Unity Consciousness and Awakening in India with Lucy St John

0:00 Your Dharma is what you're good at naturally, what you do for free and what you do anyway. So, you know, people's Dharma is not like being a yoga teacher. Their Dharma is maybe bringing people together or maybe making difficult concepts accessible or, and these are all things that can be done.

0:20 If you're an accountant, a car salesman, a yoga teacher, you know, a podcaster. I mean, it's, it's that special, unique gift. Maybe you help people to listen. It's like, and just that that beautiful journey is, is a lifetime and it's fantastic. And it keeps going and I don't think I'm at the end at all. I'm, I'm an avid learner still and I, I just feel like it keeps getting better.

0:51 That's the thing about aging is that your mind and your psychology, if you're working on it in any way at all, continues to get keep get you more liberated, continues to bring you more sense of freedom and joy, You know, and I think that's, that's the big turn on for me.

1:10 That's why I do what I do, because I enjoy it and I have the permission, I have the privilege to do that. OK, Welcome back to the podcast. My name is Michael Henry. I'm your host for today. And today we have a special episode as we have a guest joining us today, a guest virtually. So this is the first time we've had this in a while, so I'm excited to test this out.

1:50 So if you are watching it, you'll get to see it. It'll be a little bit different from our usual episodes, but it's going to sound the same. So I'd like to introduce Lucy Saint John to the podcast. So, Lucy, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much, Michael.

2:06 I'm so happy to be here. Yeah, me as well. I'm really excited to learn a little bit more about your history, your experience, and to just give it a little bit of an overview of who you are and why you're here. I actually met you probably about 9 or 10 or so years ago, one of my best friends, Max Saint John.

2:26 You happen to be his aunt. And it's been probably that long since we've actually seen or spoken. And it was inspired by one of our former students, Max's wife, actually, Oxana, to connect us so that you could come on the podcast and share some of your experience over the last several decades, actually. So Lucy has her own yoga school, Lucy Saint John Yoga School, and you've been teaching in yoga teacher training since 2015. 200 hours, 300 hours.

2:58 You currently live in Vancouver, BC, but you've also been doing trainings not just in Canada but also in Costa Rica. And you also are a psychotherapist, is that right? Yes, and also a yoga therapist. Yes. And you're also teaching people to become yoga therapists.

3:17 Yes, it's my, it's my great passion right now. Amazing. And you also have a lot of, let's say, knowledge and experience with Vedic traditions as well, and you teach that. Yes, that's one of the places I think that I really stand out. Amazing.

3:34 So you have a lot to pull from, which I'm really excited to kind of dive into in this podcast. But you know, I kind of said a few things. I think it's also great for you to be able to introduce yourself and allow people to kind of get to know you a little bit more before we kind of dive into, you know, a little bit more the formality of the the podcast.

3:51 So again, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much Michael. I'm so happy to be here and really happy to share sharing some of my unique path as it was an A fun moment for me because it always comes out differently so. That's great.

4:09 So how about we start with something real fresh and like how did you even get into yoga in the 1st place? Let's let's go. Let's go back there. OK, so that's such a great question because it's something I've thought about for years and it actually took me about 20 years to find out why I went to India initially.

4:30 Really how I got into yoga is I went to India when I was 23 and I had a huge experience in what's called unity consciousness. I had no idea what that was, but essentially the experience was that whenever I looked at another human being, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was myself looking back at me and it was an embodied experience. It was a knowing experience and it was incredibly present. And that lasted not just like for an hour after Shavasana or when you've had an incredible

5:05 experience. It lasted for three months. So I had this extended period of time where I experienced the world in a vastly different way than I had up until that point. And gradually it did go away, but I had to find. Out what? I had experienced and the only people that had any concept, any language, any words for what I experienced were the yogis in the Vedic tradition.

5:35 And so that started me. Of course, as it would happen, I synchronistically met a teacher in Canada and I I then spent 12 years, which is also just is synchronistically the time that usually spend in a Vedic tradition before you go off on your own with with that teacher and learning about the the Vedic tradition. Wow, that's such a young, young age too. No, you said 23, I think you said. Yeah, yeah.

6:09 Well, I think that's also an age when people are really seeking, aren't they? And I think definitely my childhood experiences, some of the, the difficulties and challenges of my childhood, you know, very much drove me towards such a huge seeking and such a big experience.

6:27 You know, I really wanted to, to understand the world and how you know good and bad could coexist and, and how to make peace with that in my own, in my own heart. That's beautiful. And one of the things that we chatted about before we actually hit the record button was just kind of the evolution of yoga and, and let's say the more modern world and how, you know, it's in the last, say, decade, 2 decades or so, yoga has actually boomed in popularity in a lot of ways.

6:56 So you, let's say back then, which I don't know, you said maybe in the 90s or so was that approximately, you know, yoga wasn't probably as prevalently exciting as it is, let's say, now compared to before. So you learning a lot of the things that you learn the, you know, the Vedic traditions and stuff like that. You might have felt probably a little, you know, separated possibly.

7:18 I don't want to put words in your mouth. And you know, you had mentioned that you, you know, wanted to share more what you had learned. And there 1 is wasn't as many people showing up to to listen versus now, for example, where yoga's become a little bit more popular, a little bit more mainstream, and you know, a little bit more the physical sense, the awesome practice. But it's still allowing more people to show up to hear some of these, let's say, Vedic

7:42 traditions and lessons that were learned over the years. So let's speak a little bit to that. Yes, in 1998 and 99, I decided to put on these free Vedic talks in the hopes that people would come to my course called Holistic Integrated Health Course.

8:00 And it was how to integrate the yoga teachings into daily life. So I went and I rented this little house on Maple Street in Kitsilano here, which is sort of the, the old hippie community on the West Coast, this little, on this little beach town, you know, six blocks from the beach. And I would put out the chairs and I would bring cookies and tea.

8:21 And I was so poor at that time. And that that really cost me something to get those cookies and to rent this little room. And I, I, you know, negotiated with them to just, you know, could, could I have a lower fee because it's a free talk.

