Jivana Heyman 0:17
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Jivana Heyman 1:22
Hello. Welcome to the Accessible Yoga Podcast. I'm Jivana, my pronouns are he and him. I'm joining you from Santa Barbara, California, which is Chumash land, and I'm here with Deanna. Hi, Deanna!
Deanna Michalopoulos 1:43
Hey, Jivana. It's good to see you.
Jivana Heyman 1:46
I know it's been a long time. Well, I see you all the time, but it's been a long time since we've done this.
Deanna Michalopoulos 1:51
Yeah, we haven't been in space with you all, all the listeners. So it's good to be back. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Deanna Michalopoulos, my pronouns are she and her, and right now I'm dialing in from Berlin, Germany.
Jivana Heyman 2:05
That's exciting. How's Berlin?
Deanna Michalopoulos 2:07
Berlin is great. It is now spring, so there are trees blooming outside of all of our windows. And I've just discovered that a tree right outside of our window is a cherry blossom tree, and so it's just starting to bloom. And so every morning, it's like a holiday. I wake up and I run to the window to see how it's progressing.
Jivana Heyman 2:26
That's awesome. Nature, yeah, that's it. That's my practice. Yeah, no, it's nice here. We're deep into spring here in Santa Barbara. I mean, my garden is really blooming. The roses are even blooming, and it's really beautiful. We actually had rain this year. Sometimes this area in California goes through droughts where we'll have a few years of almost no rain, and then a few years of a lot. So we're definitely in a rainy area, a rainy time. And so the garden is just incredible. The whole city is really nice. But I just want to say I'm excited about this new season, before we talk about gardening and plants. Yeah, this is, I guess it's season five, but whatever, it's a new season of the Accessible Yoga Podcast. I've missed doing it. I miss talking to you, Deanna and to our guests, and hearing from all of our listeners. I'm excited to spend this episode just kind of talking a bit about what we have planned, maybe, and also just to share about how we both been doing the last few months. So, yeah, anything, what are you willing to share anything? Do you want to tell us about life in Berlin?
Deanna Michalopoulos 3:34
Life in Berlin is good. There's a daily paradox where I really love life here, and I am learning German, and so this is also kind of a return to, like, a classroom for me, with textbooks and coursework, and it's been amazing. I think maybe after years of so much social media use, I wasn't sure if my brain could learn anything anymore and sustain long periods of study, but it's been incredible. And so I'm surprising myself with actually retaining sentences and words.
Jivana Heyman 4:08
That's awesome.
Deanna Michalopoulos 4:10
But also, you know, there's every day of holding the paradox of, like enjoying things here, but also being keenly aware of what's happening in the world. I think, you know, a lot of people ask, oh, do you know what's going on? And yes, emphatic yes. It's hard not to read about it, and I want to know what's happening in the world. So, um, yeah, holding it all.
Jivana Heyman 4:30
Yeah, that's a scary time. I love Germany too, though. And actually most of my ancestors are German, German Jews. Well, three of my grandparents are of German ancestry, and it's funny, because as a German Jew, I always had, like, feelings about Germany, and then I got to spend time there, a lot of time, actually, in Germany, and more time in Austria over my teaching career, because I would teach at an ashram in Austria every summer for 11 years and spend time in Germany too. And it was just so great. The people were amazing. It was just so different than what I expected. I just felt so at home, actually, and so great for me, like coming from there to feel connected back to that place when I hadn't. So I have a really special place in my heart for Germany and Austria, in particular. But I would say that I never really learned German during that time, but I found that after being immersed in it for like, a couple weeks, that I could kind of understand. It was weird. I think it's because it's similar to English, some of the words, and French, I know French, so that helped.
Deanna Michalopoulos 5:42
A lot of the words, I mean, it sounds like English. We're replacing some C's with K's and calling it a day.
Jivana Heyman 5:50
Yeah and reorganizing sentences, it's like a different structure, right? That kind of confused me.
