Join Clinical Psychologist and Yoga Teacher Dr Lauren Tober for intimate conversations on yoga, mental health, psychology, spirituality and living a good life with some of the world's best teachers and thought leaders in the world. Find out more about our work over at www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com
What if protecting your energy didn't mean keeping the world out? When I was training as a psychologist, I was taught to imagine a stop sign as people shared their stories with me. Later, in yoga circles, I was told to surround myself with white light. Neither worked for me, and holding everything at bay took so much energy. What I've learned over the years is to let things in, to feel them, and then let them go. So when Michelle Cassandra Johnson (she/her) described the practice of becoming a transparency, it made a whole lot of sense to me. Michelle is an author, activist, spiritual…
Before I spoke with Dr Kelly McGonigal (she/her) on the podcast, I spent a day reading her new book on joy. That evening, when I walked into a yoga class and the teacher asked how I was, I heard myself say, ‘I am so good.’ It took me a moment to realise why. Kelly is a psychologist, author and educator. All of her books are based on classes she has taught at Stanford University, including The Upside of Stress, The Joy of Movement and her latest, Joy Is a Risk Worth Taking . In this conversation, Kelly defines joy as the human capacity to be uplifted by what makes life worth living. She…
Think of the last time you were so absorbed in something that the world fell away. A good book. Hands in the garden. Watching the ocean. For a little while there was no to-do list, no worry, no self-judgement. Just the moment itself. These ordinary moments are doorways into the final four limbs of yoga, where we head inward. This is the last episode in our five part series on Patanjali's eight limbs. Now that we’ve moved through the yamas, the niyamas, asana and pranayama, we now turn fully inward, through pratyahara and on to dharana, dhyana and samadhi. These aren't limbs that we can force…
Ask most people what yoga is, and they'll picture the postures. Maybe the breathing. And fair enough, it's what we mostly teach, and what most people think we're doing. But in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, asana barely gets a mention. So what are the postures and the breath actually for? In this five part series on Patanjali's eight limbs, we've finally reached the two limbs most people think of as yoga - the postures and the breath. But in Mental Health Aware Yoga, these were never about achieving the perfect posture. They're tools for regulating the nervous system, and for coming to know…
In this third episode on Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga, we’re exploring the niyamas and how they can support mental health in our yoga teaching. While the last two episodes were on the yamas, on how we engage with the world, in this one, we turn inward to the niyamas, on how we relate to ourselves. We look at the five niyamas not as a self-improvement checklist or an impossible ideal to measure ourselves against, but as practical ways of tending our inner world with awareness, clarity and care. In this episode, we explore: Sauca as clarity rather than purity and how it shapes the spaces we…
Welcome to the second episode in a special five-part pop-up series on Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga, exploring what each limb means for us as yoga teachers supporting our students' mental health. In the last episode, we explored ahimsa. In this one, we dive into the other four yamas - satya, asteya, brahmacarya and aparigraha. We look at how these four yamas can guide our yoga teaching, from finding our own yes and our own no, to letting go of the endless comparison that leaves so many of us feeling we're not enough. In this episode, we explore: Satya, truthfulness and why honesty is…
Welcome to the first episode in a special five part pop-up series on Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga, exploring what each limb means for us as yoga teachers supporting our students' mental health. We're beginning where Patanjali begins, with ahimsa. Ahimsa is the ground everything else is built on, so it felt only right to start here. In this episode we look at what ahimsa asks of us as teachers, what real students told me helped their mental health in class and what harmed it, and how we can create a safe container for the people who walk through our doors. Everyone is welcome to listen to…
Your throat tightens in a conversation, a few seconds before you've worked out why. You feel a flutter of anxiety in your belly before your mind catches on to what’s happening. Your body is always talking to you, sending signals from the inside, all day long. That inward-facing sense has a name, interoception, and in this solo episode of A Grateful Life, I'm stepping out from behind the interview chair to explore it. Instead of introducing you to one of my guests, I'm sharing something we've been exploring inside the programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute recently. What interoception…
Some things are simple by nature and we tend to complicate them. Others are complex by nature and we dilute them. Indu Arora (she/her) is a Yoga and Āyurveda teacher, mentor and author who has been sharing yoga philosophy, yoga therapy and Āyurveda for over two decades, taught in the traditional guru-śiṣya paramparā of the Himalayan, Kashmir Śaivism, Kriyā and Sivananda lineages. I had the joy of studying Yoga Nidrā with her in Melbourne recently, and this conversation is what happened when we sat down together afterwards. Indu teaches that yoga is a work-in, not a work-out, and we spent…
It starts small. A teacher who tells you rather than asks you. A little too much praise when you fall in line, a little too much silence when you don't. Most of us have felt it and shrugged it off. Uma Dinsmore-Tuli has spent years mapping exactly where those small moments can lead, and what to do before they get there. Uma (she/her) is one of the world's leading voices on cyclical wisdom, yoga nidrā and the rematriation of feminine power, and the author of six books including, Yoni Shakti: A Woman's Guide to Power and Freedom through Yoga and Tantra. In this episode, we unpack thirteen…
