Over the last few weeks the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed our lives. Now, more than ever, is the time to take your health seriously and that includes your mental health.

In todayʻs episode Sarah is talking to Dr. Suzi Kiss.

Dr. Suzi Kiss is a Clinical Psychologist who has been practicing for over 20 years. Her areas of specialization include depression, anxiety, relationships and, as she often says, “high-functioning neurotics” like herself.

Today Suzi and Sarah discuss the criteria that must be met in order to be qualified as clinically depressed.

They talk about…

• How she became a psychologist.

• Why she chose depression as her field of specialization.

• How to determine if you are depressed.

• The difference between depression and a depressive episode.

• How genetics plays a role.

• PMS symptoms showing as depression.

• Suggested treatment.

• What causes the side effects of antidepressant drugs.

• The one treatment that may work more effectively than drugs.

When Suzi and I recorded this episode we had no idea it would air during one of the most devastating times of most of our lives.

If you think you may be suffering from depression or know someone who might be please listen, share and reach out for help.

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Contact Dr. Suzi Kiss at:

drkiss@hawaii.rr.com

(808) 944-6900 ext. 1

24 hr Hawaii Suicide & Crisis Line (808) 832-3100

In todayʻs episode Sarah is talking to Stephanie Kong.

Stephanie is a former vocalist who performed in theatre before shifting her gift from entertaining others to helping others. You might recognize her performance work on Hawaii Public Radio and with the Hawaii Shakespeare Festival.

As a Mindful Voice coach she helps clients “Sing with confidence.” “Speak with purpose.” and “Think and write with clarity” using the power of their own voice. 

She is also an educator of yoga who specializes in Sanskrit mantra, nāda yoga (the yoga of sound) and fascia-focused yogāsana sequencing. She teaches privately and publicly in Honolulu and all over the world through classes, teacher trainings, workshops.

Today Stephanie and Sarah discuss voice and vulnerability and how the two build confidence and make you a better communicator. 

They also talk about…

• How she became so comfortable with her voice from a young age.

• Why she eventually had to have surgery to get it back.

• The theory behind Nada Yoga.

• The ways using your voice can sometimes be depleting. 

• What she does with her clients during Mindful Voice sessions. 

Stephanie even gets Sarah to sing on the show. Yup. Sheʻs hiding her face in her hands as you read this.  

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Follow Stephanie Kong:

• Website

• Instagram

• Facebook

• Blog

• 15 Minute Free Mindful Voice Experience

• Email

LInks discussed on the show:

• Secrets of Meditation by Davidji

• Vijnana Bhairava The Practice of Centering Awareness by Swami Lakshman Joo

Kara Miller grew up in the tropical pacific where she has fallen deeply in love with the ocean. Throughout her life she’s spent time living and working in places such as Fiji, Indonesia, Micronesia and here in Hawaii. 

She has a Bachelor of Arts in Marine Biology, a Masters in Science in Marine Resource and Environmental Management, and a Certificate in Pacific Island Studies from the University of Hawaii.

Kara has worked in international fisheries management and policy, marine education and training and capacity building on small Pacific Islands for the past 10 years.   

During that time she became a 500 hour certified Yoga Instructor and has taught yoga throughout Hawaii and internationally, including islands in Indonesia and Micronesia. While working for the NOAA Fisheries office in Honolulu she started a Yoga In The Workplace program that still runs today. She is also a yoga empowerment coach and a Thai Yoga practitioner. 

Kara applies the principals of karma yoga in all of the work that she does whether it’s on the mat or in the ocean. She has dedicated her life to supporting the greater good, empowering others and helping people become aware of their destructive patterns so that they can live happier and more sustainable lives.

Today, host Sarah Burchard and Kara discuss what it means to practice karma yoga. How it enables you to become aware of your deep seeded patterns, so that you can break them, live more consciously and make selfless action your default mode. How you can be of service and not deplete yourself in the process. And how our perceptions can sometimes interfere with our true purpose in life.

Kara also tells us what she thinks about social media and why itʻs a tough subject for her.

Books and authors recommended on this show are:

• Anything by Stephan Cope, especially The Wisdom Of Yoga

• Anything by Thich Nhat Hanh

• Healthy Is The New Skinny by Katie H. Willcox

• Brene Brown

• Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation by Rev. angel Kyodo Williams

Kilty Inafuku is a former engineer turned yoga educator who has trained with the likes of Jason Crandell and Seane Corn. Her teaching style is very methodical, breaking down the mechanics of each posture in a very deliberate way, so that you are moving through each one safely and intentionally. Her classes are both spiritually and physically powerful with a focus on strengthening in relation to mobility.

