Yoga Unveiled - Yoga Week in Australia 2026 | Ep 35

As a celebration of Yoga Week here in Australia, a compilation of past guests on the show. Their definition of yoga and what it has done for them. Yoga gets sold as flexibility, activewear, and picture-perfect poses, but that story leaves a lot of people feeling like they don’t belong.  
A rich mix of teacher perspectives and real-life stories grounds it all: yoga as an anchor through grief and change, an unexpected emotional release in class, a practice that shifts with age towards mindfulness and longevity, and the way yoga can support the nervous system and ease anxiety. If you’re curious about yoga therapy, trauma-sensitive yoga, meditation, and holistic health, you’ll leave with a clearer sense of what yoga is actually for, plus permission to make it your ownf, ageing, resilience, and everyday presence. 
• Yoga as a work-in rather than a workout 
• Common myths around flexibility, thinness, and activewear 
• Why yoga postures are optional and not the point 
• Yoga as union, relationship, and oneness 
• Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and the “still mind” definition 
• Asana as a tool to notice reactions and practise self-compassion 
• Yoga as grounding through loss, anxiety, and nervous system overload 
• Taking yoga off the mat through mindfulness and self-inquiry 
• How practice changes with age, health goals, and longevity.

Thanks to my guests!  Lisa Weller, Karen Fabian, Rob Dorgan, Doro Baumfalk, Mel Ferrier, Rebel Tucker, Justine Janssen and Kristin Klipp.
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Transcript

Yoga As A Work In Not a Workout

SPEAKER_10 0:00

Yoga is a work-in, not a workout. Rest assured that yoga postures are not compulsory.

SPEAKER_08 0:09

It's a way to experience life, a lens through which to look at life and to interpret the world. And the act of quieting down our mind allows us to be with what is, with what actually is.

SPEAKER_05 0:22

So yoga is union, yoga is relationship, yoga is that oneness.

SPEAKER_06 0:29

Yoga is very holistic. It's for mind, body, and soul. And it doesn't just affect your body. It doesn't just make you flexible. It makes you more patient. It makes you more resilient.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Yoga isn't just your 30 minutes or your 60 minutes on your mat.

SPEAKER_07 0:46

This coming together of my mind, body, and soul, and really learning how and practicing how to pay attention to what my body is needing in any moment. And really taking that time to tune in and to listen.

Intro and Disclaimer

SPEAKER_00 1:41

Please use discretion and consult a qualified professional before making changes to your health or wellness routines.

SPEAKER_10 1:46

Yoga unveiled.

Yoga Myths From The West

SPEAKER_10 1:57

Just have a think for a moment. First thing that comes to mind. I think yoga is very much misunderstood in the West. It is misconstrued by many as a mat-based exercise class that is aimed at achieving a flexible body while wearing active wear on a yoga mat. And it's also because the yoga of action, Hatta yoga, is the most common style of yoga practiced in the West and seen on social media. But not all branches of yoga involve yoga postures. Yoga postures are meant to be practiced in a different way and for different reasons to most exercises, especially gymnastics. And yoga is often compared to gymnastics or misconstrued as gymnastics because of some of the poses we practice in certain styles of yoga, such as ashtanga and power yoga. Yoga is a work-in, not a workout. Rest assured that yoga postures are not compulsory and it's different to what you think. You might have been told you need to be flexible, or the gold is flexibility, but mental flexibility is what we're really after here. As Judith Hansen Lassiter says, yoga is not about touching your toes, it's about what you learn on the way down. Touching your toes is not going to bring about happiness or enlightenment or solve your problems, as I like to say. Trust me, I can touch my toes. Have been able to for a while, but it hasn't solved my problems. Life is not that simple. Another myth that you have to be thin or the goal is to be thin. There is nothing in the yogic scriptures about being a certain size. Unfortunately, there's a stereotype there with being thin, as that's what we again see on social media. Slowly, this is changing, at least, from what I've seen. Yes, we want to be healthy. Yoga helps us achieve a bit of a healthier mindset in that we start to treat our body with more respect and not fill it with junk. But it's not about being thin, it's about achieving holistic health. Another one that you need to be in active wear. I say you need to be in clothes that you're comfortable in, that let you breathe properly, that you don't feel too self-conscious in. If you're doing arsena, yes, stretchy clothing's good, but uh not necessarily active wear for yoga practices.

