On Love, Life, and Loss: The Legacy and Teachings of Michael Stone with Carina Stone

Life has value because it is fleeting and impermanent. In the limited time that we are given, we can touch the lives of other people and accomplish different milestones. Nonetheless, it is especially hard for us to accept the permanent and unreturnable loss of a loved one who has passed.

In today's episode, we're joined by Carina Stone, the wife of the late Michael Stone. She shares with us how life is like over the last two years since Michael's passing and the lessons she has learned in this journey. She also talks about the inspiration that has encouraged her to put out Michael's teachings out in the world today.

Check out these highlights and don't miss this episode about life and loss that will tug at your hearts.

About Our Guest

Carina Stone is the wife of the late Michael Stone, a prominent Buddhist teacher, yogi, author, and the host of the Awake in the World podcast. Michael was the founder and director of the Centre of Gravity Sangha, which is a community of yoga and Buddhist practitioners. Carina stewards his legacy as she speaks about his life and teachings.

On Love, Life, and Loss

Meeting Michael

• Carina and Michael met in 2000 as a student and teacher and slowly fell in love. They became a couple in 2010.
• She was preparing to leave the community because she couldn't face him, but he confessed that he also had feelings for her.
• She had an awakening experience when she became a practitioner.

The World Comes to You

• The book contains Michael's teachings compiled before his passing.
• On the day he died, the last message he sent to the world was to his editor, Erin Robinsong, to thank her for the work she was doing on the book.
• Its contents, including the placement of chapters, are honed to Michael's voice.
• The point of the book is to be brief and potent.

Michael's Life and Passing

• He had lived with bipolar disorder type one and was experiencing an increase in its effects over the last few years before he died.
• He seemed to be doing well from the outside.
• Michael craved natural alternatives, opium, in particular, to the meds that he was taking.
• A few months before he passed, they were discussing how to downsize their lives.
• A few weeks before his passing, something in him went quieter.
• Before he passed away, he went to town to run errands and had access to a street drug. He was found unresponsive a few hours later.
• Michael overdosed on 100% fentanyl.
• He was kept on life support for three days to be an organ donor. He donated his lungs and two kidneys, saving three lives in the process.

Being Awake in the World

• Forgetting, checking out, numbing, cocooning—they all serve an essential function.
• "Vividness and being able to be in my body and the world at the same time."
• As a bodyworker, for her, it is feeling that her body is not leaning away from her center.

Moving Through Grief

• Carina mostly practices meditation and focuses on being a mom.
• She comes back to where she feels centered.
• She was ready when she met Michael in the hospital.

The Biggest Lessons

• Michael taught him that there's nothing wrong with her.
• The biggest lesson she taught him was sharing a home where he could always return.
• Lesson from her children: Children are resilient and vulnerable. They can handle so much, and they are hopeful.

5 Powerful Quotes from This Episode

• "In my process of losing Michael, every now and then, I had to let myself relax and check out. It was actually hard. There was such vividness after he died. Daily life was extremely vivid and awake moments and just all strung together into three in the morning. There needed to be a time for rest and for not being awake."
• "I think practice sets you up for those moments. And maybe that's the whole point is you're ready for those, where you're ready differently. And so when I met Michael in the hospital, I could meet him there. I was ready to meet him there."
• On the biggest lesson that Michael taught him: "But like, there's nothing wrong with me. Yeah. I think that I feel it more now since he died. I feel like I'm still learning that from him now since he died."
• "And I felt love, like we were this unit. And now, I feel like I see through this process, like our heart just has such a huge capacity, and where we draw the lines around that are really interesting. But kids really don't. They can just be so open and resilient."
• "I feel like life is a fabric. And the fabric is made of joy and love. And it moves around a lot, and various things move around a lot. I feel loved by the fabric."

Resources

• The World Comes To You by Michael Stone

To know more about the legacy that Michael Stone left, visit Michael Stone Teachings. You can also follow their Facebook page.

Leave us a review or any thoughts and questions about this episode! Please help us continue this podcast going by subscribing on iTunes. Please share this episode with your friends, and don't hesitate to connect with us on Instagram or Twitter. Thanks for listening!

How Yoga Can Help You Heal and Recover with Donny Starkins

We all feel the pressure of social expectations. Leading a life pleasing other people can lead to losing our identity and sense of self. Thus, it is important to make time for recovery and healing so that we can accept ourselves fully and extend the same love and compassion to others.

