Yoga Medicine

Previous episodes have explored the physical form and function of fascia and its interactions with the nervous and immune systems. Today's conversation ventures into more new territory, exploring the relationships between fascia, flow state, and embodied experience.
Host Katja is joined by Fiona Rose Stout PhD, an interdisciplinary researcher, bodyworker, and movement therapist seeking to connect diverse perspectives from neuroscience, creative arts, bodywork, and yoga.
Together, Katja and Fiona explore the fascinating relationship between fascia, movement, and nervous system regulation. They discuss why fascia may provide an important biological lens for understanding embodied awareness, how movement practices can cultivate greater adaptability and resilience, and why integrative thinking is essential when exploring trauma, healing, and the mind-body connection. They also unpack a recent opinion article challenging "The Body Keeps the Score," offering a nuanced discussion about predictive coding, fascia, and contemporary trauma science.

"There's an experience that happens when you actually feel that connection and that integration." — Fiona Stout.
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What You'll Learn:
Introducing Fiona [01:13]
Flow state and why it matters for embodied movement practitioners [04:40]
Fascial fluidity implications for flow state [11:48]
Connections between nervous system regulation, trauma and flow state [15:11]
Supporting fascia with curiosity, varied movement, bodywork, myofascial release [21:03]
A nuanced discussion of "The Body Keeps the Score" [29:05]
Predictive coding and recent article "The body does not keep the score" [37:05]
Why integration, not dualism, may better explain human experience [45:11]
"Different strokes for different folks": final takeaways [50:28]
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Links Mentioned:
Watch this episode on YouTube
Kotler S, Mannino M, Fox G and Friston K (2026) The body does not keep the score: trauma, predictive coding, and the restoration of metastability. Front. Syst. Neurosci. 20:1812957. doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2026.1812957
Yoga Medicine 50hr Myofascial Release Training, Denver, Colorado, October 11-16
Connect with Fiona Stout PhD: PhD Dissertation | Miss Fi Yoga | Instagram | LinkedIn
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Learn More:
Find the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-172.
Learn more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com.
To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Most of us spend more time unintentionally still than we would like, and yet there is undeniable power in the purposeful stillness of savasana. In this episode, we take a closer look at savasana—an almost universally familiar posture, yet perhaps also one of the most loaded with assumption and expectation.
Hosts Tiffany and Rachel discuss how savasana supports recovery, nervous system regulation and resilience, as well as why there is no single "perfect" version of the pose and how thoughtful modifications can make this practice more accessible for every body. 
From prop setups and guided relaxation to alternatives for students who find stillness challenging, this conversation offers practical strategies for both yoga teachers and practitioners to make rest a more meaningful part of practice.

"The shape is not really the thing. It's just a container for the practice that you're creating in savasana." - Tiffany Cruikshank.
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What You'll Learn:
Defining savasana and approaches to it [01:51]
Savasana as the integration, close, and clearing of practice [03:13]
Current research on savasana [05:38]
Savasana for nervous system regulation [10:22
Challenges in savasana: discomfort lying still [14:03
Guidance for mental restlessness in savasana [19:13]
Prop options for comfort [24:39]
Guided vs unguided savasana, duration of quiet [32:34]
Can we skip savasana? [36:23]
The value of intentional stillness and "non-doing" [42:17]
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Links Mentioned:
Watch this episode on YouTube
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Learn More:
Find the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-171.
Learn more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com.
To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Yoga is increasingly moving beyond the studio to find a place in therapeutic and healthcare settings. That move generates new opportunities, as well as new challenges, for yoga teachers.
In today's episode, host Rachel speaks with Yoga Medicine Therapeutic Specialist Jen Beal, who is a full-time yoga and meditation teacher with the Whole Health division of the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
Jen shares the realities of teaching yoga in a large-scale healthcare environment: working as part of a collaborative care team, documentation requirements, and the need for trauma sensitivity, confidentiality, and accessibility. This conversation offers valuable insight into how yoga can become more inclusive, adaptable, and therapeutic — both inside and outside traditional healthcare systems.
"You don't have to have every single body in your classroom doing the same exact thing." — Jen Beal.
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What You'll Learn:
Gaining employment in the VA healthcare system [2:31]
What the role involves [5:40]
Rewarding and fulfilling work [7:59]
Unique challenges in this environment [11:58]
Record-keeping requirements [14:41]
Privacy and confidentiality matter in healthcare [18:23]
Clear Scope of Practice [20:30]
How VA students and sequences differ from yoga studios [26:23]
A "yoga kit" to encourage home practice [35:37]
Advice for accessible teaching in healthcare settings [38:29]
Final takeaways [44:02]
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Links Mentioned:
Watch this episode on YouTube
Connect with Jen Beal: Instagram | Still and Flow Yoga
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Learn More:
Find the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-170.
Learn more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com.
To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