Her belief is that what we do ON the mat is practice for how we operate OFF the mat. How you talk to yourself, how you approach a challenging situation, how you receive, and how you do you anything in your asana practice is usually a direct reflection of what's happening in your everyday practice of life (the real yoga).

Kilty leads incredible yoga retreats all over the world and travels almost monthly on her own.

In today’s discussion Sarah and Kilty talk about how those travels have influenced her yoga practice and how yoga can influence the way you travel.

Kilty also offers some great travel tips including what to pack, how to travel on a tight budget and how to get in on one of her epic international yoga retreats.

Learn more about Kilty at kiltyyoga.com

Related links:

Trusted House Sitters

YogaTrade

The Travel Yogi

Work Away

In this episode Sarah speaks with the founder of Yoga Unplugged, Jennifer Reuter, about the importance of the breath. 

Learn breathing techniques helpful for managing stress, why it's important to breath from your belly, how posture affects vitality and why the yogis believed that the breath was the key to achieving a long life.

Sunny Savage is an internationally recognized authority on wild foods She is the author of Wild Food Plants of Hawaiʻi, and is the creator of the soon-to-launch Savage Kitchen mobile app. Her wild food cooking series: Hot on the Trail, has been aired in countries around the globe and her TED talk: You Can Eat That - the gift of wild foods has over 11,000 views on YouTube.  

Sunny has an intimate connection to the wild and she lives to speak about it. Her talks are inspiring and educational and approach conventional theories about how we should handle invasive plant species in a new, more loved-based way.

In this episode, Sunny and host Sarah Burchard discuss what we can learn from wild, invasive plants, how they affect food security and how they can be used.

Welcome to Yoga Unplugged Conversations

A podcast dedicated to helping you grow, thrive and gracefully make tough life decisions, so you can lead a happier, healthier life.

Yoga Unplugged Team member Sarah Burchard is your host. She invites special guests on the show to deep dive into real life issues, providing tools and philosophies to help you navigate them with greater ease.

Sarah is a freelance writer, natural foods chef and certified health coach who is passionate about promoting local businesses and food through her writing, farmers market tours and farm-to-table events under the name, The Healthy Locavore. When she is not talking food she's marketing events for Yoga Unplugged and supporting the yoga community on Oʻahu.

Darity Wesley is back on the show today! An award-winning, best-selling author, lawyer and speaker who has travelled the spiritual, metaphysical, esoteric and personal development paths for many decades. Darity has become an extraordinary wisdom sharer over the past few years and is a powerful resource for the application of evolving consciousness.

In this episode Sarah and Darity discuss how you can fuse your passion with your business in order to bring a higher level of purpose to your lifeʻs work.

They talk about how upleveling your work in this way affects your personal life, what to do when you are struggling with your business and what they think about complaining.

If you have just started a business, are planning to start a business soon or are feeling antsy or unfulfilled with your current job this oneʻs for you. 

You can sign up for Darityʻs Love from the Lotus World emails for free by emailing her at: Darity@DarityWesley.com

Purchase How To Be The Real You and You Can Transform Your Life by Darity Wesley on Amazon with their accompanying workbooks.

And watch her video “Fearlessness” on YouTube.

We also recommend The E-Myth by Michael Gerber and Spirit Means Business by Alan Cohen for more business related resources.

Welcome to Yoga Unplugged Conversations

A podcast dedicated to helping you grow, thrive and gracefully make tough life decisions, so you can lead a happier, healthier life.

Yoga Unplugged Team member Sarah Burchard invites special guests on the show and dives into real life issues, providing tools and philosophies to help you navigate them with greater ease.

Today Sarah is speaking to Sara Hill – Lawyer and CEO of the wildly successful restaurant group: Handcrafted, sister restaurant group to the infamous Merriman’s Restaurant group in Hawaiʻi. Hill is a master manifester who comprises an equal blend of business savvy and spiritual awareness and shows up with both no matter what the circumstances. 

In this episode Burchard and Hill discuss the mystery of manifestation, why it works and how to make it work for you. The talk about the challenges of working in the restaurant industry, the infamous advice "trust the universe," and how past trauma can effect your future. 

Handcrafted restaurants include: Moku Kitchen (Oʻahu), Monkeypod Kitchen (Oʻahu and Maui) and the Beach House (Kauai).

