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After Yoga (formerly Leadership and Yoga) is a hypnotic storytelling podcast that uses the depth of yogic practice as ground to explore modern culture, artistry, and big human questions. It feels like drinking ginger tea barefoot around a campfire, listening to spoken-word essays that land between late-night radio intimacy and a poetic awakening. Down to earth, real, and deeply relatable, After Yoga is built for artists, deep thinkers, and presence-craving humans who have outgrown standard self-help tropes. Where spirituality meets raw storytelling, and yoga is a doorway to connection.
- 270 - Bodhi Sunrise on Teaching Yoga with Humor and an Open Heart
Bodhi Sunrise is a Barcelona-based yoga teacher known for teaching on the pier as the sun rises: six mornings a week, for the past seven years, no matter the weather, and come what may. With a love for sharing yoga, a pillar of his teaching is that “people should feel comfortable, at home, and safe to come and arrive however they are.”
Bodhi shares with humor and warmth, which mirrors his yoga-teaching style. When asked what makes a good yoga class, his answer was simply, “did we laugh?” Because laughter, he says, opens us up to a state of yoga. In this episode, we talk about building community by showing up, why he never cancels a class (even if only one person attends), the true role of a yoga teacher, and why you should let your shame be seen. This conversation with Bodhi is funny, honest, very human, and it will remind you to enjoy your practice as well as your life.
Note: this episode includes brief discussion of suicide and loss (timestamps 50:52-52:53). Please listen with care for yourself.
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, join monthly workshops, meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor) -
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
07:06 group savasana
11:39 sunrise yoga experience
14:35 unpredictable conditions
20:41 first yoga, then croissants
26:29 yoga as an anchor
31:32 anything can happen
39:22 yoga origin story
47:18 the job of a teacher
54:40 remembering to practice joy
56:27 letting your shame be seen
59:56 rapid fire & billboard questions
Wed, 04 Nov 2026 - 1h 08min - 269 - surviving your flop era
A flop era is a temporary period of personal setbacks, low motivation, declining popularity, or general failure. Don’t let a flop era turn you away from what you truly love. This is for you if you’ve been asking, am I special? Can I really figure this out? The answer is yes, when you live from your true genius. And especially when you learn to trust life.
I have 2 pieces of homework to help you get through your flop era and come out stronger.
You in your trying, you in your failing, are infinitely more wise than a you that never started, and a you that never continued.
Join my Patreon to support the podcast, and for creative support & community. Upcoming guided meditations and live workshops are here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shawnakru/?hl=en
00:00 intro
06:00 animation
07:00 changing the podcast name
10:30 trust changed my life
12:00 friendship you wouldn’t believe
14:00 what to remember in flop era
17:45 my flop era
19:45 are you special?
23:40 10 years old
27:40 tell a new story
29:30 stop picking the wound of the flop
31:00 yoga, music & creativity bring heaven to earth
32:00 homework!
Fri, 30 Oct 2026 - 37min - 268 - Jordan B on Yoga as Poetry, Teaching, & Big Sister Advice
Jordan B is a yoga educator and content creator, known for her “big sister advice” and her gift for translating yoga philosophy into practical wisdom you can actually use. In this episode, we talk about creativity in yoga, discipline vs. devotion, what makes yoga an art form, why Jordan calls yoga “body poetry”, and how to integrate yoga philosophy into your life and practice. This conversation feels as warm and personal as Jordan’s advice, full of gems for yoga students and yoga teachers. This episode is for you if you love yoga and are looking for ways to carry it beyond the mat and into your life.
Jordan’s Instagram: @jordanbyoga
Jordan’s Youtube: @jordanbyoga
Jordan’s TikTok: @jordan.yoga
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, join monthly workshops, meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
05:56 finding yoga
11:36 deciding to change directions
16:45 what is yoga to you?
20:21 rituals
24:12 dedication vs devotion
26:20 yoga as “body poetry”
28:52 trusting
36:53 big sister advice
51:37 rapid fire questions
52:21 billboard question
Wed, 21 Oct 2026 - 55min - 267 - What I Learned Interviewing 100 Yoga Teachers: Abundance & Trust
I fell in love with yoga because of a teacher at a dirty studio down the street, because of the ones who taught me to float and fly, and because of the teachers who called me by name before I was sure I belonged.
After interviewing over 100 yoga teachers—from living legends like Sri Dharma Mittra and David Swenson to daily studio instructors—I realized the real magic isn't in theory or instant gratification. It’s in the stories, the trust, and the willingness to keep figuring it out when there is no clear path.
In Part 1 of this mini-series, we’re cutting through the noise and diving deep into three core lessons on Abundance & Trust:
It’s in the living, not the theory
The relentless energy to figure things out (and why having "no Plan A" might be your greatest creative power).
How to move with trust, drop the fear, and recognize when you already have enough.
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, join monthly workshops, meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
03:50 Trevor, Kino, Arundhati, Carling & future of the series
05:36 what is this podcast?
06:00 this 100 yoga teachers series
11:00 creative support
12:30 from self-imposed chaos to systems
14:45 airplane game
17:00 lesson one: it’s in the stories, not in the instant gratification
18:20 David Swenson fired from teaching yoga
21:20 David Swenson’s scrap of paper
24:20 lesson 2: the energy to continuously figure things out
28:25 no plan A, let alone B
31:38 lesson 3: trust and have no fear, mysteriously it works out
34:10 Sri Dharma Mittra on money arriving for his mission
37:50 hermit crab theory of change
39:28 Sri Dharma Mittra on not having students in his yoga class
41:20 scholarship for listeners idea
42:30 enough
44:00 writing prompt
Fri, 16 Oct 2026 - 46min - 266 - Jada @flowgogirl on Trusting Your Body, Creativity & Moving Through Grief
Jada, known online as @flowgogirl, is a yoga and movement teacher as well as a content creator. Her love of movement is a contagious energy, and her passion for yoga and dance is clear in everything she shares. She inspires her students and audience to honor the gift of life through movement and to remember how lucky we are to be able to move our bodies. In this conversation, she talks about where her creativity comes from, how she trusts her body to guide her, her morning routine, and her experience of moving through grief.
Jada’s Instagram @flowgogirl - https://www.instagram.com/flowgogirl
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
02:03 sponsors
05:56 cultivating an energy of freedom
08:07 on confidence
09:15 what made you start?
10:54 first hot yoga class
13:28 finding motivation to move
14:28 music and movement
16:25 how do you create your flows?
18:00 how do you prepare to teach?
19:01 morning routine
21:13 childhood dreams
23:43 loss and grief
26:49 feeling untethered
28:43 quitting a job for a dream
31:08 social media
33:28 finding inspiration
35:34 creating & connecting online
38:47 what keeps you coming back to yoga?
39:49 teacher training in India
43:02 creativity & trusting ideas
46:22 trusting yourself
48:53 what makes a good leader?
53:16 rapid fire questions
54:17 billboard question
55:44 favorite emoji?
Wed, 07 Oct 2026 - 56min - 265 - the art of un-hurrying your life (lessons from yoga)
Poetic lessons from yoga on not rushing. If you’ve been living on fast-forward, constantly optimization-obsessed, and terrified that slowing down means you’ll run out of energy or fall behind, this episode is your permission to stop sprinting. We’re diving into the real reason we trap ourselves in chronic busyness, why we’re deeply tired rather than lazy, and how to transition from operating on stress hormones and caffeine to tapping into true creative presence. I share stories from the mat, savasana, alongside reflections on yoga philosophy, the 8 limbs, and why yoga doesn’t take time, it gives us time. Plus, we explore poetic reflections on time scarcity, breaking the addiction to hustle, and five simple ways you can practice "un-hurrying" your everyday life this week.
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, join monthly workshops, meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
STAmina apnea breath hold app mentioned:
Krishnamacharya poetry:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cWwnn_nOU5FHPkqBbPRJnoicHmC6Zbzg57axeYp9M50/edit?usp=sharing
Time stamps:
00:00 yoga poetry on rest
05:10 animation
07:10 what is this podcast?
08:30 homework 1: handwritten snail mail
09:40 homework 2: salute the sun
11:20 homework 3: eat outside barefoot
12:25 homework 4: breathholds STAmina app
14:10 homework 5: sacred moment
18:30 i meditated for 1 year and then fell off
20:30 feeling out of control w/commitments
21:30 how to say yes to less
23:30 “no time” prose
27:00 Krishnamacharya poetry
28:30 diamond sutra
32:00 slow down to speed up story
35:30 bigger vision: OfferingTree & Yoga Trade
37:49 secretary quote story
40:47 grandma me poem
Fri, 02 Oct 2026 - 45min - 264 - Arundhati Baitmangalkar on Practical Yoga Philosophy & Teaching Yoga
Arundhati Baitmangalkar is a Seattle-based yoga teacher originally from South India. She is the host of the Let's Talk Yoga podcast and owner of the Aham Yoga Studio. Arundhati has a beautiful, tangible way of explaining how to teach yoga philosophy that is both practical and grounded in yoga's roots. She shares her method for measuring "success" in your yoga practice (the "three C's") and advice for teaching yoga with heart. This episode is for you if you're looking for guidance as a yoga teacher or to feel re-energized by your own yoga practice.
Arundhati’s Instagram - @arundhati_baitmangalkar
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
02:02 sponsors
07:12 the experience of interviewing
13:44 choosing a mentor
17:59 discernment as a teacher
23:00 tangibly teaching philosophy
28:26 first asana class
31:34 what is yoga to you?
34:11 following the yoga
37:58 what do you wish more people understood about yoga?
46:30 staying close to your values
49:02 balancing tradition and student agency
53:25 yoga is not the spa
55:46 let people meet themselves
59:18 clarity, compassion, contentment
1:07:37 rapid fire q's & billboard question
Wed, 23 Sep 2026 - 1h 11min - 263 - yoga to feel alive in the age of ai
Today’s episode is about how yoga gives us new eyes to see life, differently. To see things as they actually are, not as we are. Because every one of us has the filter of the ego on every piece of information we take in. We have distractions preventing us from seeing the beauty of what’s in front of us. We have AI and the mental noise preventing us from hearing the extraordinary silence of being alive. The extraordinary state of being present, perhaps for the first time in our lives or the first time in a while.
In an age dominated by AI, constant distraction, and hyper-abstraction, it’s easier than ever to feel disconnected from our bodies and the beauty right in front of us. Yoga is the ultimate form of embodiment, which is the ultimate antidote to feeling disconnection in the digital age of AI slop.
Social media workshop for yoga-inspired people:https://www.patreon.com/shawnakru/posts/social-media-for-167218388?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
Find Shawna on instagram: @shawnakru - https://www.instagram.com/shawnakru
Shawna’s website - https://www.shawnakru.com/
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing listhttps://www.shawnakru.com/yoga-teacher-roundtable
time stamps:
00:00 yoga’s eyes poem
01:00 yoga is about trust
2:25 information overload
03:30 stories and embodiment instead of abstraction (ai is abstraction machine)
04:05 what ai really is
05:06 living as a machine not a human
06:45 ai fear mongering
07:54 yoga begins with listening
10:15 yoga poem 34
11:30 see through yoga’s eyes
Fri, 18 Sep 2026 - 13min - 262 - how yoga healed my relationship with “God”
This is how yoga healed my relationship with God, what spirituality is without religion, and overcoming religious trauma. I used to have a huge aversion to the word "God." Growing up with a religious background left me carrying so much guilt and fear that when I stepped away from church in college, I unintentionally shut down my spirituality and creative spark altogether. It took over a decade of yoga, deep philosophical study, and unexpected everyday encounters to reclaim what that connection actually means to me.
How yoga healed my relationship with God and helped me move past religious trauma
Why so many of us feel triggered by the word God or resistant to traditional religion or spirituality without religion
What texts like the Bhagavad Gita actually teach about divine energy
How to find sacred meaning in everyday moments, soil, and simple presence
Whether you consider yourself agnostic, deeply spiritual, religious, or completely unlabelled, this episode is an invitation to think for yourself, drop the rigid rules, and step into the sweetest feeling of all: knowing the divine within you.
Social media workshop on Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, join monthly workshops, meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
Here is the complete, consolidated set of timestamps for Part 1 and Part 2, filtered so that every section is spaced at least 3 to 5 minutes apart for optimal YouTube video chaptering:
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Praying to the Sun with a Stranger (Yoga Poetry)
03:59 - Who Today’s Episode Is For
06:03 - The Search for the Divine Within (Swami Vivekananda Quote)
08:29 - What Does God Really Mean? (Episode Agenda)
10:52 - Sacar Las Piedritas: Sponsor Announcements (OfferingTree & Yoga Trade)
13:13 - Is Yoga a Religion? Breaking Down the Definition
18:09 - Rethinking Worship, Devotion, and Power
22:50 - What the Bhagavad Gita Teaches About God
27:21 - Experiencing Nature as the Divine
32:01 - Returning to Presence & Unpacking Religious Guilt
36:49 - The Osho / Young Life Land Connection & Dogma
39:07 - The 6 Systems of Indian Philosophy (Shad Darshana)
41:33 - Social Media for Creators & Patreon Workshop
44:27 - Reclaiming Your Inner Power: Talking to My Uber Driver
47:12 - "Take the Word Back" (Guest Insight from Ben Kalra)
Fri, 11 Sep 2026 - 49min - 261 - Deepika Mehta on Creativity and Devotion in Ashtanga Yoga
This interview with Deepika Mehta, one of India's most prominent yoga teachers, is all about creativity and devotion within the practice of yoga. Deepika is a Level 2 Authorized Ashtanga teacher, trained directly under Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, is a global speaker, and has also worked in television and media. We talk about her creative process, spiritual practice, movement as expression, embodiment, and about the essence of yoga, which she describes as "arriving at stillness through movement." She also shares about a serious rock climbing accident that changed the course of her life, and how she found her way back to movement and yoga after being told she may never walk again.
Deepika’s Instagram @deepikamehtayoga
Practice with Deepika (Retreats and Offerings)
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
03:01 Yoga Trade & Offering Tree
08:52 childhood memories
11:50 spirituality growing up
13:18 spirituality now
16:59 archetypes
19:16 early impressions of yoga
20:55 rock climbing accident
26:01 creative expression
29:45 what is your creative process?
32:55 first ashtanga practice
42:04 qualities of a yogi?
46:11 working in media and television
55:44 how do you prepare to teach or lead?
01:00:36 rapid fire questions
01:02:01 billboard question
Wed, 09 Sep 2026 - 1h 04min - 260 - when everything changes, the right help is already on its way
Today’s episode is a lifeline and wake up call to stop fighting change (or wishing for it but procrastinating it) and a reminder that often the miracle is already in motion.
Change isn't a sign that you failed or that life is falling apart; it’s proof that life is making room. Before any miraculous manifestation or quantum leap occurs, the universe clears out what can no longer fit in your next season. The right help, the right people, and the exact resources you need are already on their way to meet you halfway.
My guided journal:
https://www.ritualofwritingjournal.com/
Original writing by Victoria Hutchins I mentioned: “For the ones who left” from MAKE BELIEVE.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBwWfhQv4kU/?igsi=MTY2ZmIxNzZmYXhlZA==
People I’m enthusiastic about writing of mine:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Db_JM3Dm9M4/?img_index=7&igsi=YTV5ZWs3Z242c29m
Yoga Teacher Roundtable application:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1OLW6ewNcsIy8OX7rjlWOTvCNavZ3U9uHgYgcyj1RfGI/edit
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, join monthly workshops, meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
Fri, 04 Sep 2026 - 54min - 259 - Yoga Teacher Roundtable
This roundtable episode brings together three yoga teachers from around the world to share stories of their most memorable yoga teachers. Those who have, in some way, made a real impact on their practice and their lives. These anecdotes offer valuable insights into meaningful leadership, along with a peek into some moments that have shaped their yoga journeys.
Šárka Bobotová’s Instagram @sarka.bobotovaand podcast
Elle Minty’s Instagram: @iamelleminty and Elle’s Teacher @annekluit.respace
Samantha Mora’s Instagram @samanthacmora and Substack
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, join monthly workshops, meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
08:55 making mistakes while teaching (Elle Minty)
14:45 music & the yoga of service (Sam Mora)
23:20 teaching from presence & devotion (Šárka Bobotová)
32:10 Sam Mora: message & offerings
34:52 Elle Minty: billboard message & offerings
37:32 Šárka Bobotová: billboard message & offerings
44:34 closing thoughts
Wed, 26 Aug 2026 - 48min - 258 - rise of the yoga renaissance & the fall of the celebrity era
“Releasing the need to look like you "made it" unlocks your deepest creative freedom.”
“Sometimes the most impressive thing you can do is to not be impressive at all.”
Today we talk about the difference between the yoga "celebrity" mindset (focused on status, polish, and external validation) versus the "artist" mindset (focused on process, raw expression, and internal truth). This episode explores why the era of the polished, untouchable "yoga celebrity" is coming to an end, and why the world is starving for authentic artists instead. From overcoming social media comparison traps, to understanding Rick Rubin’s philosophy of decoupling self-worth from output, to true style is actually a quality of your consciousness (inspired by The Gene Keys), and details on the upcoming live Social Media Workshop inside the Patreon community.