Union And The Still Mind

SPEAKER_10 5:19

Let's now look at what yoga is. There are many different interpretations of the word yoga that have been handed down over the past five thousand centuries. The word yoga translates as union. The union results in a pure and perfect state of consciousness in which the feeling of I simply does not exist. Another translation is to unite or come together. It is a complex five thousand-year-old plus tradition. It's a practice and not a perfect, it's aimed at liberating the mind from suffering to achieve one very simple thing, and that is happiness. It's a form of spirituality that is a work-in, not a workout.

Asana As Mind Training

SPEAKER_10 6:28

It's rewiring the brain with all this mind training that occurs in our practice. I used to think that yoga was a state of doing, and there was such a thing as doing yoga. Yoga's a state of being. We want our yoga practice to get us into that state of balance, of peace, of happiness. The yoga can teach us a lot about how the mind works. That is one of the other purposes of asana. How do we react to challenges on the yoga mat?

SPEAKER_09 7:05

Because often how we act, or react, I should say, is how we react on the mat. Do we get angry and frustrated? Do we get teary and feel completely deflated? Or do we keep persevering because we know it's in us? Or do we practice self-compassion to ourselves and say it's okay? It's just a yoga pose. It's not the goal of yoga, it's just a tool for the mind to see how the mind reacts. As Dr.

SPEAKER_10 7:56

Timothy McCall says in Yoga as Medicine, yoga is something you learn by doing. To really grasp what yoga can do, you need to experience it. Above all, yoga is a path. The longer you stay with it, the more heart you put into the journey, the farther it can take you.

Melinda Ferrier - The Mat Based Image

SPEAKER_10 8:24

Melinda Ferrier. Mel is a professional organizer, certified Konmari consultant, and former psychologist. You hear the word yoga. What is the first image or thought that comes to mind?

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Oh, I go to a yoga class once a week, so my favorite because I'm not very flexible or strong, really. And so I just visualize myself doing gotten the name now. It's not downward dog because I hate that one.

SPEAKER_10 8:56

It's a resting pose now. Did you know that? No, it's not. It doesn't feel resting. No, no, that's a joke. It's a joke.

SPEAKER_02 9:03

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_10 9:04

No, some really strong vinyasa teachers say it's a resting pose, but they're the sort of people that do hand stance.

SPEAKER_02 9:10

Yes, okay. And now I've forgotten the name of the other one, which I love.

SPEAKER_10 9:16

Yes, that's it. So that's your image. So your image is very postural focused. Yeah. That's so common. That's the way yoga's been marketed.

Rebel Tucker Patanjali's Sutras And Presence

SPEAKER_10 9:30

Rebel Tucker. Rebel is a dedicated yoga therapist, senior yoga teacher, naturopath, and yoga practitioner with over 35 years of experience. If you were to explain in really simple terms what is yoga, what would you say to a student?

SPEAKER_08 9:49

What is yoga? Well, if we took it strictly by a little old book written 350 BC, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, which is considered a great summary of yoga, essentially yoga would be defined as a still mind. And I actually really like that. So I think of yoga as a set of practices and philosophies to help us live well. Now, for me, one of the most powerful things in helping us live well is the mastery that we have of our mind. And yoga, as traditionally defined, is yoga chitta vrithi narodaha, yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. And when we're able to quieten our mind and experience ourselves as that which is observing our mind thinking and our body doing things, we can see that we are more than our body, more than our mind, more than our thoughts. We have our experience as being that pure consciousness. Yoga to me is anything that gives us that experience of seeing our true nature, experiencing our true essence. It's an experiential practice. We could say it's philosophical and that it's a set of philosophies, but ultimately it is definitely something that is an experience. It's a way to experience life, a lens through which to look at life and to interpret the world. And the act of quieting down our mind allows us to be with what is, with what actually is, rather than what we might be imagining or hallucinating or hoping for. That we actually get to be with what is and be present. The thing that allowed me to accept what was going on, to be able to ask some of the tough questions of the universe and of myself, and to feel like I had a rock to ground me. It gave me acceptance of loss and it certainly gave me practices to still my wandering mind at that time. So it gave me the skills to ground myself, to essentially rein in my senses from experiences that weren't real and come back to what was real.

