How to Set an Intention When You Come to the Mat with Brett Larkin [Episode 255]
Release Date: 02/05/2019
Yoga Doesn’t Have a Devil. So What’s the Enemy? Part 2
The Uplifted Yoga Podcast
If yoga doesn’t really have a Satan figure…what’s the enemy? In this second part of my comparative theology series, I explore what Hindu philosophy names as the real obstacle on the spiritual path: ego, desire, delusion, and ignorance. We continue tracing parallels between Jesus, Buddha, and Hindu mythology — but here the focus sharpens around one big idea: the deepest danger isn’t pleasure or power. It’s misidentification. In this episode, I explore: 🔹 Why the “enemy” in yoga often sounds like self-doubt, ego, and identity insecurity 🔹 What Hindu myths reveal about...
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Healing Painful Joints with Scott Hogan
The Uplifted Yoga Podcast
If joint pain has ever made you afraid to move, this episode is for you. In this conversation with Scott Hogan, we talk about what actually helps painful joints heal — and why doing nothing often makes things worse. We explore the relationship between movement, compensation patterns, nervous system safety, and how to rebuild strength without constantly re-triggering pain. In this episode, we cover: 🔹 Why people get afraid to move after injury — and what to do instead 🔹 The difference between mobility and stability (and why both matter for healthy joints) 🔹 How pain compensation...
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How the Yoga Sutras & Bhagavad Gita Were Originally Taught (And Why It Feels So Different Today)
The Uplifted Yoga Podcast
Have you ever wondered what the original learning environment of yoga philosophy actually looked like? In this episode, I share why texts like the Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, and Upanishads were never meant to be read alone—and how studying in community can completely transform your understanding. As I’ve been leading my Yoga Sutras Book Club, I’ve seen how powerful it is to learn this way—and why it might be the missing piece in your own practice. We explore: 🔹 Why reading alone is actually a modern anomaly 🔹 How sutras were designed to be unpacked together 🔹 Why commentary...
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Guided Meditation for Busy Women to De-Stress (16 Minutes)
The Uplifted Yoga Podcast
If you’ve been working all day, running around, or living a little too much in your head, this short guided meditation is designed to help you shift out of “doing” mode and back into being. In this visualization, I guide you into a peaceful nighttime beach setting where you encounter a radiant goddess figure who bathes you in what I call the nectar of compassion — a symbol of the feminine qualities many of us forget to give ourselves: softness, warmth, receptivity, and care. You can practice this meditation lying down and return to it anytime you need to release stress, reconnect with...
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Are the Chakras Just New Age Woo? Yoga, Anatomy & the Truth Behind the Energy Centers
The Uplifted Yoga Podcast
Are chakras just a New Age myth—or is there real wisdom behind the energy centers? In this episode, I unpack the skepticism around chakras—and why it’s totally valid. We explore how chakras are not physical organs, but symbolic energy centers that correlate with real anatomical structures like nerve plexuses and endocrine glands. I also share how the chakra system evolved in ancient yogic texts, and how yoga teachers can present chakras in a way that feels grounded, inclusive, and relevant. You’ll learn: 🔹 The historical roots of chakras in ancient yogic texts 🔹 How chakras align...
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Hip Replacement & Yoga What Teachers Need to Know w Cyndi Stewart
The Uplifted Yoga Podcast
What happens when your hips can no longer do what your yoga practice asks of them? In this deeply honest conversation, Uplifted alum Cyndi Stewart shares her journey toward hip replacement surgery — and the identity crisis that followed. As a longtime yoga teacher, intuitive healer, and movement lover, she opens up about navigating chronic hip pain, reduced mobility, and the emotional spiral that can come when your body no longer “performs.” We talk candidly about: 🔹 Early signs of hip degeneration and what yoga teachers often miss 🔹 Why strengthening matters more than stretching...
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From Self-Improvement to Reverence (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7)
The Uplifted Yoga Podcast
Are you collecting yogic wisdom… or in a relationship with Divine mystery? Today we’re opening into Chapter 7 of the Bhagavad Gita, and it’s a true turning point. The first six chapters have been so much about discipline, self-mastery, and effort… but here, we pivot into the bhakti arc: relationship with the divine. Before we drop into the verses, I frame the big shift this chapter is asking of us — and I weave it through a distinction that changes everything: jnana (intellectual knowing) vs vijnana (realized, embodied knowing). Here are the 5 biggest takeaways from this episode:...
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How I Get TV Segments & Talk on Camera (Without Stressing Out)
The Uplifted Yoga Podcast
I recently went on live television — and it reminded me how much intentionality goes into both getting these opportunities and preparing for them. In this episode, I share how media invitations actually happened for me (spoiler: it wasn’t cold pitching networks)… and how I prep so live TV doesn’t fry my nervous system. If you have a book, retreat, teacher training, or offering you want to grow, this is the real behind-the-scenes. In this conversation, I cover: 🔹 The two-part strategy that builds visibility over time 🔹 Why doing “three uncomfortable things a day” changed my...
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Yoga Doesn’t Have a Devil. So What’s the Enemy? (Part 1)
The Uplifted Yoga Podcast
Let’s talk about something a little controversial today… the forces of evil. 👀 How do different wisdom traditions frame temptation, demons, and the dark forces that often appear right before a spiritual breakthrough? I’ll explore the story of Eve in the garden, Jesus in the desert, and Buddha under the Bodhi tree, comparing how each figure faces illusion, doubt, and distraction—and what we can learn from them in our own practice. I’ll also break down how yogic philosophy (and Hinduism more broadly) defines the “enemy” very differently—from the ego as adversary to karmic...
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How the Chakras Relate to Polyvagal Theory + Your FAQ
The Uplifted Yoga Podcast
What if your chakra “block” isn’t a block — but your nervous system doing its job? In this bonus episode, I go deeper into your most advanced chakra questions: from how the polyvagal ladder maps onto the energy body, to why certain life patterns keep repeating. We’ll explore how trauma, somatics, and subtle anatomy intersect — and why your healing path isn’t linear (and was never meant to be). We’ll explore: 🔹 Are chakras sequential or cyclical? 🔹 Why trauma theory transforms how we understand energy centers 🔹 How the koshas and gunas make chakra work more precise 🔹...
info_outlineOften teachers ask us to "set an intention" when coming to our yoga mat -- but what does that actually mean? And how do we do this? What if having to set an agenda for our practice triggers us or feels like extra work? In this episode, I cover 3 key methods of "intention setting," how you can use intentions to get key questions about your life answered, and even how to heal yourself (and loved ones) with the power of your practice.
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Brett is the founder of Uplifted Yoga, an online yoga and meditation community empowering students to personalize their practice and ignite their best life - on and off the mat. She’s instructed at top studios, companies like Google and Pinterest, and leads the world’s most interactive Online Yoga Teacher Training program. She teaches to a social media following of over 300K people. Her content on Youtube is streamed for 2 million minutes each month. Learn more at BrettLarkin.com
Creator & Host: Brett Larkin
Sound Engineer: Zach Cooper
Producer: Benn Mendelson
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