Join my social media workshop on Patreon
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Shawna’s website - mailing list
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
06:54 animation
09:25 yoga celebrities inspired me
10:20 confidence is not a “look”
14:00 Jeff Foster - Spiritual Zombie
23:50 art helps us feel emotions
26:30 step 1: light
28:25 step 2: nothing to hide, nothing to prove
29:30 behind the curtain
37:00 step 3: subtle feeling body
41:00 step 4: be okay refining
44:00 step 5: style is quality of consciousness
51:00 step 6: numbers
53:30 social media workshop
56:52 the creative revival
Fri, 21 Aug 2026 - 59min - 257 - feeling yoga, not "doing yoga"
the feeling of yoga, and some words that try to describe it. stream of consciousness, and musical. this is for my seasoned yogis who want to put words to what yoga means to you, and also for yoga curious people who want to hear about a decade of practice put into freestyle prose and poetry about yoga asana versus the feeling of yoga, yoga philosophy, and what yoga really means.
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, join monthly workshops, meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Fri, 14 Aug 2026 - 15min - 256 - what your impatience is actually trying to tell you
When I feel impatient, it’s an incredibly disturbing energy because I usually fear that rushing will block my success or sabotage what I want most. But while stuck in a nightmare series of travel delays in Paris on my way to see a close friend, I had a massive breakthrough about why we experience this frustration. I realized my impatience wasn't actually about the lost time or missed plans, but rather a deep-seated fear of disappointing other people and letting them down. Once you shine the light of awareness on the true root of your impatience, that heavy urge to force outcomes starts to dissolve so you can finally step into flow grace.
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, join monthly workshops, meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
Clara on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamcleer/
Clara’s NGO Rights and Roots: https://www.instagram.com/rightsandrootsorg/
Fri, 07 Aug 2026 - 46min - 255 - Kimi Hajian: Yoga for Normal People, Relationships & Living the Practice
Recorded live in Guatemala after co-teaching Yoga Summer School together with the rest of the Cactus Club, my dear friend Kimi Hajian is back on the podcast. Kimi is a yoga teacher based in Prague, teaching classes both in person and online through her app, "Alkimi." This time we get into bhakti yoga, the yoga of relationships, the archetype of Hanuman, and the practice of chanting. Kimi shares what it means to her to stay rooted in the sacred without losing touch with ordinary, "normal" life. That yoga isn't about becoming someone new, it's about becoming more you.
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram: @shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership (My sponsor)
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
01:22 sponsors
05:57 the cactus club & yoga summer school
08:27 intentional sharing online
13:27 creative process
15:21 daily rituals
21:21 what does yoga mean to you?
23:51 staying rooted in reality
26:46 balancing the sacred and the mundane
28:47 archetypes
32:44 bhakti yoga
38:06 kirtan & voice
40:54 the yoga of relationships
46:19 “yoga is for normal people”
1:09:34 billboard question
Wed, 05 Aug 2026 - 1h 12min - 254 - stop hiding yourself
This episode is for you if you feel like you’ve been holding yourself back, not wanting to look too crazy. If you’ve been hiding your bad angles, trying to be perfect, or even perfectly “authentic.” What if what you actually need is to embrace the weird, unpolished, wild, extreme parts of you? What if you could stop hiding yourself?
And what if doing just that could help others do the same? It might be exactly what leads you into the big, meaningful work you’ve been dreaming of, or into your next creative project. It might just help you remember your power. The world needs you to show up as you are: not despite the parts of yourself that you try to hide, but because of them.
“The unique voice is the one that gets made fun of, but it's the one you recognize without even hearing their name…”
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership(My sponsor)
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
01:01 tendency to avoid extremes
05:20 noticing & collecting stories
07:26 ujjayi breath
08:36 feeling like you’ve “made it”
12:36 beyond authenticity: let yourself be weird
13:54 stop hiding your “bad’ angles
19:40 big things come from extremes
22:01 sponsors
26:54 stop hiding yourself
29:13 if you can spot it, you’ve got it
Fri, 31 Jul 2026 - 36min - 253 - let go of regret & self doubt
This is for you if you, too, are no stranger to feeling regret. To always feeling like you could have done something better, to regretting not speaking up, or regretting not going for it. To holding yourself hostage for what you do regret saying or doing without being able to stop the mental chatter long enough to find self-compassion.
Today I take you through 2 types of regret and a story about why the fear of regret sabotages our success. Then I give you 3 antidotes for regret that will help you overcome your feelings of regret, along with your feelings of lack and indecision that are rooted in a FEAR of regret.
The truth is that the hard decisions that we might regret either way, the moments we might regret, make the absolute best stories of our lives. So it’s time to take back our power, and not let regret rule our life… whether that’s past regret, or fear of future regret.
Key words: overcoming regret, 3 antidotes for regret, feeling regret, how to overcome regret, dealing with regret, let go of regret, fear of regret, regret and perfectionism, self compassion, how to stop regretting the past, overcoming self doubt, mindset shifts, decisiveness, how to be decisive, fear of making mistakes, taking positive risks, personal growth, emotional healing, self grace.
Join a mastermind group inside my Patreon (Leadership and Yoga CLUB)
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
Decisive era piece of writing:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOrEdigDz7K/?igsh=YnBrdTJld283cjNv
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
04:30 animation
09:00 romance and sponsors?
14:00 types of regret
18:30 mastermind group & yoga summer school
21:00 type 2 regret
24:50 lack & what it has to do with regret
27:20 salt in the wound
29:30 addiction to feeling regret
30:30 antidote 1: write the lesson
34:30 antidote 2: non-violent communication
40:15 not blaming
40:30 grace is always raining down, but we have to cup our hands
41:50 antidote 3: recognize positive risk
Fri, 24 Jul 2026 - 47min - 252 - Ben Kalra on Yoga Philosophy and Devotion to the Practice
Ben Kalra is a yoga teacher, leading retreats around the world and sharing yoga philosophy online through his social media. He has a gift for making the teachings of yoga feel accessible and tangible, without losing their depth. Ben embodies the practice with wisdom, humor, heart, and a devotion to yoga that is clear and infectious. In this episode, we talk about god, yoga philosophy, yoga's roots, the realities of the yoga industry, and joy as a spiritual practice.
Ben’s Website and Retreat in Spain
Find Ben on Instagram: @benkalra
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
08:28 open to mystery
10:20 finding your voice online
18:10 take the yoga practice seriously, take yourself lightly
22:20 yoga philosophy
24:42 different types of yoga teachers
27:44 what got you "hooked" on yoga philosophy?
34:01 why do you think we've forgotten our power?
36:59 defining yoga
40:09 what do you love about yoga?
43:17 devotion to the yoga practice
50:52 spiritual practice
55:52 what does truth feel like?
57:15 experiences in meditation
1:01:14 the cactus club
1:03:00 embodying the practice while in the yoga industry
1:14:39 how do you choose what to do?
1:20:22 how can yoga impact the world?
1:24:09 trusting in yoga's evolution
1:29:24 how do you know what to listen to?
1:30:46 rapid fire & billboard question
Wed, 22 Jul 2026 - 1h 36min - 251 - what is rocket yoga?
Disclaimer: This is a description of Puerto Rican style Rocket, it does not speak for other origins of Rocket.
If you're curious about Rocket Yoga: what it is, where it came from, what it feels like, or how to become a Rocket teacher, this one is for you. Maybe you've already fallen in love with the practice, or maybe you're wondering what it’s all about. In this episode we dive into what I've come to understand about the world of Rocket: the history, the sequence, the community, and lessons from my own teachers.
In the words of Larry Schultz (founder of the Rocket practice): "Rocket is designed to wake up the nervous system and feed it the precious prana it craves while promoting a spirit of change and freedom in the practice."
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
Mentioned:
Rocket Teacher Trainings: https://therocket.info/
Time Stamps
00:00 intro
03:14 agenda
06:17 David Kyle
09:51 the origin of rocket yoga
11:00 touring with the Grateful Dead
12:30 the rocket sequence
14:05 Larry Schultz
17:36 what rocket feels like
21:03 there’s a feeling at the start of class…
23:07 the rocket community
27:39 rocket in San Francisco & Puerto Rico
29:53 OfferingTree
31:27 Yoga Trade
32:55 Patreon: the leadership and yoga club
35:00 teaching rocket
38:14 a collection of quotes
42:45 interviewing rocket teachers
43:46 closing
Fri, 17 Jul 2026 - 46min - 250 - create the life you want by talking to your past self
This is an immersive special, poetic musical storytelling of how talking to your past self changes your life. This is about how to remember hope in moments of darkness, and one day realizing your dreams came true. This is the first time I put visuals with my podcast, to help you feel the message even more, so let me know what you think. A little gritty, very deep, and hopefully incredibly inspiring for you to remember your power. You can watch or listen to it almost like a guided meditation. I hope it inspires you to write and also send love to your past self.
You are the inspiration you have been looking for.
Everything I’ve learned from Richard Rudd of the Gene Keys, Frederick Dodson of Levels of Energy and Parallel Universes of Self, and even some Dr. Joe Dispenza organized itself in my head in a new way for this one… It includes footage of my yoga practice, which has played a key part in helping me understand how to live the life I want.
Key words: guided meditation,poetic,deep,meaning of life,gene keys,richard rudd,joe dispenza,frederick dodson,parallel universes of self, spiritual
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Time stamps:
00:00 sacred bath ritual
02:00 the edge of changing your life
03:14 a message to your past self
04:00 yoga and hearing your past self
05:34 hope when you are in darkness
06:49 when it was all a dream
08:09 creative writing workshop
09:30 outro animation
Fri, 10 Jul 2026 - 10min - 249 - setting myself free
Setting myself free, in hopes that it fuels your fire to set yourself free as well. There comes a time where you can either stay in the cage you’ve built yourself, or rattle it and decide if you want to reinvent everything.
This one is about living radically aligned. And about really, really going for it. Holding nothing back.
QUOTE: “Days can only be food for the fires of the heart…” is by Edmund. I got excited and forgot to mention his name.
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
NEXT LIVE WORKSHOP: JULY 31
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
(My sponsor)
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
02:19 beloved sponsors
06:30 making masterpieces & making sense
09:00 feet on the earth
12:30 breaking point
16:30 days are only food for the fires of the heart
19:40 my dreams are made for people like me
Tue, 07 Jul 2026 - 22min - 248 - Trevor Taylor on Yoga As a Way of Life, Inclusivity, & Yoga for Men
Trevor Taylor is a yoga teacher, spiritual guide, speaker, and educator. He is a captivating storyteller who reminds us how powerful it is when yoga becomes a way of life. With a background as an athlete, a pastor, an educator, and a DJ, Trevor brings a unique blend of spirituality and teaching expertise to his yoga practice and to the community he has built. I encourage you to think about sending this episode to the other men in your life who may be curious about yoga. Trevor reminds us all what's really available to us in the yoga practice.
Join Trevor’s Men’s Yoga Retreat in Peru! June 13th-19th. See his Instagram for more info.
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Time Stamps
00:00 intro
04:01 sponsors (Offering Tree & TEND)
09:27 what did you dream of being as a kid?
13:36 first impression of yoga
15:45 men in yoga
21:14 exclusivity in yoga culture
25:01 do you think yoga can change the world?
26:55 when did you start to understand yoga on a deeper level?
32:56 svadhyaya (self-study)
35:32 from church to the yoga studio
43:02 making decisions
46:34 what makes an exceptional yoga class?
50:41 how do you prepare yourself to teach?
55:39 Peru & "sacred reciprocity"
01:04:28 sharing your voice
01:13:06 rapid fire questions
01:15:00 billboard question
Wed, 24 Jun 2026 - 1h 17min - 247 - Can Yoga Reshape Global Politics? The History of International Day of Yoga with Indian Foreign Service Officer Prakash Gupta - Consul General
Can Yoga Reshape Global Politics? The History of International Day of Yoga with Indian Foreign Service Officer Prakash Gupta - Consul General
Inside the United Nations: how yoga became a tool for global diplomacy with Indian Foreign Service Officer Prakash Gupta. Plus, how yoga is shaping our community in Seattle and the greater Pacific Northwest.
Let’s talk about International Day of Yoga, its story, and why it's important to have this special day every June 21st. Ever wonder what would happen if the world's leaders stepped onto a yoga mat together? Or if all the countries in the world prioritized yoga? In this episode, I’m sitting down with Consul General Prakash Gupta, a key diplomat behind the UN resolution for the International Day of Yoga, to explore the intersection of yoga, and global diplomacy. We dive deep into how yoga serves as a unifier on the world stage, and grounds leaders in their shared humanity. Plus, we tackle a crucial conversation for Western yoga teachers on how to honor and respect yoga’s Indian roots.
Consulate General of India in Seattle:
https://indiainseattle.gov.in/
Connect on the Consulate on instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/indianconsulateseattle
/
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor) SHAWNA10 is the code for 10% off products and consults
Key Words
Yoga teachers, international day of yoga, yoga philosophy, yoga history, yoga roots, authentic yoga, mindfulness.
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
03:34 animation
07:40 yoga adopted by the United Nations: the story & Prime Minister Modi
08:30 yoga under the agenda of Global Health
09:30 writing the resolution for the United Nations on yoga
11:30 simplicity of messaging of yoga for world leaders
14:00 what does yoga mean?
15:37 why should world leaders pay attention to yoga?
16:39 Indian philosophy on yoga and connection
19:00 yoga helps us feel our own humanity, so we can feel for all of humanity
19:20 top diplomats practicing yoga together
20:30 yoga & international diplomacy
22:00 AYUSH ministry
25:00 how can yoga teachers respect yoga’s Indian roots
26:00 suiting own interests in yoga vs being intentional
28:30 hooked onto yoga
30:00 International Day of Yoga future goals
34:00 qualities of an exceptional leader
35:30 hope for the future of yoga
36:30 billboard message
Wed, 08 Jul 2026 - 39min - 246 - the yoga in everything: finding your creative inspiration
What do yoga and creativity have in common? Can yoga help us tap into creative energy? Both creativity and yoga invite us into a sense of liberation. Both ask us to be present. Both require us to notice. There is an endless wellspring of creativity we can tap into, but it doesn’t always feel easy to access. Sometimes, we need to go outside. To play. Then, we can go within, and let our creative practice or our yoga practice guide us. This episode is for you, creative yogis: those of you following the creative fire, who want to be transformed by yoga, but also want to transform the world around you with your creative energy. We practice to see the yoga in everything, and to find creative energy everywhere.
GIVEAWAY:https://join.yogatrade.com/giveaway (My sponsor)
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Mentioned:
Gabi’s Instagram @tidepooldaydreams
Michael Jackson behind the scenes
Rick Rubin & Joe Dispenza Interview
Time Stamps
00:00 a story about freedom
07:52 creativity is for everyone
10:40 the yoga in everything
13:05 dreaming big
19:05 mastermind groups
22:56 giveaway!
24:20 OfferingTree
26:44 part one: go play outside
30:53 the practice of lingering
32:08 creativity requires noticing
35:26 “a life that feels like dirt under your fingernails”
40:01 don’t scare the creative fish away
42:19 part two: go play inside
44:02 grinding the grains of life
46:31 resistance & flow
49:20 learn from a wide range of creatives
52:34 allowing yourself to be immersed
53:45 “if you can spot it, you’ve got it”
57:32 a state of joy
58:36 heart-brain coherence
Fri, 19 Jun 2026 - 1h 05min - 245 - teaching yoga & overcoming imposter syndrome
If you want more confidence, and to be less self-critical, and to care less about how you are perceived and if you are “good enough” in the eyes of others, this episode is for you. If you have ever struggled with habitual fears of being an imposter, of letting yourself down, or of secretly worrying that deep down you are not good enough, this episode is for you. If you have been scarred by a very critical environment or harsh feedback and can’t stop thinking about it long enough to try again, this episode is for you, dear listener.
This episode is about the lie that is the general use of the term imposter syndrome, and how we can classify it into two types: rightful imposter syndrome, and habitual psychological imposter syndrome. And from there, this episode gives you something to chew on, and tangible steps to take to overcome “imposter syndrome” and change the way you think about it forever.
This episode is created specifically for yoga teachers and creatives. My people. I love y’all. :)
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
GIVEAWAY: https://join.yogatrade.com/giveaway (My sponsor)
Imposter Syndrome article by Katie Nissley mentioned
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
09:20 animation
10:30 the biggest thing imposter syndrome robs from us
16:30 where imposter syndrome comes from in yoga teaching: opportunity cost & comparison.
18:40 giveaway & announcements!
22:49 part 1: rightful vs habitual imposter syndrome
25:30 a time I was an imposter
31:00 part 2: you don’t need to know more, you need to learn to share what you know.
33:00 biggest fallacy of imposter syndrome is that MORE can cure it.
35:00 my first time trying
36:40 part 3: the 2nd puberty & the dragonfly
40:30 what helps: stories
42:30 part 4: learn to be okay with disappointment, yours & others.
48:45 consequence of living afraid of disappointment is an incredibly restrictive life
Fri, 12 Jun 2026 - 54min - 244 - Lizzy Beyer on Yoga Trade, Adventure, & Living in Alignment
Lizzy Beyer is an adjunct environmental science lecturer, a retreat host with "Surf With Amigas," a yoga instructor, and a surf instructor who is currently teaching yoga for a local homestay in Indonesia. Fellow yoga teachers and adventurous spirits: listen in for an inspiring conversation on living in alignment with your values and daring to follow your dreams.
