Brendan Smullen: How Ashtanga Yoga Evolves with Life, Parenthood & Community

Brendan Smullen is a certified Ashtanga yoga teacher and co-owner of a yoga studio in Seattle, where he and his partner specialize in Ashtanga and progressive variants of this practice. With a rich background in both traditional and Rocket yoga, Brendan is known for fostering inclusive and community-driven yoga experiences. Through his teaching, Brendan emphasizes discipline, practice consistency, and the importance of community in the yoga journey. He has studied with notable instructors, including Christina Martini and Manju Jois, blending traditional teachings with innovative modifications to support diverse practitioners.

Visit Brendan here: https://www.theyogashalaseattle.com/

Key Takeaways:

• Yoga practice adapts to life changes, such as new parenthood, requiring flexibility and understanding rather than strict adherence to routine.
• Strong partnerships, whether in personal or professional life, can enhance the teaching and practice of yoga through shared goals and mutual support.
• Creating a vibrant yoga community involves fostering environments where organic connections and support systems, like meal trains, can flourish.
• Modifying traditional Ashtanga practices allows for greater accessibility and inclusivity, supporting a diverse range of practitioners.
• Sustainability in yoga practice benefits from an emphasis on personal practice and self-guided sessions, steering away from dependency on external motivation.

Thanks for listening to this episode. Check out: 👇
8IN8 Ashtanga Yoga for Beginners Course Online- Learn 8 Limb Yoga in 8 Days - Get FREE coupon code for a limited time only (Regular price $88) https://info.nativeyogacenter.com/8in8-ashtanga-yoga-for-beginners-8-limbs-in-8-days/

Practice with Native Yoga Online - New classes EVERY day - Use Code FIRSTMONTHFREE https://nativeyogacenter.teachable.com/p/today-s-community-class

Subscribe to Native Yoga Center and view this podcast on Youtube.

Thank you Bryce Allyn for the show tunes. Check out Bryce’s website: bryceallynband.comand sign up on his newsletter to stay in touch. Listen here to his original music from his bands Boxelder, B-Liminal and Bryce Allyn Band on Spotify.

Please email special requests and feedback to info@nativeyogacenter.com

Chapters

• 0:00 Balancing Studio Ownership and Parenthood
• 5:24 Balancing Ashtanga and Rocket Yoga for Personal Growth
• 15:11 Adapting Yoga Poses for Individual Needs and Abilities
• 21:17 Balancing Yoga Practice, Parenthood, and Community Support
• 27:14 Building Community Through Shared Meals and Organic Connections
• 38:19 Exploring Mindful Masculinity and Parenting Reflections
• 45:45 Exploring Yoga Philosophy and Practice with Manju and Satu
• 49:33 Podcasting, Yoga, and Finding Balance in Passion Projects

Transcript

Todd McLaughlin: 0:33

Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. So happy you are here. My goal with this channel is to bring inspirational speakers to the mic in the field of yoga, massage, body work and beyond. Follow us at @Nativeyoga and check us out at nativeyogacenter.com. All right, let's begin. Welcome back to Native Yoga Toddcast, where we explore the real stories, practices and paths that shape the yoga journey. I'm your host, Todd McLaughlin, and today I'm so excited to share a powerful conversation that I had with Brendan Smulllen. He's the founder of the yogashala in Seattle with his wife. Brendan discovered yoga at a young age through his own experience with anxiety, and that personal path has grown into a deep love for traditional practice, community and conscious living. He is a 500 hour certified teacher and yoga educator, and his work blends discipline practice with real world accessibility. In today's episode, we talk about Brendan's journey, the role of lineage and consistency building a yoga community in Seattle, and how yoga became becomes more than just movement. It becomes a way of life. And if anything you hear today, resonance resonates with you, please be sure to check out Brendan's offerings at his website, theyogashalaseattle.com, the link is in the description below. All right, let's dive in. I'm so happy to have this chance to sit down, meet and speak with Brendan. Smullen, Brendan, how are you doing today?

Unknown: 2:22

Yeah, good, good. Happy Friday. We just finished up lead primary here at this at the studio, the team goes out for coffee afterwards, and so I'm caffeinated, as we are in Seattle, and I'm ready to

Todd McLaughlin: 2:36

go. Awesome. Did you already practice this morning?

Unknown: 2:39

I had a late practice. I have a course I'm taking this afternoon, so I'm practicing right now, kind of a little bit more scattered than I than I'd like to. I also, few months ago, my partner and I have, we now have a three months old. So that's that's changed my regularity with just quite a bit.

Todd McLaughlin: 2:58

Oh my gosh, congratulations. Did you have a boy or girl?

Unknown: 3:02

We had a girl. She's lovely, no complications. Everything was great. She's beautiful. Mom, super happy. We're super happy. Parents, family, this is all really there for us. So it's been, it's been great. Congratulations.

Todd McLaughlin: 3:15

That's a major life improvement. And what a what a change, right? I remember when, before I had my first son, or my child, my first child, I was still going down to the beach and doing a lot of things on the in the ocean, and people are like, get ready, man, you're gonna have a baby. You're not gonna have time to do this anymore. And I was like, Oh, what are you talking about? I'll be able to do all this stuff, no problem. And then they were, right, you know, it things, things do Shift, yeah, in a great way, in a really good way, are you getting any sleep?

Unknown: 3:45

I'm good. We've worked out a schedule that works really well for me. So like we have, our studio is principally a strong guy. So I'm teaching four hours most mornings, and then my partner and I are trading. I'm doing childcare through the afternoon and then helping her when she teaches in the evenings.