8:35 And of course, they agreed it was an environmental house. It still exists there today. Anyways, I would put up my posters, which of course, I handmade at the time, and I would show up and I'd be so excited, so nervous. And then, like, one person would walk in and kind of look around and be like, oh, I'm the only person here.

8:56 So nobody would come. And it went on for about those two years. And I was so disheartened. And I used to say, well, you know, I'm doing something wrong or it must be me. And my teacher said, no, some of us are awake before the dawn. Hold on to your tiller.

9:15 You know that sailing metaphor. Hold on to your tiller. One day people will come. One day people will come. And he was so right. But it did take me a long time and I had to learn some strategy in order to to make that happen.

9:30 And so I sort of let go of doing that. I ran a few small courses with, you know, people like 3 or 6 people coming in these small groups and it was sort of over one day and it was, it was a really beautiful course. It was so much heart. And then eventually I had a, a friend who was very, very good in business.

9:53 She's got a fantastic clinic for pelvic floor and she said why don't you go into the 200 hour yoga teacher training because that's where your people are. And so 12 years later in 2012, even though I've been practicing modern postural yoga in the studios here in the city, it was always a little bit different from what I was learning in the Vedic tradition.

10:19 I decided to take the 200 hour and that's when I was able to share my the Vedic knowledge that I had learned and integrated and it was it was like a perfect marriage. So I didn't realize that you hadn't actually kind of done like a 200 hour training or like the actual package deal that currently exists. So the Vedic lessons or the the teachings that you had over those prior 12 years was completely separate from that, even though it's not necessarily

10:49 separate. Yes, yeah. And that's really how it always has been in the tradition. So really it's only in the last 200 years with Krishnamacharya and Iyengar and Pattabhi Joyce. But you know, these sort of this idea of these 200 hour trainings have come out.

11:05 So previous to that, it was always this 12 years in an ashram with selfless service as as part of your that was your fee. You know, I didn't pay for that knowledge in that sense that you pay your $3000 now for that I paid, I paid much more than that ultimately because it was my, my, my care and my, my selfless service for those years.

11:30 Of course, selfless service is the gift that comes back to you, which is the beautiful thing about it. You know, I always, my, my students love this story, so I'll tell it to you. I was given the job of doing the dishes for the community that I was in.

11:47 And you know, I, I thought it was a bit below me. You know, I was like, I, my parents were PhD and you know, the idea was that I would go on for my BA and, and be well educated and become a professor or something like that.

12:01 And so I was doing the dishes and after a few months, I said to my teacher, when, when am I going to get a new job? Like I, you know, I can run stuff. And he kept saying the same answer, but I didn't hear it. I really didn't hear it for about two years.

12:16 And finally I heard it and he said, you'll get a new job when you love the job that you do. And I was like, love the dishes. So I went to the dishes and I started to feel the warm water on my hands and I started to see that I was making something that was so chaotic, beautiful and coherent.

12:42 You know how you can get those plates in that order And that this, what I was doing, was making the world more beautiful in a very small little world. And as soon as I experienced that and the bubbles on my hands and just the appreciation and the pause and there's nowhere to go, no rush.

13:04 I had a new job. That's so beautiful, infusing the love into the to the work, regardless of the work. It's so nice. Yeah. And of course, the irony now is that my current partner, who I've been with for three years, doesn't let me do the dishes.

13:24 Oops. So that's right. He, well, he, he rules the kitchen. So that's his domain. Wow, that's beautiful. I love that. So one of one of the many lessons, I'm sure. So then, so then, you know, you can step into the 200 hour of the, let's say, the more modern yoga way. And that was, that's kind of what allowed a little bit more of a bridge for you to be able to connect more with us to say the, the, the modern human and the more modern mind, I should say.

13:59 And then that allowed you to be able to share a little bit more about the Vedic traditions and stuff like this. Yeah. Yes, exactly. And I was so lucky because the teachers that I had for my 200 hour were really humble and they recognized that I had a great deal of knowledge coming in. And yet they were teaching me things that we hadn't covered, you know, that I had had covered orally. You know, when I first picked up the Gita, I already knew it, but I had never read the text.

14:30 And so it was so wonderful and integrative. And of course, there were things that I thought, well, you know, that's a modern take on that. Or, you know, there's some some contrast there, but ultimately the Vedic tradition is so inclusive that everything fit in.

14:48 I could see where where some of the modern yoga had come out of, you know, this the more of course, the more emphasis on asana, which is incredibly beautiful. But you know, one of the things that my teacher had talked about was that asana is one of these great somatic ways into into the body and to be able to settle the mind, especially when we live in this like highly stressful mind state, that having that asana emphasis is really important at this time

15:22 and in certain areas of the world. And that opening up the body to be a little bit more, let's say, receptive to beyond the asana, so to speak. Yeah, yes, Receptive, yes. And then so I mean, to be perfectly honest, I don't know much about the Vedic traditions because I learned it probably a little bit more front heavy as we're talking about versus kind of more, let's say, traditional.

15:47 I mean, I definitely understand certain yogic philosophies probably because of the teachings through Patanjali, the Sutras and so on. But maybe you can kind of bring us into your world of this Vedic tradition and maybe some of the the key things that kind of stick out in your mind when we talk about this. Yes.

16:06 Well, first of all, I have to say, Michael, that you already do embody the Vedic tradition and so does everybody listening because they they say the Vedic tradition is in you, it's the inner knower and all that we're doing is igniting it.

16:20 So when you hear something you say, ah, yes, yes, I knew that, or I or I feel connected to that, that they believe like that the Vedic tradition lives in all of us. You know, it's universal. It's like the laws of nature.

16:34 Just like we wouldn't say the theory of relativity is Swiss and it belongs only to the Swiss. It's a law of nature. So we understand the theory of relativity. We experience it. And I've seen and talked to you and listening to your podcast, it's clear that you already embody so much of the Vedic wisdom, which I which I. Love, I mean.

16:54 I'm, I'm so happy that we're having this sort of regenerative movement of yoga and the Vedas coming forward because we need it. You know, this is definitely a time of chaos in the world and we need to have this fullness.