Deanna Michalopoulos 5:57
Definitely a different structure. You kind of have to learn to think in a new way, which is interesting. But it's interesting in Berlin, I want to be an immersed experience, but, you know, I'll spend a day working up the courage to, like, order a mushroom pizza and I do it. And someone's like, sorry, love, I'm from Ireland, I don't know German!
Jivana Heyman 6:17
Oh, the person you're trying to talk German to is Irish?
Deanna Michalopoulos 6:21
There's a lot of English here, but my partner and I are going out of our way to practice with each other.
Jivana Heyman 6:26
Yeah, it's definitely an issue in a lot of countries these days that people are better at English than I am at their language. So, you know, that's happened to me when I was living in France for a long time. I tried, but French people weren't very patient. So they would usually respond to me in English, but, um, yeah. Anyway, it's still so fun. It's good for your brain, I think, to speak other languages.
Deanna Michalopoulos 6:51
What's happening in your world, Jivana?
Jivana Heyman 6:53
Oh my world? Things are good. You know, my family feels pretty stable right now. My kids moved out. You know, my son, Charlie, was living here until like, last summer, and he's 24 and so it's like, finally we're empty nesters, which is incredible. I mean, no offense to people that want to live with their kids forever, but I was just like, I'd had enough. My kids are really intense. You know, Violet's 20 and Charlie's 24 and they're actually both doing well, which is also, like, amazing, to be honest. They haven't been very stable, so it's really a new feeling for me, to not have to be worrying about them. But it's funny because then we helped Matt's mom move here. Matt, you know, is my husband, for people who don't know. His mom has early stage Alzheimer's, and she moved here. She's not in our house, but she's living in town, and so we're really involved in taking care of her. So now it's like, I have that added, my kids are gone, but now I'm taking care of her. And I think that's pretty common in this generation, you know. My parents both passed away a few years ago, but you know, a lot of people are in between still caring for their kids and caring for their parents or doing one or the other. And I just been thinking about that a lot. In fact, that's kind of part of what inspired me with the theme I'm hoping to bring out for this season of the podcast around balancing self-care and service, and like, how to do that. How do we care for ourselves, especially as yoga teachers, and also support our students? And you know, I think as people, we have busy, complex lives, and then we're also there, serving our students. And often, in Accessible Yoga, we're supporting people who are really struggling or going through something, and it can be a lot. So I'm just kind of interested in that question, which is, as an Accessible Yoga Teacher, how can you balance that in your life, right, like caring for yourself and caring for others? What is the right balance and how do you find that? And it's something I'm still really learning about, personally. I think parenting is, I don't know, just overwhelming, and I feel like I'm just coming... I'm not coming out of it. Well, I guess I'm coming out of parenting, like, now that they're older, they're adults, it's not the same. And it's like having survived that intensity of raising children as, like, the primary caregiver, I'm having to relearn about how to care for myself. It's really something interesting. I'm really noticing this year, you know, like, how much time to spend practicing, exercising, reading, doing things I enjoy, versus working or taking care of others or teaching. So yeah, that's where I'm at. That's where my head's at, I guess.
Deanna Michalopoulos 9:46
And it's interesting, because there's really no, like, formula for everyone, right? And it like, the season of your life, as you just mentioned, comes into play, like what you need to take care of yourself. That's constantly changing, and sometimes I feel like, you know, maybe we can't always be in any given time. And maybe this is incorrect, by the way, but maybe at every given time you can't be a perfect balance of like, oh, I'm totally resourced in this moment so I can give and your the balance of things might shift.