Welcome to Yoga Unplugged Conversations

A podcast dedicated to helping you grow, thrive and gracefully make tough life decisions, so you can lead a happier, healthier life.

Yoga Unplugged Team member Sarah Burchard is your host. She invites special guests on the show to deep dive into real life issues, providing tools and philosophies to help you navigate them with greater ease.

Sarah is a freelance writer, natural foods chef and certified health coach who is passionate about promoting local businesses and food through her writing, farmers market tours and farm-to-table events under the name, The Healthy Locavore. When she is not talking food she's marketing events for Yoga Unplugged and supporting the yoga community on Oʻahu.

Today Sarah is speaking to Darity Wesley––an award-winning, best-selling author, lawyer and speaker who has travelled the spiritual, metaphysical, esoteric and personal development paths for many decades. Darity has become an extraordinary wisdom sharer over the past few years and is a powerful resource for the application of evolving consciousness.

In this episode Sarah and Darity discuss the five keys essential to unlocking who you really are, why it is a waste of time to ask "Why?" and what to do if you feel you have been "doing the spiritual work" but are getting nowhere. This is a great episode for this time of the year when we are getting ready to reflect on the past year and get ready for the next.

You can sign up for Darityʻs Love from the Lotus World emails for free by emailing her at Darity@DarityWesley.com 

Her books How To Be The Real You and You Can Transform Your Life can both be found on Amazon with their accompanying workbooks.

Welcome to Yoga Unplugged Conversations!

A podcast dedicated to helping you grow, thrive and gracefully make tough life decisions, so you can lead a happier, healthier life.

Yoga Unplugged Team member Sarah Burchard is your host. She invites special guests on the show to deep dive into real life issues, providing tools and philosophies to help you navigate them with greater ease.

Sarah is a freelance writer, natural foods chef and certified health coach who is passionate about promoting local businesses and food through her writing, farmers market tours and farm-to-table events under the name The Healthy Locavore. When she is not talking food she's marketing events for Yoga Unplugged and supporting the yoga community on Oahu.

Today Sarah is speaking to Laura Christine Mansfield––a musician, internationally certified kundalini yoga teacher, master reiki teacher and a teacher of self-empowerment. Laura Christine hosts two podcasts: Tidbits and Light of Conscience. And her message is this: No one can empower you but YOU, and when you learn how to tune into yourself and honor who you really are and what you really need, you become healthier, happier, more confident and more successful.

In this episode Sarah and Laura Christine talk about the 5 stages of the spiritual journey and how to navigate them with grace. Find out why Laura Christine believes, “Just because we’re good at something doesn’t mean we have to do it” and "Nothing matters."

Connect with Laura Christine on Facebook @lightofconscience and visit www.lightofconscience.com to learn more.

Welcome to our very first episode of Yoga Unplugged Conversations!

A show dedicated to helping you grow, thrive and gracefully make tough life decisions, so you can lead a happier, healthier life.

Yoga Unplugged Team member Sarah Burchard is your host for this podcast. Sarah is a freelance writer, natural foods chef and certified health coach who is passionate about promoting local businesses and food through her writing, farmers market tours and farm-to-table events under the name The Healthy Locavore. When she is not knee deep in food she's marketing events for Yoga Unplugged and supporting the yoga community here on Oahu.

In this episode Sarah interviews our very own Jennifer Reuter. Jennifer is a teacher of yoga, level 2 iRest yoga nidra and Neelakantha meditation. She is also a sound healer and the founder of Yoga Unplugged. She has been practicing and teaching for over a decade and studies several philosophies and religions, as well as the science behind meditation in order to give her students a well-rounded and advanced spiritual education.

Jennifer leads meditation workshops, sound baths, yoga teacher trainings and retreats all over Hawaii. You can also find her teaching weekly public yoga classes at Aloha Yoga Kula in Kailua.

In this episode, Sarah and Jennifer discuss how to follow your intuition and why it is so important when it comes to important decision making. They also address acting on internal messages, signs from the universe, taking advice from others and what to do when your gut lets you down.

Jennifer Reuter is a meditation and yoga teacher, sound healer and founder of Yoga Unplugged. She has been practicing and teaching Neelakantha meditation for well over a decade. In our first episode of Yoga Unplugged Conversations she talks with host Sarah Burchard about how to trust your gut. During this show they address: Acting on internal messages, signs from the universe, taking advice from others, what to do when your gut lets you down and inquiries that are helpful for solving problems. Learn more at www.yogaunplugged.org