Lizzy’s Instagram: @liz_lives_
Lizzy’s Substack, Sunkissed and Hurricaned
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
Join a Yoga Trade free Council Session: https://form.typeform.com/to/RcnJx6ps
(My sponsor)
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
2:42 environmental studies
10:30 the yoga farm
14:05 different pathways to affect change
17:04 allowing yourself to dream & keeping the inspiration alive
22:19 travel opens the door for expansion
27:40 lessons from surfing
31:52 ecological grief
35:59 yoga trade
42:45 yoga teacher training
48:10 yoga for surfers
53:28 living aligned with values
01:01:02 what makes an exceptional leader?
01:03:34 billboard question
Fri, 01 May 2026 - 1h 06min - 243 - the yoga of numbers: 3 steps when metrics don’t match your vision
This episode feels like a confession of how yoga and my relationship to numbers go together: social media numbers, financial numbers.. All of it. The yoga of numbers episode is a 3rd path, that doesn’t involve falling prey or victim to numbers, but rather facing them with awareness. Where we don’t numbly consider the numbers without considering the names, but you are also dreaming of sharing your message with the world.
Links:
Join my PATREON, Leadership and Yoga Club: https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find me on instagram - @shawnakru - https://www.instagram.com/shawnakru/
Yoga Trade GIVEAWAY: https://join.yogatrade.com/giveaway (my sponsor)
/
TEND ayurvedic consultations: https://www.tend.eco/collections/consultations (my sponsor)
Just B pottery: https://www.instagram.com/just_b_pottery/
Time stamps:
00:00 yoga poetry: names over numbers
01:00 my growth “numbers” journey
05:30 cartoon
06:38 just B and Rishi tea
09:40 “100 likes” wish 1 year ago
11:14 Sri Dharma Mittra’s 1 student story
14:00 arbitrary number requirements i fall short of
17:00 where to find God by Jeff Foster
19:45 fear vs love & hiding likes
22:00 first journaling prompt: flush out the fear
23:50 when i felt worthless
28:30 i’m not counting poetry
30:50 my recent “success”
34:00 the panic of numbers not matching our vision
36:00 GIVEAWAY: Yoga Trade
37:00 TEND
38:50 step 1: mapping your mission
44:30 step 2: get real, look at your output
49:40 step 3: be the person who…
55:37 without falling prey or victim to numbers
Key words: yoga teacher tips, how to grow a yoga instagram, social media for yoga teachers, yoga career advice, yoga podcast, shawnakru, sri dharma mittra, jeff foster poetry, mindset for creatives, organic social media growth, small creators under 10k.
Fri, 05 Jun 2026 - 57min - 242 - a short yoga story
As you know, every Friday is new episode Friday on the Leadership and Yoga podcast... but the last Friday of the month is now special... The real episode today is inside of Patreon, it's a LIVE episode on burnout and one critical change that makes all the difference. But, I did not want to abandon you here, dear listener! So please enjoy a bit of juice, in this short yoga story. I hope that it inspires you to document your own yoga stories.
And perhaps, I will see you inside of Patreon for the replay, or the next LIVE on June 26th!
Join Leadership and Yoga Club on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
The episode I mention that explains what the club is, and is genuinely inspirational as an episode to listen to in general:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4UXULAZCXeNkzy8mLwr3G5?si=Sa3GAjNzRPi_72jZLIhHiQ
Fri, 29 May 2026 - 14min - 241 - Tim Feldmann on Ashtanga, Teaching Yoga, & Devotion to the Practice
Tim Feldmann is a beloved Ashtanga yoga teacher, originally from Denmark and globally renowned for his authentic, joyful, and devoted approach to the practice. Tim shares how he weaves yoga philosophy into the physical practice, how learning to be uncomfortable on the mat trains the nervous system, expanding the body’s capacity to sit with discomfort, and so much wisdom about embodied movement. This was a delightful conversation that will leave you feeling inspired and encouraged on your path as a yoga teacher and/or student.
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport: https://join.yogatrade.com/membership
Join a Yoga Trade free Council Session: https://form.typeform.com/to/RcnJx6ps
(My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
08:54 have you always considered yourself a deep thinker?
10:25 abstract dance
12:45 the set sequence
15:31 sense of fluency in the yoga practice
17:44 how does ashtanga feel to you?
19:36 how does your yoga practice change how you live?
25:59 bringing yoga philosophy onto the mat
31:19 first ashtanga class
33:37 injury & recovery
39:29 first time teaching a yoga class?
43:05 discipline
47:28 how can yoga teachers make meaningful change?
53:21 the radiating energy of presence & the wisdom realm
56:55 what qualities do you look for in your teachers?
01:00:54 don’t try to be perfect
01:05:47 asana & the nervous system
01:12:25 is yoga supposed to be comfortable?
01:17:42 rapid fire questions
01:22:07 billboard question
Wed, 27 May 2026 - 1h 26min - 240 - part two: 10 things i learned from going deep into yoga
Part two of the episode from last week! After going deep in the yoga, we find that yoga is so much more than poses, identity, or surface-level spiritual aesthetics. In this episode, I share part two of 10 lessons I have learned from going deep with yoga: let’s talk how yoga helps us feel our humanity, accessing true presence through yoga, respecting yoga and cultural appreciation vs cultural appropriation, why yoga takes time and patience, and the what the Bhagavad Gita’s definition of yoga is.
Keywords: yoga philosophy, yoga teacher podcast, authentic yoga, yoga spirituality, yoga beyond asana, modern yoga, yoga wisdom, yoga for creators, spiritual growth, conscious living
If you missed part one, find it here:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6GRtl8C7o1NFhm4eVzKhaC?si=H1EWz0wqSrObMxT_46wByQ
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Join YogaTrade Council & take workshops with me (Try it free) And check out jobs on https://yogatrade.com/ (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
06:00 inside my 2020 dreamboard
08:00 why i’m in honolulu
10:15 patreon: Leadership and Yoga Club
13:00 what “deep” in yoga really means
16:00 tip for yoga teachers
20:00 storytime sponsor picnic
24:59 part 6: yoga helps us feel our own humanity
28:20 musical poem: feel for all humanity
31:07 part 7: presence once seen, can never be forgotten
35:35 one year of meditating
38:00 leaning in closer
40:00 part 8: respect not just spread yoga
45:39 musical poem: yoga doesn’t come from a brand
48:00 part 9: yoga takes time
52:00 part 10: yoga is spiritual integration
53:30 divine crystal theory
58:20 musical poem: today i didn’t meditate
1:00:00 review of all 10
Fri, 22 May 2026 - 1h 04min - 239 - Poranguí on Serving the Music and the Yoga of Sound
Today on the Leadership and Yoga podcast, I talk with Poranguí about the power of music to heal, awaken, and reconnect us to ourselves. In this episode, Poranguí shares what it feels like to improvise music in front of thousands of people with no set plan, trusting whatever wants to come through in the moment. We talk ritual, creativity, flow states, consciousness, ancestors, collective human connection, nervous system regulation, coherence as leaders, and music as medicine. Poranguí reminds us that interbeing is how we find meaning in life, and he leads by example.
This is what the yoga of sound really means. If music has ever made you feel something beyond words, this episode is for you.
Music in intro credit to Poranguí, "Amanecer"
Find Poranguí on instagram:
Poranguí events, tour, retreats:
Technology fail at Envision festival we mentioned:
https://youtu.be/otkbFvz8Fy4?si=yV5o1OQGib-SbWLH&t=4758
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
01:00 who is Poranguí?
03:00 context & backstory
07:30 the body, Poranguí’s “favorite” instrument
11:00 improvising and not planning shows
14:30 capoeira, playing & dancing with the “now”
17:45 it helps us face the uncertainty of life
20:45 “worst nightmare” technology fail in performance
25:00 the prayer is too potent, energy
28:50 what it feels like after performing
29:30 how to stay present while performing: widening awareness and tracking all
30:10 Schrödinger's cat, observer effect, parallel universes
32:30 intricacy, care vs perfectionism
35:00 birth story how Poranguí’s parents met
41:30 serpent medicine: chased by snakes
44:30 trust
46:30 ancestors “anceStars”
49:00 non-linear time and roots of trees
51:50 why are we here? scrap of paper
54:00 nervous system & our function
55:00 consumerism culture
56:15 keepers of fire: technology and AI. tending
58:30 impacting the world as healers: heart song
1:00:30 heart
1:02:00 the voice is the fingerprint of the soul
1:04:00 Poranguí’s rituals: getting into state
1:06:30 change and successes after retreat
1:08:15 music expresses the inexpressible
1:11:30 why music touches us
1:12:30 the original pulse
1:14:00 billboard message, tour & learn from Poranguí
Wed, 20 May 2026 - 1h 19min - 238 - 10 things i learned from going deep into yoga
After going deep in the yoga, we find that yoga is so much more than poses, identity, or surface-level spiritual aesthetics. In this episode, I share part one of 10 lessons I have learned from going deep with yoga: let’s talk spiritual materialism, devotion, creativity, stress, self-awareness, and what it really means to live yoga beyond the mat. We talk about why yoga practice is the boat, not the destination and how practice can become prayer, why discomfort creates freedom, and how real yoga changes the way we relate to every moment of life.
Keywords: yoga philosophy, yoga teacher podcast, authentic yoga, yoga spirituality, yoga beyond asana, modern yoga, yoga wisdom, yoga for creators, spiritual growth, conscious living
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Join YogaTrade Council & take workshops with me (Try it free) And check out jobs on https://yogatrade.com/ (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
01:00 toe dipping
04:00 cartoon
09:00 Yoga Trade
10:30 part 1: yoga is a boat
16:42 part 2: practice is prayer
20:40 part 3: not everything is yoga, but yoga is in everything
24:30 something i say during yoga class often
27:00 part 4: asana is a language
29:00 healing and yoga: stagnation to flow
33:00 part 5: yoga makes you creative
34:15 yoga reverses the flow of input to output
36:40 why ideas arrive in the shower
38:28 why winding tight makes us sick
39:30 creating from stress vs real energy
42:00 holding a basketball underwater
46:00 club on Patreon!
Fri, 15 May 2026 - 49min - 237 - Yoga Teacher Roundtable
In this sixth roundtable, yoga teachers from across the country and around the world share what teaching yoga means to them, lessons learned on the mat, bits of wisdom they've carried on from their own teachers, and their own “billboard messages.” See the link below if you're a yoga teacher and would like to participate in the next roundtable!
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Thank you so much to the participating yoga teachers! Links to connect with them:
Simone Marie-Elise - @ripplesinthematrix, www.ripplesinthematrix.com
Grace Gribble - @gracesgallivant, https://www.youtube.com/@practicegracefully
Ashley Simonis - @Ashleysimonisyoga; @homeyogamo, Homeyogamo.com;Substack.com/ashleysimonisyoga.com
Katie Farinas - @katie.farinas, https://katiefarinas.com ; https://substack.com/@katiefarinas, Katie’s Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2R3MeaPOtqgBUpngAzxCN0?si=4ae2fc1b329d4ccb
Mikaela Millington - @mikmill; @evolve.yoga.retreats, evolveyogaretreats.com
Veronica Drenth - @veronicasue_, https://www.theyogalens
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Join YogaTrade Council & take workshops with me (Try it free) And check out jobs on https://yogatrade.com/ (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
02:00 teaching with humility (Mikaela)
05:19 we are always planting seeds (Veronica)
07:41 you never know who you'll lead to yoga (Grace)
08:54 teaching authentically & honestly (Katie)
10:32 yoga doesn’t choose the qualified… (Ashley)
12:56 finding your own voice as a teacher (Simone)
19:12 Sri Dharma Mittra’s first studio
25:23 Grace’s story
26:55 Katie’s story
29:01 Veronica's story
30:52 Simone’s story
33:07 Ashley’s story
36:49 Mikaela’s story
42:11 closing thoughts
Wed, 13 May 2026 - 47min - 236 - Leadership and Yoga CLUB
It’s time for Leadership and Yoga CLUB. Because your dreams are meant for people like you, and you meet your true friends on the mountain.
To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more…
Join below. See ya on the inside?? :)
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
01:00 find your community
3:00 CLUB tour
10:40 the time is now
13:00 you meet your true friends on the mountain
16:00 my billboard message
20:50 yoga can change the world
Fri, 08 May 2026 - 22min - 235 - Nicole Wild on Facing Death as an Extension of the Yoga Practice
In this episode, yoga teacher Nicole Wild shares what she's learned about life and yoga from confronting death: both in the cadaver lab and through working in hospice, being with people in their last moments. She shares how sitting with grief and impermanence are part of her yoga practice, bringing in a deeper reverence for life. This conversation is about fear, discomfort, embodiment, gratitude, and embracing your life (and teaching) as you are, today.
"Allowing space for letting go, allowing space for endings, allowing space for deaths in all forms, whether that's actual human lives or just the little things we have to let go of on a day-to-day basis…doing that work is absolutely a part of the yoga practice." - Nicole Wild
Quote on the fires of the heart mentioned is by Edmund Wilson. View full quote here
Death as a Surprise Party poem from Make Believe by Victoria Hutchins
Nicole’s Website and offerings
Nicole’s Instagram: @nicolewildcollective
Book mentioned: Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Join YogaTrade Council & take workshops with me (Try it free) And check out jobs on https://yogatrade.com/ (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
08:38 the cadaver lab
13:01 fear around discussing death
17:30 griefwork
19:59 what got you into this work?
25:34 hospice work: there is nothing to be afraid of
27:26 being with people in their last moments
30:07 how does yoga help us approach our fears?
32:45 addressing the body and mind as a whole
35:35 the therapeutic process
38:15 yoga can be both confronting & comforting
42:36 yoga and creativity
45:38 what you look for you will find
48:01 you don't just teach what you know, you teach who you are
50:48 how can yoga shape our values?
55:20 rapid fire questions
59:56 the billboard question
Wed, 06 May 2026 - 1h 02min - 234 - flirting with life: how to romanticize life & overcome numbness
Aren’t we all looking for that feeling of energy of waking up happy to be alive? That’s what it feels like when we learn to flirt with our life, to romanticize things enough to pay attention to the details. Flirting with your life is about patience, rather than convenience and instant gratification. It’s about being ornate, not ikea. And when we do this, we overcome numbness and feeling stuck and replace it with creative flow, and freshness. Flirting is about freshness, about putting flowers on our wall even though we know they will wilt. Freshness reminds us that we must allow for constant evolution and change in our lives. We wish to hold onto our inspired, high on life states once we have them, but they must be constantly refreshed.
This episode speaks to the way that presence itself is a sensual thing, it’s what allows us to connect to the natural magnetism that exists in everything. Let’s talk rituals, solo-dates, exploration and reconnecting with the magic of life.
Substack I mention: How to flirt with your life by Le Secret Club
Poem by Victoria Hutchins from MAKE BELIEVE
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
01:00 romantic.
03:50 substack: flirt with life.
07:00 dating myself changed my creative outlet
08:00 ornate vs ikea
12:30 newness vs freshness
14:15 pain is caused by a lack of love
15:15 the grass is already under your feet
16:30 presence is a sensual thing
18:30 it’s either gorgeous or devastating - Victoria Hutchins
20:50 moods are internal weather patterns
22:00 entropy, Gene Keys
24:00 vacuum state: black hole to white hole
26:30 list of ways to flirt with life
29:30 my inspiration bath ritual
32:00 change lighting & levels of energy
34:30 eating slower & savoring
37:00 TEND - ayurvedic guidance
39:30 other ways to flirt with your life
42:00 musical poetry on creative urge
Fri, 01 May 2026 - 46min - 233 - the thrill of getting over embarrassment: from awkward to confident teaching yoga & everything else
5 steps to let go of your embarrassment whether that’s in life, teaching yoga, or creating. Let’s talk embarrassment, fear, perfectionism, how to be confident, self-compassion, awkward people, self-conscious people, and why highly embarrassed people are also often highly judgmental people. Public speaking is a major part of teaching yoga, so let’s dissect in thrilling detail how we can confidently share what we know.
“The minute that we stop overstating our own self-importance, the embarrassment and tightness of trying to uphold some image of yourself, starts to fade away.”
Included: Gene key 26 by Richard Rudd: moving from pride to artfulness to invisibility.
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Join YogaTrade Council & take workshops with me (Try it free) And check out jobs on https://yogatrade.com/ (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
TEND spring sale code for 25% off: SPRING25
Gene keys profile I mention: https://genekeys.com/free-profile/
Adam Sandler interview with David Letterman: https://www.netflix.com/title/82014002
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
01:00 tulip story
06:30 Myke Towers tomato face embarrassment
10:00 confidence teaching yoga
12:00 don’t “just jump”
13:00 your best is not good enough yet
15:00 the art of getting over embarrassment
16:15 freestyle sponsors:
18:50 OfferingTree
20:25 Yoga Trade
22:30 TEND
24:30 5 steps to overcome embarrassment
26:00 Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff
30:30 defense vs offense in embarrassment
34:00 step 1: be seen as dumb
36:30 Adam Sandler and David Letterman
42:00 judgmental people
43:50 step 2: play with contrast
48:00 step 3: face physical fear
49:00 teaching yoga embarrassing stories
55:00 pre-teaching tangible action to take
56:30 step 4: stop restraining yourself
59:00 decisiveness
1:02:00 step 5: turn pride into art, and become invisible
1:06:00 artfulness quote
1:11:00 invisible, why do we want to disappear
1:12:45 when you make yourself self-important
1:15:00 you don’t need a life ring
Fri, 24 Apr 2026 - 1h 17min - 232 - time-traveling self-love & light after anxiety: “immersive special” for creators
This is an immersive special episode, brought to life with music and sound effects. Listen for spoken word and storytelling written by me, Shawna Krueger, on the nature of time and anxiety, sending love to past versions of yourself, healing your past, finding hope in mental health darkness, and finding a way to create and show up as a creator for social media, or as an artist despite your own suffering.