SPEAKER_10 12:02

Do you have a favorite yoga sutra, one that really resonates with you?

SPEAKER_08 12:08

1.2 Yoga Chitta Vritina Rodraha, 1.3, Tadadrastu, Svarupe Vastanam. One point four vritti sarupyam it ratva. Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. When we achieve that, we will know ourselves as that which is doing the observing. And if we don't do that, we will think that we are our thoughts and suffer because of it.

Justine Janssen Yoga As Grounding

SPEAKER_10 12:34

Justine Jansen. Justine is a highly regarded senior Australian yoga teacher. Justine has 20 years of yoga facilitation experience, inclusive of over a decade of owning and operating three of her own yoga studios. I just would like to start, Justine, with sharing how you first discovered yoga and how it supported you through life's changes.

SPEAKER_05 13:04

What a great question, Liz. I first discovered yoga kind of by accident. A friend dragged me along to a pregnancy class. And that was how I first discovered it. It was in a little uh community college. We were put in a packed room of 20 odd pregnant women. And this beautiful friend of mine who was also pregnant at the time said, Look, let's go. It's going to be so relaxing, it's going to be great for us. She had three boys at the time, so I'm thinking she probably needed some time out. And it's there that I it's there that I discovered yoga, would you believe in a pregnancy aspect? Wow. And was that in Canberra or somewhere else? It was in South Canberra, in Tuganong area. And yeah, a beautiful friend took me along. So that's how I first discovered it. And then from there, the way that it has really affected me and changed my life and what it's brought to my life, it's really profound. I'm I think for me, the best way I can describe it is that yoga is like my ground. It's a real way for me to feel stability and to feel gravity. And it has been that important because in times where life has been on fast forward and might not have been consistent in its pace, yoga's really helped me physically, emotionally, mentally, in all of the ways. For myself, just being a person in the world. I've noticed over the years that there's been such a supportive aspect of yoga just being in my life, uh, not getting sick as often, being more resilient in my body, within my organ systems, within my circulation, my lymphatic system. Just all of the ways that I think sometimes we forget about and we just think that yoga is going to help us become more bendy, our emotional state, our mental state, the way we might do things in the world. We just start to be able to breathe better.

SPEAKER_10 15:07

In simple terms, someone comes up to you in the street and says, What is yoga?

SPEAKER_05 15:12

When I think about it in terms of just meeting someone on the street and them asking me, I would simply turn to that definition of yoga that is one of many definitions, but one that I really love, which is around that word union. And at the deepest spiritual aspect and that level of yoga that allows us to reveal the self and the true essence of our being. Ultimately, it's a process and a practice by which we come to realize there's no separation between anyone or anything. So yoga is union, yoga is relationship, yoga is that oneness. Traditionally, yoga is a practice that was passed down, and there's so much that goes into that. It's not just the fact that it was individualized. It's imperative that when we are seeking to know ourselves better and discover a deeper inner world connection through mind and body, that there is some kind of touchstone there that we're able to actually spend time that is explorative, where we're able to discover, feel, and connect.

Dorothy Baumfalk On Holistic Modern Yoga

SPEAKER_10 16:22

Dorothy Baum Fogg. She is a yoga teacher, Ayurvedic counselor, and journal therapist. What's yoga? How would you describe it in simple terms? It's a very complex thing, but I do like to ask people this to help demystify it.