Todd McLaughlin: 4:05

Very cool. Brendan, that's why I'm so excited to meet you. My wife and I do the same thing. How do you find it? How do you find it working with your spouse?

Unknown: 4:17

You mean like having, like, all the all the hats on in the relationship, partnership and business and all that. Yeah. I mean, I found it really rewarding because there's a there's a shared mission that you have that kind of, that kind of also anchors the relationship. I mean, at times, right? You wind up talking about work and in places where you would rather have some separation. But I really, I don't think that I could have carried community this far without, like, a really strong partner, and particularly because, you know, my partner, she's Latina, and we are a studio that's strives to be inclusive, I think, like, that's, that's a strong. Anchor for a lot of our community that sees someone who's in a leadership role, not in like a token way, who's guiding community and supporting who isn't majority culture here, as is kind of often with a lot of studios.

Todd McLaughlin: 5:15

Yeah, Brendan, I can't agree more. When people ask me, what you know, would I be able to do this without my wife? And I don't think I would want to try to run a studio without her, after knowing how much weight she pulls and the amount of things she does that I'm not good at or don't want to do, and and vice versa. So it is an incredible thing. It was funny because when my wife and I started working and managing a studio together, we we co owned a bikrom studio in Mira Mesa, down in California, in San Diego, and people said this will either make or break your relationship, because we often hear of couples that try to work together and they have a difficult time with it. But I found it to be absolutely so rewarding and incredibly I can't imagine any other way. So it's, it's cool to hear find another couple that are doing the same thing. How long have you guys had your studio prior to your arrival of your baby?

Unknown: 6:10

Yeah, wow, yeah. The baby's been kind of recent. So we had Christian and I are coming up on three years of studio ownership on the January the fourth, we celebrate our third year. Congrats. Before before that, thank you. Thank you. Before then, we kind of worked out of other studios, kind of patchwork, to create Mysore. Mysore stylish Tonga programming, but but the change for us, and why we decided to move a little bit more into having your own spaces is largely because it's very difficult to convince most conventional studios to take on Hey, every morning we're going to have this program. It's going to be a set sequence like the one depicted behind me, and your your clients are going to come in and do the same thing. It's a really tough it's a really tough sell. You know, when you, when you're when you're talking with business oriented folks. So we decided just to open our own space to support that

Todd McLaughlin: 7:09

very cool, I can't agree more. You're hitting all the nails on the head. Yeah. I mean, wouldn't you agree that holding down a Mysore style a program requires that the studio owner, either a has fallen deeply in love with Ashtanga, or B is run by somebody who you know is actually teaching it, practicing it, loving it, and doing all of it.

Unknown: 7:35

Yeah, absolutely. And when I'm talking with with folks in in the program here we have, we have our own training program. Or if I'm on travel and teaching, that's one of the first talking points that I have, is just that we practice what we teach here. So most days, five to six days a week, I'm practicing Ashtanga, practicing the sequences as I was taught by my first teacher of the montre lineage, Christina Martini.

Todd McLaughlin: 8:09

That's awesome. I had a chance to interview her here on the show, and she's awesome, man, she Yeah, she's in Maui, I believe right now, right?

Unknown: 8:18

Yeah, she's in Maui, yeah. And she was the, she was the link for us. She introduced us to to to Manju and to his daughter, satu. But yeah, in terms of, in terms of, like, the day to day discipline, with with my sir, I just stressed that you have to show up for your students, you know, clear headed. And part of that is making sure that you do your practice, you clear out, you know whatever, whatever is in your system, whatever thought patterns keep you from being, you know, a good mirror and a good observer. And that requires that you you practice consistently. So we may stress that our teachers, they are required to practice with us. I don't have to really have that conversation too often with folks, but they need to be showing up frequently as well so that they can, they can. They can teach from a place of understanding a lot of the asana and the pranayama techniques that we do here.

Todd McLaughlin: 9:14

Very cool. Can you emphasize and or speak on why you or what you notice is important about having the teachers be seen by the students practicing and having a practice. Can you talk a little bit about what you've observed there?

Unknown: 9:29

Yeah, yeah. And that's something that's that's actually, I think, a little unique in terms of it. So my because, because I'm in partnership with also an ashangi, I practice when she's teaching. She when the time is available. We have a kid, cool practice when, when I'm teaching, you know? And then we kind of, like, are jumping in and out of the practice to take care of, take care of our Maya, our kid, but, but it's, yeah, it's incumbent on, on a stronger teachers in order, in order to practice. And I think. It does. It is also very helpful to pull the veil back sometimes and kind of dismantle that, that kind of power dynamic between the teacher and the student, by showing that you all, you're also practicing and working with difficult asana and all the all the ripples that are underneath that your own thought patterns and what comes up is practice. Very cool.

Todd McLaughlin: 10:26

How did you and your wife meet?

Unknown: 10:30

Yeah, great. We were just going over this the other day with some of our curious students. So both Christiane and I are practitioners, not just of Ashtanga, but also of a progressive variant of Ashtanga. So she and I were both working on a project for like the rocket community to help refine certain like teaching standards and to set up sort of professional development opportunities for for teachers of the style, particularly the senior teachers that have been practicing and training folks for a little while. So she and I were hired by David Kyle, who's based in Puerto Rico. He's a he's a progressive Ashtanga rocket person, and he hired us for it was like a four month project we're both working on this, this block, interviewing rocket teachers and talking about some of the standards and how what rocket actually is like, what the practice actually is. So Christian, Christian and I kind of got, we got to know each other a lot during that during that window. And when I moved to Seattle, I was retained for a 200 hour training. And at the time it was a it was a pretty big lift for me. So I reached out to her my house, hey, you know this, this project's coming up. Would you like to? Would you like to, you know, co lead on this upcoming teacher training. And she said yes, and she visited Seattle a couple months beforehand, and and we really, in a way, kind of like already, like I was saying, We're mission focused on great building yoga and community here and here in Seattle, and from there, just like a lot of like, love and understanding came out, we decided to also start a relationship from here.