Jivana Heyman 10:18
Yeah, it's never perfect. I think it's more like, for some reason, the image that came to my mind was like swimming in the ocean, or maybe being on a surfboard in the ocean, where it's just like, you kind of have to ride the waves. And it's like, are you feeling like you have enough strength to ride those waves or do you get kind of pulled under? And I don't mean pulled under, like, in a terrible way, but sometimes the waves... I used to swim in the ocean a lot, but also I used to surf, and it's so interesting, the changing your relationship to the waves. Do you know what I mean? Like, to look at waves as something you want. And like, when you're better at surfing, you want big waves. But when you're not good at it, you don't want big waves. Do you know what I'm saying? So it's like, how much capacity do you have to handle what life's throwing at you? And I think for me, I'll speak for myself, as I become more energized and, I don't know, when I'm caring for myself better, the big waves don't knock me over as much. But it's not like there's ever a perfect balance. It's more just like a surprise. Oh, surprise, this is happening today. You know, like with my mother-in-law, it's like, oh, she fell and it's like, oh my God, now what? So it's like, every day is an adventure. And so, how are we going to respond to that adventure? Sometimes it's just overwhelming, and I get a feeling of dread, like, oh my God, I can't handle anything else. But sometimes I'm like, yeah, bring it on.
Deanna Michalopoulos 12:01
So how do you practice self-care? I know this is a question that you'll be asking guests, but maybe we start off the season, how do you practice self-care and how does it fuel your service?
Jivana Heyman 12:13
Yeah, I am, as I mentioned, I've been spending this year really working on it, and I think it's because my kids have finally moved out, like I said. It's created this space in my life that I didn't realize I needed. And part of it is getting older. You know, I'm 58. I'll be 59 in like, next month, which is amazing and scary, but I just feel like I need to take care of my body more. So this past year, as you know, I did a triathlon this past summer, and I think that's been just kind of a revelation to me, just like, doing intensive exercise. And not just exercise, but doing exercise that is relatively monotonous. And I say that because I've noticed that it's basically a form of practice for my mind. So, like, I like to bike and I like to run, in particular, swimming I don't like as much, but biking and and running for me are very calming for my nervous system, because there's just, like, a monotonous, rhythmic experience that's happening. So I'm just finding I need that every day. I need, pretty much, a bike and a run, a long bike ride and a pretty good run every day, and especially because they're outside. And that's the other thing is I struggled during the winter because it was really raining hard sometimes, and I couldn't be outside. And I'm lucky, because I live in a place where I can be outside most of the year. But even then, when it's really raining, it can be challenging to be out there, and being in nature is maybe the most important thing I can do. And I'm saying even more than my meditation practice, which is going to be a shock to everyone, but I would say that being in nature is like the number one thing I need for my self care. Whether it's just working in my garden or being on my bike or running at the beach or walking on the beach. I find the beach, in particular, which is just a few miles away from my house, there's something there that's just really special and that, you know, kind of calms me down and helps me think more clearly.
Jivana Heyman 14:25
And, you know, of course, my yoga practice. I mean, for me, my meditation and pranayama are separate from my asana practice, pretty much, and then I do them in the morning. So meditation and pranayama, I think, are also essential. And asana, you know, asana I really use for recovery, I would say these days. I'm not interested in doing any fancy poses anymore. I just use it to support my body so that it can handle the intense exercise I'm doing. And I'm trying to make it less intense. Like, I'm trying to not be goal oriented. Like, I haven't signed up for another triathlon, which is, like, a really hard thing to do, but I'm really trying to restrain myself, because I don't think I need that. I don't know if it's good to just keep going for bigger goals. I just kind of want to find that balance. Anyway, that was a long answer, but yeah, I appreciate you asking me, and I have another answer, actually. I have another thing that I think that's really been important to me. So, I'm trying to find boundaries with my teaching and not teach as much as I used to. And again, I'm lucky, because I have a choice, like, I get to kind of run my own business and choose when I work. But I like to be busy and I could work constantly, and so I'm just trying to, I mean, I get a lot out of teaching and the other kind of work I do. And we have such an amazing team, I just want to mention that. Like, part of like, what feels so great is having such an amazing team at Accessible Yoga, like you and the rest of the team, like Robyn and Brina, and, you know, we have a bunch of people, you know, like Becky and Crunch, who work with us too, and Rod, you know, who's really involved, and all of our incredible guest teachers and faculty. It doesn't feel like work so much, but I still try to find some balance or boundaries with that, because it's I get overly excited, and sometimes work too much. So that's been really good. That was a lot. I said a lot of things. I don't know, what do you think?