SPEAKER_06 16:43

Yeah, I would probably, if someone came up to me and asked me, I would probably start by saying what it's not. It's not some sort of fitness training, it's not just relaxation. It can be both, but it's not just either of those things. And that's a common misconception that I'm constantly facing because people are like, Oh, you're doing yoga, so you just stretch a little bit and then lie on your back for a few minutes. And other people say, Oh no, I cannot do yoga, I'm not athletic, I'm not flexible at all. And I'm like, Well, hey, join the club. I'm not athletic as well. I never was, I wasn't flexible until I started yoga. So I would probably say it's something holistic, and I know that word is overused, but it still is holistic. Yoga is very holistic, it's for mind, body, and soul, and it doesn't just affect your body, it doesn't just make you flexible, it makes you more patient, it makes you more resilient, and it gives me so much that by now I would be totally passionate about telling that person what yoga is to me and what it means to me and what it does for me. So yeah, to sum it all up, I would say it's an ancient practice that's holistic, and even though it's ancient, it's very modern and very applicable to our everyday lives. Because I feel like today we need the effects of yoga more than ever because now we're so stressed, and so many things are going on around us, and there's constantly this flood of information and pictures and sounds, and yoga is some kind of a little oasis in all of that.

SPEAKER_10 18:47

Yeah, you're right. We lead such busy life, we're always on the run.

SPEAKER_06 18:52

We do.

SPEAKER_10 18:53

You know, we even rush to things that should be calming, like rushing to class. And yeah, and I remember teaching at a studio which shut the doors right on the dot, and people would be coming to the oh and they needed that class to calm down getting through the crazy Melbourne traffic where I was living at the time. We're just constantly on the go. So yeah, that's true. And I like how you tell them what it isn't because I like to say that yoga is not gymnastics and it's not routine. Yeah, so that's great. Do you have a favorite quote on yoga or favorite piece of philosophy?

SPEAKER_06 19:44

Well, the one that comes to mind immediately is the one from the Bhagavad Gita. Yoga is the journey of the self through the self to the self. And um, that's a quote that I love and that I frequently use as a motto for my classes. And I think it's beautiful put because nowadays people often think yoga is some type of self-optimization program. And if I do it, I'm Kristen Clip.

Kristen Klipp And Lisa Weller - Listening Inward

SPEAKER_10 20:13

Kristen is a trauma-sensitive yoga facilitator, empowerment coach, and chakra energy healer. What's yoga? And you could describe it in really simple terms. What would you say to them?

SPEAKER_07 20:27

Yeah, so yoga, the actual definition is to yoke or the union. Um, and I really see that as the union of your mind, body, and soul together. It has this holistic approach within itself. And it really allows a person to start to listen to their bodies, start to listen to their inner wisdom, and really start to pay attention to the things that their soul, their mind, their body have all been probably saying to them that maybe they've been ignoring. So for me, it's definitely been this union, this coming together of my mind, body, and soul, and really learning how and practicing how to pay attention to what my body is needing in any moment. And really taking that time to tune in and to listen.

SPEAKER_10 21:29

Lisa Weller. Lisa has been practicing yoga for over 20 years. Lisa is a senior yoga teacher and has been teaching since 2014. Lisa is also a qualified yoga therapist.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

I always say that yoga is a spiritual practice, not a physical practice. And it's a way of connecting ourselves in mind, body, and spirit, and it's holistic as well, too. So it's not just the physical aspect of our practices that way that. We enter the practice, but it's not the end of our practice. It's just the beginning. It's your whole entire lifestyle. The food that you receive and the way that you take care of your body that supports your yoga practice. Yoga isn't just your 30 minutes or your 60 minutes on your mat. I think that it's important at some stage to create that understanding around that what it looks like from the outside isn't necessarily what it feels like on the inside.

Karen Fabian - The Class That Changed Everything

SPEAKER_10 22:24

Karen Fabian. Karen is a yoga teacher, author, and founder of Bare Bones Yoga.

SPEAKER_04 22:30

When the class began and we started doing poses, I thought to myself, I didn't even know this kind of thing existed. This is a blend of all these things that I love. And as the teacher, who's now a really good friend of mine, started to teach, and the particular way she was not just giving us physical instruction, but mental coaching along the way, or at least that's how I interpreted it. I thought, wow, this is a blend, even of the sort of counseling coaching that I did with clients. And I know sometimes people say this. I can say this absolutely for sure, emphatically, that that one class changed the direction of my life. But for that class, I might not be where I am today. So I think on some level, the universe was sort of conspiring to bring me to this class and show me that there is another way for you to be living your life.