We all have the instinct to distract ourselves from present-moment discomfort, whether we consider ourselves an addict or not. That insight is a powerful starting point for today's conversation on the role yoga can play in addiction recovery. 
Host Rachel is joined by returning guest Caroline Wybar—yoga teacher and trainer, and 1000hr Yoga Medicine Therapeutic Specialist. Drawing from both lived experience and extensive research, Caroline shares a compassionate and evidence-informed perspective on addiction and recovery.
She explores the many factors that contribute to addiction and shares how yoga can support recovery by helping practitioners develop self-awareness, resilience, distress tolerance, and a healthier relationship with the present moment.
"We all experience pain and distress and loss and disconnection. We just have different solutions for it." — Caroline Wybar.
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What You'll Learn:
Defining addiction, clinically versus culturally [2:27]

Addiction as a solution to pain [4:34]

Disease or personal choice? Reaching consilience [8:11]

Secrecy, stigma versus community connection [16:34]

Caroline's personal recovery story [20:14]

Yoga tools for recovery [37:52]

Yoga asana for simplicity and sense of success [41:50]

Accessible breath work and mindfulness practices [43:57]

Yoga Medicine Live Online Addictions Yoga Teacher Training [51:49]
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Links Mentioned:
Watch this episode on YouTube

Yoga Medicine LIVE Online Addictions Yoga Teacher Training

Previous Yoga Medicine Podcast Episodes with Caroline Wybar:
Approaches to Anxiety

Yoga Nidra

Full-time Yoga Teacher Panel 


Connect with Caroline Wybar: Facebook | Instagram | Caroline Wybar Yoga | YMO Guest Teacher
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Learn More:
Find the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-169.
Learn more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com.
To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Most of us instinctively understand that we feel better when we spend time in nature. But our relationship to the natural world is perhaps even more powerful than we appreciate.
On today's episode, host Rachel is joined by Emily Long—licensed clinical social worker, certified nature-informed therapist, and yoga teacher. Emily shares research on the therapeutic benefits of building a more mindful relationship with nature, whether that means spending time outdoors, inviting natural elements indoors, even simply viewing nature through a window. Emily also reminds us how nature is deeply embedded in the yoga tradition. 
From stress reduction and improved cognitive function to increased resilience and emotional regulation, this conversation highlights the many ways reconnecting with nature can support our well-being, and how our practice could be the perfect time and place to do so.

"What we care for cares for us." — Emily Long.
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What You'll Learn:
• How yoga already reflects our connection to nature [3:08]
• Stereotypes can discourage people from developing a relationship with nature [9:19]
• Research: nature and our health [12:56]
• "Softly fascinating stimuli" and the nervous system [16:12]
• Reaping the benefits whether we enjoy nature or not [20:40]
• Nature encourages social and community connection [23:44]
• Practical ways to invite nature into indoor spaces [26:35]
• Taking opportunities to go outside [29:02]
• Natural imagery, honoring seasonal rhythms [30:59]
• Ahimsa, reciprocity, and caring for the environment [37:33]
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Links Mentioned:
Watch this episode on YouTube
Relevant research: Soga, M., & Gaston, K. J. (2025). Health benefits of viewing nature through windows: A meta-analysis. Bioscience, 75(8), 628–636. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaf089
Stevenson, M. P., Schilhab, T., & Bentsen, P. (2018). Attention Restoration Theory II: a systematic review to clarify attention processes affected by exposure to natural environments. Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part B, Critical reviews, 21(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1080/10937404.2018.1505571
Bettmann, J. E., Speelman, E., Blumenthal, E., Couch, S., & McArthur, T. (2024). How Does Nature Exposure Affect Adults With Symptoms of Mental Illness? A Meta-Analysis. International journal of mental health nursing, 33(6), 1889–1907. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.13400
Ulrich R. S. (1984). View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science (New York, N.Y.), 224(4647), 420–421. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.6143402 


Connect with Emily Long: Instagram | Yoga With Emily | Emily Long LCSW
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Learn More:
Find the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-168.
Learn more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com.
To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.