Todd McLaughlin: 12:26

Very cool. I love hearing about that. You know, I'm finding it fascinating. I had a chance to practice with Larry Schultz, rocket yoga founder, a long time ago, and it was really fun. And because I was very much into Ashtanga. I appreciated his storylines that he shared regarding he I remember him saying that he really wanted to be an Ashtanga Yoga teacher, and that the Ashtanga Yoga click was a little not accepting, maybe, of letting people teach, and so is like very, you know, elusive is how, when am I going to be able to be a part of the club where I can teach yoga and him kind of going out on his own? And really it pretty much is Ashtanga, it seems like. But just with a lot of creative sequencing and a lot of intelligent sequencing, in my opinion, and I so, I've noticed that it seems ashtangis might migrate over toward rocket for the creativity aspect. I'm fascinated that you sounds like you were introduced to the rocket style and have kind of gravitated toward the sequencing of Ashtanga. Can you tell me a little bit about what your experience has been and some of the thought processes behind why you're currently doing things the way you are.

Unknown: 13:44

Yeah, no, thank you. I This is one of the topics I like to talk about when I'm on when I'm on the road as well. So, yeah, you described it really accurately, and probably because he practiced directly with Larry. That's you can, you can sense like the intention was with rocket, to make a stronger accessible into western bodies. So when, when folks, when folks are practicing and teaching rocket? I think this is kind of, this is kind of reverted a little bit in modern times, is the idea is that you're creating sequencing, sequencing and postures that can be practiced by by as you hit the maximum amount of people you can. So folks that are curious about a stronger, but don't, don't resonate with the structure of this self practice and the and the focus on, on, you know, self guidance for practice, they have a chance to modify in a stronger in a guided set. Now I I resonate a little bit more with the strong, and now, because I've kind of found, I think the thread, or the the the family within the greater, stronger practice that that I think accepts my teaching the most, and. Also resonates with me as a as like for my philosophy, for for teaching, because, because Manju and satu and Christina as well are teaching around making the posture successful. So in cases where you're practicing with a little bit more strict guidelines around, like the coordinates they're allowing for folks to, perhaps not, take a lotus position in certain shapes, take the foot under, from reach out to the D to practice into intermediate series, regardless of whether they do drop back fluidly or not. These are things that I think, from a body based perspective, are like very, very healthy choices. And I think, I think prior, prior to that understanding, I think rocket does that as well. So there's a balance. There's a balance with it. The thing that, the thing that I have found over time, is that the approach with Ashtanga and the self guided environment, I think, is much more in line with to go one stage up, what how Christian Acharya would intend for practice. I think, I think it is individualized, and I think self practice is honestly the best way to establish your practice. If you're relying on, you know, a teacher, a particular class environment, or people that are motivating or inspiring around you, then you're inherently tethered to a certain environment, and that can change. That can change just like if you're, you know you're working out, or you have a goal with a in partnership and your partner and you are no longer in partnership, or your workout buddy is no longer available on the day that you want to work out, like your motivation is, is is tied in with their attendance or their their participation, versus coalescing around a shared mission, which is kind of a different way to approach it.

Todd McLaughlin: 16:49

Yeah, great answer. Brendan, love it. Man, that's cool. I can totally see that. What Let me see. So let's, let's pick a pose in the Ashtanga series. Let's go for, let's go for, let's start off in the very beginning realm. Let's go with parvarita Trikonasana, twisting triangle. And you have a student who so they step out to the right. They did the triangle right left side. They're coming in for their first side, and their right leg, their hamstrings are tight. They go to bring their left hand, and they try to cross all the way over and touch the floor. It doesn't reach. And I'm curious, what is your go to way to help educate this pose, help someone understand how to practice this pose. What are some of the modifications that you go to? Typically?

Unknown: 17:41

Currently, yeah, perfect. And these are the, these are the kind of things that we teach one. One is that let your legs don't need to be fully straight in order to emphasize a hamstring stretch, especially if they're injured or tight. They're they're not, they're just simply not going to straight. And that's, that's something that I personally felt when I started practicing, it's like, wow, how do I do all these How do I do all these things? So for a student with tight ham, tight hamstring, perhaps one is that you don't need to necessarily cross the plane of the right leg with the hands to feel the twist. A lot of folks are twisting with some sort of a pelvic tilt, so their hips are are doing some of the twisting for them. We try to emphasize keeping like a somewhat level plane, not for esthetics, but so that you can actually use the mid spine, thoracic spine, for the for the twist. And so that might mean that the left hand, in this case, is actually coming inside your right your right foot. The other thing is that arms and legs are different proportions relative to the torso. So you may want to, and this is, this is accepted by the Manju Manju camp. Or you may want to use some crops. You may want to you may want to adapt your practice a little bit. So put a small block down at a different level. Place your hand there, not with a lot of emphasis or weight in the hands. Do the twist from the midst by him as before. And then that's most of that you can verbally cue for a student. And then that's where you can kind of make a little adjustments manually, you know, with consent, with the student, to help them emphasize the twist. And find that, find out. Nice.