Deanna Michalopoulos 16:45
No, I think that's an amazing self-care protocol! I sound like I'm from the bro-sphere. [laughs] But no, I think it's like, getting nature. You know, I feel like that's the number one thing that I have to keep reminding myself sometimes. Sometimes I just literally need to step outside and breathe in some fresh air and look at the tree and like, it does calm your nerve. There's a lot of research around that, like being around trees or being by the ocean, like these things. I think I remember when I used to work at Women's Health, we wrote about a study, and it was just kind of like taking a walk in a forest because of the fractals and the plants, that does something to calm our nervous system. It's incredible.
Jivana Heyman 17:28
Totally. I feel it every time I'm in nature. I can feel a shift, and it reminds me of meditation. Something happens to my nervous system when I'm outside. And you know, it's funny, because my kids are so tired of me saying it, because that's what I always want them to do. Like, you know, they're young, and they don't really, you know, they're doing whatever they're doing. But I'm just like, whenever they complain to me about anything, I'm like, go for a walk. Like, I used to tell them to go sit in meditation or do some yoga, but now I'm just like, go for a walk, you know, because I think that would really make you feel better. And, yeah, I mean, like I said, I'm lucky because I get to spend a lot of time... I probably spend anywhere from, yeah, I don't know, close to two hours a day exercising, because I'm also lifting weights, and, like I said, doing asana. So if I put it all together, it's probably more like two and a half hours a day of practice, of exercise, meditation, asana. I mean, it's a little self indulgent, but like I said, I think, because of where I am in my life and I'm older and I have more time to work on that, the kids are gone, that's kind of what I want to do, is just take care of my body and be in nature, work with my mind a little bit. I mean, that's other thing. I think writing and creating is also a big thing for me. You know, I have a background in art, but actually, I'm sketching while we're talking right now. But, I mean, mostly I don't draw or paint so much anymore, but I love to write, and it feels like a creative outlet. So, you know, I get to work with you on tons of social media posts and emails that we send out, and so, you know, we could talk about that a bit, the collaboration that we have, and also I'm working on a new book. And writing books, writing in general, is just like so good for my brain, I think, just to be processing information and putting it into words. Do you know what I mean? I know you like to write.
Deanna Michalopoulos 17:45
Do you want to talk about your new book?
Jivana Heyman 19:24
But tell me about your writing. I just want to hear, before we talk about that. I'm just curious if you think about your writing as self-care, or is it like...?
Deanna Michalopoulos 19:33
I feel like I am in a process of getting back to my own writing, and this has been a years long process. And by the way, this could all boil down to, like, procrastination, but I think it's actually like part of the self-care conversation. And it came into sharp relief here when I went over the Atlantic with the time difference. Like, you know, when I wake up in the morning, it's 2am in the in some parts of the States. So, like, you know in my head, I thought, okay, I would have the morning to, like, maybe write, do my yoga practice, do my weights, go for a walk. And what was happening was I would just kind of hop on my laptop and start working right away. But then at the same time, my meetings would run very late. And so for like, you know, for a month, I was like, okay, this is kind of not working, because I'm literally working like, all of my spare time. But I think being here has... sometimes you just have to change something about your routine, and you don't have to move, like, to another country to do it, but just shaking things up a little bit in your routine, like, for example, this language class, which is four hours every morning. I'm really learning that, like, okay, no, I can go somewhere and not be on a computer for four hours, and that will be my time, right? And then I can have an entire full day after that. And so I think, yeah, my writing, I'm kind of, like, just working on, like, my relationship with time, and how to, like, create time for self-care, for projects, for creative projects that really feed me.
Jivana Heyman 21:06
That's awesome. That's a lot of language classes.
Deanna Michalopoulos 21:11
But, you know, we've also taken ceramics courses here. They are much less expensive than they are in New York. So we've been doing ceramics courses, and again, if you're listening to this and you're on a computer a lot, like, find a hobby where you're working with your hands, or writing in a journal with a pencil and paper. It really changes your whole mindset and perspective.