Today you will learn how to send prayers to YOURSELF, forward and backwards, and I will warn you, this episode is a little bit like the rabbit hole of the red pill in the Matrix. You can listen to it with eyes closed like a guided meditation visualization if you want. Today I tell you my story, from agony to greatness, from sadness to success in a raw, vulnerable way. But this is what my heart felt called to do, this is what I wrote, so here we go.
Inspired by Richard Rudd and the Gene Keys, and Zach Bush.
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Join YogaTrade Council & take workshops with me (Try it free) And check out jobs on https://yogatrade.com/ (My sponsor)
time stamps:
00:00 intro
05:47 start of immersive special
09:00 dear past self
11:27 into the darkness
14:46 climbing out of the hole
17:46 love letters to your past self across time
22:38 when no one is listening vs thousands are listening
25:08 your dream come true feels like this
28:00 versions of yourself that got you here
33:00 witness your past self fully
37:01 a ripple in time: the nature of time
40:40 how to get out of the insects of the mind
45:00 inspiration is actually you, speaking to yourself
Fri, 17 Apr 2026 - 48min - 231 - Ashish Arora on Teaching Yoga in the West and Honoring Yoga’s Roots
Ashish Arora is a yoga teacher based in Seattle, Washington, originally from Delhi, India, and currently leading teacher trainings and retreats around the world. In this episode we delve into the art of teaching, what tradition actually means in the context of yoga, yoga philosophy, and navigating cultural appropriation as a yoga teacher. Ashish also shares tips for remembering your students' names and finding your teachers. If you're a yoga teacher thinking deeply about why you teach, where the practice comes from, or how to bring more joy into the practice, this episode is for you!
Find Ashish on Instagram: @ashishyoga
Listen to the previous episode with Ashish
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
30-day trial: Join Yoga Trade Council & take workshops with me
(my sponsor) Get a job teaching yoga abroad? https://yogatrade.com/
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
01:40 OfferingTree
3:41 presence while teaching
5:33 tips for remembering your students’ names
10:06 growing up in India
15:01 laughter breathwork
17:11 the vastness of yoga
19:20 peacock pose & joy
23:45 finding your teachers
28:16 tradition in yoga
37:40 breath & energy
42:22 what is your definition of a yogi?
46:32 cultural-appropriation in yoga
55:57 what is our responsibility as yoga teachers?
59:55 rapid fire questions
01:03:17 billboard question
Wed, 15 Apr 2026 - 1h 05min - 230 - my story: starting a podcast that changed my life & the years you didn’t see, that built everything
I started a top 5% Spotify video podcast without being an influencer, and the years that you didn't see, built everything. Truthfully, I feel like I'm just getting started, but when I pause, I see that I have come a long way! This podcast is my "true north" and the reason I wake up and get to "work" writing, interviewing and creating every day. I believe in the power of inspiration, especially in times like these. I wanted to tell my full story, for those who are asking. I hope you feel inspired to think about telling (and creating) your OWN story, whatever it may be. I believe in you. :) And thanks for being part of the Leadership and Yoga fam.
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Fri, 10 Apr 2026 - 1h 27min - 229 - Londrelle on Where Music Meets God and Yoga
Londrelle shows us how spiritual practice becomes music that heals the world. Welcome to the inner workings of Londrelle’s songs, his creative process, and how he shares what he knows with the world. His music is communion with God, and he follows the Bhagavad Gita as instruction for everything he creates. Let’s talk about his spiritual practice and how it has made him the artist we know today: from maha mudra, kriya yoga and meditation to making music that elevates our vibration. Londrelle brings words of wisdom for us on how we can make an impact in the world, and also how we can make it through our own dark nights of the soul as he shares his own story from birth to present day.
“Spiritual practice helps us tune into our gifts and abilities, they make us more open and less tense about what we do, so that we can go with the flow of that greater consciousness and intelligence that is always there.” -Londrelle
“God for me is not something that you can put your finger on it, but you can't miss it. Everywhere you go, everywhere you turn, there is the presence of the most high God.” -Londrelle
Londrelle’s mindfulness app: Eternal Sunshine
Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Join YogaTrade Council & take workshops with me (Try it free) And check out jobs on https://yogatrade.com/ (My sponsor)
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Time stamps:
00:00 this is Londrelle!!
01:00 Yoga Trade
02:00 OfferingTree
03:10 join the podcast?
05:00 yoga connection
07:30 Bhagavad Gita as instruction for music
09:00 how Londrelle writes songs like Gratitude
10:15 more meditative than creative
11:45 when a song arrives, no sleep or pause, until it’s complete
14:30 if they can see it in you, they can see it in themselves
16:45 God: when you close your eyes and think of God..
18:00 Protest and activism: Police brutality
20:00 setting out to serve, you open yourself to universal intelligence
24:00 music is broadcasted to the world & shapes culture
27:00 growing up: no space to dream, only survive
31:10 Londrelle’s story from birth
33:45 studying the divine you see your own true nature & importance
35:10 Londrelle’s teachers/influences
39:00 religion & spirituality are the same, two expressions of the same truth
41:00 virgos! both Londrelle and Shawna are virgos.
45:00 dark nights of the soul & initiations
46:00 death experience
49:30 tests following
53:00 can’t escape yourself. wherever you go, there you are
55:00 artist journey: becoming the Londrelle that we know today
57:50 music is a science
59:00 Londrelle’s spiritual practices: maha Mudra, kriya yoga & meditation
1:01:43 be less tense & tune into our gifts
1:02:00 is there yoga in your music?
1:04:00 supporting people going through darkness with our art
1:05:09 winter in life
1:08:00 self-acceptance
1:11:00 impact in the outer world and introspection
1:12:50 this world is not meant to be heaven
1:14:00 the world as a projection of yourself
1:15:58 yoga’s role in addressing suffering of the world
1:18:00 yoga is the process of opening ourselves
1:19:00 how can we keep our dreams alive (song discussion)
1:21:00 doing music for 25 years: dreams are seeds
1:23:00 how to dream: look to serve
1:25:00 billboard message: stay free!
Wed, 08 Apr 2026 - 1h 27min - 228 - 8-minute motivational spoken word: architecture of moonshot dreams
FOR CONTEXT, SEE THE FULL EPISODE. This is the musical poetry, quick taste of my episode on the architecture of a moonshot dream coming true.It also is a standalone piece to get you thinking about your dreams and how to move towards them.
Is it spring for the tree of your dreams stop trying to hold your life together with glue, and start giving your attention to what you actually want to grow.
(In the style of my immersive special episodes... )
Fri, 03 Apr 2026 - 08min - 227 - architecture of a moonshot dream coming true
This is the architecture of a moonshot idea coming true (a transmission, not a list.) Let’s talk about how improbable dreams become reality. Blending mindset, spirituality, yoga philosophy, and personal storytelling, this episode explores manifestation, self-belief, identity shifts, intuition, and the energetic process of becoming. Perfect for listeners interested in personal growth, spiritual development, leadership, and conscious living, this is a reflective, poetic transmission designed to expand your perspective and reconnect you with your power.
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Join YogaTrade Council & take workshops with me (Try it free) And check out jobs on https://yogatrade.com/
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
01:00 poetic
03:00 what restored my faith in myself
09:50 Yoga Trade
13:07 definition of moonshot
16:00 why architecture
18:45 the mountain
20:00 the improbable bus story
27:00 event horizon discomfort
33:00 the moment you KNEW
35:00 living as that version of you
41:00 how do we change beliefs
44:00 the better we are at being patient, the less we need it
49:00 being that brings opportunities
55:00 musical poetry: tree of your dreams
Fri, 03 Apr 2026 - 1h 03min - 226 - Kirby Gordon on Teaching Yoga Around the World, Hosting Retreats, and Building Confidence as a Yoga Teacher
Kirby Gordon is a yoga teacher based in Austin, Texas and hosting retreats around the world. In this episode we talk about nomadic teaching, building confidence and decisiveness as a teacher, and advice on hosting your first retreat. Kirby also shares tips for teaching yoga and finding your people. If you're a yoga teacher looking to travel, are ready for your next adventure or to take that next step, this episode is for you!
Kirby’s Website: https://www.kirbyyoga.com
Find Kirby on Instagram: @kirbygordon
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
30-day trial: Join Yoga Trade Council & take workshops with me
(my sponsor) Get a job teaching yoga abroad? https://yogatrade.com/
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
01:39 OfferingTree & TEND
05:09 nomadic teaching
13:00 decisiveness & confidence
19:03 finding your people
26:18 traveling after teacher training
31:05 consistency in yoga practice
34:35 the importance of yoga retreats
39:20 hosting your first yoga retreat
44:32 leave your students with something they can take with them
48:00 what makes an exceptional yoga class?
51:32 rapid fire questions
52:36 billboard question
Wed, 01 Apr 2026 - 54min - 225 - for the underdogs
Hey fellow underdog. Did you know that the world loves an underdog? Let’s talk about why, and what that means for you. If you feel stuck, behind, or like an underdog in your life, business, or creative path, this episode will show you how to turn that struggle into your greatest advantage. We break down the underdog mindset, the biggest mistakes keeping you stuck (like comparison, shiny object syndrome, and self-doubt), and practical steps to build momentum, confidence, and long-term success as a creator, yoga teacher, or entrepreneur. Whether you're growing a podcast, building a brand, or chasing a dream, this episode is your roadmap to stop feeling behind and start winning.
It’s a 3-part episode:
1. Reasons being an underdog is a blessing. 2. Major underdog mistakes that will keep you flailing, stuck and hopeless.
3. Instructions for living as an underdog. (For now. Because this is just an era.)
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Join YogaTrade Council & take workshops with me (Try it free) And check out jobs on https://yogatrade.com/
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
04:28 3 part episode
08:30 Yoga Trade
10:00 OfferingTree
12:00 join the podcast!
13:55 PART 1: underdog blessings
17:50 nothing to lose
22:18 days of “trying” train you
26:00 you don’t want a one hit wonder
30:50 the danger of starting when things are easy
33:55 PART 2: underdog mistakes
36:20 envy
38:20 blindly leaping on a shiny object
41:00 not looking at what you create critically
45:40 “this is my only chance”
47:50 judging yourself too soon
49:20 expert positioning when you’re not
51:15 PART 3: underdog instructions
Fri, 27 Mar 2026 - 1h 05min - 224 - Yoga Teacher Roundtable
In this yoga teacher roundtable, yoga teachers from around the world share stories from teaching and practicing yoga: their "goosebump moments," unexpected lessons, synchronicities, and their very own billboard messages. See the link below if you're a yoga teacher and would like to participate in the next roundtable!
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Thank you so much to the participating yoga teachers! Links to connect with them:
Chelsea Forte: @fortechelsea, https://www.embodiedsoul.art/
David Marquez Hincapie: @Davidinbalance
Aakash Shah: @djkash_official
David William Pearce: @davidwilliampearce, https://sexprayers.online/davidwilliampearce
Izzy Martens: @yoga.humans, yogahumans.substack.com
Rachel Larsen: @racheology, rachellarsenyoga.com
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
30-day trial: Join Yoga Trade Council & take workshops with me(my sponsor)
Get a job teaching yoga abroad? https://yogatrade.com/
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
01:46 yoga trade
02:57 mini-lesson from art (TEND)
05:04 cueing 108 sun salutations (rachel)
7:48 you never know what someone’s going through (david marquez hincapie)
10:02 full circle: from the first class to teaching (izzy)
13:28 learning to slow down & find stillness (aakash)
16:57 synchronicities (chelsea)
21:03 finding yoga community & a magical savasana (david william pearce)
26:48 izzy marten’s billboard message
29:39 rachel larsen’s billboard message
31:16 chelsea forte’s billboard message
33:26 aakash shah’s billboard message
34:27 david marquez hincapie’s billboard message
36:45 david william pearce’s billboard message
39:32 closing
Wed, 25 Mar 2026 - 45min - 223 - yoga & politics: bad leaders, spiritual bypassing, & good activism as a yogi
So much of the wellness world has become busy work to keep up from focusing on the bigger problems in the world. But our own selfish pursuits don’t bring happiness anyways. So can we take more accountability for what’s happening around us?
In a season of world politics and wars that feels like spiritual wintertime, let’s talk about ignorance and neutrality vs standing up, jumping to conclusions vs thinking for yourself, and how we can stay informed while not losing our power and sanity.
Who is the bad leader? Is it them, “up there?” Is it you? Is it me? Let’s find out. Today’s episode is a combination of poetic interpretations of the current state of events and its effect on our state of being.
My substack piece mentioned “What’s going on up there”
Piece by Jeff Foster “Behind the Curtain”
Video about meditation mentioned
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
03:30 the mental whirlwind of being in a season of winter
06:00 who this episode is for
07:30 my turn to answer: can yoga change the world?
9:30 OfferingTree
11:00 my story: burnt out on news
15:58 we create what we consume, but that doesn’t mean..
17:23 what does this have to do with yoga?
22:00 2 steps for better democracy
25:20 beliefs are tea steeping in your water
26:30 desire to “belong” to a group
28:00 being a real activist means
31:30 the 3rd option
36:00 when is it enough?
40:00 survival mode does not gift the privilege of contemplating
43:50 news
48:50 bad leaders characteristics
50:00 just trying to get through the week
51:20 Jeff Foster “I saw behind the curtain”
56:00 spiritual bypassing
59:30 “it’s all divine plan”
1:00:00 take accountability, you are not a hamster
1:05:00 how to make real change
Fri, 20 Mar 2026 - 1h 12min - 222 - DJ Taz on Music, Energy & the Power of Your Yoga Playlist
DJ Taz Rashid is a DJ and music producer creating music with a deeper mission to awaken, uplift, and empower humanity with music. His work lives in yoga, breathwork, dance and wellness spaces around the world, and you’ve likely already heard some of his tracks in a yoga class or added them to a playlist of your own. In this episode, we explore the power of music, how a carefully curated playlist can completely shift the energy of a yoga class, the practice of creating with intention, and more.
Find DJ Taz on instagram @djtazrashid
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
30-day trial: Join Yoga Trade Council & take workshops with me
(my sponsor) Get a job teaching yoga abroad? https://yogatrade.com/
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
1:31 yoga trade
2:43 offering tree
4:00 TEND & mini-lesson from Art
08:20 starting to create music with intention
14:38 expectations in the creative process
16:43 music is energy and emotion
19:55 music is a powerful portal
24:17 the mission to awaken & empower humanity with music
26:49 study your own story
30:15 did you ever doubt your music path?
37:54 creating with intention
41:17 consistency & finding a focus
45:50 understanding music as a yoga teacher
48:21 tips for yoga teachers on making an intentional playlist
50:12 yoga classes without music
52:30 festivals
57:20 collaborating in art
01:01:17 current inspirations?
01:06:01 getting aligned then taking action
01:09:31 rapid fire questions
01:10:44 billboard question
Wed, 18 Mar 2026 - 1h 13min - 221 - stop feeling stuck: 3 step life reset to get your momentum back
Here’s me telling the truth about how stuck I’ve felt over the last 4 months and what finally set me free. Feeling stuck, living at home, my parents are selling the house that raised me, and all our excuses. We paint reasons in our minds about “why we are stuck” or “why now isn’t a time that I am capable of breaking a cycle.” Which is NOT TRUE. Today is the day you get UNSTUCK: motivation with a side of humor and funny stories. What’s the point if literally everything we do makes us stressed and negative? Let’s talk about how to experience true JOY. Being stuck is the grey area in which you are holding some part of yourself back, not fully allowing yourself to feel or see what is right in front of you.
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
30-day trial: Join YogaTrade Council & take workshops with me
(March 13th - “Find Your Voice part 1” w/Shawna live, my sponsor)
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Substack I mention on feeling stuck by scarcity and lack
time stamps:
00:00 intro
03:00 you cannot wait on anything external
05:50 indecisiveness
07:00 revealing my earnings on substack
09:30 i woke up “paralyzed” physically
12:20 slipping back into my old self
16:50 yoga trade!! find your voice workshop with
19:00 number 1: how much room for the unknown do you have?
21:00 toxic algae
23:30 how i unstuck myself
25:30 joy, actual JOY. experience it.
26:35 number 2: what are you not seeing?
28:30 a total fail
33:00 hoping and wishing implies that you DON’T have it
34:20 gratitude, what it means really
38:00 musical send off :)
Fri, 13 Mar 2026 - 41min - 220 - Jarrett Green on Mindfulness in Leadership, Stress Resilience, & Yoga Beyond Asana
In this conversation, Jarrett Green, lecturer in law at USC Law School and internationally recognized well-being, stress resilience, and peak performance consultant, shares how mindfulness and yoga extend far beyond the mat and into the world of leadership. Working with major law firms and Fortune 500 companies through NBK Consultancy, Jarrett helps individuals and organizations lead with intention. In this conversation, we explore his journey from practicing law to teaching the “yoga of the mind.” Whether you lead a team, a company, yoga classes, or yourself, this episode invites a reframing of yoga as an internal practice. This conversation offers an expansive view of both yoga and leadership.