Todd McLaughlin: 19:19

Yeah, great answer. I agree 100% I like the idea, like you said, to letting that front leg bend, even beyond, let's get like a chair, where you keep your leg absolutely straight, and maybe you put your hand on the chair because the block is too low, right and but that's, that's a really, that's a cool I agree with you on that. Now, let's jump ahead to something way more complex and wild and interesting, like in second series, kapotasana, the back bend, going back, grabbing the heels. Where are you at these days with the concept of back bend? And how hard to push, how not hard to push spinal, being gentle and taking care of the spine versus I gotta catch my heels. What has been your I'm curious what your journey has been, personally, and then where you're how you're coaching students currently,

Unknown: 20:18

yeah, yeah. And this is the other thing is, like practitioners, like yoga practitioners, versus the teachers that are teaching them, like your My practice is much different than some of the students that I'm that I'm teaching, right? It's informed by me practicing the postures. But I don't impose my body privilege on other people. You know, I just think that that's, that's kind of the wrong approach. So for a very deep background, one of the deepest backgrounds in the series and the syllabus and its entirety, kapatasana, you would, you would want to make sure that students are engaging the legs. It's a, it's a, it's a thing that that we all forget about. So hips are shifting a little bit more back. Sometimes when folks are setting up, I'm going to wind up following this in a moment anyway. But you're you're reaching, you're reaching back and over. And if the shoulder mind you right, a different range for the for the shoulders, the shoulders aren't available, then you may have to find some preparatory work for folks open there, especially for broader shoulders, or for folks that work out a lot, they tend to collapse in a bit here. So you have to, you're gonna have to coach this kind of tonic imbalance between the pets, right and your rhomboids, your traps, your lats in order to draw the shoulders back, to get the hands, to get the hands over. Now, what's, what's lovely about some of these shapes? I'm glad you asked about kapatasana, because a lot of people do about some of these, these like gatekeeper poses, is that you have a lot of time to work on this. You have your lifetime to work on this. So give it a few months, maybe the hands are coming over this far or here or here, here in time. And then there are also preparations that you can do for again, for the for the for the legs, use of the wall, or using the teacher to push against the hips so that people are shifting far enough forward so they can come down ideally and reach towards the floor or the feet directly, rather than trying to kind of crawl in there. Yeah, we do so many but, but honestly, to be honest, Todd, I have to see, I have to see your body. Yeah, practice a little bit.

Todd McLaughlin: 22:37

I was just thinking like, what a kind of impossible question to answer, because it's going to be so specific to every single person. And I guess, where have you? Are you currently at a phase in your practice where grabbing your heels in a kapatasana is a reasonable thing to do?

Unknown: 22:57

Yeah, so I'm still really able bodied, and thankfully, like Christian and I are both pretty driven and supportive of each other in terms of, like, what is accessible, in terms of in terms of like, the day to day. So I am encouraged to meet the classic coordinates whenever possible. I have saw I have, for sure, soften on some things, though, the main one is, is applying, applying 100% energy I would practice. So right now I'm in a phase in my life where with, with a really young child, where my practice may be sort of like a 70 or 80% effort. Some days. That might mean, you know, not a lot of zest in some of the jump backs, as much as, as much as I'm normally doing. That may sometimes mean, you know, with time and availability, that I'm only doing a portion of right my primary intermediate, advanced series practice, and then coming back to it later on the week or the next week, and trying to go a little bit further, I think, I think it's really challenging to apply this sort of five to six day a week practice at the same time that you apply the same amount of energy. Because truly, like we're especially here in Seattle, it's gray, it's cold during the winter, folks, energy level naturally it falls. And I think it's reasonable to think that your practice might, you know, shift with you as it should.

Todd McLaughlin: 24:28

I agree 100% Brendan, I like your logic. Now you're holding down about four hours of teaching every day. Then you have to be a present dad to a young child. I remember, I mean, this sounds silly, maybe, but when I remember being at home babysitting, and I had this, like, big light bulb moment of like, oh, babysitting, that means you basically have to sit with a baby. You can't do anything else. Yes, like, you're not gonna go take a shower. You can't really cook dinner. I mean, you, you can, but you, everything you're doing, you're literally just focused on this little, this little person, 100% and it, you know, it's, it's a, it takes energy, right? It's, it takes energy. So how are you finding, I mean, I know you're three months new on this part of it, even if you don't include child raising and you attempt to run a studio, keep your own practice going and still stay motivated. Now you've had a third element in here, which, you know, adds a big, a big element, how are you or what do you go to to find motivation and inspiration?

Unknown: 25:46

Well, the principal motivators for me right now, I do think about a lot about Amaya when I wake up in the morning. And what

Todd McLaughlin: 25:57

is her name? Please.

Unknown: 25:59

Her name's Amaya. How do I spell it? A, M, a, y,

Todd McLaughlin: 26:03

a, beautiful. Love it, yeah. Good choice

Unknown: 26:07

is she's a she's an incredible motivator, because I want her to have a good life. And that's like, you know, the push for me to get up in the morning, and then my partner, who largely is taking care of the evenings and the overnights, with feeding and with being up. I know that I want to, I want to make sure that, you know, I'm alert, ready for her to practice as well. And then the other, the other, the other piece that's really, that really does tether us, and why it's really hard to talk on this without having some of the folks from the community here, but our community is very is very interconnected. Our our practitioners. They're in partnership with each other. They have deeper kind of life conversation. They travel with each other. Their kids play with each other. They look out for each other. There's like, dog sitting, house sitting, meal trains, all sorts of, like, wonderful aspects of like, looking out for things. So like, when I when I think about, like, who's going to be in the room when I'm coming to teach, I'm also in the way that I'm planning for as an educator, like for what I want to work on with folks. I'm also, like, reminded that they are showing up for this community and for themselves, and that that motive that's very motivating to know that people for sure. Because the thing I'll just sorry Todd to linger on it just for a sec, but, but the thing is, like, like, I like, I said earlier, like, you know, if you're coming, for if you're coming because you're, you're, you know, accountability buddy, or one thing, these are things to enter the practice. But over time, you realize that there's, like, something beyond that that does help. And I think Sangha right now, particularly in really, really trying times, can be quite motivating. It's there's a safety net that's in, that's in some of these communities, including ours, that I think allows folks to feel safe and to practice with frequency.