In today’s episode, yoga Instructor Donny Starkins shares how yoga helped him towards self-actualization and personal development. He also gives some insights and tools on how you can start on your journey to recovery and how yoga can bring healing to our body, mind, and soul.

About Our Guest

Donny Starkins is a yoga instructor and personal development coach. He is a former Division I baseball player, and pain and medication were constant in his life. In search of physical and spiritual relief, he embarked on his yoga journey in 2005. He now leads transformational classes with a focus on mindfulness.

Healing the Body and the Soul Through Yoga

Yoga for Self Development

• During his athletic career, Donny underwent seven operations on his left knee. Because he was in constant pain, he became addicted to pain killers.
• Yoga saved his life and healed his mind and soul.

Journey Toward Embracing Yoga

• When Donny started teaching yoga, he feared people’s judgments.
• He teaches some classes in upper-class areas in Phoenix and Scottsdale. He observed that though people live fancy lives on the outside, they are dying on the inside. So, he asked himself the question, “How dare I not teach the soul?”
• Seane Corn’s Off The Mat, Into The World leadership training inspired him to pursue teaching yoga.
• At the end of the five-day training, he created a monthly community yoga class called “Sunday Yoga Service.”

Going Beyond the Struggles

• Donny goes to an all men’s meeting once a week for accountability and to be of service.
• He also continues to share the message he learned from Seane Corn’s training.
• Little by little, he let go of other people's opinions and learned not to give them power over him.
• Now he is on a lifelong journey of personal development.

Being a Yoga Teacher

• He started as a teacher who was stuck to his small self and believed that he needed to be perfect.
• As a yoga teacher, he doesn't want to be put on the pedestal. He wants to be human and be one with his students and help them heal.
• He realized his mission—to teach a message to the soul in a language that everybody can understand.

Who Is a Soulful Teacher?

• A soulful teacher is vulnerable and full of humanity.
• A soulful teacher channels something from the middle of the heart.

What Holds People Back?

• What holds them back is their growth or transformation.
• People fear what others think of them. They are caught in the limitations of the mind or the story that they're telling themselves.

Social Media as a Tool

• He has a love–hate relationship with social media.
• Although social media stresses him out, he uses it as leverage. He holds on to his mission to share the message of healing through yoga to as many people as possible.
• You should be able to self-regulate on social media.

The World of Recovery and Helpful Tools

• First is the tool of breath and meditation. The Muse meditation headband, which gives biofeedback of the brain's activity, is a great example.
• The 90-day workbook in his coaching program is also useful for journaling.
• You should have the ability to surrender. Go to any lengths to get sober and break free of your addiction.
• You should have the HOW: honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness.

5 Powerful Quotes from This Episode

• “The more I started to chip away at the things that were getting in the way of me showing up as the best, the most authentic version of myself, the more just all the other opinions of other people don't even matter anymore.”
• “It's again that vulnerability and that humility that someone who you can tell is just channeling something. It's not scripted, and it's just right from the middle of the heart.”
• “In [the] recovery world, there has to be a willingness—like if you are struggling with an addiction, whether it's a substance or its sex or shopping, whatever it is—the ability to surrender.”
• “I use the equation ‘willingness equals freedom.’ If I am willing to go to any lengths, I can be as free as I want to be.”
• “So we can only love as far as we're willing to love ourselves. And when we can do that and we can truly love us, our flawed works in progress that we are, we will then not have to look outside of ourselves to try to fill a void that we can't fill ourselves.”

Resources

• Off the Mat, Into the World training by Seane Corn; Hala Khouri, M.A.; and Suzanne Sterling
• The Shift to Sobriety program by Donny Starkins

To know more about yoga and check some upcoming events and retreats, you may visit Donny’s website.

Please help us continue this podcast going by subscribing on iTunes and write a review! Please share this episode with your friends, and don’t forget to send us messages on Instagram or Twitter. Thanks for listening!

Building a Supportive Community for Women in Recovery with Taryn Strong

Recovery, whether from a physical, spiritual, emotional, or mental injury, is never easy. It requires a lot of internal work that can take a toll on our overall well-being. Because of this, the role our community and environment play in our recovery process is just as important as the efforts we put ourselves. A supportive circle can make all the difference in the world and can be our best hope as we go on this path of recovery.

In this episode of Radically Loved Radio, we have the incredible Taryn Strong as our guest to share her personal journey of healing and recovery. She also shares with us her experiences in using her platform to build a community for people who are in similar situations.