17:09 We need to sometimes sit back from these big opinions or separate opinions and say, OK, yeah, we can have different opinions, but we can also be friends. You know, in this kind of. I think of it also as the Dao. I'm really bringing in a totally different tradition.

17:25 But I love how the Dao expressed that sweet balance between light and dark and, you know, challenge and and peace, you know, war and peace. So yes, in terms of the Vedic tradition, so much of it is really and all the techniques for self realization, which is sitting in that place of beingness and being completely at ease with yourself and and being not needing to to do anything but surrendering to the flow around you. And not not surrendering in the

18:11 way that, oh, I'm just not going to do that today. Not that's not surrender. I mean, being fully awake, aware and in the company of the wise and being involved in life and letting life lead you, letting the laws of nature lead you.

18:28 So when challenges arise, you say, OK, I'm here for this. I'm not going to run away from this. I'm going to be present with this. And so some of those are a more modern take on the Vedic tradition. And in terms of potential Yoga Sutra, since you mentioned it, you know, that's really only 2000 years old, whereas the Vedic tradition is 5000 years old. And Patanjali's Yoga Sutras really did an exposition on this word yoga.

18:57 And yoga is only found three times in the whole Vedic tradition, so. This. Little Patanjali Yoga Sutras, which pretty much all modern yoga is based on now. The 8 limbed path is really this tiny, you know, Paul's notes about this world word yoga.

19:19 And also interestingly, we think in the modern world that written the written word was like an evolution for humanity. But in the Indian and Vedic tradition, the oral tradition is far superior. And the only reason you would write something down is 1 because you're getting old and you forget, or two, you're worried that the knowledge is going to be lost in human consciousness.

19:46 And we now we come into this concept called Kali Yuga. You might have heard of it. These 4 Yugas, a 40,000 year cycle in which our in which our Galaxy is moving further and further away from a star that of course the Hubble telescope has not yet. Found or seen because it's so far away. And then as we get closer to that star, we make an Oval, you know, elliptical shape around it. As we get closer, the Vedic tradition comes back, the knowingness comes back.

20:19 It's called the golden era where people know who they are and there's a sense of peace. There's a sense of SAT truthfulness, that naturally integrity, love, care that is, that exists. And then we go through the cycle again. You know, I mean, you could sometimes that's a daily cycle for me.

20:42 Sometimes it's yearly. You know, sometimes I've been sitting as a yoga teacher teaching them the my asana class, my breath class. And I said, wow, my heart's been closed. Wow. I'm here though. I'm here now. How fantastic. It's been a while.

21:04 Coming back to to you, coming back to you, there's a lot of thoughts that came up there since I mentioned this. Coming back to you, it's something that when we usually do a 200 hour training, we usually ask at the beginning what yoga means to you. Each individual student.

21:22 We have people write it down, option to share and there seems to be a commonality of a lot of people saying that. It makes me feel like I'm coming back to me, it's coming back to myself. I'm being myself, I'm allowing myself to be, which is kind of what I hear you saying with regards to this Vedic, like already knowing, but maybe have been forgotten. And I also really liked how you had mentioned about the written word as well, because some of our philosophy teachers, the Jeth and Okshai who have been on

21:56 the podcast before, the JET in particular, had talked about a lot of the times in which things were shared, even through Patanjali. He wasn't like there was no books or anything like that. He was almost like he was like channelling this inner knowing and just sharing and being this what we call guru, but basically just sharing to the people that were willing to listen, who would kind of gather around.

22:19 And then from there, that knowledge would continue to, to go on, but then some people would write it down. And that's kind of basically what the sutras ended up becoming is because someone actually said this guy's just downloading all this amazing stuff, like we got to write this down and we're going to forget. So you kind of saying like that's only kind of a newer or more modern ish modern thousands of years thing because of this inner knowing, like we talked

22:43 about in yoga, there's already like you're already whole, for example, that knowing that you're already whole and everything that you need, you already have. So a lot of this language really kind of stems from this, what you call the Vedic, the traditional.

22:57 I don't know if it's the mind or the thought or just the practice itself. Yes. And you know, it reminds me that the, the Rishis, of course, they were in a deep meditation and they cognize the Vedic tradition and the wisdoms, and then they passed it to different Brahman families, which is the priesthood cast in India.

23:20 Because there's such so much of the Vedic tradition, a family would only be given a portion of it. And sometimes it would take them three days to recite their portion. And that was just that one family of that was doing their portion and then many other families doing theirs. And so over time that some of that knowledge got lost because for whatever reason, sometimes Brahmins were given land and they had to take care of the land and, and stop reciting or they had to, you know, take care

23:55 of family things. You know, life comes up and they couldn't, they didn't, maybe they didn't have a sun because it was always passed on to the sun. And there's of course, lots of things in the tradition about the tonality of the voice and all of Sanskrit in which the Vedic tradition was cognized has to do with this sound vibration that is all about becoming you, this, this totality of you being expressed in words, in sound. And that's why mantra is so, so

24:35 vital and important in the yoga tradition. And actually my teacher, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who who was the he, he ran the TM movement, the transcendental movement and created so many meditators across the world. He created so many peace projects and he created a whole city where the Brahmins and the pundits could chant the vade.

25:01 That's all they do. That was their whole job, to bring back the Vedic wisdom. So he did, he did so many wonderful things. And he often talked about the power of Sanskrit and the power of mantra. And it's something that I'm, I'm still learning Sanskrit.

25:24 I'm an absolute beginner still. I've been, you know, listening to it and, and chanting it for a long time, but it takes someone who's dedicated 7 to 12 years to get the right pronunciation to, to chant that specific vibration that's really coherent.

25:45 Anyways, back to the story. I remember now, the story I was going to tell you is that Maharishi had an ashram and Rishikesh in India. You can go there now. It's, it's, it's abandoned, but people go and visit it. They pay $20 and they can visit. It's really beautiful.