Todd McLaughlin: 28:09

Oh man, isn't it amazing how powerful it is to see people benefit from the yoga practice and to I can't tell you how much I know. I had a friend come in this morning who comes and does a private and I felt like I could genuinely say to him, I love my job so much. Like we had a bit of a challenging situation with a big expense that we have to cover for our studio. And maybe a little while ago, I would have been, like, a little stressed out about coming up with that some to fix, you know, the situation. And with this particular situation, I found myself feeling like I don't even care. I'll be able to cover it. I'll figure it out. Because I love doing this so much it is so it is so rewarding. So I love hearing, I love hearing that you're feeling that too. And can you talk a little Can you tell me a little bit about you said the word meal train, and that, just like, made me think, Well, what a cool idea to set up some sort of way to integrate the community on a level of like, Hey, I don't know how I'm going to be able to make dinner tonight. Or what did you mean by that? What evolved for you? Or what are you talking about when you say that?

Unknown: 29:25

Well, yeah, so, so folks, folks, cook for each other. They bring food in for each other.

Todd McLaughlin: 29:31

Very cool. So you actually like what they'll bring, like a not like a potluck, but you're saying like Susie will say, Hey, I make good lasagna. And then someone will say, I want some, and she'll bring some forum or or more, like, you guys take turns cooking dinner for each other. Yeah.

Unknown: 29:49

So, so it's, yeah, it's not organized like a, it's not organized like a, like a progressive supper. I think that's, that's the the one. But when folks are out, when they're sick, uh. And most recently, like when Christiane and I were at home with with Amaya, like our first two weeks of of meals when we were when we were out, we're all provided by the community. Our students came by and they would drop off like a healthy meal, a lot of them based on recipes that their parents made for them during childbirth. We have a lot of women who've gone through Child, child childbirth in the studio. And so these are, these are, like, home, home recipes for, like, healing and for health that we're we're enjoying, like, during that window that's happened a few times before. You know, folks have surgeries. Folks are they're out for, you know, medical for, for some sort of medical situation where we'll look out, bring food to take care of dogs or pets or what have you. Those are all kind of like this, this like, kind of mentality of, like, share the surplus, like, if you have, if you have time available to you, and there's a need, right, make a meal for someone, or look out for someone. And the thought is, you know, that that that kind of feeds into the collective, and then there's a little bit more energy for someone else to take care of someone. So it's a, it's an exchange that we've, we've created with the community. Well, really, that the community is created for itself that helps to kind of sustain things.

Todd McLaughlin: 31:22

I love this Brendan. It's making me feel a little bit like we have this idea of nuclear family, you know, you're, you're in your house with your wife and child, and and then I'm over here, and and then we have this idea of communal living, which, you know, we have one big house, and we all live in that one house and share the jobs. And I, I'm getting the feeling like you're somehow blending the two in a fairly organic and useful way. Are you? Am I getting it right? Yeah.

Unknown: 31:55

And honestly, like, a lot of that hasn't been really, like orchestrated, like our, I'll just speak briefly on, like, probably our biggest community event. As we go, we go for coffee pretty much every weekend with each other, like three days for a day, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, different, different availability, and folks coming in those different days, depending on their schedule. But that that was all because one of our students was was doing mock interviews with another one of our students on during her office hours. So she was posting up at a coffee shop. And our other student would come and they would, they would talk through, okay, if you're looking to re enter the field, you know, these are some things you should, you should look at, and they would ping some questions off of each other. And because that that space was, like, assigned as, like the office hours, people were like, well, I want to go to office hours too, if you hang out. And so then a couple more people will come, and then we went, and then it just became sort of a community event natively. We didn't really push it. I mean, we I like coffee a lot, so I was interested in going regardless. But, you know, it's like that, that that that motivation was, was more, hey, let's because we often practice on our own. And the guided classes, I don't really entertain conversation during the class. So that was a chance for folks to for folks to to get to know each other a little bit more. And because of that, again, a lot of trust and a lot of lot of giving that have

Todd McLaughlin: 33:29

come out of that. Very cool. Yeah, that makes sense. Great idea. What other ideas can you share?

Unknown: 33:38

Yeah, so if you're, if you're and I hope, I hope some people I do, I do really think if I had to have a soapbox to stand on for this podcast, think I think folks that are looking to start community around self practice, my suilish Tonga is look for ways for folks to connect organically and just be an enabler. The thing is, a lot of times, you know, you'll have in your minds, you know, like, oh, this will be like, a really good thing to do, because, like, the something I want to do, and that's, that's great. But there's, there's, there is a there is a distinction, I think, as we, as we look at a more community based model and less like a teacher driven model for these sorts of spaces, there's a little bit of grace for like, what those ideas are, because folks will come up with them when they feel they feel safe to, like, share their idea. It's the same way, like in grade school or whatever you're like, scared to raise your hand in front of the class or whatnot. People will come up with these ideas natively, like we did a camping trip together. I didn't, I didn't design that. My partner certainly is not, is not inclined to camp. It was her. It was her first, and probably only time she went camping with us and and it was, it was overall, really good, but not something that I would have. I would. Have come up with just the teaching team decided, Hey, we should have an event. And all we did was, you know, hey, put the signage up. We'll put it in our newsletter, we'll put it in our our messaging or whatnot. And you know, we didn't get anything. We didn't really get anything out of it. It was just that the event, the event is just a really good, healthy for your community.