Check out the podcast highlights below. Be sure to subscribe and tune in for all the details!

About Our Guest

Taryn Strong is the co-founder of She Recovers, a yoga program that aims to incorporate yoga and meditation with recovery. She is a rising influencer for women who, like her, are recovering from multiple things. Taryn herself is proud of bouncing back from eating disorders, drug addiction, and even self-harming. Now, she dedicates most of her time to building a safe community for women in recovery.

The Path to Recovery and Enlightenment

The Cycle of Addiction and Recovery

• Taryn recovered from multiple struggles such as self-harm, eating disorders, codependency, and even self-esteem issues. At 16, she suffered from substance use disorder as well.
• Recovering from rock bottom is one of the most transformative moments of her life.
• She had thought she’s done with recovery until she was reintroduced to her vices.
• Her lowest point was when she wasn’t in alignment with herself and not living her truest self.
• Some time in between, Taryn and her mom started the She Recovers yoga program while Taryn was still under the influence. It was only after fully acknowledging her unhealthy ways that Taryn finally started the journey to recovery.
• Her mom is also recovering from workaholism, anxiety, depression, cancer, and domestic abuse.
• Their different approaches to recovery are what helps them both.

Women in Recovery and Understanding Yourself

• Everyone is recovering from something.
• Not everyone suffers from the same thing. What matters is you are doing your best, and you are in a supportive community.
• It’s essential to make the spiritual and emotional connection between your struggles and what you feel.
• Recovery is not a one-size-fits-all process.
• When you begin to understand yourself and your needs, that’s the time you can ask for the help and support you need.
• One of She Recovers’ main guiding principles is that people need support to find the patchworks and pathways to recovery.

Making the Connection Between Yoga and Recovery

• Taryn has been a dancer for most of her life, and she realized that movement is therapeutic for her.
• When she finally listened to this connection, she explored and fell in love with yoga.

The Concept of Permission and What Recovery Path Works for You

• Give yourself permission to know your modality. Surround yourself with supportive people who understand your mode of recovery.
• There is no single template for recovery. We shouldn’t feel like there’s a “system,” and that if we aren’t part of it, then we aren’t recovering.
• Unsupportive environments require you to be dogmatic and evangelical about their methods.
• Listen to your voice and intuition.
• People’s healing will be different, and their personal journey is a way of honoring themselves as well.
• Women always have to ask permission to do things.
• It gives off a feeling of guilt and a constant wanting to do something to resist.
• For Taryn, her recovery wasn’t only from her substance abuse and eating disorders, among others. It was also recovery from patriarchy.

Building a Supportive Community for Recovery

• Growing apart is normal for relationships.
• Choose quantity over quality. Stick to people who you know will genuinely and strongly support you, no matter how few they may be.
• Taryn’s broader community just came by organically. These are people who she hasn’t met yet in real life, but has supported her over the years.
• There is a heart and soul connection, even when you have not personally met some people. You’ll know when every time you talk or interact with them, you just feel better.

Three Main Foundations of Building a Support Group

• First, stay open-minded and open-hearted. Try not to get too fixated on one idea or one opportunity.
• Second, believe that you are worthy of love, recovery, and healing.
• Third, trust yourself.

5 Powerful Quotes from this Episode

• “What I was losing was myself, and I was completely out of alignment with myself and not in integrity. And that was the worst imaginable feeling for me—not being in alignment and not living my truest self..” (Taryn)
• “Everybody is recovering from something.” (Taryn)
• “When we can get to a place where we understand who we are and what we need for ourselves, we can then be able to get to a place where we can ask for help and get the support that we need from the people that we need it [from].” (Rosie)
• “I see it every day; when we give women support and permission to recover in their own way, they do recover, and it's different for everyone. I mean, all of our experiences are different, so it just makes sense that our healing journeys are going to be different as well.” (Taryn)
• “When you start living your truth, whatever your truth is, or when you do start this path of healing, you just find each other.” (Taryn)

Resources

• She Recovers Podcast with Taryn Strong

You can connect with Taryn through her Instagram. You may also reach out to She Recovers through their Facebook and Instagram. Meanwhile, you can find all the details about their upcoming events, retreats, workshops, yoga coaching programs, and podcasts on their website.

How You Can Live a Better Life with Yoga with Dr. Christa Kuberry

Yoga has been around for thousands of years. Most of us probably started practicing it by exercising in mind. But as we go on, we realize that it goes beyond the physical aspect. It helps us discover what's truly in our hearts, it clears our mind of any distractions, and it allows us to become free and vulnerable. 