Every Monday morning, as the sun is coming up, I walk down my friend's garden path to her house for tea ceremony. Gentle music. Incense. Bowls of tea. A handful of women from my little town, sitting together in silence. There is some kind of alchemy there I cannot fully explain. What I walk away with is always more than the sum of its parts. My guest today on the podcast has just written a book exploring rituals just like this. Tracee Stanley (she/her) is the author of the bestselling books Radiant Rest and The Luminous Self , and her new book, Living Ritual: Infuse Each Day with Purpose and…
Before I met Jo, my mental image of aerial yoga was mostly circus-like. Beautiful, yes. Fun, sure. Relevant to the yoga teachers and therapists I work with? I wasn't convinced. Boy, was I wrong. Jo Stewart (she/her) is one of Australia's most experienced aerial yoga teachers. She founded the Garden of Yoga studio in Northcote, Melbourne, co-hosts the Flow Artists Podcast, and has spent years developing a genuinely accessible, therapeutic approach to aerial yoga, one that understands that different brains and bodies need different pathways into regulation, rest and inner awareness. Her first…
What does it take to leave behind everything you've built, cycle 8,000 miles across the world, with no clear plan for what comes next? I recorded this conversation live at the Bali Spirit Festival, sitting across from Charley Patton, co-founder of the iconic Yoga Barn in Ubud. After 16 years climbing the corporate ladder in America, Charley did something that many of us dream about and few of us actually do, he left. Not impulsively, but with intention, careful planning, and a custom-built touring bicycle. What began as a two-week stop in Bali en route to Cambodia became, slowly and…
What does it look like to say yes to life in the very week your father has died? I recorded this conversation with Bex Tyrer (she/her) at the Bali Spirit Festival in Ubud, exactly one week after her father passed away at the age of 98. I wasn't sure we were going to do it. We'd been planning this interview for a while, but when I heard about her dad, I thought we'd postpone. It wasn't until the morning of the recording that Bex said yes, and what unfolded was an incredibly intimate and honest conversation. Bex is a yoga teacher and facilitator at the Yoga Barn in Ubud, where she's been a…
I met Janet Stone at the Bali Spirit Festival in Ubud last week, where we sat down together between workshops to have this conversation. Janet is an internationally recognised yoga teacher who has spent decades travelling the world with her two daughters, teaching and practising and building a life that looks nothing like the conventional path. What I didn't expect was how openly Janet would speak about her experience of perimenopause, and specifically what happened when the practices that had sustained her for years simply stopped working. As someone in the yoga and wellness world, she…
What if psychosis isn't the opposite of sanity, but part of a spectrum of human experience we all share? Anneke Sips and I were supposed to record this episode together in India. But when her Emirates flight was cancelled, our plans unravelled, the internet failed us twice, and we finally ended up recording from opposite sides of the world, me in Bali, Anneke in the Netherlands, hoping the connection would hold. It did. And what followed was one of the most honest and expansive conversations I've had on this podcast. Anneke is a psychiatric nurse, yoga therapist, and author of a brand new…
What does it really mean to go to India for Panchakarma? Before I came to Kerala, I had a vague sense that it would be nourishing, restorative… maybe even a little luxurious. And while there were moments of deep care and tenderness, what I’ve experienced here is something quite different. More disciplined. More confronting. And, in many ways, more transformative. In this episode of A Grateful Life , I’m joined by Dr Sreejit, Chief Physician at Athreya Ayurvedic Centre in Kerala, where I’ve been immersed in Panchakarma for two weeks. Together, we explore what Ayurveda actually is beyond the…
Most of us come to yoga through the body. But at some point, many practitioners begin to sense that yoga is much deeper than the postures. In this episode of A Grateful Life, I’m joined by yoga teacher and author Amy Landry to explore the philosophical and spiritual teachings that sit beneath modern yoga practice. Amy’s new book, The Ocean of Yoga , offers a thoughtful guide for anyone who feels curious about the deeper layers of yoga. In our conversation, we explore yoga as more than a set of techniques. Amy describes āsana as a doorway into the temple of yoga. A place many of us begin, but…
Today’s episode is truly a podcasting highlight for me. I’m joined by Dr Elaine Aron, clinical and research psychologist and internationally bestselling author of The Highly Sensitive Person , a groundbreaking book that has been in print for nearly thirty years. Her work has shaped the way millions of people understand themselves, and it deeply shaped me too, both personally and professionally. In the first half of our conversation, we explore what it really means to be a highly sensitive person. We talk about temperament, overstimulation, depth of processing and the gifts and challenges…
What if nothing is fundamentally wrong with you? What if awakening isn’t something to achieve, but something to remember? In this episode of A Grateful Life , I’m joined by Richard Miller (he/him), PhD, to explore some of the biggest and most misunderstood ideas in yoga and spirituality - innate wholeness, non-dualism and enlightenment. Richard is the founder of the iRest Institute and co-founder of the International Association of Yoga Therapy. As a clinical psychologist, author, researcher, yogic scholar and spiritual teacher, he is widely regarded as a leader in the fields of meditation,…
