Graduate Yoga Studies Podcast
Loyola Marymount University proudly presents the Graduate Yoga Studies Podcast.
From in-depth discussion with academics in the field of Yoga studies to meaningful conversations with leaders in the global community, our Graduate Students investigate yoga through history, texts, philosophy, sanskrit, embodied practice, and social engagement.
The vision for this podcast is to provide contemplative yoga education that directly applies to modern life and transforms your relationship with yoga itself. To our listeners, supporters, and future scholars, this is also a sneak peak of what you’ll learn and discuss as a student in the LMU Graduate Yoga Studies program.
Join Graduate Assistants Serenity Tedesco and Taina Rodriguez-Berardi for the inaugural season of the podcast where they challenge the popular understanding of yoga and the field of yoga studies with critical questions about authenticity, race, social justice, appropriation, colonialism, power dynamics, accessibility, and more.
Graduate Yoga Studies with Dr. Christopher Chapple
Episode 0, September 14, 2021
Join LMU Graduate Yoga Studies students, Taina Rodriguez-Berardi and Serenity Tedesco, for this new podcast series. In this episode, they introduce themselves and the founder of the graduate Yoga Studies program, Dr. Christopher Chapple. Tune in to learn more about the program, hear their yoga origin stories, and gain some spiritual insights from years of dedicated research and embodied practice. Subscribe now for updates.
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Critical Yoga Studies with Dr. Christopher Jain Miller
Episode 1, September 14, 2021
Dr. Christopher Jain Miller is the Bhagwan Mallinath Assistant Professor of Jain Studies in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. He also teaches in the Yoga studies program with a focus on critical yoga studies and ethnographic research in a modern yoga setting. We discuss the history of yoga, yoga and politics, veganism, yoga philosophy, ahimsa (non-violence), and more.
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Identity & Foundations of Yoga with Dr. Tracy Sayuki Tiemeier
Episode 2, September 21, 2021
Zombies. Yoga. Goddess worship. Intersectional Feminism… these are all topics we dive into with Dr. Tracy Sayuki Tiemeier, Associate Professor of Theological Studies at LMU. Dr. Tiemeier is a dynamic professor who kicks off the yoga studies program with the Foundations of Yoga course which deconstructs and then reconstructs a new yogic reality for the budding scholar. We explore identity and its role in the spiritual journey—from socio-cultural belonging to its place in academia.
Yoga Philosophy with Dr. Shyam Ranganathan
Episode 3, September 28, 2021
Why is yoga philosophy important? Our hosts, Taina and Serenity, passionately discuss the answer with Dr. Shyam Ranganathan of YogaPhilosophy.com. We also dive further into his keynote presentation from LMU Yoga Day 2020, where he focused on sovereignty, ethics, and the big questions underlying yogic theory. Tune in to learn how to critically approach everyday life as a yogi.
Marsha Banks Harold: Compassionate Social Justice Action
Episode 4, October 12, 2021
Marsha Banks-Harold is a true pioneer. She is an engineer. She is the first and only Black woman director of an accredited Yoga Therapy Training program and is the owner of PIES Fitness Yoga Studio based in Alexandria, VA. She is also a mother to us all through her compassionate social justice work. In this conversation, she invites our listeners to take action, stretch our empathy muscles, and work together for a more equitable, accessible, and loving community.
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Graduate Yoga Studies with Cohort 7
Episode 5, November 9, 2021
Cohort 7 residential students reflect on their two-years of transformational experiences throughout the Graduate Yoga Studies program. Together they reminisce on their first meeting, the global health pandemic and zoom student-life, along with 2020's collective call for social justice after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Get the inside scoop on the program directly from the students. From first leaps of faith, to the catharsis of a finished thesis, Cohort 7 covers it all.
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Bonus Episode: Yoga Day Panel
Bonus Episode, November 23, 2021
Podcast hosts Taina Rodriguez-Berardi & Serenity Tedesco lead a panel discussion at LMU's 10th annual Yoga Day. Join them as they meet with panelists Tracy Tiemeier, Ph.D, Shyam Ranganathan, Ph.D, Marsha Banks-Harold & Giri Bhai, to talk about the state of Yoga and where we should go from here.
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