In this episode, Yoga Alliance's Dr. Christa Kuberry joins us to talk about how she got into yoga, what American yoga is, and how yoga has evolved through the years. She also shares how yoga has helped her manage her emotions and how you can do it too.

Check out the highlights of the episode below. Make sure that you tune in to the show to know all the details!

About Our Guest

Dr. Christa Kuberry is the Vice President of Standards at Yoga Alliance. She leads the company's efforts in evaluating and evolving yoga teacher training standards. She is a yoga teacher, practitioner, and scholar. She also serves on the steering committee for the Yoga Theory and Practice Group.

Living a Better Life with Yoga

Yoga as a Career Path

• Dr. Christa started her first yoga class in 1999, and she became a practitioner in 2002.
• She started yoga from an exercise perspective.
• When she was getting her masters in religious studies, she became interested in yoga and began bringing her academic knowledge into the studio.
• She then became a yoga teacher trainer.

Findings in American Yoga

• Dr. Christa wrote her dissertation on American yoga. She says yoga in the United States is very individualized.
• She argued in one of her papers that yoga in America is similar to a mash-up song, with different pieces thrown together in one underlying beat.
• Yoga is not going to stop growing because it has so much viability and is useful in different settings.
• People get into yoga from different perspectives, but they all seek a deeper understanding and a more holistic picture of yoga.

Yoga Is About Connection

• Yoga is a lifelong journey of education, and there are different ways to begin that path.
• Dr. Christa believes in the Hindu aphorism, “Tat Tvam Asi,” which translates to “You are that.” We are already what we seek to become.
• Individual practice leads to collective betterment.
• She's writing a book about the complex history of yoga and its concepts from an academic lens.

Practicing Ritual and Gratitude

• Ritual is an essential piece of her life because she has to have a structure in her busy life. 
• The first thing Dr. Christa does every morning is to meditate and practice some Asana.
• Before she goes to bed, she reminds herself of two or three things she’s grateful for, no matter how mundane they are. It helps her go through the next day with less overwhelm and more gratitude and compassion.

The Gift of Vulnerability

• Everyone is a beginner at one point in their life.
• The process is just as significant as the end result.
• Yoga is a heart-based practice that makes you vulnerable and courageous at the same time.

Freedom and Yoga

• Dr. Christa believes freedom comes from presence.
• Yoga helps her be present in everyday moments.
• It also helps her feel free from everyday moments once she steps on the sacred rectangle of her yoga mat.

Dealing with Emotional Chaos

• Yoga has taught her that she has to acknowledge her feelings and work around them to get past them.
• We can't help what happens to us, but through yoga, we can learn how to react better to what happens to us.

5 Powerful Quotes from This Episode

• “We have a lot of brand new yogis, and there [are] a lot more people looking for depth. We start in this space of going to yoga because we want to have toned arms or we want some stress relief. And then something seems to happen. It's called Yoga Pratyaksha—this whole moment of superordinary consciousness where you're like, ‘Whoa, something happened in that class, and I want more of that.’”
• “The thing that really speaks to me, especially from the Rigveda, is an aphorism ‘Tat Tvam Asi,’ which essentially means ‘Thou art that’ or ‘That thou art.’ For me, I really look into that as, ‘I might be a drop in the ocean, but I am also the ocean.’ So I have to live in both of those spaces.”
• “The gift of vulnerability leads to the gift of yoga, as far as stepping into those spaces and being courageous enough to do so.”
• “Know that yoga is itself a heart-based practice and that you can be courageous enough. Wear your heart on your sleeve. Walk into that space. Know that every single person in that room, at some point on their path, probably also felt just as uncomfortable as you. People don't like to think about this either, but some part of yoga is also about being uncomfortable. It's about what that feels like to not always have everything figured out or sitting in it a little bit.”
• “Being part of what we speak to when we speak about yoga is just as important as having a perfect or working towards some sort of idea of perfection and alignment.”

Resources

• Yoga Sutras of Patañjali by Edwin Bryant
• No Mud, No Lotus by Thich Nhat Hanh

Visit Yoga Alliance to know more about how they serve the community. You can connect with Dr. Christa via email or Instagram.

If you want to learn more about this topic, subscribe on iTunes, and don't hesitate to leave a review or any comments. Follow us on Instagram or Twitter, and let's start a discussion. If you like this episode, please share it with your friends. Thanks for listening!