26:00 And at the ashram, he had a lot of foreigners there who he had taught to meditate this 20 minutes twice a day. That's sort of the signature of Transcendental Meditation. And he said, I want you to meet someone. And he brought a friend of his, Arishi from who lived in the caves a few hours away, to sit in front of some of the people that learned from him and talk about mantra and the power of sound. And his whole job was just to chant the Vedic tradition. And somebody, one of the

26:39 foreigners said, well, like, why don't you do what Maharishi does? He's he's bringing meditation to the whole world. Like, you know, I mean, chanting, I mean, that's fine. But like, what? Like what's that's it, you know? And, you know, he said, I'm chanting the world into existence.

27:01 That's my job, you know, and it's just so powerful when you think about that. There's room in this world for that kind of work or that kind of way of living. You know, that's what one of the things that so blew me away about India. But anyways, I'm going on and I I feel like I should I should take a pause and see if there's anything in there. That you wanted to ask me?

27:28 Yeah, you want to pass the mic. And I, it was all in alignment. And it really made me kind of think about the, I mean, vibration, the power vibration, the sound. Because this was brought to my attention again through these other two teachers, these Indian teachers, Vijeth and Akshay, who are very much into the mantras. They're constantly singing mantras at the beginning of a session, lectures.

27:51 And you know, their family that he, they would even say like, it's just like embedded in their family traditions. And like, while I would appreciate it because it sounds beautiful, especially with, you know, their mother tongue, they're able to just enunciate so clearly and it just sounds so beautiful. And, you know, I have them over to my house sometimes and we'll just be hanging out and sometimes I'll be hanging from a Nyengar belt and just kind of

28:13 like doing an inversion. And then Akshaya will be, you know, reciting some mantras and singing and stuff like that. And then he'll, and then he'll kind of encourage me to recite the same. And I'll say the same and, and I'll come out of it and I'm like, So what does all that mean? And he's like, it doesn't matter what it means. He's like, it doesn't matter.

28:32 He's like, it's just the sound and the vibration is doing the job. You don't need to understand it. But I was like, but my brain, my Western brain needs to understand it. What does it actually mean? I need to memorize this. And he's like, OK, so he like told me something just to satisfy my mind.

28:46 But you're kind of bringing that again, back to the forefront of like, it doesn't really matter. The words don't actually matter. The words already have the power just through the sound, the vibration. So I think there's something that's often probably overlooked from just like, oh, mantras, they're just words and just like saying these things.

29:04 But it's not just words. It's not just words. There's more to it there. So I love that you brought that forward. I think that's there's some power there. And that's why I wanted to kind of like kind of tease that out a little bit more for the listener to really like recognize and sit with that words.

29:19 Yes, they are powerful in themselves, but the vibrations, the sound has something more to it. So even if you are inspired by mantras or you're learning mantras or you're hearing mantras, try to kind of turn off that part of your brain and just really start to embody and feel.

29:33 I think that's where a lot of that that power comes from. Yes, that that makes me think of so many things. I think that even listening to the tone of your voice, there's so much expressed about who you are. And I, I, I think about that with sound.

29:53 It really is the expression of our inner self. And when you're out of alignment, for sure your voice sounds different than, than who you actually are. And that was something significant for me when I was in that state of unity consciousness.

30:09 Is my voice deepened and it became to me more real and it felt like an expression of that inner silence that was sitting with me all at all times at that time. You know, now I go in and out of it and I, I have anxiety or I, I have fears or, you know, I get caught up in my mind.

30:34 But at that time, I was, I was just fully immersed in that, in that sense of beingness. And I was silent for most of the time. My family was like, what's what's wrong with you? You know, I only hung out with really one friend who's still my best friend to this day.

30:50 And we would hang out in silence for two to three hours on the porch. And I would just be, I'd be blessed just smiling because it felt amazing just to experience life, to hear the sounds, to watch the branches move in the wind, to, to be in life. It was just, you know, when things slow down enough and you can really, really see what's in front of you and the beauty of it.

31:19 So yes, I think mantra is, is one of these things that comes after you've had more exposure to, to yoga. And I love your curiosity that you were like, what does it mean? That is a beautiful, a beautiful curiosity and it speaks so much about you because.

31:38 Some people just don't have that curiosity. So I don't think it's a negative thing of the mind. However, I do also understand your teacher saying, oh, it doesn't matter. You're still getting the benefit of of harmony and good health. And you know I.

31:50 Love that too. It's so very, so very Indian. However your your desire to know that the seeker within you, you know, like you're my people, you're my people. Because I also had such a thirst for, for, for knowledge. And when you, when you start to learn about the mantras, about the meaning, there's so much depth to it that it, it, it can take you into being. It can take you into that place of peace so easily and quickly. It can start contemplations that

32:33 you never thought about. You know that that change your life. I want to say a mantra is not an affirmation. A mantra is only in Sanskrit. Some people say, oh, I love you. Is is my mantra. That's that's kind of colonizing the word.

32:52 A mantra is only in Sanskrit and it has a deep meaning and that's why it's significant and it's not a prayer. It's not a prayer in the way that people pray to, to a higher intelligence or a higher source to ask for something.

33:06 It's not that either. It feels like a prayer, a mantra, but it's not in that traditional aspect of prayer and it's not an affirmation. So I, I often, I have that pinned at the top of my Instagram and I think that it's just a really important thing because when you hear something that it can hurt, it hurts when it's incorrect.

33:31 You know, if I pronounce your name incorrectly, it hurts a little bit, it hurts your ear. And that's the power of sound. So making sure that I'm expressing the, the embodiment of that mantra, that word, and making sure that it's said correctly and not used inappropriately makes me feel better as well. It's like an undoing of a knot or kind of undoing the scraping of the nails down the board, you know, and softening that and saying, oh, let's think about

34:02 that. Let's let's, you know, bring in the roots of this, of this tradition. And, and I'm so privileged. I'm aware that I'm so privileged to have had this knowledge so early in my life, to have found a teacher, to have been open, to have had the experiences I've had. So I, I, it's not that I am judging people for using the, the word mantra as an affirmation. I just like to correct that when I can in the most gentle and compassionate way, so that they

34:36 really start to think about it and get more benefit and maybe become more curious. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's that's what happened to me. I mean, you could call it ignorance to some degree. I never actually thought about it until you kind of mentioned it. And you're like, oh, it's not a prayer and it's only in Sanskrit.