Jarrett’s book recommendation, “Loving What Is” by Byron Katie
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Wed, 11 Mar 2026 - 47min - 219 - the dragonfly's dream: your transformation, an immersive special experience
Through breath, visualization, musical poetry and storytelling, I guide you through a meditation for personal transformation: the dragonfly’s dream. If you’re feeling called toward something new, questioning your direction, or experiencing a period of growth in your life, this immersive special / meditation episode is an invitation to reconnect with your energy. You are the dragonfly.
Everything I’ve learned from Richard Rudd of the Gene Keys, Frederick Dodson of Levels of Energy and Parallel Universes of Self, and even some Dr. Joe Dispenza. And from endless hours of contemplating consciousness and who I am, really.
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
30-day trial: Join Yoga Trade Council & take workshops with me
https://community.yogatrade.com/leadership
(March 13th - “Find Your Voice part 1” w/Shawna live, my sponsor)
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
time stamps:
00:00 intro
01:50 back story: from scribbles
04:10 gene keys 55 (not 22!)
05:15 monkey story
07:05 yoga trade!!!!
10:20 creating is a massive driver of joy
13:15 dharma style sun salutations and writing
16:37 it matters, even when you don’t feel like it does
19:00 the guided experience START
Fri, 06 Mar 2026 - 43min - 218 - The Future of Yoga: Power, Governance & Education for Yoga Teachers with Andrew Tanner, CEO of the American Yoga Council
“Yoga doesn’t need governance, it needs leadership.” American Yoga Council is like LinkedIn for Yoga and Ancestry.com for lineage, an alternative to Yoga Alliance. We talk the whole yoga ecosystem: power, money, education, technology, ethics, and impact. Can we step away from 200 hour teacher trainings?? A yoga retirement plan? What does the future of yoga and teaching yoga look like?
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Join American Yoga Council FREE or Code “SHAWNA” for 15% off first year of premium & pro membership
Andrew’s Berkshire yoga festival:
https://www.berkshireyogafestival.com/
AYC on instagram: @americanyogacouncil
Andrew on instagram: @andrewtanneryoga
time stamps:
00:00 intro
01:20 OfferingTree
04:45 yoga ecosystem: power, money, education, technology, ethics, and impact
05:45 yoga teachers’ future is bright despite ai
09:15 the future of leadership is inner power, yoga in leadership
11:45 what is American Yoga Council
13:15 like LinkedIn for Yoga and Ancestry.com for lineage
17:45 why are so many teachers i know part of AYC?
19:15 wonderful people FIRST, first who, then what thing/money.
20:45 Andrew’s journey working at Yoga Alliance
26:45 no more 200 hour trainings?
29:35 Andrew’s story of power dynamics and experiencing a cult
30:35 how to know if you’re in a cult
39:15 putting out candles from across the room
43:15 leadership roles
48:45 money and greed in yoga
52:15 retirement fund for yoga teachers?
56:45 why can you tell me what i can and can’t teach?
1:02:45 how does AYC avoid falling in the same trap
1:06:15 anti yoga: instagram. yoga is attention.
1:09:15 a leader must have a mission
1:14:30 billboard message
Wed, 04 Mar 2026 - 1h 18min - 217 - Maria Mir on Imagination, Reality Creation & Manifestation
My typical Friday bedside chat episode has a special guest today: Maria Mir! Maria is a long-time listener of the Leadership and Yoga podcast who joined my last retreat in Costa Rica. I was thrilled to discover her work, the Pensando Nada podcast many months ago, and to meet her in person. Maria teaches us about Reality Creation and is from Argentina.
Today we talk about what is ACTUALLY possible for us, beyond what we may allow ourselves to believe. We talk imagination, manifestation, law of attraction, levels of energy, consciousness, creating our realities and bts of our time together in Costa Rica.
Find Maria on instagram - @pensando.nada
Maria's podcast - Pensando Nada
Maria’s website: https://30-dias.com/terapiaderedes
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
GIVEAWAY: 1 YEAR OF OFFERINGTREE. Enter here by March 5th.
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
00:00 intro
01:24 free year giveaway!! OfferingTree
03:05 my trusted guide: TEND
04:30 animation
07:00 your podcast was a reflection of what was possible for me
10:00 Maria’s story
14:45 dopamine & creative consistency
16:30 Maria’s creative process
17:45 creating content for social media growth journey
20:30 how to step into new realities of ourselves & manifestation
25:00 finding your true mission
27:30 stability is an illusion
29:45 jealousy and worry from friends when you step into a new version of yourself
33:00 imagination
38:30 exceptional leader
40:00 billboard message: you are so powerful that if you think you’re not, you’re not
Fri, 27 Feb 2026 - 41min - 216 - Lana Wedmore on Yoga, Mother Earth & the Changing Consciousness of the World
Lana Wedmore tells us that yoga and nature are more alike than we realize. She has hosted presidents of Costa Rica in her lodge, and fights for systemic change, but she also teaches yoga and helps heal individuals. She speaks to the animals and teaches us how to see the subtle realms of nature we may be missing, and what happens when we are reconnected with them. “The longest journey you will ever take is the six inches: from your head to your heart.” This episode is a powerful reminder that when you do the thing you’re called to do, you don’t just change your own life, you help change the world.
Lana’s Whitehawk Foundation:
https://www.whitehawkfoundation.org/
Visit Luna Lodge
Join Lana and Tommy’s retreat: https://www.wetravel.com/trips/we-are-rising-lana-and-tommy-7812198380
Find Lana on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lana_wedmore/
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
GIVEAWAY: 1 YEAR OF OFFERINGTREE. Enter here by March 5th.
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Time stamps:
00:00 tour of Lana’s house
01:34 my sponsors, check them out!
04:18 who is Lana?
09:13 cacao toast
11:15 yoga & nature have in common
15:00 fear of spiders: universe doesn’t understand “no”
18:00 46 years earlier… Costa Rica story
23:00 responsibility is freedom
25:40 ashtanga yoga, yoga saved Lana
28:40 do the thing, and you will have the power
31:15 how to breathe
34:30 mother earth wants to give you something
37:50 triumph is try with umph
43:00 gratitude and feeling enough - really.
44:30 everything is reaching for the light
47:00 plant meditation
49:40 humans, what are we really?
51:30 the world is changing, consciousness is changing
53:00 shaking hands with presidents
59:20 president of costa rica coming to luna lodge, Lana’s lodge
1:06:00 political leaders - getting through to them
1:08:00 leaders: look people in the eye
1:10:00 feel good in your body
1:13:50 “buy this land” whitehawk foundation
1:16:00 are you sure? yes I am.
1:18:00 a Lana in every town?
1:19:00 billboard message: ongest journey is 6 inches from your head to your heart
Wed, 25 Feb 2026 - 1h 24min - 215 - find your thread of success & turn it into a rope
This episode is for you if you haven’t started and don’t know how to spend your time to find the success you long for.
In this intimate solo episode, I share the truth about finding my first “thread” of success in my mission, business, life, my podcast, and social media. It’s about finding that small, almost fragile feeling of something finally working, and how I learned to turn that single thread into real momentum.
I talk about the lessons I wish I knew three years ago: why trying something 20 times matters more than chasing trends, how I learned to notice patterns without obsessing over perfection, and why my goals have to be close enough to touch. I break down the difference between meaningful creation and shiny-object noise, the power of setting specific focus time, and the art of resting deeply so the next idea can rise to the surface.
Try OfferingTree for free, plus take advantage of the winter sale with my link here. (My sponsor)
TEND ayurvedic self-care - 1st giveaway will be announced 12/14 on instagram! (My sponsor)
Follow me on instagram:
Own a copy of the guided journal I created. Buy one, get one free, or get a copy for the whole family, 5 for $75.
https://www.ritualofwritingjournal.com/
Monthly newsletter:
https://www.shawnakru.com/mailinglist
Time stamps:
00:00 Intro
03:15 Finding Your Thread of Success
10:16 Major Growth Takeaways
20:28 Overcoming Victim Mindset
24:26 Creating Meaningful Work
27:48 Trying 20 Times Pattern Recognition
33:31 Setting Realistic Goals
37:20 The Power of Presence and Meditation
48:10 Starting Over: Lessons Learned
Fri, 12 Dec 2025 - 55min - 214 - so you want to host a yoga retreat: 7 steps to get ready
So you want to host a yoga retreat. Behind every beautiful retreat is a human like you. A yoga teacher navigating money, nerves, imposter syndrome, leadership decisions, and pivots... so I have some yoga retreat planning tips for ya.
In this episode, I’m sharing the real story of hosting my last retreat, the shaky anxiety before it began, the moments where the experience didn’t match my expectations, the double-booked shala, the breakfast pivot, the unexpected abundance, and the leadership lessons that no one talks about.
This is more than “how to host a yoga retreat.” This is about the energetics of hosting, and some stories that will keep you company. :)
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
GIVEAWAY: 1 YEAR OF OFFERINGTREE. Enter here by March 5th.
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Join Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Time stamps
00:00 intro
03:00 bold! year of the firehorse
04:30 7 steps to getting ready to host your retreat
08:30 backstory
13:50 giveaway!! 1 year free of offeringtree
15:50 number 1 nothing to hide, nothing to prove
20:55 taxi driver wisdom, don’t fixate on pain
24:30 number 2 carving from edge to edge
31:00 100 points allocation theory
33:00 number 3 leading is recognizing talent in others
36:40 number 4 abundance and budgeting
38:50 money as appreciation
43:40 number 5 see the people
45:30 notes advice
48:20 scholarship programs
50:00 number 6 how to be decisive
51:00 my first time driving in latin america
54:50 number 7 on the other side of that dream
57:00 regret & the magic gardener
Fri, 20 Feb 2026 - 1h 01min - 213 - Carling Harps on Yoga Community, Collective Liberation & Joyful Movement
In this episode, Carling Harps shares her journey through 15 years of teaching yoga and how her practice has evolved over time. She reflects on cueing, identity, accessibility, and learning to trust the different seasons of practice. Carling speaks to the importance of yoga community, joy and play in a movement practice, and why there is no self-liberation without collective liberation.
Carling’s Instagram:@carlingnicole
Find Shawna on instagram:@shawnakru
GIVEAWAY: 1 YEAR OF OFFERINGTREE. Enter here by March 5th.
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND(My sponsor)
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
01:10 offering tree
04:02 when you think about yoga, what do you see?
06:25 consistency in yoga practice
08:00 trusting the different seasons of your practice
11:00 identity in yoga
12:25 the misconception that yoga will heal you
14:41 hyper-individualism in yoga
16:51 self-realization vs self-obsession
18:00 “there is no self-liberation without collective-liberation”
20:14 fostering yoga community
26:00 walking alongside your students
28:55 cueing, alignment, & injuries
36:38 diversifying your movement practice
40:36 weightlifting & energy
46:23 play & joy in movement as an adult
48:37 as yoga teachers, what is our responsibility to address what’s going on in the world?
52:27 do you think yoga can change the world?
56:10 both systemic change and individual change
01:00:00 yoga is political
01:02:22 expand your yoga worldview
01:08:00 billboard question
Wed, 18 Feb 2026 - 1h 10min - 212 - Rey Cardenas on Teaching Yoga in Rhythm: Astrology and Seasonal Practice
In this episode of Leadership and Yoga, I sit down with Rey Cardenas, Austin-based yoga teacher, and co-studio owner of Practice Yoga Austin, to explore what it means to teach yoga in rhythm with the seasons. We talk astrology in the yoga class, the relationship between the sun and our bodies,consciousness, Ayurveda and seasonal practice, burnout and sustainability for yoga teachers, and how presence, sound, and language shape a truly transformational yoga experience. Rey also shares insights from Rudolf Steiner, yoga therapy, and his philosophy on teaching yoga as a co-created experience rather than a performance.
Practice with Rey at Practice Yoga Austin:
https://practiceyogaaustin.com/
Yoga Therapy program:
https://practiceyogaaustin.com/yoga-teacher-training/practice-yoga-therapy-training/
Rey’s instagram: @reys.awareness
https://www.instagram.com/reys.awareness/
Rey on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@reysawareness
Find Shawna on instagram:
@shawnakru - https://www.instagram.com/shawnakru
Try OfferingTree for free with my linkhere(My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND https://www.tend.eco/collections/consultations
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list:
Time stamps:
00:00 Intro
03:53 Welcome back & why Rey’s teaching stands out
05:38 When astrology entered Rey’s yoga teaching
07:23 Scientific materialism, burnout, and losing rhythm
08:38 Rudolf Steiner, cultural ages, and the zodiac
10:38 Western vs Vedic astrology: personality vs karma
13:08 Why astrology belongs in a yoga class
14:48 Capricorn season, liminal time, and seasonal support
17:23 Teaching with the seasons instead of against them
19:58 Forward bends, backbends, and seasonal consciousness
21:58 Fall energy, overthinking, and teaching to what students feel
23:08 Introducing new ideas without alienating students
24:13 Going against trends and trusting your teaching path
26:58 Living and teaching yoga in rhythm at Practice Yoga Austin
27:59 Ayurveda and seasonal yoga practices
29:00 Summer vs winter yoga: heat, yin, and balance
30:08 The three gunas: tamas, rajas, and sattva
31:43 Cycles of life, injury, aging, and sustainable practice
34:38 Karma, grace, and trusting the unfolding path
36:28 Making mistakes before and after 35
39:28 Ascension, service, and responsibility on the spiritual path
43:18 What makes an exceptional yoga class
45:28 Presence, attention, and co-creating experience
48:33 Advanced cueing and anchoring awareness beyond the body
51:38 Sound, mantra, and the meaning behind language
54:28 Poetry, tone, and shaping the mood of a class
56:13 Mantra yoga, Sanskrit, and sound consciousness
58:13 Yoga therapy as “grad school for yoga”
1:00:13 Science, yoga therapy, and medical integration
1:03:13 Billboard question & Rey’s message to the world
Wed, 11 Feb 2026 - 1h 05min - 211 - nonsense episode
This episode is exactly what is sounds like. Me checking in, telling you some updates, like a little nonsensical voice note update from me to a friend (you, dear listener). Yet, this nonsense episode is oddly motivational and also somewhat historical if you've ever been curious about when I started teaching yoga and how I decided to host a retreat after only teaching for a year and why it actually worked.... and lead to me hosting my 5th (not 4th like I said in the pod) yoga retreat in Costa Rica right now, as we speak!
Find Shawna on instagram:
@shawnakru - https://www.instagram.com/shawnakru
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list:
Own a copy of the guided journal I created, code POD for $33.
https://www.ritualofwritingjournal.com/
Fri, 06 Feb 2026 - 09min - 210 - keep your dreams alive
"The only thing that matters with dreams is that you keep them alive." -Londrelle
Today, I take you on a journey of what it feels like to be seen as you chase your dreams, I show you all of my bad angles and "reasons" why I thought I wasn't good enough for my dreams, and why I was wrong.
Today's episode is fire: a fire of inspiration and a bit of a fire under your ass to go after those big, lofty ideas. But I also throw you a lifeline of tangible tips for staying organized like a to-do list HACK.
Find Shawna on instagram:
@shawnakru - https://www.instagram.com/shawnakru
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND - https://www.tend.eco/collections/consultations
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list:
Own a copy of the guided journal I created, code POD for $33.
https://www.ritualofwritingjournal.com/
Contributors: @iamcleer and @spiritualshores
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
01:20 let me show u all my bad angles
07:00 heartbreak of following dreams
10:50 know ur stories & OfferingTree trial
13:15 Londrelle on dreams
17:30 no good vibes only meditation
19:00 how to problem solve better
20:30 to-do list HACK
24:00 Ayurveda with TEND
25:450 magic vs logic
28:00 the mind of light - Richard Rudd
32:00 someone who makes things feel easy
34:00 David Swenson on energy to keep going
Fri, 30 Jan 2026 - 41min - 209 - Naoise Ni Bhroin on Teaching Yoga in Irish, Techno Yoga, and Community
In this episode, Naoise Ni Bhroin shares her journey into yoga and how teaching through the Irish language has become a way to connect people both to the practice of yoga and to cultural belonging. She reflects on the evolution of yoga in Ireland and growing confidence as a yoga teacher and leader. Naoise also discusses facilitating large yoga events, including Techno Yoga, the importance of ritual and community, and what it means to teach with authenticity and integrity.
Follow Naoise on Instagram: @yogalenaoise
Naoise’s Website: https://www.yogalenaoise.com/
Find Shawna on instagram:
Shawna’s website: https://www.shawnakru.com/
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first yearwith my link here:https://www.offeringtree.com/shawnakru?utm_source=leadership-and-yoga&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=partner-discount (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND -https://www.tend.eco/collections/consultations
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
01:13 offering tree and TEND
07:06 how did you find yoga?
09:25 naoise’s first yoga teacher
10:53 the yoga scene in Ireland
12:00 the Irish language
17:19 teaching yoga in Irish
19:46 how did it feel to teach your first yoga class?