Jivana Heyman 21:35
Also, for me, I found reading. You know, I started listening to audio books, and that's been amazing for me, because I feel like I can be listening to a book and do something else. My mind is quite active, I think, and so I like to do multiple things, but if I'm walking or just cleaning up, it's fun to have a book playing and, of course, reading actual books. But audio books I find really calming. I love someone reading to me, so it's just been really great. And it's funny because I'm also recording an audio book at the same time. That's something we can talk about too, which is that I got the rights back for my first two books to finally, finally create audio books for them. So I don't know when it's going to happen, but I'm working on the audio book right now for Accessible Yoga, my first book, which is kind of funny because I wrote it so long ago, and so I'm reading this book that I wrote, like, I don't know, six years ago or something, and then also working on a new book. So yeah, let's talk about that a little bit.
Deanna Michalopoulos 22:31
So tell us a little bit more about the topic you're writing about.
Jivana Heyman 22:34
So the new book is called Yoga meditation, and it's about meditation in the yoga tradition. Mostly it's because I'm interested in the what I found over the years is that, like, really, the theme in the yoga teachings is actually meditation. And it's the part that I don't think anyone's really talking about, or not very much. It's like we're so enamored by asana that I think we've lost track of like, really the defining quality of conscious movement or conscious practice is that conscious part the meditation or mindfulness piece. And I also found over the years that so many yoga teachers and yoga practitioners go to Buddhism for their meditation practice, which is totally fine, and yoga and Buddhism are very closely related, so it makes sense. But, yoga has such a strong meditation tradition, and that's what my practice is in. And I'm just always amazed when I'm training teachers and working with them that so many of them don't know about it. They don't really get trained in that, in the meditation tradition that is at the heart of the yoga teachings and that also, by the way, I find is naturally accessible. And that's what I find is most beautiful about it, is that yoga offers to me much more accessible and welcoming and easier ways to practice meditation than a lot of the practices that I see people doing in the world. Again, I don't want to say anything bad about other kinds of meditation, but for me, I feel like there's a kind of a missed opportunity by not recognizing what we have right in front of us, this incredible gift that we've received from the yoga tradition, the people of South Asia who've kept this tradition alive for literally millennia that we have access to. So I guess I'm trying to talk about that, and also the different paths of yoga and how they offered different ways into the into the practice of meditation, and you're editing it for me.
Deanna Michalopoulos 24:49
Surprise!
Jivana Heyman 24:51
Yay! So we're working on it together. So you're my editor. I'm so excited and grateful to you for doing it. I mean, you know, it's been hard because we have so much else going on. I mean, we both have a lot of things happening, but I feel like it's finally it's finally happening!
Deanna Michalopoulos 25:08
It's very exciting. It's an honor to be able to work with you on this book that's coming out, hopefully this fall. And I'm curious, Jivana, who is this book for? Is it for teachers? Is it for practitioners?
Jivana Heyman 25:22
That's a good question. I think I'm writing it for both. I think I'm mostly writing it for practitioners, but my hope is that teachers will also use it and consider it, you know, use it as a way of deepening their practice and then sharing it with their students. So I kind of feel like it's... is it okay to say both? I mean, I don't know if it needs to be one or the other. I want to write it for a general population, so that you could read it, even if you don't have experience in yoga or meditation. But I'm imagining, probably the reader, I'm guessing, has some experience with yoga, is kind of what I'm imagining, and I'm hoping to deepen their meditation practice. At the same time, I think it could be interesting for someone who is a meditator through other traditions, who doesn't really know about yoga. I think hopefully they could learn a bit too. I mean, you know, the book is kind of a balance of personal stories. So I share a lot more about my personal journey than I have in my other books. I kind of go back to the beginning and share like, you know, learning yoga and meditation from my grandmother and then my first traditional teacher, yoga teacher and meditation teacher, Kazuko Onodera. I share a lot about her, and then I go and give a lot of other personal examples through the book. But I'm trying to focus on the traditional teachings, the yoga teachings, as well, and share some yoga philosophy, because I can't help it and connect it to actual practices that we can do in our lives. And I, you know, a lot of it is inspired from, you know, by the Bhagavad Gita and the paths of yoga that are found there, such as, you know, Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga. But I expand a little more, you know, we talk about Hatha Yoga, of course, the physical practices and how that's meditation. I mean, what's so great about meditation in the yoga tradition is that it's not just seated, closed-eye silence, that meditation and our tradition can be so many things. It can be fun, it can be playful, it can be interesting, engaging. Asana is moving meditation. So that is meditation. If you're doing asana, you are meditating, whether you realize it or not. Whether anyone ever said that to you before or not, that's okay. You don't have to also do seated meditation. That's not what I'm getting at. What I'm trying to say is it's like the thread connecting all of these teachings together, this focused awareness. It's the thread of yoga.