34:55 And part of me was thinking like, oh, OK, I never even, like my brain never even went to that place. But now when you're saying it, I'm like, Oh, I feel the truth in those words and actually does make sense, especially being surrounded by like these Indian teachers, who they, they have this embodiment. And maybe the, you know, I might not understand it from words, but I could just feel that that's what it is. The mantras are the, the language or the, the sound, the vibrations that are spoken in

35:23 that mother tongue in the Sanskrit versus something, you know, like I am brave or just the, the English words, while they do have the power in their own way, it's not necessarily what would be called a mantra. So that actually helps to make me feel more clear in, in the understanding.

35:42 So hopefully that helps again, the audience to understand a little bit more about mantras themselves. And it also to me makes it feel like the mantras have even more power because of their unique kind of like way in which they can be delivered, which is not as easy as just like anybody can necessarily do it. I mean, anyone can do it, but there's to some degree, there's a there's a craft behind it that can increase its power, increase its effect even more so, which I

36:09 think is really cool. So thank you for sharing that and I love that. And then so the the interesting thing to kind of come back a little bit to you mentioned about your voice somewhat changing or deepening to some effect. And we've talked about this before on the podcasts, whether people have remember or have listened to these episodes. We had another guest had come in, Kat Kibera, and she talked a lot about being grounded versus not being grounded. Now being grounded, what does

36:39 that mean? Being centered, being connected to yourself, use whatever language works for you. But ultimately what she was speaking to is like if you if notice that how your voice may change whether you're grounded or not grounded. And she would share in her example that often times she would notice that she, her, her voice would be more higher pitched and be talking a little bit faster when she wasn't so grounded.

37:03 And she'd be talking like this and maybe kind of like sounding almost like a little ditzy kind of thing. And then she recognized that when she actually found time and space to be able to center herself, ground herself, connect with her breath, her voice naturally lowered or deepened, which I thought was interesting because you kind of said that in your own words, but it really made me kind of connect to that.

37:25 And she said the thing that helps or the thing that actually stops us from connecting to that, whether you call it that, that level of voice or that centeredness is sometimes judgement or either judgement of ourselves or a perceived judgement coming from the outside and not being able to necessarily find that centered or are coming back into our self to be able to actually express ourselves in the way that is actually more naturally us. So those were some of the things

37:55 that come up. And then one other thing that you mentioned that I really want to just highlight as well is this pausing and just being with somebody. So often times, especially, I mean, I don't know what people hear, but I just, I'm in the yoga space.

38:11 I just hear a lot of like, be with yourself, be still, you know, just be bored, sit in idleness, stare at a tree, this kind of stuff. But what I think is rare is being able to do that with somebody else. Very, very rare. In fact, people get uncomfortable when there's no one talking and you're with somebody. Usually when it's like family, sometimes it's easier. You've been around each other so much that you can kind of sit and not necessarily need to

38:34 talk, but maybe there's like a show or something that's kind of like drawing the attention or the energy. But when you said just being able to be with someone and just not talk and just like stare at the trees, stare at the birds, appreciate everything around you in silence is such a beautiful act. And I've witnessed that one of the strongest times when I was again with one of these Indian teachers, Vajeth, and he came over, we actually did a podcast.

39:01 And then after the podcast, we just decided to hang out in this room. Actually, he sat in that chair. I sat over here. And it was kind of one of these things where I just like, I was looking up to him because he's like a, he's a mentor to me. He's a teacher to me.

39:14 And I just feel like, you know, I don't really know. Sometimes I'm a little uncomfortable. I'm not really sure I want to sound say something. Maybe I want to sound smart or I'm not sure what was going on in my mind, but there was just a moment where we just didn't say anything for wasn't very long, a couple minutes and he just kind of turned and he just said he's like, it's really nice to just sit with you and just AB. And when he said that, I was

39:37 just like, it almost like gave me permission to be like, Oh, I don't, I don't actually need to say anything. I don't need to try to prove myself. I don't need to try to express anything at all. And he kind of gave me that permission, even though I didn't need the permission to be able to just do that.

39:51 And then following that, I just sat with him and we just stared at the trees, we stared at the wall. We just kind of like we're breathing together for probably about 1/2 an hour, maybe an hour. And it was like one of the most unique and powerful experiences because I was, it was almost like an experience I'd never had before. I've done that with myself, but to do that with someone else was so interesting.

40:14 And that's what kind of bring you. You brought that to my attention with your example as well. I love that. I love, thank you so much for sharing that. I already love your teacher and like what a great blessing for you to have that teacher and like, I just feel so connected to your teacher.

40:30 ANYWAYS, it's just part of being a custodian, you know, I know, I know at some level who he is. And something that that reminds me of is that you are so much a part of that participation because it's it took me so long to find someone who is simply receptive when I was in unity consciousness, just someone who could quite enough to just be with me, not in a strained way, but truly at ease with them self.

41:06 It took. So sometimes I would talk to people for two hours about love, about wisdom, so that they would just sit with me in silence for 10 minutes. And so I think you're such a vital part of that experience and you are a gift to your teacher as well.

41:26 And I think that with with all of us, we all begin in ignorance, all of us. There's a great story about it, Guha, if you ever want to hear the great tradition of Guha, he's the, the king of the forest. And you know, he's he, the, the priests could come to see him and they put up a statue and he says, look, you can put a statue of Shiva there. But I'm going to tell you right now for me, God's a tree and, and you can't change my mind about it. And so the the priests were kept

41:56 trying to push him to honor Shiva in the statue and they would put flowers on the statue and water over it and pour food on it. And and then the weather got cold and all the priests left and they left the statue and the statue got dirty and leaves falling untaken care of.

42:11 So Guha was so mad that he would kick that statue no matter what every day because of their hypocrisy. And he was out hunting and one day he's hunting on a moonless night. Of course, I'm going very quickly through the story and he wants to kick that statue, but there's a pack of wolves surrounding it.

