Perennials Podcast
 

Perennials Podcast

https://feed.podbean.com/perennials/feed.xml

Conversations about growing up, getting wise and trying to live a good life.

Episode 44: Belonging in Yoga with Khay Muhammad

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Khay Muhammad Lightwell is a yoga teacher originally from Newark, New Jersey. She’s traveled to India, Mexico and South America to hone her skills with some of the best practitioners and also to teach. She teaches all levels from children to elders and focuses on playful practice with an emphasis on longevity and alignment. Her classes pull from colorful imagery, metaphors and musicality. Visit her website and follow her on Instagram @khay_like_fly

Topics:

  • Why Khay’s first yoga class sucked 
  • What Khay’s life looked liked when she first started taking yoga classes as a post-grad in Brooklyn
  • Khay’s childhood growing up in Newark, a few blocks from Branch Brook Park, and the love for nature that her father instilled in her
  • The idea of balance in yoga, nature and our lives
  • Why inclusivity is so important to Khay in her yoga classes
  • How yoga classes can sometimes feel cliquey 
  • How teaching from her home has given Khay more freedom to be her full self while teaching yoga 
  • How yoga classes could feel lonely for Khay early on, but also offered respite from a very social lifestyle
  • The human tendency to try to create what we long for 
  • Having a beginner’s mind as a teacher
  • The importance of failing
  • How yoga, politics and the state of our world are all connected 

References:

 

You can find a very helpful guide to anti-racism resources here. 

 

 

 

Episode 43: Bonnets at Dawn with Lauren Burke and Hannah K Chapman

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Lauren Burke is a writer from Chicago, Illinois.  Her work focuses on women’s history, writing, and travel. Her partner, Hannah K Chapman, is a writer and publishing professional based in Bristol, UK. Their podcast, Bonnets at Dawn, is a deep dive into the lives and works of women writers from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. 

Topics:

  • How Lauren and Hannah came to love Jane Austen and the Brontës
  • Women’s rage and restrained anger in the work of the Brontës 
  • Jane Austen’s humor and dialogue
  • How Bonnets at Dawn has affected Lauren and Hannah’s relationships to the books and authors that they love
  • Lessons Hannah has taken from Jane Austen’s Persuasion
  • Reading for work versus reading purely for pleasure
  • Reading books from previous centuries through a contemporary lens
  • Relating to women writers from previous centuries through reading their letters and journals
  • How Jane Austen taught Hannah to be wary of people who come on too strong, too fast
  • A healing trip that Lauren and Hannah took to Haworth, home of the Brontës
  • How making the podcast together has affected Hannah and Lauren’s friendship
  • The struggle of balancing multiple passions and interests (and trying to determine whether you are passionate “enough” about something)
  • Learning to pivot, change and, sometimes, let go of old dreams
  • The fallacy that women writers don’t (or didn’t) write for money 
  • The importance of work (not just relationships) for women’s well-being and fulfillment 

References:

 

 

Resources:

 

Episode 42: Holding Space with Zoe Gillis

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Zoe Gillis is a therapist on a mission to blend the worlds of outdoor adventure, group therapy, and deep inner personal work. She started her journey 15 years ago as a wilderness guide for youth at risk in Canada and was blown away by the healing power of being in nature.  She decided then that she wanted to find a way to combine her passion for personal growth with her love of nature. 

Since 2014, after becoming licensed as a marriage and family therapist, Zoe has cultivated a unique and non-traditional private practice. She works with individuals but expands the modality of healing into group coaching and even further into immersive wilderness retreat experiences. Her passion is helping people connect to their purpose through presence even in the most difficult of times.  

Website: https://www.zoegillis.com/

IG: @zoegillismft   

Upcoming Events:

You can find out more about her upcoming events on Instagram @zoegillismft  Especially if you had any questions while listening to this show she is always happy to hear from people through DM so don't hesitate to reach out. She will also be doing a live Q&A  on Monday, March 30th answering any questions specific to Covid-19. Again her handle is zoegillismft.

Topics:

  • The different range of experiences people are having during the COVID-19 outbreak
  • Asking ourselves what we can control, and what we can’t
  • Checking in with our bodies
  • Writing down our fears and responding to them from a calm, loving place
  • Being open to and sitting with reality 
  • Practicing non-dualism and acknowledging our feelings without judgment 
  • Meeting our own suffering so we can build skills to meet what’s happening out in the world
  • Leaning on practices and activities that genuinely bring us comfort, grounding and ease
  • How a lot of the images of wellness we’re inundated with can be judgmental--and steeped in white supremacy 
  • Remembering the strengths and gifts that have helped you through challenges in the past
  • Looking for the good and holding space for the painful
  • Where Zoe is finding comfort and support as a therapist right now
  • How nature can help us right now, no matter where we live 

References:

Episode 41: Enjoying the Climb with Gillian Herbert

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Through-hiking the Appalachian Trail after high school was Gillian Herbert's gateway into the world of outdoor sports. She fell in love with rock climbing while in college at SUNY ESF and it's become a huge part of her life and her identity. Gillian is now a fourth-year veterinary student at the University of Georgia, struggling to find a balance between climbing and studying.

 

Topics:

  • Gillian’s experience of the outdoors growing up in the Adirondacks and New Hampshire
  • How feeling like she didn’t fit into her high school led Gillian to hike the Appalachian Trail after graduation
  • The confidence Gillian gained through hiking the Appalachian Trail 
  • How hiking and spending time outdoors can help our body image
  • What drew Gillian to rock climbing
  • Working with fear while climbing
  • Getting more comfortable with stretching outside of our comfort zones

 

References

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