Jivana Heyman 28:10
I always go back to this one example. I don't know if I put this in a book, actually, maybe you have to remind me and tell me if I did or not, if you remember this, but whenever I'm leading trainings, I always ask people to imagine that they go into like, a community center and there's two classes happening. One is a chair yoga class and one is a chair exercise class. And I always ask my trainees, like, what is the difference between those two classes? Because in chair yoga, you may be doing movements that don't look like classic asana. So you might actually be doing just kind of, I don't know, warm-ups and stretching, you know, moving the body in a way that looks very much like a chair exercise class. So you could look into these two classrooms, maybe they're next door to each other, and actually, from the outside, they could be doing the exact same movements. So it's like, I always say to my trainees, like, what's the difference in the chair yoga class versus that chair exercise class? And to me, the answer is meditation. That whether or not they know it, the students in the chair yoga are doing some form of meditation, that means there's some kind of focus. There's a there's a mental focus happening that may or may not be happening in the exercise class. And as you know, I love exercise. I mean, I just told you, I spend hours exercising every day, but when it's a yoga practice, I think that's when there's consciousness there. And that's what meditation is, it's just conscious awareness and focusing in some way. And like I said, it can be fun. Like in yoga, we have Bhakti Yoga, devotional practices, you know, chanting and devotion, having a relationship with the Divine. That's such a beautiful, powerful thing. And I think it's been kind of used and abused in a lot of ways, but I feel like we could take that back. So I guess what I'm saying is there's so many beautiful practices and opportunities for meditation in the yoga tradition, whether it's movement, whether it's devotion, whether it's self-reflection (inquiry), whether it's mantra. We have this incredible tradition of mantra, that is the primary form of meditation in classical yoga, and it's so powerful. Mantra is incredible. I'm very excited, as you can tell, but I just feel like I want to share about that. I want people to recognize that theme that's there and to almost make meditation less scary. I don't know if there's another way of saying that? I guess, make it more accessible, obviously.
Deanna Michalopoulos 30:52
Make Meditation Less Scary, by Jivana Heyman.
Jivana Heyman 30:56
[laughs] I almost called it Accessible Meditation, but I mean, really, it's about yoga, so I thought that was better.
Deanna Michalopoulos 31:04
Well, I love the book because, again, I love hearing people's personal stories, and I really love when they segue into how the practice is actually integrated in their real lives. I love that you started off with personal story, and your story of how you were introduced to yoga at various stages of your life in very different ways, but they eventually kind of all converge into your understanding of what it is today. So it's really beautiful. You offer a lot of practices for people. So, you know, I didn't find them scary, which is great!
Jivana Heyman 31:37
That's good. Well, I mean, I'm hoping that, you know, I don't know how much people know about book writing, but it's a very long and slow process, I'll just say. And I've been working on this book for years, actually, before I asked you to even help me with editing, I think this book, has just taken more time and energy than any of my others, and that's probably a good thing. But I'm thinking over this season of the podcast, we can also kind of give updates and check-in about the book. I mean, if people are interested. I hope they are, just like, what you and I are both working on together, and you know, then maybe we get to share more about the book when it's released in the fall. I think we're shooting for October, right? Well, we'll see. I shouldn't say that out loud, but I think that's the goal!