42:33 So he climbs up the tree in hopes that they'll go home so that he can climb down and kick the statue. Now he, he didn't get anything on his hunt. His water's dripping out. You know that his leather pouch is dripping away. And he tries to reach for the fruit on the trees while he's on the branch to eat something, but and sort of cracks them over the statue and the leaves fall and he's starving. And he he tries to have prayers in for his family and he says some mantras just to keep

43:07 himself awake. And finally in the morning, the wolves go away and he climbs down and he kicks that statue. Well, that day, the Lord of death, Yama comes to to take his soul. And it's a little noose. And they say the soul is the size of your thumb.

43:23 Yama comes with a golden noose and starts to carry him away from his body. But on the path a great a great dwarf stops Yama and says that's my soul. And Yama says do you know who I am? And the dwarf says Yep, and that's my soul.

43:40 And so there's a big skirmish that happens and Gu has kind of thrown out of Yama's hand onto the onto the path and he gets picked up by a white cow and he feels the warm grass smell of the cow's breath on him as the cows carrying him up Mount Kailash to Lord Shiva. Oh, and Lord Shiva sees Yama and Yama says this. This is my soul.

44:16 You know he doesn't. He's been kicking your statue like the he's, he's coming with me. And she says, oh, no, no. He's one of my most devoted devotees. You know, he never failed to visit me every day. And one day he even did a puja over me. You know, he dropped flowers and water and did prayers over me on a moonless night, which is Shiva's night. You know, this is the drives.

44:45 And so where am I going with this story? Yes. So Guha is given gets to go back to to Earth, gets to go back to his body and live his life. And he says to Shiva's servants as he's going back. But I didn't do any of that on purpose.

45:04 And the servants say we all begin in ignorance, but you start somewhere. And so I, I love that story because it does, it does remind me of what you said about this, this idea that sometimes we do the right thing without knowing to start somewhere. Yeah, the ignorance piece was interesting because I mean, I don't Ignorance just means the not knowing or the forgetting or not remembering possibly depending on how you want to look at it.

45:39 And some people might see that as like a negative thing, not knowing, maybe it's related to self worth possibly and making mistakes and these types of possible correlations there. But like, the way that you're talking about it in this story helps me and hopefully other people listening to recognize that while we do all start somewhere, it's almost always in ignorance because we're starting somewhat fresh to some degree or needing to either be reminded, remembered, or, you know, maybe

46:09 it is feeling like we're learning something new. But either way, it is starting with this ignorance or this forgetting, if you will. And I think that's a beautiful, again, permission for people to hopefully take some of that pressure off of the ego of needing to impress and put a mask on to try to pretend like you know, or try to pretend like you're not ignorant. And, you know, that can lead to so many other ways of suffering. So I really, really appreciate

46:37 that. It actually, it landed for me really well, and I hope it landed for others. So that's why I wanted to reiterate it a little bit more, is that ignorance piece is something that we all have. We all experience it. And it's not a negative.

46:49 It's just a reality. And being honored with that story, I think is, yeah, there's something beautiful there. And even that idea that it's a failing to be an ignorance, that's a colonized approach, that's a very Western approach.

47:05 Like in the indigenous education here in Canada and in the indigenous education in India, it's assumed that you to some degree you've forgotten who you are. And so the approach to education, the approach to knowledge is much softer. It's much more like how can, how can I help you remember who you are, you know, and so that that sense of ego, you know, that's very much highlighted in the West or in terms of our individualism and this and, and again that that way, that education system, you know, I

47:43 had a very hard time in the education system with that failure was somehow problematic. Of course, John Dewey, who is The Who created the Dewey Decimal system, he says failure is instructive. Fail as much as you can so that you can learn. And I love that.

48:04 I got that in my master's program. And I, I just love the, you know, real educators who have done, you know, these academic books and pieces, they always come back to say the same thing about love and care and relationship being the cornerstone of learning.

48:25 It's so good. I love it. Wow. There's a lot of things that I'm kind of digesting and I and I do want to keep going, but my brain is kind of thinking like, huh, how much more can I actually absorb? I wish I could. I wish I could pull the audience and be like, how is this all landing for you guys? Like are you absorbing?

48:42 Do you want some more? Should we keep going? I feel like we should keep going, but I just wanted to give it a pause moment, like a real moment to be like, you know, we're talking about a lot of like contemplative stuff, a lot of things. I really dive deep into it.

48:55 So I mean, I think that's what people sign up for when they listen to this stuff is always kind of prompting these kind of Upanishad type questions. We're kind of just looking at things. Who am I and all these elements? I, I get very contemplative, but it really excites me, this stuff. And I think there's, I think we all have this sort of natural bliss that's always there.

49:17 So it's, it is so important to, to have sweet foods and, and to have Chai and to have a laugh about, about our own ignorances in life. You know, I, I think the vital part and I, my teacher, when we used to get too, you know, bogged down in the personal work, he'd say, come on, let's go, we're going for a walk. Come on, let's go get a cookie.

49:38 Let's go watch a movie. You know, complete what what you might be feel is completely opposite to the yogic. Ha ha, you know, come on, let's go distract ourselves. And it worked. And then we had this wonderful experiences, laughter and and, you know, it would take us to some other journey. We might meet someone, you know who, you know, I wasn't really in our in our kind of vibe, but was fun nonetheless. You know, play.

50:09 It was all about playing in the world and and having that wisdom to stand back and be like, oh, yeah, we're here to play. Yes, we're here to evolve. But how we do it is up to us. You know, it could be a big trudge up the hill or we could dance up the hill. Yeah, beautifully said.

50:28 I love that too. So I thought I'd, I'd change gears for a second, even though I love this conversation, I just thought kind of like the story that you just shared. Like sometimes shifting the energy by just doing something kind of contrasting is really nice.

50:42 Like just shocking the energy in in like a healthy way. So it's not necessarily so monotone or kind of stoic, but it kind of like plays and goes up and down and things like this. It helps to grab the people's attention. If they're listening to the podcast and they're falling asleep, well, maybe you'll grab their attention again by talking funny or something to that effect. And it's making me kind of forget what I was going to say now, but it had something to do

51:04 with shifting the energy and how there's a there's a positive benefit there. And even in like yoga teaching, actually, I think this maybe, maybe that's where we go, maybe we go a little bit more into the yoga teacher space.