Todd McLaughlin: 35:19

Nice, as opposed to say, this is a retreat. It costs this much, buy your space and let's go, and I'm gonna make I'll benefit revenue wise. I like, I like what you're saying, yeah, it's just that. And then that way maybe, like you said, more the community actually organizes it, versus it being such a now, you have another job to do. Brendan, you have to, like, organize this big event that's cool. Yeah, that's a great idea. So where do you think this motivation and inspiration has come from? Is this something to facilitate such a strong community gathering experience, as well as in Ashtanga space? Is this because you experienced this yourself, practicing with Christina on Maui. Or is it because you just thought, oh my gosh, we have a need for this, like I did it, you know, how Where do you see, if you try to trace a little bit of a thread of of your interest throughout your life and years, that that you're here, where you're doing what you're doing now?

Unknown: 36:18

Yeah, yeah, there I have a lot of motivator or I have a lot of inspirations for community builders. Christina, absolutely, is a very strong community builder, and she welcomed us in with open arms in our community when we started practicing with her. So I think that she's a very strong exemplar for what it's like to lead, but also allow for kind of organic things within the space she has, there's, there's a lot of other team building things that are happening with her. I would say the other, the other motivator for me, in terms of, in terms of, like the community, community building aspect, is here it's kind of a local problem, but in Seattle, if folks are a little bit siloed because they're there to some degree or another, experiencing seasonal affect, and they have, they have challenged by the by the gray weather. And for me, this practice, because you're up really, it's helping you to regulate circadian rhythm. I think that's really of service to folks here. And yeah, unfortunately, because because of the seasonal affect, folks tend to not be as friendly during those times. So it's also a reminder that even though it is kind of challenging and you hibernate a little bit, that we're still humans, and we're still here to connect with we're communal animals, so we just, we just provide a space for folks to remember

Todd McLaughlin: 37:46

that, yeah, that's cool. I have heard that's a real thing. My sister was living in Seattle for a while, and she really found it challenging. She found it challenging. And I've heard about it, and I just kind of thought, oh yeah, that's interesting. You know, here in sunny Florida, you're like, Well, okay, that's a nice idea. But I hear that's a real deal thing, right? Being in the gray for a while, can can affect you, can affect the mood?

Unknown: 38:11

Yeah, yeah. And I think, I think the other piece to mention is, and Christians not here to say, her piece around this, but like, also, like, like, as a Latina, she, you know, she's from a culture where it's like, very warm and welcoming. You are. You're with folks all the time, always in, always in community. You're welcoming of like, the friends, cousins, like neighbor or whatnot, like comes to the comes to the family gathering as well. So it's a very, it's like a very integrated network. So I would say that a lot of the community building, also, I think, has come out of an extension of her understanding of that, and my appreciation as a as an Anglo of like that, that approach, like every time Latin America, it's beautiful.

Todd McLaughlin: 38:59

That's cool. I have an idea for you, Brendan, I think you need to write a book about community building.

Unknown: 39:08

Thank you. It's funny because someone was telling me that the other well, telling Christiane and I like, I think it's our story at this point. Yeah, maybe, maybe I can put a little, put a little hand print or something in there too. She's, she's been a big I

Todd McLaughlin: 39:21

was just gonna go, I was gonna ask you, do you have you read a book that you could recommend that highlights some of the things you're talking about, which then made me think, you know, it actually, maybe Brendan should write the book. But have you come across a, come across a a book that highlights this subject, that's that's interesting. I don't even know if there's a book out there. I'm going to look, when we're done, see if there's something I love reading about these sort of things. So I was just curious if you came across something, it's like, build community, like a resource to kind of say, Hey, you guys, this is important. Let's build community. Let's focus on this, because it's something that maybe if we don't put a 10. Attention on it. It just won't it might not happen naturally. I mean, I do believe a lot of this stuff does occur naturally, but I like the fact that you're putting this sort of attention on it seems important, like you said, especially today, because there's a lot of division. So I think anything we can do to get people together is a wise move, Certainly.

Unknown: 40:20

Certainly. Yeah, a couple titles come to mind, but they're not books I personally have read. So I can't recommend. I can't recommend. I'm super backlogged on my on my reading.

Todd McLaughlin: 40:30

Yeah, it's gonna be a little while before you can have time to do.

Unknown: 40:33

I don't have an abundance of free time right now, but that's that's also an excuse, like I am, I'm reading. I'm reading right now, a little bit on, kind of like mindful masculinity, but that's not really related to what we're talking about here.

Todd McLaughlin: 40:47

Can you say that again, mindful masculinity? Yeah.

Unknown: 40:53

So as I'm going to be new, as I'm going to be this is a, this is a book that actually was gifted to me. My my mother in law gifted to me at her last trip. She came up for two months to help take care of the kid. So at night, I've been, I've just been, I've been reading a little bit from it. I've just, I've just started a few days ago, and it's been, it's been nice to kind of examine from, from, from, from a perspective of, okay, how are we reinforcing sort of, like gender norms, like, what are what? How do we identify as I, as I start to identify as, as a father. Now, it's still like, kind of like insane to me sometimes to remember, wow, yeah, I have this, this tiny, tiny human that's, that's, that's, that's tied to me genetically and and bonded. And how do I, how do I provide for flexibility in terms of like, expression, so, like, you know, like, not necessarily pre determining, like, how she wants to view the world, or how she wants the world to view her. That's also, that's also incumbent on me to determine, you know, like, how was I raised, and how, how was I reinforced in terms of, like, those, those gender