Deanna Michalopoulos 32:33
Well, now team, we're locked in!
Jivana Heyman 32:34
Yeah and hold us to it. I was trying to choose an auspicious day in October.
Deanna Michalopoulos 32:44
I like that.
Jivana Heyman 32:45
I was thinking maybe the full moon or something. Yeah.
Deanna Michalopoulos 32:53
I want to say, that what we're bringing back from the previous season into this future season is voicemails from you all, and also your questions. Like you can write a question or a comment and submit it or leave us a voicemail, which we love getting voicemails. I mean, again, I've used this before, but we are like a radio station, but circa 2026, you can like, request Jivana to talk about any topic, and also ask about the book writing process or meditation. And, you know, the big secret is that Jivana basically gives, like, a little workshop at the end of every podcast episode.
Jivana Heyman 33:32
I know, I can't help it! I know, but I like talking about yoga and yoga philosophy. And I love, love, love those questions, when people leave a question or comment, and we have two ways to do it. And so you'll see in the show notes for these episodes, there's a link for either leaving a message, and I believe the maximum time is 90 seconds, so there is a maximum. Be aware of that. Or to write a message, you can write out a comment, and even if you've written or called in before, I would welcome you to do it again. We're also going to have great guests, and we haven't really talked about that, and we're still working on the guest list, but I'll just say that we have a few that I'm very excited about already. It'll be mostly new guests. I might bring back a few friends, because I can't help it. But the format, also, I think, will be the same. I love the way we do this, you know, I'll interview someone in the first half, and then you and I will get to chat at the end about that conversation, and hopefully we'll have questions and comments from our listeners. So please call in and you can start now. So check out the links for the voice message and comments, and leave us a message now and we'll play them in the next upcoming episodes. So yeah, any question about, I would say anything about yoga or meditation, I'd be very excited to hear. Or comments, something you want me to include in the book. Let me know!
Deanna Michalopoulos 35:01
Taking requests. You heard it here.
Jivana Heyman 35:04
Any requests? Exactly, yeah, because, you know, I think I'm here to serve. I mean, that's the other thing I mentioned. Our real overarching theme is self-care and service. And this is one aspect of my service that I try to provide in the world, which is, this is a free offering. Podcasts are free, which is amazing. I should mention, I'm grateful to our sponsors for that, who are supporting it and allowing us to make it free to listen to this. And so you don't have to pay for a book, you don't have to pay for a training with me. You can ask me whatever you want, and I'll try to answer it as best I can. So what else? Anything else you want to share, Deanna? We could wrap up there, I guess.
Deanna Michalopoulos 35:45
Yeah, I think we can leave it there, 'til next time.
Jivana Heyman 35:48
Yeah, until next time. So thanks again, everyone. Thanks to our team. I also want to mention Mikus, who is the sound editor for these episodes. Thanks for all your work on this, Mikus, and again, for all of our sponsors, our staff, our community, just so incredibly grateful for, just the efforts that we all make together. How fun it is to be here with you, and I feel so privileged to do it. Thank you again, Deanna, for doing another season with me.
Deanna Michalopoulos 36:20
Oh, I can't wait! Looking forward to it. Thank you for having me.
Jivana Heyman 36:23
Yeah, you're welcome. All right. Talk to you all later. Take care.
Jivana Heyman 36:37
I really want to thank OfferingTree for sponsoring this podcast. Thank you. OfferingTree. I know running a yoga business means juggling scheduling, payments, marketing and more, and offering tree really gets it. They've built an all in one platform specifically for yoga professionals, handling all the things, the scheduling, the payments, the marketing and even your website. And what I love is they're not just a software company, they're a community, supporting you every step of the way. And my listeners get 50% off your first three months, or 15% off an entire year at offeringtree.com/accessibleyoga. Again, that's offeringtree.com/accessible yoga. You can find that link in our show notes as well. Thanks again, OfferingTree.