51:16 You know, we do have probably a lot of listeners that are either yoga teachers or in the yoga space and they're they're loving these probably these, these conversations, but also like maybe there's some practical take away uses from some of this conversation. So shifting the energy is probably maybe where we can start and we'll see where it goes. But I think about that.

51:36 And now it's actually some of the feedback that I got from some of my teachers after doing like a like teaching a class is that like, you know, your queuing is good, your sequencing is good and all that stuff. But like, things are kind of like consistent. And while consistent is good, sometimes it's actually nice to kind of like play go highs and lows and like throw something out there, take a risk and see what happens. And you know, what does it

51:59 actually mean when you're doing all these things? Well, I always think of it as like you're just changing the energy, the energy, whatever energy means to you. It's shifting something, which makes a shift in the individual, which might lead to something else, other possibilities.

52:13 Not necessarily bad, not necessarily good. It's just something else. Maybe the bad leads to the good or vice versa. So I really like that story that you kind of shared because it made me think of this shifting energy. And you know, I, my left brain, my science brain always thinks about the nervous system and like, what does that mean? It's like, oh, we're playing with the fluctuation of our autonomic nervous system, our sympathetic parasympathetic, and we don't want to be too much of

52:38 anything. If we're too hyper aroused or too in our sympathetic, then that's no good. If we're too under aroused, that's no good either. So while staying balanced is good, it's also nice to feel and experience life through these spikes and dips.

52:50 And sometimes we experience these spikes and dips by shifting the energy and talking differently or saying things differently or doing things differently. And that just can really, you know, bring life. You know, I can even feel it in my body a little bit.

53:04 My energy's kind of shifting, my blood, my, my heart rate's kind of going up. And that's what I mean when I talk about shifting energy. So whether it be in a yoga class or just an everyday life, I think shifting the energy can be something really positive when when you're feeling like you're in a rut or things are just not going well, Like how can you mix that up? You know, one of the things that's really popular nowadays is like jumping in a cold

53:23 plunge. Guess what? That shifts your energy pretty freaking quick, you know? Yeah. So that's kind of what came to mind a little bit. I don't know if you have any thoughts on that. Oh yeah, I have so many thoughts on that. I mean, I think right now I tend to bring a lot of humor into my yoga classes, but it took me a long time to get comfortable to be authentically doing that.

53:45 And really I didn't care if people laughed or not. And I, I tell lots of jokes that people don't laugh. And sometimes I put them in at a place where they won't laugh, like where they're really focusing on a balancing pose because it doesn't matter to me if they laugh because it's funny to me. And I'm having a great time.

54:04 And so I don't know if that's like an advice, a piece of advice I could give to my my younger self or to, to some of the teachers maybe listening is that the more authentic that you can be and really comfortable in that, often the more interesting your classes are because your personality, your choices.

54:26 Sometimes that's what people are coming for. Sometimes they're not. Sometimes they're like, Oh, I just want a teacher doesn't say anything. I just want to be in my own space. But sometimes they are really looking to be part of a community and to experience something with other people and to find that that collective breath.

54:45 And so any little techniques you can do to sort of trick people to coming together is fun. You know, I mean, I was in the air where people used to do things that were kind of cringy to bring people together, you know, like trying to make us dance in the middle of the yoga Plaza and where you're like, or like hold hands or something. So I've been through all of those phases. Luckily, I didn't do them myself because I tend to do things that I feel comfortable about.

55:20 Of course, I've, I have done cringy things myself, but they weren't those things. And yeah, I think, I think, you know, we just, we just launched a new pro, a new module in our 300 hour program called Advanced Pedagogy. And it's all about how do you handle imposter syndrome?

55:41 How do you handle small classes or, or fearing that you're not going to keep a class because not enough numbers come? How do you work within the nervous system? How do you build resiliency? So we're not just staying in our zone of social engagement with the nervous system.

55:59 We're deliberately going outside of it and coming back down. And we did lots of games around. People kept throwing out topics. And you would have to teach that topic as you are teaching. And so this improvisation and the spontaneity and just getting practice doing that. Because as you know, when you're teaching a class, something, sometimes something comes up, like there's an alarm or a siren going by or somebody says something, you know, someone's cell phone goes off.

56:31 And it's like, how can you incorporate all of those things? Because you're being present, Everyone's focusing on presence. So if something spontaneously happens, you know, to, to not say anything. I mean, that's a choice.

56:46 You know, as long as you're deliberately choosing not to say anything and you're, you're not bringing people's awareness to that. I get that. But but mentioning that and touching upon that can have a profound impact because it's like yoga's yoga is, is a living tradition. It's all the time actually.

57:04 You know, that was a, that was a very funny thing when I first started teaching yoga classes of that is that people kept saying, and this is your yoga practice. I'm like, what are you talking about? I practice all day long.

57:14 I practice when I'm doing the dishes. I practice when I'm walking. I practice when I'm talking to people. I practice not judging people. I practice not judging myself. You know, I was like, yeah, OK, we could do this asana practice, this breathing practice.

57:28 You know, I like it. It feels good. But like, it doesn't stop for me, you know? And I, I often used to notice at the end of a class people be so peaceful and being, and then they'd rush and throw their props away and stomp out. And I was like, I guess they haven't quite integrated that yet.

57:50 The yoga starts when the class starts and then it ends when the class ends versus carrying it out into the world and integrating it. That's cool. I actually really like that exercise and made me think like, oh, that sounds really fun to be like teaching a class.

58:06 It's kind of like, not necessarily improv, but kinda it's like you're, you're teaching a class, you're doing the, you know, the math, you're doing the, the sequencing and the queuing and you're, you know, this pose and stuff like that, But then someone throws out a word or a theme or something that you need to kind of incorporate.

58:23 It really kind of makes your brain have to kind of work in a different way, shifting the energy actually, which I think is actually a really cool exercise. I'd love to do that. Very cool. Yeah, I think I think less about queuing and sequencing now than I, than I, than I try to connect with the energy of the class and I test things out. I'm testing them out all the time. Like let's see how this goes.