Todd McLaughlin: 42:04

norms, yeah, oh, I know, man, one of the biggest things in the whole world is when you become a parent and then you take introspective look at the way that we view the way our parents raised us, we then start to, either knowingly or unknowingly, do the exact same thing. And the awareness that comes from witnessing doing the things that our parents did, that we did not love, really appreciated in the time, but then all of a sudden, going, well, this makes more sense. Now, I kind of understand why they did do that with me, you know. And so it's Wow. Man, what a journey. Well, that's cool that you're that you're reading, you know, getting some insights that I'm with you. Man, I love reading books. When you get into a new project, like, especially parenting, you're like, maybe there's some information out there I could pick up on that's going to make this a little easier, slash, make me more productive at what I do. Yeah, yeah. Awesome. Very, very cool. Can you, can you talk a little bit about I haven't had an opportunity to meet and or practice with Manju yet, and I'm really excited, because I just organized to do a podcast with satu, his daughter, and so I'm excited for that. It's coming up next month, but, um, I really want to practice with him. I've only heard incredible things about him over the years. And so can you share a little bit of light, shed a little bit of light on what your experience has been, and what why you would recommend somebody to go practice with him and or his daughter, satu?

Unknown: 43:33

Yeah, absolutely. And we hosted satu in the in the fall. She's wonderful. I enjoy the podcast. Enjoy, enjoy the time. She's such, she's such a wealth of knowledge. Yeah, I would encourage folks to practice with Manju to see kind of his perspective, given remember that his timeline, he practiced directly with Krishnamacharya. So that's really, it's kind of an interesting perspective. You can, you can ask him about, I think, for folks that are looking to practice with him, he is a little bit, I think, selective in terms of, like, who he wants to teach at this phase of his life, because he has been teaching for so long, and because he does host in his Home the practice. So you're, you're in an environment when you're practicing with him, no more than 12 or 15 people that can, that can practice in the space at one time. So it is quite intimate. You can really feel his presence, his observation, his adjusting is very sound. He's very in tune with your body and breath, and the the sessions that follow, like he he's usually teaching a little bit of pranayama. There's some some mantras and chanting, and then we'll have a little bit of time to talk about the philosophy to do, depending on if you're if you're practicing, or if you're coming in as a teacher. He'll sometimes show some of the adjusts. So, yeah, I would, I would ask Satya more about that process. Because it's, it's not, it's not just like open, open source, it's, it's, it's a you request and you talk about your experience. And it just, he, he, especially in light of, you know, recent shifts in the ashango world, he's just very mindful. It's like he doesn't want a sudden influx of folks coming into his home to practice. It's my understanding that that he would rather have a smaller, more concentrated community with with that's that's value driven, like he is then, like a really broad following, like he's pretty quiet in terms of like he has a he does have a social media handle, but I've never seen anything on there, like, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's more so a space where you're, you're going for subtle refinement, and to have some time to hear from him about his like, hearing from him about, okay, what was it like to practice, you know, with patavi was it like to practice with Krishnamacharya? These are, this is like, incredible that this knowledge is like, avail is like, available to you. So, yeah, I would encourage folks if they're interested, but, but, you know, come in with some humility. That's, that's, that's my, my biggest learning lesson, right? When I started a strong guy was so strong headed, and so like, I am like this. And, you know, I show up a certain way, and I had to, had to be strong every practice. And it's just not this. Life is just not that life, unfortunately, is going to teach you something about impermanence, and part of that is how you, how you, how you show up. You have to be, you have to be understanding with yourself.

Todd McLaughlin: 46:40

Yeah, great, great advice. Brendan, that's cool. I appreciate it. I didn't know that. I actually was unaware of the method that he's teaching currently that so that's good to know. Does he have you ever invited him to teach a workshop at your studio, or is he not really interested in doing the whole travel gig right now?

Unknown: 46:58

Um, he does, he does travel. I haven't approached him about this. I'm just very happy, personally to be invited into practice. I do think, I do think, though, and you should, you should, you should talk to talk to about this, because she is a strong voice for the for the community, and she has a lot of integrity. And what she does is talk to her about what carrying on this, this legacy is meant for her, because she really our community. You know, in light of this last year, there's been a lot of shifts in the ashanga world. I'm not going to name them, and I don't really want to talk about them directly, but she provided a lot of reassurance to like the community about what what they're doing, the path that they're on, when she was here and really held space in a way that I think is kind of beyond her years, but it's quite incredible.

Todd McLaughlin: 47:49

Very cool. I appreciate all that insight. Thank you so much. I am you know, to take you down one more road before we wrap it up, the world of yoga philosophy, in my opinion, is so vast and rich, so obviously we have a whole lifetime to pick up what we can get from here and there. Can you share a little bit about what, what strand or aspect of the all the knowledge that comes from this tradition is really resonating with you these days, and or a little bit of a timeline of your evolution of you know, a lot of people jump in first with yoga sutras, and then maybe they read Bhagavad Gita. And then, if they keep getting more interested, maybe they go a little further. And so either what's really exciting for you right now or your overall trajectory that you've taken over the years?