23:13 how has your perspective on teaching yoga evolved over time?
24:26 public speaking & confidence as a yoga teacher
27:40 hosting yoga events and techno yoga
31:53: how do you bring your dreams to life?
35:03 finding aligned community
38:21 grounding rituals before teaching a yoga class/event
40:00 teaching on off days
46:10 connecting people with the Irish language
48:47 yoga is a practice of self-awareness and interconnection
50:12 what makes an exceptional yoga teacher?
51:47 billboard question
Wed, 28 Jan 2026 - 53min - 208 - Yoga Teacher Roundtable
In this roundtable episode, yoga teachers from around the country gather to reflect on how yoga has shaped their lives and how yoga can shape the world. Through honest stories of grief, connection, and presence, they share insights on how the practice of yoga can help us connect with ourselves, our communities, and create a ripple effect that extends into our lives and the lives of our students.
Thank you to the participating yoga teachers:
Ally Braxton
@allybraxton
Ally Braxton on Facebook
Denisse Aimar
@denisse.aimar
Hannah Winokur
@hannypack
Jen Armistead
@yogaendeavour
yogaendeavour.com
Dr. Meredith Calvert
@meriyogasf
meriyoga.com
wildcalmretreats.com
Dr. Meredith's Podcast "Calm With Me"
Victoria Luciana
@__victorialuciana
Do you want to join the next Yoga Teacher Roundtable episode? Join the waitlist here: https://www.shawnakru.com/yoga-teacher-roundtable
Find Shawna on instagram: @shawnakru -https://www.instagram.com/shawnakru
Shawna’s website: https://www.shawnakru.com/
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first yearwith my link here:https://www.offeringtree.com/shawnakru?utm_source=leadership-and-yoga&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=partner-discount (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND -https://www.tend.eco/collections/consultations
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
02:09 how did yoga change your life?
06:32 “yoga allowed me to save myself”
08:47 yoga practice during grief
13:00 how can yoga change the world?
15:54 presence and movement over fear
20:25 sharing the wisdom of yoga creates a ripple effect
25:10 “yoga enables you to be your own home”
27:57 developing a lens of compassion and kindness
30:40 start by being honest with yourself on the mat
32:16 billboard messages
40:13 closing
Fri, 23 Jan 2026 - 41min - 207 - Ty Watson on Attention, Language, and Teaching Yoga
Today’s episode is with Paris-based yoga teacher and writer Ty Watson. We dive into teaching yoga, creativity, and the art of observation, exploring how attention and discernment shape the way we lead and guide our students. Ty also shares his thoughts on the magic of language and how the words we choose can transform a class. This episode is for yoga teachers and creators interested in language, creativity, and how mindful attention shapes the way we teach, learn, and lead.
Ty Watson’s website: https://www.tywatsonyoga.com
Ty’s Instagram:
@tywtsn - https://www.instagram.com/tywtsn/?hl=en
Find Shawna on instagram:
@shawnakru -https://www.instagram.com/shawnakru
Shawna’s website: https://www.shawnakru.com/
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first yearwith my link here:https://www.offeringtree.com/shawnakru?utm_source=leadership-and-yoga&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=partner-discount (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND -https://www.tend.eco/collections/consultations
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
03:29 moving from new york to paris
06:13 how did you find yoga?
10:31 the magic of language: words as spells
12:21 paying attention to detail
13:44 the practice of being observant as a yoga teacher
17:57 discernment & the creative process
20:33 your body is the container for your psychology
24:44 what matters is the story you’re telling yourself
26:37 time, technique, & repetition
29:41 how do you choose what information deserves your attention?
33:23 what makes an exceptional yoga class for you?
39:53 there’s always a way to change your angle
42:44 morning routine
50:37 yoga is really about the mind
51:47 your practice should keep you in reverence for what is happening around you
52:56 billboard question
Wed, 21 Jan 2026 - 54min - 206 - from small creator to 10K: real instagram growth lessons for yoga teachers & artists on social media
A 3-part episode: my 10k story on instagram, what works vs. what doesn’t, and case studies from yoga teachers with over 10k followers. This is the deep, real-talk coffee chat on social media I wish I could have had with myself 3 years ago. Tune in for case studies from my own story of growing as a small creator on instagram to 10k followers, along with case studies from 4 of my yoga teacher & creator friends.
Find Shawna on instagram: @shawnakru
Enter for free social media mentorship with Kimi’s Soulcials program!
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list:
Own a copy of the guided journal I created, code POD for $33.
https://www.ritualofwritingjournal.com/
My friends that I mention: @kimiahajian @benkalra @marlasyoga @brandonberg_
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
01:30 social media series
04:45 the beauty of my slow growth is that i could document it for you
06:15 the size of the platform matches your mission
08:30 3 part episode agenda
11:30 my 10k social media story
12:40 the 2nd puberty online
19:30 the year i hit my goals & how
24:30 the real thing you need to learn
25:35 what worked
27:58 what Victoria Hutchins taught me about being an artist
29:00 audience matching
35:00 mission & moral ambition
37:58 build something cool
38:40 what doesn’t work
45:50 10k+ teachers case studies: Kimi
47:45 message from Kimi - Soulcials mentorship
56:00 how long did it take for you to blow up? case studies.
Fri, 16 Jan 2026 - 1h 04min - 205 - Frederick Dodson on Levels of Energy, Parallel Universes of Self, Consciousness & Reality Creation
Today, I sat down with consciousness researcher and author Frederick Dodson to explore the idea that changed how I see everything: levels of energy. From what energy actually is and how it shows up in us, our relationships, places, and even world events, to why we get stuck, why anger can sometimes be useful, and why manifestation is often misunderstood, we unpack the full spectrum, from the lowest states of blame and victimhood to higher levels of love, humor and bliss. We talk about like attracting like, parallel universes of self, healing, belief, and what it really means to raise consciousness. Fred shares stories from his childhood, pieces of the mission he is on here on earth, his views on infinity, leadership, and humanity’s future. Listen to feel empowered, and at the same time, to take life a little less seriously.
Fred’s website & Higher Realms live seminar August 2026, Italy
https://www.realitycreation.org/
Find Shawna on instagram:
@shawnakru - https://www.instagram.com/shawnakru
Shawna’s website:
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here: https://www.offeringtree.com/shawnakru?utm_source=leadership-and-yoga&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=partner-discount (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND - https://www.tend.eco/collections/consultations
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
01:00 L&Y fam
04:40 levels of energy
08:59 what is energy really
12:30 the scale & categories of consciousness
15:30 anger can be good: relativity
18:40 writing a highly offensive book
20:30 stuck? Why?
23:30 like attracts like, broken window energy field
25:14 every step on the scale requires a new kind of energy
26:30 sincerity & devotion will get you there
27:35 manifestation is watered down
28:45 highest energies to lowest energies
34:30 freeing yourself
38:40 relationships and influence
44:30 infinity: context to take life less seriously
47:40 meaning of life: training
49:00 Fred’s childhood of otherworldly experiences
59:30 Mission
1:00:00 beings of other worlds and levels
1:06:00 spillover effect, parallel universes of self
1:11:00 how to really believe something new
1:16:30 entering parallel universes
1:18:00 healing: invented pain vs manifested pain
1:21:00 leadership: the making of an exceptional leader
1:23:00 rapid fire & billboard
Wed, 14 Jan 2026 - 1h 27min - 204 - part 2 / mysteriously, things fall into place
Part two of an episode on how things mysteriously fall into place. From insane to mundane synchronicities… This is for anyone who wants to feel connected to the heartbeat of life.
Inspired from a moment in an interview I did with Sri Dharma Mittra, I sat down to contemplate my life over coffee as I do most mornings. But on this particular morning, everything I’ve learned from Richard Rudd of the Gene Keys, Frederick Dodson of Levels of Energy and Parallel Universes of self, and even some Dr. Joe Dispenza organized itself in my head in a new way. The result is the “thought experience” I prepared for you in part one of this episode, and today’s spontaneous explanation of “how” to live connected to the magic of it all.
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Fri, 09 Jan 2026 - 57min - 203 - Jonah Kest on Yoga, Community and Conscious Leadership
Today on the Leadership and Yoga podcast, Jonah Kest!! Let's talk leadership, creativity, and modern yoga with one of the most well-known and influential yoga teachers of our time. We talk building community in yoga, what it’s really like to meditate, and how life feels when we surrender.
I also ask him to give his thoughts on the evolution of yoga, and how real transformation happens in our lives. Jonah shares wisdom on teaching yoga, and behind the scenes stories from his creative process and morning rituals.
Join my retreat! 1 spot opened up. Jan 25-29.
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Jonah’s instagram: @kestyoga
Jonah’s website & trainings: https://www.jonahkestyoga.com/
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
1:23 leadership and yoga
6:10 yoga from childhood to now
7:30 what Jonah wanted to be when he grew up
9:40 manifestation?
11:60 pressure and legacy
14:40 qualities Jonah looks for in teachers
16:40 devotion
18:55 pain: we are part of nature
22:30 Jonah’s favorite type of yoga class
25:25 weaving stories into class & experiencing transcendence
26:55 what to do with ideas
28:55 how Jonah energetically prepares to lead
33:40 Jonah’s ideal morning routine
35:20 prana
37:20 creativity is tuned into
39:20 dropping fear and creating from love
43:35 how do we change? actually?
45:50 music & rhythm
49:25 evolution in yoga
51:40 rejection & feedback
54:40 continue to grow as teachers
56:40 Nike signing story
1:00:00 it’s not mind-body connection
1:03:40 doors
1:07:21 yoga impacting the world
1:09:30 fate or free will
1:11:30 losing control
1:17:20 the real yoga is coming back to the fire
1:21:17 meditation is like fasting for the mind.
1:23:25 community & being surrounded by high-energy people
1:29:10 rapid fire
1:31:10 billboard message
Wed, 07 Jan 2026 - 1h 32min - 202 - new year reset for yoga teachers & creators
In this episode, I guide yoga teachers and creators through a grounded reset for 2026, exploring when to simplify, when to let go, and how to create from integrity rather than urgency. We talk about disappointment and forgiveness, goals that are too big, quitting at the right time, and what becomes possible when you stop forcing the future and start listening more deeply.
Join my retreat! 2 spots opened up.
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreat
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Time stamps:
00:00 intro visualization
03:45 dear entrepreneurial yogi
08:00 4 step reset
09:21 sweet simplicity retreat
12:00 step out of the past into something new
13:15 if it’s half-right, it’s wrong
15:07 grateful for opportunities that you don’t take
17:45 disappointment & forgiveness are skills
23:40 goals that are too big
25:44 learn to be impeccable with your word
26:50 when to quit
29:40 destruction & creation in 2026
33:00 what can i create when i feel like destroying something?
34:00 your fall starts EVERYTHING
35:30 digestion & TEND for 2026
37:18 real purpose
38:45 iOs vs dream board
42:00 selfish wellness
43:30 pillars activity
45:30 organization & OfferingTree
48:00 Jonah Kest quote on transformation
50:30 homework: writing
Sat, 03 Jan 2026 - 55min - 201 - Kino MacGregor on Ashtanga Yoga, Leadership & Creating Meaningful Change
In this episode of Leadership and Yoga, I sit down with Kino MacGregor, one of the most thoughtful voices in the yoga world, for a wide-ranging, honest conversation about practice, leadership, creativity, and impact through yoga.
We talk about high standards and self-compassion, ritual and discipline, discernment in creativity, and how to work with failure without letting it turn into self-denigration. We explore lineage and tradition in Ashtanga yoga, the power of storytelling, and what makes an impactful yoga teacher.
This conversation moves from a behind the scenes look at Kino’s daily rituals and decision-making to the deeply spiritual and big questions of, why are we here?
If you’re a yoga teacher, leader, or lifelong student navigating devotion, creativity, and real human life, this one is for you.
If you enjoyed this episode with Kino, please subscribe. Thank you! :)
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Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
02:16 inspired by Kino’s story
03:32 how did you realize you wanted to dedicate your life to yoga?
07:25 when you were little, what did you dream of being when you grew up?
12:30 do you remember your first ashtanga class?
19:34 from a dream about Pattabhi Jois to traveling to India
23:08 what is the essence of ashtanga yoga for you?
24:12 the guru’s grace
28:01 what characteristics of your teachers helped you the most?
31:00 the ashtanga authorization process
36:39 future of the teacher-student relationship in yoga
38:29 staying rooted in service as a yoga teacher
41:41 how can yoga be a tool for good in the world?
44:07 different paths of change
49:27 how do you prepare yourself to show up in the world to teach?
51:47 what is your relationship with creativity?
55:47 book recommendations?
01:00:00 tradition vs innovation
01:03:00 experiencing the transcendent
01:05:00 why do you think we’re here?
01:07:00 “let everything you do be an act of love”
01:12:00 the billboard question
Wed, 17 Dec 2025 - 1h 14min - 199 - Dedica on Rebuilding Self-Trust, Returning to Yoga After Injury, and Balancing Momentum & Rest as a Yoga Teacher
In this episode, Dedica joins us for an inspiring conversation about presence, adaptation, and what it means to stop betraying yourself by learning to listen to and trust your inner voice. She shares her journey from injury to returning to a physical yoga practice, rebuilding self-trust, and discovering the power of keeping the promises you make to yourself. We also explore finding balance between momentum and rest, the connection between yoga and creativity, and how lived experience becomes our greatest teacher.
Dedica’s Website: https://www.dedica.live/
Follow Dedica on Instagram @dedica
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Time Stamps:00:00 intro
01:16 offering tree
02:17 TEND giveaway
05:05 what is something people don’t usually know about you?
07:14 adaptation: getting injured & the healing process
16:27 balancing momentum with intentional rest
19:01 returning to the physical practice of yoga after injury
24:10 yoga brings me back to myself
27:09 learning through experience vs over-intellectualizing
28:33 why motivates you to create?
30:27 the relationship between yoga and creativity
36:49 how do you know which risks are worth taking?
41:51 anxiety and enjoying the present
43:38 how can we step into our own dreams?
46:00 persistence and the discipline of showing up as a new yoga teacher
50:50 the practice of discernment
52:32 stop betraying yourself
58:10 when you fall, be willing to begin again
01:00:39 keep your promises to yourself: building trust with yourself
01:02:41 what’s your greatest joy right now? biggest challenge?
01:03:50 what is your hope for the future of yoga?
Wed, 10 Dec 2025 - 1h 06min - 198 - we can walk from miracle to miracle
This is what actually makes dreams come true. Join me for a magical, spontaneous, story-filled episode after traveling to Miami to interview legendary yoga teachers, Kino MacGregor and Jonah Kest. Embedded in this episode are teachings I’ve put into practice from Richard Rudd of the Gene Keys, Blu from the Deja Blu Podcast, Frederick Dodson of Levels of Energy and Dr. Joe Dispenza from Rewired.
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Time stamps:
00:00 intro
04:00 walking from miracle to miracle
06:30 dragonfly story
10:00 writing my book
16:00 giveaway & my sponsors update
20:00 miami interview biz trip
23:55 stare into my eyes
26:00 stop expectations
29:36 it’s not manifestation, it’s synchronization
33:30 it’s more fun to be someone else’s manifestation
Sat, 06 Dec 2025 - 37min - 197 - David Swenson on Yoga Practice, Impact & Creativity
David Swenson is a man who needs no introduction in the yoga world. If you practice Ashtanga yoga, you’ve likely studied his Ashtanga Yoga practice manual, and he recently wrote another book called Only Dead Fish Go with the Flow.
This is his second appearance on the leadership and yoga podcast and his stories are like none other. They will leave you in shock, and sometimes with a laugh, but always with a sense of remembering that anything is possible.
This episode is a reminder of what happens when we follow our dreams and when we persevere. It is the purest form of inspiration for us fellow yoga teachers, and a beautiful reminder that we find life‘s purpose in all the little moments that are always moving like a wave beneath us, propelling us forward, sometimes as if by magic.
Sign up for Rocket Training @ Yoga East Austin. Code ROCKETSHAWNA for $100 off.
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time stamps:
00:00 intro
05:19 stories are the most powerful tool we have as humans
07:19 why create in addition to teaching yoga
09:19 samskaras and expectations
12:49 confidence built through yoga
14:49 the tipping point of confidence in teaching yoga
20:19 David’s first classes teaching at 14 years old
21:34 getting fired from teaching yoga
23:19 self-pity and depression turning point
26:49 scraps of paper by his bed
30:19 memorization and details
33:49 creative process of the famous Ashtanga Yoga Practice Manual
36:49 energy for problem solving and figuring things out
40:49 confirm our own journey
43:49 yoga means trying hard and detaching
48:49 can yoga change the world?
50:34 yoga can be a selfish endeavor
53:49 peacefulness does not mean an absence of difficulty
56:19 this energy is a gift, it’s not for me to hoard
58:19 what is enlightenment?
59:49 David wore a wig for 3 years
01:02:49 jesus has long hair. are you a communist?
