Beyond the Eight Limbs of Yoga with Shanna Small

02/27/24 • 26 min

“Yoga is a destruction process. It's taking away all that stuff that we've picked up, and we thought is us and that we've just hung on to, and it's dismantling that.” – Shanna Small

Society teaches us to seek external validation to feel complete. Yoga teaches us that we are already whole, full and complete. Through yoga, we can dismantle false beliefs and recognize the connection between suffering and the stories we create in our minds.

Join Jivana and podcast guest, Shanna Small, as they reflect on overcoming societal conditioning and trusting one's innate wholeness through yoga philosophy, beyond the eight limbs of yoga.

Topics include:

The concept of wholeness
The distinction between pain and suffering.
Destruction of ignorance and mental modifications
Being our own guru
How yoga can help us address systemic problems
Spiritual bypassing and service
The teachings of Karma Yoga
The transformative power of understanding the Gita

Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website.

Connect with Jivana:

www.jivanaheyman.com | @jivanaheyman | facebook.com/jivanaheyman

Shanna Small (she/her) is a writer and yoga teacher who speaks to the intersectionality of yoga and social justice. She has practiced Ashtanga yoga and studied the Yoga Sutras since 2001. Shanna finds joy in making yoga accessible for all. She is a contributor for Yoga International, OmStars, OmPractice and Embodied Philosophy. You can also find her online at Shanna Small Yoga. Shanna teaches trainings and workshops on diversity and inclusivity, the Yoga Sutras, and accessibility. She is a founding member of Yoga For Recovery Foundation, a non-profit that helps those recovering from addiction, trauma, and systemic oppression.

Connect with Shanna:

shannasmallyoga.com | @shannasmallofficial

“Yoga is a destruction process. It's taking away all that stuff that we've picked up, and we thought is us and that we've just hung on to, and it's dismantling that.” – Shanna Small

Join Jivana and podcast guest, Shanna Small, as they reflect on overcoming societal conditioning and trusting one's innate wholeness through yoga philosophy, beyond the eight limbs of yoga.

Topics include:

The concept of wholeness
The distinction between pain and suffering.
Destruction of ignorance and mental modifications
Being our own guru
How yoga can help us address systemic problems
Spiritual bypassing and service
The teachings of Karma Yoga
The transformative power of understanding the Gita

Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website.

Connect with Jivana:

www.jivanaheyman.com | @jivanaheyman | facebook.com/jivanaheyman

Connect with Shanna:

shannasmallyoga.com | @shannasmallofficial

Previous Episode

Ethics for Teachers with Judith Lasater

Teaching yoga is a great privilege and responsibility! With an ethical approach that includes compassion, respect, boundaries, and clarity, yoga teachers can honor the gift of yoga, exemplify the yoga teachings, and share their best selves with the world.

In this podcast episode, Jivana and guest Judith Hanson Lasater talk about guidelines for ethical teaching, creating a relationship with students that recognizes their agency, and the interconnectedness of personal practice and life.

Topics include:

Embodying the Yamas and Niyamas
Kindness as the root of ethics
Boundaries and ethics
Personal agency of students in their yoga practice
Self-work and the personal journey of a yoga teacher
Judith’s new book “Teaching Yoga with Intention”

Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website.

Connect with Jivana:

www.jivanaheyman.com | @jivanaheyman | facebook.com/jivanaheyman

Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., PT, has taught yoga since 1971 in almost every state of the U.S. as well as on six continents. She is a founder of Yoga Journal magazine and the author of 11 books on yoga, the latest of which is Teaching Yoga with Intention (Shambhala, 2022).

Connect with Judith:

www.judithhansonlasater.com | @judithlasater

Next Episode

Teaching as a Practice with Michelle Cassandra Johnson

In yoga culture, teachers are often placed up on pedestals, creating an unequal power dynamic. So, what happens when teachers get down from the pedestal and learn alongside the student? When teaching is approached as a practice, a collaborative and intuitive relationship with the student can be formed and opportunities for growth discovered.

Join Jivana Heyman and this episode’s guest, Michelle Cassandra Johnson, as they unravel the intricate layers of teaching yoga as a practice. Together they reflect on the role of wonder and curiosity in teaching, self-trust, and the value of sharing the sacred practice in community.

Topics include:

Countering dominant culture’s power hierarchies
Cultivating humility and learning from mistakes
Intuition in teaching
Advice to new teachers
Trust, faith, and spiritual practice
Communing and building community
Incorporating humor

Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website.

Connect with Jivana:

www.jivanaheyman.com | @jivanaheyman | facebook.com/jivanaheyman

Michelle Cassandra Johnson (she/her) is an author, activist, spiritual teacher and practitioner, racial equity consultant and trainer, and intuitive healer. Michelle teaches workshops and immersions and leads retreats and transformative experiences nationwide the focus on exploring embodied approaches to racial equity work, creating ritual in justice spaces, our divine connection with nature and Spirit, and how we as a culture can heal. Michelle is the author of Skill in Action, Finding Refuge, We Heal Together, published by Shambhala Publications, and A Space For Us, published by Beacon Press.

Connect with Michelle:

www.michellecjohnson.com | @skillinaction