What does it really mean to have a guru? Is this path still relevant today? In this episode on the A Grateful Life podcast, I’m joined by Jai Uttal as he takes us on a journey to India in the 1970s to explore the guru-disciple relationship. When Jai arrived in India in the 70s, he discovered that the guru he had travelled there to meet had been jailed for murder. So with his plans derailed, Jai’s trip took a new turn, following the breadcrumbs, and leading him to places he never imagined - walking barefoot through temple towns filled with prayer, being immersed in kirtan as a living…
In today’s podcast episode, I’m joined by Sarah and Ty Powers, long-time partners in life and practice, and two teachers whose work has quietly shaped how yoga, meditation, and psychological inquiry are woven together in the West. This is a gentle, spacious conversation, and a beautiful one to ease into the new year. We talk about what it really means to practise, not just on the mat or meditation cushion, but in the middle of everyday life. Sarah and Ty share stories from their decades together, reflecting on partnership, parenting, teaching, retreat life, and the ways practice naturally…
In today’s episode, I’m joined by the incredible Bex Tyrer (she/her), a powerful voice in contemporary yoga and a longtime teacher based at the Yoga Barn in Ubud, Bali. I first met Bex a few years ago when I dropped into one of her classes at the Yoga Barn and loved it so much that I returned a year ago for her 10-day immersion, Myth, the Magic and the Mastery . We might even be cooking up a project together in Bali in 2026, so stay tuned! One of the things I loved most about studying with Bex was diving into the history of yoga, how it has evolved, who gets to shape the narrative, and what…
Today’s guest on the podcast is the brilliant Dr Lindsay C. Gibson (she/her), clinical psychologist and New York Times bestselling author of Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents - a life-changing book that has brought clarity and healing to so many. If you’ve ever found yourself feeling confused, guilty, or caught in a cycle of self-blame when it comes to your parents or family dynamics, Lindsay’s work offers the insight you’ve been looking for. With the holiday season just around the corner, this conversation couldn’t be more timely. Join us as we explore: What emotional…
In a world that constantly pushes us to do more and at greater and greater speeds, prioritising rest can feel impossible. But rest is not only the medicine we need to heal in these times, rest is also a radical act of resistance, a quiet revolution of reclaiming our own humanity and sovereignty. In today’s podcast episode, I’m joined by the incredible Octavia Raheem (she/her), where we unpack: why we’re all so damn tired, the gentle power of resting, how to find rest even if you’re working 12-hour days or single parenting, the challenges of meeting what comes up when you start resting and…
What does it actually mean to live in accordance with your dharma, and how do you figure out what your dharma actually is? In today’s episode, I sat down with Myra Lewin, an incredible yoga and ayurvedic teacher and founder of Hale Pule, to explore the concepts of dharma and swadharma. In our conversation, Myra shares her personal journey from the medical industry to discovering Ayurveda and yoga, which transformed her life and health. Together, we delve into the importance of understanding one's purpose and living in alignment with it, including the role of yoga and ayurveda in achieving…
How can we regulate our nervous system, ease anxiety, and create lives of greater connection and wellbeing? In this heart-opening conversation, I sat down with Dr Kaitlin Harkess (she/her) to explore the transformative role of somatic practices, compassion, and lifestyle medicine in supporting mental health. Together, we dive into: The importance of connection for mental health and wellbeing How understanding the nervous system can help us manage anxiety Practical somatic strategies from her new book for regulation and grounding The role of physical activity, nature, and recreation in…
In this episode, I sit down with the incredible East Forest to explore the profound connections between music, mental health, spirituality, mushrooms, gratitude and collective awakening. Together, we dive into some truly thought-provoking topics, including: How music can be a powerful tool for healing and self-expression The importance of vulnerability in creativity and connection The role psychedelics can play in mental health and enhancing spiritual experiences - and how to approach them safely and legally Why inner work is essential for personal growth, activism, and collective awakening…
Will AI take over from yoga teachers? Join Lizzie Lasater and me as we explore this new frontier of AI in yoga practice, teaching and education. I’ve been watching as Lizzie has embraced AI in her yoga teaching lately, and was delighted to dive into this somewhat controversial topic with her. I think you’re going to love it! In this conversation, you’ll hear about the reservations we’ve both had about AI and how we’re now using it very intentionally in our lives and work. We also dive into the practicalities of living a restful life, amidst the demands of mothering and working, and how we’re…
Join Elena Brower (she/her) and I as we explore her incredible new book, Hold Nothing . This conversation is an invitation to slow down, reflect and embrace the beauty of letting go. We talk about the transformative power of gratitude, the courage it takes to navigate life’s hardest conversations, and the lessons death can teach us about living fully. Elena also shares her journey through addiction and sobriety, offering wisdom on self-discovery, healing, and the meditative rituals that bring us back to presence. This episode is deeply personal, soulful, and a reminder to hold space for…
About A Grateful Life
Join Clinical Psychologist and Yoga Teacher Dr Lauren Tober for intimate conversations on yoga, mental health, psychology, spirituality and living a good life with some of the world's best teachers and thought leaders in the world. Find out more about our work over at www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com
A Grateful Life is a English health podcast from Dr Lauren Tober. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.
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