01:08:49 selfless action
01:12:49 a yogi is someone who leaves the place nicer
01:17:49 ashtanga yoga doesn’t have to evolve
01:21:49 landed back on his mat
01:26:49 rapid fire
Wed, 03 Dec 2025 - 1h 31min - 196 - yoga poetry, a spoken & musical immersion
Poetic, deep inspiration for yoga teachers & those new to yoga. I read a collection of poems about why I fell in love with yoga, how practice becomes a ritual, and why teachers have the power to change the world. I share pieces about presence, impact, acceptance & growth, and finish with three poems that inspired me this month — including “Start Close In,” by David Whyte, and “The Invitation,” by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. Whether you teach or simply show up to your mat, this episode is an invitation to stay, with it all.
Enter the signed copy of David Swenson’s book giveaway:
https://www.shawnakru.com/giveaway
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Enter the TEND yourself & a friend self-care giveaway. (My sponsor)
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Follow me on instagram:
Own a copy of the guided journal I created. Buy one, get one free, or get a copy for the whole family, 5 for $75.
https://www.ritualofwritingjournal.com/
time stamps:
00:00 intro - yoga can change the world
07:30 giveaways! signed book & ayurveda self-care set
11:40 part 1: love poems for yoga
20:40 part 2: poems about yoga as a ritual
27:00 part 3: poems about yoga changing the world
36:00 part 4: acceptance & growth poems about yoga
46:00 part 5: poems that inspire me
Fri, 28 Nov 2025 - 55min - 195 - mysteriously, things fall into place / part 1
Inspired from a moment in an interview I did with Sri Dharma Mittra, I sat down to contemplate my life over coffee as I do most mornings. But on this particular morning, everything I’ve learned from Richard Rudd of the Gene Keys, Frederick Dodson of Levels of Energy and Parallel Universes of Self, and even some Dr. Joe Dispenza organized itself in my head in a new way. The result is the “thought experience” I have prepared for you today.
Here’s a divine fractal theory I enjoy thinking about when I wonder why consciousness split itself to experience being human, and why life feels limiting—and what it really means about your power and purpose.
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here. (My sponsor)
Enter the TEND yourself & a friend self-care giveaway. (My sponsor)
Follow me on instagram:
Own a copy of the guided journal I created, code BOGO for 2 journals (receive 2 for price of 1) code BOGOFAMILY for 5 journals for $75.
Time stamps:
00:00 Intro
01:00 Sri Dharma Mittra on mysteries
03:50 my story of mystery
07:30 mysterious money arriving just in time
10:50 how to solve problems
13:10 giveaway! TEND yourself & a friend
15:00 sit back, relax, but also lean in
17:00 staying in the energy
19:20 THOUGHT EXPERIENCE START
33:00 my downfall & recovery & surprise
Fri, 21 Nov 2025 - 45min - 194 - Meghan Bay on Writing Poetry, Creativity as a Spiritual Practice, and Appreciating Every Version of Yourself
In this episode, poet Meghan Bay reveals how writing poetry is a way to practice presence. She shares how creativity can be seen as a gift from the Creator and how to create space to invite in more creative ideas. Meghan also shares the importance of honoring every version of yourself as you grow and evolve, allowing your journey of transformation to be uniquely your own.
Follow Meghan on Instagram: @meghan.bay
And find her writing: Meghan’s Substack
Enter the TEND yourself & a friend self-care giveaway
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here. (My sponsor)
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Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreat
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
03:42 “the fool’s hunt” - poem by Meghan Bay
05:24 How do you know when you’ve written something that’s really true?
07:00 morning pages & digital journaling
08:53 Meghan's story: growing up Christian, moving to Australia, getting into writing
16:04 letting yourself be seen: sharing on social media
19:56 the process of writing a book: capturing poems when they arrive
22:11 creativity as a gift from the Creator to help shape this world
25:41 are you actually giving yourself what you need?
27:31 morning routine & a meditation practice
31:58 the discipline of a writing practice
33:06 creating space to invite creativity to land
34:06 Meghan's mission: creating a space for people to expand into themselves
36:10 let yourself move slowly, one small step at a time
39:04: how can we shift from a focus on the outcome to a focus on presence?
40:38 reality creation: fate or free will?
42:46 sending love to past or future versions of yourself
43:53 why are we here?
47:37 the path to transformation & liberation will be uniquely yours
52:42 appreciating the contrast of emotions & experiences
54:46 qualities of an exceptional leader
57:08 the billboard question
Wed, 19 Nov 2025 - 1h 00min - 193 - grow your yoga business & moral ambition as a yoga teacher
In this episode, I break down the four steps every yoga teacher needs to grow a business with moral ambition. Let's talk about why your mission is your most valuable business asset, why your systems determine your sustainability, how to face numbers, pricing, and fees without shrinking, and how “minimum viable structure” can change your whole life. I walk you through the ONE symbolic action you can take today—something you might look back on years from now as the exact moment everything began to change.
If you’ve ever felt behind, overwhelmed, or “not business-minded enough,” this is for you. Your dream isn’t meant for someone richer, older, more experienced, or more confident. It’s meant for you—and the world needs what you're building. This episode includes a tour of OfferingTree, my sponsor.
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here. (My sponsor)
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One spot left. Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
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YouTube social media video I mentioned:
https://youtu.be/h_yQswsXwhY?si=SXLofxnBfWuwziIO
Time stamps:
00:00 setting the mood
07:50 animation
10:00 luck is when opportunity meets preparation
11:40 agenda for today & offeringtree
15:47 part 1: how to make actual progress
20:00 David Swenson example
23:30 part 2: creating offers
29:00 gene key 26 & divine pride
31:00 part 3: money
33:40 rates teaching yoga
34:00 social media income
38:00 courses and yoga retreats
40:00 part 4: systems & offeringtree
45:00 cost of systems & software
54:00 personal use & podcasting software
55:00 take notes on students
56:00 homework
57:00 inspirational send off :)
Fri, 14 Nov 2025 - 1h 00min - 192 - Eva Vriens on Listening to Your Body, Dreaming Big & Teaching Yoga
This conversation with yoga teacher Eva Vriens explores embodiment, discerning gut feelings, teaching yoga in other languages, why there is no such thing as going backward, and much more!
Find Eva on Instagram @eva.vri
Sign up here to join the next Yoga Teacher Roundtable
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https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreat
Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
03:53 moving to Italy
07:19 teaching yoga in other languages
12:23 it’s exactly what makes you nervous that will bring the change you desire
16:28 interpreting gut feelings: trusting what your body is telling you
20:49 what did you want to be when you grew up?
25:06 the magic of yoga as a return to self & to presence
26:54 how was teaching your first yoga class?
31:18 breakthroughs in teaching yoga
34:29 retracing our steps can actually help us move forward
35:59 how do you prepare yourself to teach?
37:58 morning routine
42:16 creating our realities
43:53 how can we start to believe something different is possible for us?
45:59 book recommendations?
51:16 qualities of an exceptional leader?
53:14 if you could chat with anyone over coffee or tea, who would you invite?
57:16 the billboard question
Wed, 12 Nov 2025 - 1h 02min - 191 - the discipline of patience: 4 steps to stop living addicted to stress and follow your dreams calmly
In this episode, I talk about what it means to live addicted to the hormones of stress—constantly rushing, pushing, and chasing success instead of allowing life to unfold. I share how I learned to slow down, cultivate patience, destress, and trust the process of following my dreams without burning out. If you’ve ever struggled to find calm, balance, and faith while chasing your purpose, this conversation will help you remember that slowing down is how you truly speed up.
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here. (My sponsor)
Enter the TEND yourself & a friend self-care giveaway.
Follow me on instagram:
Own a copy of the guided journal I created, code POD for $33.
Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreat
00:00 intro
01:00 music
04:00 synchronicities
08:40 one: jeju island mistake
14:00 the meditation of patience
17:30 gabriel garcia marquez and magical realism
22:00 open gifts after dinner
23:30 Mr. Beast’s first $10k
25:00 two: patience protects you from your mind
27:00 walk towards the storm
29:24 don’t go fast
32:30 true trust
35:38 TEND
39:00 space for the unknown
42:00 time is a construct
Fri, 07 Nov 2025 - 46min - 190 - Amy Newmark of Chicken Soup for the Soul on the Power of Stories, Gratitude & Forgiveness
Amy Newmark, publisher and editor-in-chief of Chicken Soup for the Soul, shares how stories can inspire, heal, and transform our lives. We talk about forgiveness, gratitude, synchronicities, and the kinds of stories the world needs most right now.
The Chicken Soup For The Soul Website
The Chicken Soup For The Soul Podcast
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Time Stamps:
00:00:00 intro
00:02:06 the power of stories
00:04:32 where does your interest in human stories come from?
00:06:35 finding chicken soup for the soul
00:10:54 how did working on wall street shape your path?
00:13:03 entering the publishing world
00:14:57 change your habits, change your life
00:15:58 the editing process
00:18:31 the best stories will make you feel something
00:19:59 you have a to-do list, but do you have a to-enjoy list?
00:22:01 do you ever feel self-help overwhelm or advice-overwhelm?
00:23:02 a gratitude practice can change your life
00:24:22 the power of forgiveness
00:25:37 if you’re convinced you have a good story: keep submitting
00:28:11 what kinds of stories do you think the world needs the most right now?
00:32:07 “pre-forgiveness”
00:33:36 the freedom of letting go of resentment
00:35:25 what do you think is happening when we read a story that sets us free?
00:37:20 the chicken soup for the soul podcast
00:39:55 consistency in creative work
00:42:17 have you included any of your own stories in the books?
00:44:21 a flat tire and the power of positive thinking
00:46:00 a synchronicity story: the family reunion
00:49:21 what makes an exceptional leader?
00:51:54 what’s your greatest joy?
00:52:58 billboard question
Wed, 05 Nov 2025 - 56min - 189 - aligned friendship as a yoga teacher: bts of cactus club yoga mastermind
Join Shawna Krueger, Ben Kalra, Kimia Hajian, Marla Tortorice and Brand Bergado for a behind the scenes look into our self-created yoga teacher mastermind and friendship group. There are some absolute keys for finding authentic friendship in the yoga world, along with some good laughs.
This episode explores what it means to grow in community as a yoga teacher and creative. Let’s talk finding aligned friendships, choosing collaboration over competition, and building accountability and honesty within relationships. We touch on the balance between playfulness and focus, and the importance of becoming the kind of person you’d want to be friends with. And, what happens when friendship doesn’t come easily — and how openness, trust, and consistency can transform that over time.
Ben Kalra - @benkalra
Kimia Hajian - @kimihajian
Marla Tortorice - @marlasyoga
Brandon Bergado - @brandonberg_
Shawna Krueger - @shawnkru
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here. (My sponsor)
Own a copy of the guided journal I created, code POD for $33.
Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreattime stamps:
00:00 intro
01:00 trust me, don’t skip the intro
03:45 real friends are found on the mountain
05:10 shawna’s letter to cactus club
08:15 brandon’s cactus club origin story
10:00 community as a yoga teacher
15:45 brandon on where to find aligned friends
20:00 ben on collaboration over competition
25:40 marla on accountability in friendships
30:00 kimi on honest feedback in friendships
35:25 ben on balance between silliness & focus
40:00 becoming the kind of person you’d want to be friends with
45:50 kimi on when friendship doesn’t come easily at first
Fri, 31 Oct 2025 - 51min - 188 - Yoga Teacher Roundtable
This roundtable episode brings together yoga teachers from across the country! Tune in to hear what’s inspiring their classes right now, unexpected teaching moments, personal stories, practical insights, and lessons learned on their teaching journeys.
Do you want to be part of the next Yoga Teacher Roundtable? Sign up here!
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here. (My sponsor)
Download your free SEO Checklist for yoga instructors & entrepreneurs
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Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
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Thank you to the contributing yoga teachers!
Camilla Fay (@camillawfay)
Carli Tornetta (@catcowcar)
Cassie Chechile (@theselfwithcassie)
Bex Nghi (@wildbexs)
Wren Heft (@flow_with_wren)
Lisa Osorio (@lisaosodel)
Bianca Cadiz (@biancavyoga)
Time Stamps:
00:00:00 intro
00:02:29 wren’s story: double savasana
00:05:05 bianca’s story: the sequencing notebook
00:08:27 camilla’s story: teaching yoga is an expression of the love language of quality time
00:10:38 bex’s story: an unexpected visitor
00:12:48 lisa’s story: the serious student
00:15:52 cassie’s story: on people pleasing
00:17:47 carli’s story: the cat cafe
00:20:38 shawna’s story: the foot incident
22:30 about the yoga teachers
29:43 billboard messages
36:50 what's been inspiring your classes lately?
43:30 closing
Wed, 29 Oct 2025 - 44min - 187 - 8 things to stop doing as a yoga teacher before you crash out: remembering the heart & soul of why you teach
This is not just a list of “stops” to regain energy. It’s a call to remember why you started teaching yoga in the first place.
I have episodes on starting a meditation habit, getting clear on your mission as a conscious creator, and an episode called 7 keys for teaching yoga that changes lives that may also be of interest to you, linked below. :)
October 28th Webinar on creating your homepage
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here. (My sponsor)
Follow me on instagram:
Own a copy of the guided journal I created, code POD for $33.
Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreat
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
01:00 opening poem: teaching yoga like we play music
03:00 let’s hang
08:00 stop procrastinating your meditation
10:30 creating a coherent message in class
12:30 stop thinking you need to practice exactly what you teach
15:40 stop trying to do it all on your own
17:55 the three S’s rule
23:00 stop grinding & start creating art
25:30 when u find joy in the process, others find joy in it
28:45 stop saying i don’t have time to slow down
30:00 laundry basket analogy
33:00 u are the seer of your thoughts, but do u remember?
34:01 stop being scattered & ignoring strategy
40:30 stop losing all your great ideas
42:00 how to define your mission
43:01 if u want more ppl in your class, why?
44:20 stop needing to prove anything about yourself
46:30 graduation speech & homework
Fri, 24 Oct 2025 - 50min - 186 - Guru Benny on Quantum Physics, Mental Health, and the Power of Belief in Shaping Reality
Guru Benny is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and creator working at the intersection of quantum physics and human psychology. In this conversation, she shares about the power of belief, how mental health and spirituality are connected, and how consciousness is the key to both personal and collective liberation. She also shares practical ways to align with your higher self and tune into the endless possibilities all around you.
Find Guru Benny on her TikTok @itsgurubennny, Instagram @itsgurubennny, and on her website futureguru.co.
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here. (My sponsor)
Download your free SEO Checklist for yoga instructors & entrepreneurs
Follow me on instagram:
Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreatTime Stamps:
00:00 intro
03:16 what sparked your interest in quantum physics/manifestation?
08:05 how much do you believe we shape our own reality?
12:40 what does it really mean to create your own reality?
14:37 how do we change our beliefs?
16:44 undoing beliefs from childhood
18:13 why are we here? We are here to become
20:00 how does the quantum make you feel supported?
21:39 what is quantum physics?
23:34 we influence everything we observe
24:40 we live in an infinite reality
27:13 spillover effect
30:56 how to integrate this into your daily life?
34:51 polarity
41:59 when you close your eyes and think about what God means to you, what do you see or feel?
34:55 we are our own attraction point
46:11 what have you learned in your therapeutic work about human nature?
47:56 mental health is spiritual
50:32 suffering is detatchment from the true self
51:52 what are the qualities of an exceptional leader?
53:57 what is your greatest joy?
54:52 what worries you?
56:35 book recommendations for continued learning?
58:13 billboard: you are the creator
Wed, 22 Oct 2025 - 1h 00min - 185 - lost // immersive special, musical poetry
Welcome in for a sonic and poetic journey back to what’s real. This immersive special episode is for anyone who’s ever felt lost in life — lost in the vastness of it all — and needed a reminder that we are never truly separate, and we have nothing to fear. Today I blend story and music in hopes that you feel something deeper. It’s not about fixing yourself — it’s about remembering your power, your softness, and your mission in a world that often forgets what matters most.
This is for the ones who want to believe in wild beauty, who want to have energy to live for what really matters in a world drowning in distraction.
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here. (My sponsor)
Follow me on instagram:
Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreat
Inspiration behind the show:
This episode was written while listening to one of my favorite EP's right now, Lost Tales by Finnegan Tui.
It was also written as I have been reading Moral Ambition by Rutger Bregman thanks to the recommendation of one of my other favorite artists, Sophie Hawley-Weld from Sofi Tukker.
Fri, 17 Oct 2025 - 30min - 184 - spillover effect & parallel universes of selfFri, 10 Oct 2025 - 24min
- 183 - the breakthrough files: write yours & hear mine from Austin, Texas on meditation, money, yoga, friendship & worthiness
In this episode, I’m sharing my most powerful breakthroughs from living in Austin—along with structure to help you reflect on your own. I talk about how meditation, hot yoga, and conscious lifestyle choices have shifted my body, mind, and energy. I dive into reframing money as a tool for appreciation, breaking free from FOMO, and cultivating friendships and self-worth that feel truly nourishing.
I also share stories from my travels, experiences with wellness practices, and the mindset shifts that have changed my life. My goal is to inspire you to notice your own breakthroughs, embrace what truly lights you up, and create a reality that reflects that. :)
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here. (My sponsor)
Download your free SEO Checklist for yoga instructors & entrepreneurs
Follow me on instagram:
Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreatFri, 03 Oct 2025 - 54min - 182 - Laurentine ten Bosch on How Media Can Heal & Raise Consciousness: Filmmaking from Food Matters to Gaia
Laurentine is a filmmaker who is a contributor for Gaia, an author, and a nutrition & business coach. She has produced five feature documentary films, two best-selling books, a streaming TV channel, Food Matters TV that became part of Gaia.