Unknown: 48:48

Yeah, thank you. Yeah, that's good. It has shifted quite a bit. So I started in terms of the philosophy with the sutras. I think it's a pretty common track for folks to define it that way. And I guess, I guess my first few reads were the way that many folks right approaching like an institutionalized religion. It's like the word is the word, and that's how it is. And then, as I've kind of gone back on that, I've also seen, okay, there are interpretations, there's commentary, there's a lot of diversity of opinions around, around the sutras, and then there are some things that sort of, like, you know, like, you know, like the cities and like being able to grow and in different size or shrink. It's like, okay, if I were to take this all quite literally, you know, I might be approaching yoga with my yoga practices a bit differently. I've been I've been inspired most recently because I have a pranayama meditation teacher who has been teaching me a little bit of Advaita Vedanta, a. Been inspired most recently by Ramana Maharishi and his teachings. So I've been reading some of his discourse with his students, you know, talking about the perception of reality, focusing on kind of this, this space between stimulus and response, and really, the understanding that space is most of what's occurring, I think, has really allowed me to find more peace and ease with life. So, so that's, that's, that's, that's not exactly in line with the, with the with the teaching for the sutras, and it's not something that I usually am working with our trainees here. But it's, it's, it's definitely brought me a lot of ease lately to just kind of watch the screen, watch the projections of what's going on, watch my own thoughts, what's going on and and to just be a little bit more at ease with the with the fact that, from a very objective standpoint, I'm just here, I'm seated, and I'm breathing, you know, that's, that's, that's the reality of what's going on. Everything else is kind of illusory, like where our response, oh, this is hard. Or, you know, our thoughts quickly. I know you're everyone who meditates is immediately resonates with it's like I have a thought on the thought, Oh, I'm not meditating, okay, the thought there and be able to drop in more efficiently has been it's been really wonderful. It's been a great practice. Nice.

Todd McLaughlin: 51:44

Brendan, awesome man. I appreciate hearing all that. Thank you so much for sharing that. Yeah, you know, I love podcasting so much. And I just have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this. I love meeting another yoga teacher, practitioner, dad, studio owner, lover of philosophy and humble, humble, human. What a pleasure, man. I really appreciate you taking time out of your day and your busy schedule, and I just want to thank you. I really appreciate this opportunity, and I really enjoyed this Thank you.

Unknown: 52:20

Thank you. Thank you, Todd. I appreciate what you're doing. The way that you're kind of gathering is, you know, to your question earlier, like what you know, like what books you're reading, or how are you building community? You're doing it. You're already doing it, and that's wonderful. And I think the folks, I think, I think the folks online, are really, are really appreciating the the coalescing it's happening around around this, they're learning a lot, and they're appreciating, you know, some of these guests, you for hosting them. So thank you so much your time in this endeavor. It's a big endeavor. It's a huge endeavor, and you're taking a lot of time, a lot of your lot of your limited time, right to do this is wonderful, wonderful.

Todd McLaughlin: 53:00

Well, thank you so much for noticing. And I had a realization this week, because I've, I'm, I'm a very once I start doing something, and I get on a routine, I like, I really stick to it. And so I try to do one every single Friday, and with Thanksgiving holiday, and I got a little behind on getting it's a big process to reach out to people, have them say, Yes, find a time that actually works, and then have it all work out where we show up at the right time and everything. And so I came to I haven't missed a Friday, and it's been a year, a little over a year, I've been really, really focused on it, and then I missed a Friday. And I had so much, I had so much, like, what's right? What to say this? Like, I was like, I can't miss a Friday. And I was like, No, man, you can definitely miss a Friday. Like, Well, come on, what are you even doing to yourself? You're like, this is just for fun, right? Isn't it for fun? And I thought, Yes, this is just for fun and education, and just keep it light like and I take I this is a pattern that I've watched myself do with with everything, with practice, and then even when I got into podcasting, it became like another form of practice for me. So I just want to say thank you for acknowledging that it is. It does take quite a bit amount of time and having the one week off, like today's Friday. So I always publish Friday morning. So like I said, I'm not doing it this Friday. I'm gonna wait till next Friday. And it was Thursday night, and I didn't have to do all the work I have to do to get it ready. And my wife and I were hanging out, and I kind of went, Wait a minute. This is kind of nice. I'm kind of digging not doing an episode this week like this is amazing. So, um, I just want to say thank you for noticing, and it is fun and but I just wanted to say all that, just because it's classic how you know life is. So, um, thank you, Brendan. I really appreciate and I can't wait to share this. And I. Hope to come to Seattle. I've never been to Seattle, and I'm a huge grunge fan, so man, to go and tour and see where Kurt Cobain lived and all that stuff. Ah, dude, that'd be an awesome trip. And I hope to come practice with you. I'd love to come out to your studio, or if you're ever in Florida, please let me know. I know we're on the opposite ends of the the country, but we'll, maybe we can make it work someday.

Unknown: 55:23

Yeah, I'd love that. Yeah, please. And there's a million venues for like, they're, they're really small. Venues were intimate with the, with the with the the show scene here. So like, you really, it's great that would be included. Make it. Make a week out of it. Come out.

Todd McLaughlin: 55:39

Thank you. Brendan, I can't wait. Have a great day. Brendan, thank you so much for sharing your story, your heart and your wisdom with us today. It's so clear that your path from personal healing to community leadership is deeply rooted in service and authenticity. If you'd like to learn more about Brendan his classes and his trainings. You can visit the yogashala seattle.com and explore everything the yoga Shala Seattle has to offer. And thank you to everyone listening to native yoga Todd cast. If this episode supported you, inspired you, or gave you a new perspective, please take a moment to subscribe. Leave a review, share it with someone who you think could benefit from the conversation until next time, keep showing up, keep breathing, keep walking your path with intention. Namaste, native yoga. Todd. Cast is produced by myself. The theme music is dreamed up by Bryce Allen. If you like this show, let me know if there's room for improvement. I want to hear that too. We are curious to know what you think and what you want more of what I can improve. And if you have ideas for future guests or topics, please send us your thoughts to info at Native yoga center. You can find us at Native yoga center.com, and hey, if you did like this episode, share it with your friends. Rate it and review and join us next time you for you.