice is what solidifies the teachings of yoga in each of us.

We hear too many stories of burnout and we have experienced it ourselves. So you have to consider how teaching yoga will serve you in the long run.

If you have friends or colleagues who are thinking of taking the jump to teaching, tag them below!

😘 Enjoy

How to listen:
•theyogaaddiction.com/055
•link in bio until the following Sunday
•Search for The Yoga Addiction in your podcast player, episode #55

preach

27/01/2020

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One of our sweetest episodes, Nat interviews her husband Eric about his yoga journey, the benefits he has found through yoga, and best of all, recommendations to yoga teachers about what not to do in class!
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Listen here:
🎧 Spotify or Apple Podcasts
👂 Theyogaaddiction.com/054
🔗 Link in bio!
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22/01/2020

THE VAGUS NERVE!! (Shouts from rooftop with excitement). Okay....this s**t is cool. Get ready to get nerdy.

In this episode, we break down the general anatomy and function of the vagus nerve. Then, we discuss its relationship to trauma and teaching in a trauma sensitive environment. Finally, we cover two studies that highlight the importance of our wellness practices on the health of our nervous system. Boom!

Here's how to listen:
•link in bio (for a weekish)
•go to theyogaaddiction.com/053
•Find The Yoga Addiction episode 53 on your podcast player

theory

20/01/2020

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One of Sandy's favourite ways to start a class is by establishing a connection to breath. Breath is our gateway into the nervous system, a powerful tool to transition the body into a state of calm or panic. Many teachers, and Sandy and Nat are absolutely guilty of this, simply dive into a class without easing into breath or even awareness of breath. In this episode, Sandy explains the importance of starting with breath. Then, she gives several suggestions of postures and simple movements to practice a gentle breath control as you begin your yoga practice.
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Listen to this quick Monday episode here:
🔗 Link on Bio
🎧 Spotify or Apple Podcasts
👂 theyogaaddiction.com/052
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15/01/2020

Yogis have long been using the power of belief, visualization and mood to encourage self-healing.

The power of our brains, whether in a meditation, mantra or asana practice, has a powerful effect on creating positive physiological change.

As yoga teachers, we can help empower our students to create this change for themselves.

In this episode, we discuss why yogis should be educated on placebo, how yoga teachers should hold the space of a modern yoga room, and self-practices that help Nat and Sandy overcome their own internal stress.

Here's how to listen:
🎙️ Search The Yoga Addiction and find Episode 51 in your podcast player.
🎙️Go to the link in our bio (linked for 5 days)
🎙️On the web, visit theyogaaddiction.com/051

13/01/2020

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In this Monday Quickie episode, we discuss SHOULDERS:
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💪 Arm and shoulder positioning in a yoga class can get quite repetitive if you only practice or teach classic asana. In this episode, Sandy talks about Shoulder Flossing, or some people call it Shoulder Dislocates. This exercise is an easy one to incorporate into yoga classes as all it requires is a strap and some space. Sandy talks about how to get in and out of the movement, benefits of gliding movements, and proper preparation before you come into some Shoulder Flossing. If you've tried this exercise, let us know how you feel in the comments below ⤵️⤵️⤵️
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🎧 The Yoga Addiction on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
🔗 Website theyogaaddiction.com/050
🙄 Link in bio
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08/01/2020

A description of a Power Yoga class in a studio that I used to teach stated this: "make them sweat". And I would be lying if this didn't influence the way I taught. I was constantly concerned about if I made it physically challenging enough. If I moved them fast enough. I would literally watch them to see how much they were sweating and change my plan accordingly! Ughhh! At some point I stopped trying to please the studio owners. That pull between studio owners and serving your students is a real one.

This discussion definitely could go on for a VERY long time. It's one that Sandy and I talk about often. It's intricate and important.

I was so lucky to get to parse this out with Hiiro Prince , who pulls from several years of working tirelessly in the yoga studios all around Vancouver and surrounding areas. He is passionate about his craft and his opinion is strong but comes from a deep understanding of how to best serve his students.

What's better than a thought provocing conversation with a friend on your birthday!! Happy 34th to me!

This is Episode 49 of The Yoga Addiction 🎙️and you can find it here:
•Link in bio, for the week.
•theyogaaddiction.com/049
•Search your podcast player for The Yoga Addiction and click on Episode 49.

06/01/2020

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Happy Monday Yogis!
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Today, we are beginning our 2-a-week releases, starting with a Monday Quickie about burnout and self care.
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These episodes are meant to give you that quick shot of inspiration, to help provoke some insight or critical thinking, or to inspire the creation of your next awesome yoga class. We chat for no more than 15 minutes and call it a day!
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Have a listen:
🎧 Link in Bio
🔍 The Yoga Addiction on your podcast player
👂 At natandsandyyoga.com/048
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31/12/2019

Oh Hey!! Just wanted to let you know that we've decided to consolidate everything under the name of our Podcast, The Yoga Addiction.

We initially wanted to keep our names associated with our work but, with the podcast having a different name, it can be a bit confusing.

We've recognized that and changed our Instagram and page handles to . The website will be changed to theyogaaddiction.com as of January 1st, 2020.

It just makes sense, right?

Anyhow, we are back at it with a new episode tomorrow. We hope you all had wonderful holidays! Happy new year and thanks for listening and learning with us this year. It means a lot!! ❤️

18/12/2019

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This is our last episode of 2019! 🎉🎉🎉
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We finish the year off on a pose that is very commonly seen in modern yoga: Twisted Lunge. We start this episode with a longer than normal pre-amble, chatting about the recent Bikram documentary. Then, we dive into the posture, talking about common compensations or areas of collapse. We discuss the current debate around leveraged postures, such as this one. And finally we cover several variations we prefer.
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See you in the new year with new episodes, new postures, new inspiration!
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Listen to Episode 46 here:
👂 Find The Yoga Addiction on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Stitcher
🔗 Listen in your browser at natandsandyyoga.com/046
🎧 Check out the link in bio
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The Yoga Addiction