She has worked alongside hundreds of wellness and healing experts from around the globe including Joe Dispenza and Wim Hof.
https://www.foodmatters.com/films
Find Laurentine: @foodmatters @laurentinetenbosch
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here. (My sponsor)
Download your free SEO Checklist for yoga instructors & entrepreneurs
Follow me on instagram:
Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreat
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
01:00 who is Laurentine
05:30 the role of media in raising consciousness
10:50 how can we believe that love can heal
12:30 first film, going out on a limb, learning to make a documentary
14:00 not giving over power to medical world: nutrition & naturopath studies, taking health into their own hands
18:00 sharing confronting truths with the public in a way that allows them to be heard and understood
20:45 cinéma vérité: topics that need to see the light of day
22:45 opening the channel: 5am meditation mornings creative process
25:30 we are hungry for spirituality
28:00 talking to Dr. Joe Dispenza, Wim Hof & others
30:00 getting more people to say yes to speaking
32:00 clean slate releasing low energy through breathwork
34:45 Gaia flys to see them & joining Gaia process
39:20 the clutter in the lower mind is not at all a reflection of what is possible in our higher mind.
45:00 if you had to do a 20 minute TED talk, homework!!
48:30 exceptional leaders: blessing emails & taking off shoes as a team
52:30 rapid fire & billboard message
Wed, 01 Oct 2025 - 57min - 181 - how to start a podcast as a yoga teacher (or conscious creator) without adding to the noise
you are a curator, not just creator: how yoga teachers & conscious creators can start a podcast with purpose. whether you’re a yoga instructor, wellness entrepreneur, or conscious creator, this episode will help you move past overthinking, embrace consistency, and share your work more boldly in the podcast world and long-form media world. we talk how to start your podcast, naming your podcast, audience matching, beliefs, growth & the tangible tips. here’s 10 tips from 3 years of podcasting: from zero to sponsored.
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here. (My sponsor)
Follow me on instagram:
Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreat
Substack on Taste that I mention
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
04:00 my experience hiring help for the podcast
07:15 uplevel your business?
08:30 Costa Rica!
10:50 one: hit record, start with a story
15:00 two: value
18:00 how to name your podcast
21:00 your podcasting set up & background
22:30 three: you are a curator, not just a creator
26:30 four: the 7-11-4 concept
29:00 five: if not in state, always wait
36:20 six: balance consistency & refinement
40:00 stop copying
42:40 seven: share your show more than you think
45:00 eight: audience matching
47:30 searchability, naming & topics
49:30 nine: guests on your show
51:30 ten: audio quality of your podcast
53:20 wrap up
Fri, 26 Sep 2025 - 55min - 180 - build your meditation habit: short, simple, unguided practice you can stick with - meditation for beginners with 5 minutes a day
This is how to start a daily meditation practice in just 5 minutes. You’ll learn simple steps to make unguided meditation a non-negotiable habit, even if you struggle to focus. I walk you through practical techniques like the pause method, committing to stillness, and finding true presence, while weaving in wisdom from yoga’s 8 limbs. If you’ve ever felt that meditation was too hard, this episode will show you that it can be simple, enjoyable, and something you can actually stick with.
Join the Yoga Teacher Roundtable episode
Try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here. (My sponsor)
Follow me on instagram:
Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreat
time stamps:
00:00 experience the fire of meditation
05:00 Einstein says…
06:30 yoga teacher roundtable - tell your story on the pod!
08:30 get your ducks in row
09:30 sweet simplicity retreat
12:30 step 1: non-negotiable
15:30 there’s nothing wrong with you if you can’t focus
18:45 step 2: commit stillness
19:45 we are addicted to problem solving
21:20 step 3: pause technique
25:00 step 4: access true presence
27:00 presence is more important than manifestation
29:44 the 8 limbs give you a map to meditation
36:20 homework & recap
Fri, 19 Sep 2025 - 40min - 179 - the dragonfly's dream: 5 reasons why change is what you need right now
Feeling stuck or anxious about change? Here are 5 life-changing reasons why it could be exactly what you need, afterall. In this episode, I share 5 powerful reasons why change is exactly what you need right now. From the dragonfly’s dream to the magic of fresh beginnings, let’s talk about how change breaks old patterns, makes you fully present, and helps you embrace the unknown. If you’ve been feeling stuck, anxious, or craving a breakthrough, this conversation is for you.
Download your free SEO Checklist for yoga instructors & entrepreneurs
Also, try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here. (My sponsor)
Mailing list:
Follow me on instagram:
Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreat
00:00 the dragonfly’s dream
07:50 the under the stars mishap
12:30 change makes me feel discomfort
16:00 we are moving
19:50 a magical message
21:30 part 1: change breaks the pattern of the past
24:00 part 2: change makes you present
31:30 how we really change
33:30 part 3: change brings the unknown
38:16 part 4: change reclaims your power
42:30 part 5: change is the purpose of it all: freshness
44:00 dragonfly’s dream full-circle
Fri, 12 Sep 2025 - 46min - 178 - Sri Dharma Mittra Interview in NYC: Teaching Yoga & Living from the Heart
I sat down with Sri Dharma Mittra in the Dharma Yoga Center in New York to record this live, in-person interview on his story, teaching yoga, compassion, God, headstands, the infinite nature of who we are, and what qualities we can cultivate as yoga teachers.
This interview is a reminder of the magic that occurs when we act from trust rather than fear, and when we livel simply and from the heart. The kirtan music at the end was recorded live right before the interview and features Adam Frei on guitar, Sri Dharma on the drums and the whole group singing.
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS INTERVIEW WITH SRI DHARMA, PLEASE DROP ME A RATING & SUBSCRIBE. Thank you! <3
Download your free SEO Checklist :)
Also, try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here. (My sponsor)
Find me on instagram:@shawnkru
Find DYC on instagram: @dharmayoganyc
Dharma trainings & website: https://www.dharmayogacenter.com/
time stamps:
00:00 intro
03:22 the blessing
04:30 Dharma’s first headstand
07:00 why Dharma yoga is so loved
09:40 how Dharma sees God
12:00 yoga practice as prayer
13:40 what Dharma wanted to do when he was little
16:30 doubt on the yogic path?
19:50 remember this when in pain…
23:45 teaching yoga in the space station
27:21 a story from Yogi Gupta, Dharma’s teacher
28:40 when we trust, mysteriously we receive: a lesson on the unknown & abundance
30:00 Dharma had only one student & he left mid class
32:30 what people don’t know about him
34:30 what makes a good leader
37:30 Dharma’s greatest joy in life
40:49 what worries him
42:30 billboard question
45:38 behind the scenes
46:53 kirtan - music
Wed, 10 Sep 2025 - 49min - 177 - stop overthinking: 3-step energy prep to create & show up at 100%
In this 3-part episode, I share how to stop overthinking and prepare your energy so you can show up with clarity and confidence. Learn how to shift from fear to love, trust yourself, and create with flow instead of anxiety. Part 1: How to prepare yourself in the way before, part 2 the night before and part 3 the right before.
Download your free SEO Checklist!!
Also, try OfferingTree for free, plus 50% off your first three months or 15% off your first year with my link here. (My sponsor)
The Gene Keys tool I share.
Mailing list:
Follow me on instagram:
Get my guided journal for $33 with code POD33
https://www.ritualofwritingjournal.com/
Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreat
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
01:00 mug story
4:50 anxiety fires in my mind
6:30 it’s my birthday!!
10:30 the 3 parts to this episode
12:15 PART 1: THE WAY WAY BEFORE
14:00 beating indecision & recovering energy
17:30 act out of love, not fear. act on what gives you energy, not what’s logical.
20:00 life death life cycles
21:45 my biggest failure of the year
24:50 SEO story & my new podcast sponsor!!
28:00 how to start to prepare from worthiness
31:40 PART 2: THE NIGHT BEFORE
34:40 the only reason things “work”
37:00 how to actually change your beliefs
40:00 trust yourself enough to STOP
41:13 PART 3: THE RIGHT BEFORE
42:30 how to last minute prepare: be decisive
46:30 overthinking robs you of the ability to see the obvious.
49:30 what inspires you to create greatness?
50:15 this is not your one and only shot: abundance
Fri, 05 Sep 2025 - 53min - 176 - Leah Hester on Trust, Optimism, Intuition & the Mental Universe
This interview with Leah Hester brings me so much joy! Here’s a beautiful bts into a little bit of her journey and who she is and also a deep dive into following alignment and trust and choosing optimism and authenticity. It's refreshing, it's tangible, but at the same time, it's a conversation that really feels like it reconnects us to the magic of life. Leah is a yoga instructor and retreat facilitator and a wonderful creator currently based in Costa Rica.
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS EPISODE WITH LEAH, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE & DROP ME A RATING. Thank you! <3
Patanjali Yoga Sutra mentioned: 2.1 – Reducing klesas
Find Leah on instagram and her retreats:
@iamleahhester - @surfandshanti
Find me on instagram:
Time stamps:
00:00 Intro
03:00 Yoga Trade job & leap to living in Costa Rica
06:50 self-worth & delusionally optimistic
08:00 what Leah wanted to do when she grew up
9:40 finding our purpose
11:50 how do we know if we are changing?
19:00 learning to trust
20:30 from indecision to decisiveness
25:00 how to start teaching yoga
28:30 reality creation
32:00 no more information overload
34:00 Leah’s morning rituals
36:30 hormone cycles
38:00 breaking habits that you’re stuck in
41:50 Leah’s creative process & social media: authenticity
47:20 Leah’s take on leadership
49:00 rapid fire questions
51:40 billboard: authenticity is magnetic
Wed, 03 Sep 2025 - 54min - 175 - Q&A on Yoga Teaching, Motivation & Connection
in this episode i’m answering your questions on teaching, discipline, purpose, and community. i share behind the scenes updates on hosting my yoga retreat, my podcast sponsorship, and my own yoga journey. from handstands to belonging abroad, this is a q&a filled with honesty.
Mailing list:
Follow me on instagram:
Get my guided journal for $33 with code POD33
https://www.ritualofwritingjournal.com/
Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreatFri, 29 Aug 2025 - 46min - 174 - Jen Morel on Trust, Confidence & Limitlessness
In this episode, I sit down with Jen Morel to talk about making bold decisions, trusting yourself, and taking risks—even before you feel ready. Jen shares how shadows can become our greatest gifts, why letting go creates space for purpose, and what it really takes to build confidence. We explore Gene Keys, Human Design, and the limits we place on ourselves, plus Jen’s lessons in love, leadership, and living without limits.
Find Jen on instagram & join her events:
Find me on instagram:
Books mentioned:
True Wealth - Ken Honda
You are a Goddess - Sophie Bashford
The Sophia Codes - Kaia Ra
Wild Power - Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
03:06 making a decision that’s outside the box: blessedyoga
05:36 taking a yoga teacher training before taking even one class
07:31 how to have unwavering trust in yourself
09:36 learning to take risks & be decisive
12:06 shadows are the access points to our greatest gifts
13:06 no doubts, only pivots on the entrepreneurship journey
15:36 letting go of what doesn’t bring you energy
18:26 not able to “find purpose”
20:36 clear it all out. the old thing hanging about takes space
22:56 let the yoga be an extension of you
24:06 stop trying, if you’re trying your not being you
25:36 how to show up to host a retreat without being drained
29:26 how to build confidence
31:36 confidence can’t be built in the comfort of your room saying affirmations
34:21 gene keys and human design
40:06 confusion keeps us out of our power
42:36 slap in the face moments: falling in love with Danny
45:56 we don’t see reality, 99% is filtered out
49:06 breaking the upper limit
50:16 story of breaking into limitlessness
54:36 book recommendations from Jen
56:36 leadership lessons & billboard message
Wed, 27 Aug 2025 - 59min - 173 - Sri Dharma Mittra Interview Storytime BTS of NYC Podcasting Trip
In this solo storytime episode, I share the behind-the-scenes journey of traveling to New York City to interview Sri Dharma Mittra. The full interview goes live on September 10th — but before then, I wanted to sit down with you fireside-style and tell the whole story while it’s still fresh: the risks, the doubts, the synchronicities, the headstand photo, the salsa dancing, and the tears of joy that come with pursuing a creative dream.
This episode is for anyone building something of their own — a podcast, a yoga practice, a project that feels bigger than you. It’s about showing up, trusting the process, and remembering to enjoy the ride.
Mailing list:
Follow me on instagram:
Get my guided journal for $33 with code POD33
https://www.ritualofwritingjournal.com/
Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreatPhotos of Sri Dharma and Shawna in headstand:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DNUCHpwPFRt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Time stamps:
00:00 Why this episode is unedited & storytime vibes
05:29 Starting the podcast in 2022 & committing to weekly episodes
10:51 Taking the leap: investing in a NYC trip to interview Dharma
17:02 Pre-interview challenges, self-care, and processing emotions
23:13 The Interview Experience with Sri Dharma Mittra
33:32 The conversation with Dharma: presence, awe, and intention
37:28 Post-interview reflections and joy
40:57 The Importance of solitude and reflection
47:04 Bringing Awe and wonder back to reality
Fri, 22 Aug 2025 - 49min - 172 - Marcus Veda on 4BEAT Yoga & the Art of Teaching Yoga
Yoga teachers! This one's for you. In this episode of the Leadership and Yoga podcast, Shawna Krueger interviews Marcus Veda, the creator of 4BEAT yoga. They discuss the unique concept of synchronizing breath and movement to a steady beat, the origins of 4BEAT yoga, and the importance of music in enhancing the yoga experience. This episode is for yoga teachers — a deep dive into the art of teaching an incredible yoga class.
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS EPISODE WITH MARCUS, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE & DROP ME A RATING. Thanks!!
NEXT 4-BEAT TRAINING: September 1-6, 2025
https://www.marcusvedayoga.com/teacher-training
Find Marcus on the gram:
Find me on the gram:
Time stamps:
00:00 Intro
02:00 Introduction to 4-Beat Yoga
04:50 The Concept and Origins of 4-Beat Yoga
08:05 Teaching Flow and Breath in Yoga
10:51 The Role of Music in Yoga Practice
14:03 Flow State and Meditation in Yoga
16:55 Inspiration vs. Intimidation in Teaching
20:03 Managing Mixed-Level Classes
22:56 Injuries and Learning in Yoga
25:56 Personal Journey and Background in Yoga
28:47 Martial Arts Influence on Yoga Practice
34:14 Martial Arts and Yoga: A Unique Connection
37:13 The Journey into Music Creation
43:52 The Art of Class Delivery
50:20 Finding Your Voice as a New Teacher
54:40 The Influence of Teachers and Life Experiences
58:20 Qualities of Exceptional Leaders
01:00:49 The Billboard Question: A Message for the World
Wed, 20 Aug 2025 - 1h 05min - 171 - Put Your Mission into Words & Simplify Your Message: Clarity for Creatives
If you ever feel like you have something inside of you that you want to share with the world but you can’t quite find the right words to say it, or make it make sense, this episode is for you. Join me for a dose of inspiration to simplify and refine your mission and how to put your message into words. You will leave feeling fired up and energized to work on your projects whether you are an entrepreneur, artist, writer, podcaster, yoga teacher or all of the above. I give you two tangible steps you can take today to gain clarity around your message.
Mailing list:
Follow me on instagram:
Get my guided journal for $33 with code POD33
https://www.ritualofwritingjournal.com/
Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreat
iOS template I mentioned:
Time stamps:
00:00 intro
02:45 simplifying your art
04:50 why am i here?
06:00 tell the real story
09:00 taking an inspiration bath and soak it in
12:48 the words that set us free
13:50 being a ghost in your own life
15:55 how messages actually get into your mind
17:50 lunchroom table analogy
20:40 tension of not putting it in words
25:30 journal prompt one: when mission has made magic appear
31:50 white lotus irl
35:30 how to put power behind your mission
37:30 journal prompt 2: tool for simplifying your mission
Fri, 15 Aug 2025 - 47min - 170 - becoming an artist: creative awakening & world creators - musical poetry immersive special
Listen if you liked books like the Creative Act by Rick Rubin. Or the War of Art by Steven Pressfield. This is like a haunted house journey through the creative soul. Maybe this is my Pink Floyd the Wall. A 12-part experience,
Influences include: Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Cameron Rosin on being bloated and full of other people’s words. Sofia Isella’s Everybody Supports Women. Rick Rubin. Richard Rudd. Josh Schrei. And dozens of teachers and mentors whose words have slipped into my soul.Mailing list:
Follow me on instagram:
Get my guided journal for $33 with code POD33
https://www.ritualofwritingjournal.com/
Come on my Costa Rica yoga retreat in January 2026:
https://www.shawnakru.com/sweet-simplicity-retreat
time stamps:
00:00 intro
03:30 the world creators are not just creating content
04:45 part 1: a hint of light
07:20 part 2: into the dark
10:30 part 3: the hunger
14:00 part 4: the sickness
16:30 part 5: the anger
19:30 part 6: the wandering
20:30 part 7: the noise
21:30 part 8: the feast
24:30 part 9: the crash
26:30 part 10: something to poke at
30:00 part 11: the building of the pigs
34:00 part 12: welcome to the garden
Fri, 08 Aug 2025 - 39min
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