SPEAKER_10 23:37

There was a real pivotal moment that changed the trajectory of your life. Totally.

SPEAKER_04 23:43

And how did it help you? It was only the second time in my life I had taken a yoga class. The first time in my life was very shortly after I got divorced, and I took myself on a vacation and I went to this wellness retreat in St. Lucia. So there were always different classes and that sort of thing. And one day I saw that yoga was on the chalkboard. And I went to the yoga class, which was in this room, it was up on stilts, and it looked out over the ocean. And it was sort of dusk. So it was a very idyllic setting. And I remember about halfway through, I just started sobbing. I was just emoting, like my skin was molting off my body. It was so unlike me and so unexpected. Looking back on it, of course, with the perspective of time, uh I recognize it as, you know, an emotional release from everything that I had gone through. And there have been many times in my life when my practice has been an anchor for me in difficult times and also joyful times.

SPEAKER_10 25:07

I know my practice has changed a lot with age. Could you just elaborate on how your practice has changed?

SPEAKER_04 25:15

I recently turned 60 and leading up to 60, I would say like 55 to 60, I really became very interested in a lot of longevity practices, especially as it relates to women. Like the decrease in estrogen affects the body and the mind and inflammation and mobility, so many things that estrogen has an impact on. So as a result, I realized I wanted to expand the physical practices I was doing for my health. And so now my practice is shorter and more targeted to specific poses and not every day. The meditative and mindfulness piece of yoga has been amplified over the years. So that mindfulness, meditative piece has become almost more prominent than the physical aspect for me at this point.

SPEAKER_10 26:28

Yes, more self-inquiry, taking it off your mat with more mindfulness in everyday life.

Rob Dorgan- Anxiety Relief And Commitment

SPEAKER_10 26:35

Rob Dorgan. He is a professional astrologer, meditation teacher, and a certified yoga teacher and teacher trainer. He's also an international retreat facilitator. Could you just start by sharing how you discovered yoga?

SPEAKER_03 26:53

I uh was a very nervous child. Not really that it was really in my upbringing so much that it was in my inner nature to just be very nervous and high strong and kind of type A, even as a kid. And I knew that, and I knew I was burning out really young. By the time I got to graduate school, it was like I needed something. And the funny part about it is that I went to an astrologer on a dare because uh one of my friends said that they'd gotten a reading, and when this guy started reading my chart, he said, you know, you need something to relax, something to help your central nervous system because something like yoga. Well, this was back in the 80s, so yoga was very much like a cult back then, you know.

SPEAKER_10 27:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 27:40

Yeah, they went classes pretty much.

SPEAKER_03 27:44

Yeah, my first classes were in somebody's carriage house, and there were like six or seven of us with this woman. And I carry my yoga mat across town, and people were like, What is that? I'd be like a yoga mat, yoga. But what happened was when he suggested it, I was, you know, uh living on campus, found a yoga class from a little flyer in a coffee shop, and I went and it was like, of course, my mind, the first class is like, what are you doing? You know, why are you here? This is all that kind of stuff. But when we got to Shivasana and I just chilled out, and my body relaxed after probably like a 70-minute class with her, I was like, what is going on? What is this? And I knew it helped me. That's how I got into it and got really involved.

SPEAKER_10 28:39

It met and balanced your mood. Yeah, the nervousness and the anxiety.

SPEAKER_03 28:47

In that moment, it really did. So I just decided I gotta do more of this, I gotta find out more about it. So that's kind of how my journey got started with it, and then it didn't end. I started studying with different teachers, and I mean that's basically how I got into it and stayed with it. It helped me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 29:14

So it's been part of your life for a long time.

SPEAKER_03 29:18

I yeah, 30 years or more.

SPEAKER_10 29:21

How many years was that?

SPEAKER_03 29:23

30.

SPEAKER_10 29:24

30 years.

Final Takeaways

SPEAKER_10 29:26

Thanks again for tuning in. If you loved the show, my guests and I would really appreciate a five star review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you listen to podcasts. Until next time, never forget the power of yoga.