58:48 Let's see how this goes. And I have the wholeness always there. So I have that, that option to, to test those things and just see where the energy of the classroom is going. And so I think I, I think I am more, I, I'm more present than I used to be.

59:10 So I'm not thinking about I'm going to do this or we're going to do that. I think I'm more sharing sometimes my stream of consciousness, you know, with people, lucky for them, or maybe it's the worst thing that, you know, people know who I am. So I'm like, you know, if you don't like this class, go to somebody else.

59:30 There's so many great teachers in this world. We're all needed, every single one of us. Never, I hope who's ever listening knows that your voice and what you teach is for somebody. It touches somebody and it touches more than one person, but it for sure has an impact and an influence on one person.

59:49 And that one person might change their life. They might go to a 200 hour because of something you've done, or they might look at things differently because of something you've said, or they might go home and be kinder to their partner. You know, And that's, I think that's one of the most powerful pieces in yoga is that I always say how flexible you are has no bearing on how enlightened you are. And if you're how compassionate you are. And that usually gets the lowest

1:00:18 chuckle. But I think that's, that's one of the most beautiful things is that we really are expanding love in the world. We are expanding compassion, you know, and we're in, in, in that way, we're expanding peace. And that was always how I came to this practice.

1:00:36 You know, I, I really wanted to stop war. I remember being thinking that as a kid. Of course I got that from my parents. You know, that was one of their ideals and it, it impacted me. And I, when I started to, to spend time with my teacher, I wanted to go on a Greenpeace boat.

1:00:55 I wanted to go and, you know, and stop, you know, the whalers and stuff. And he said you're a hypocrite. He said you haven't found peace in your own heart. Yes, that makes me think of, well, I was thinking micro change, macro change. And you know, hearing you say the words like, you know, peace in the world and stopping war, It sounds really great. But let's be honest, there's always gonna be an element of that that exists.

1:01:24 It seems so history shows. I mean, I haven't been around for the whole history, but as far as my learnings go, there always seems to be an element of that that exists. But there is another battle that we or a war that we can also neutralize or create peace with, which is within ourselves to start, you know, the war within ourselves, the judgement towards ourselves, the negative talk towards ourselves, whatever that might be. And how that might even just

1:01:49 trickle outwards to the relationships around us if we focus on bringing peace, compassion, love to just ourselves and those around us. And everybody kind of has a little bit of that over time. Eventually, yes, that might infuse some more of a macro change.

1:02:04 But trying to tackle a macro changes, that's a that's a big job. But it's a lot easier if we just focus on the small change. We focus on ourselves and the change that we can make within ourselves. And seeing how that might infuse outwardly, which, yeah, that's such a hopefully that makes it feel a little more attainable, I'd say for the individual. But I think, yeah, I mean, bringing it back down to love and compassion and the simplicity of, of that connection, Yoga union is as

1:02:37 simple as it is. I mean, I forget the the quote by Albert Einstein, but some of the some of the most, I forget what it is. But something about simplicity just being so profound. Like things can just be so simple. They don't need to be complicated. In fact, some of those teachers that I mentioned before, you know, you might ask them these complicated questions about this, this and this, and then just be like, oh, you're asking the wrong question.

1:02:59 And they'll just, and they'll just say this is really what it is. You know, it's about this. And it's usually something related to love, connection, compassion. And you know, when they speak, you're just like, it almost like diffuses this like desire to kind of like figure it all out. And you're just like, oh, it is really that simple. It's like just take a deep breath and just connect with your body, connect with your heart. Maybe eventually you're allowed

1:03:25 to connect or you're able to connect outwardly a little bit more and see how that might have a ripple effect. And maybe that does expand eventually. But no need to go too big too hard. Just keep it simple so. I couldn't agree more.

1:03:37 I couldn't agree more. And it's like, you know, it's just maybe your yoga practice is so that when your friend is having a hard time and they say, oh. I want to go and just destroy this thing you say. Oh come on, let's go have a beer.

1:03:52 Yeah, yeah, exactly. We don't need to be teaching yoga in a yoga classroom to be able to be teaching or sharing yoga, right. Kind of like what you said, you don't need to be doing the Austin of practice necessarily to be practicing yoga. Like you can integrate.

1:04:05 And that's kind of where I wanted to kind of at least finish up before or talk about before we finished up, which is the integration piece of yoga, which carrying that out from a 200 hour and, you know, bringing it into your world or a classroom. You know, maybe the individual's not receptive at that point in time in their life to be able to integrate that. But if you're listening to the podcast and you're still with us, you know, you're obviously

1:04:27 interested in some of this, in integrating that and being patient with that integration process. And just finding those little micro moments where you can use the lessons, whether it be through the Vedic traditions or just some of the the 8 limbs like the Yamas and the Niyamas.

1:04:43 And kind of reflecting a little bit more on the things that we're doing and doing a bit of that self study and recognizing and those small little micro changes can make such a huge difference. And that's part of the integration. It doesn't necessarily need to be the Austin of practice. While it is great and it definitely helps to open the body, creates more receptivity, creates more openness. I think that yeah, the integration process is all the time.

1:05:07 It never really ends. The only time it ends is whenever you're not present to it. But as soon as you become present to it, it's there for you. Yes, hold on to your tiller. Yeah. Just keep. Going. Because you have a unique gift and you don't know what it is yet.

1:05:26 And that's part of the, the enjoyment and the process. You know, it took me, you know, at least I mean, it took me 12 years to figure out how to even integrate the Vedic tradition. Then it took me another 12 years of teaching in a, in a, in a modern context to get really comfortable with what I suddenly knew I was good at. And I just, you know, you just trust, you keep trusting. And you say, you know what, this makes me feel good. I enjoy doing this.

1:06:00 You know, that's your Dharma. Your Dharma is what you're good at naturally, what you do for free and what you do anyway. So, you know, people's Dharma is not like being a yoga teacher. Their Dharma is maybe bringing people together or maybe making.

1:06:16 Difficult concepts accessible. Or, and these are all things that can be done if you're an accountant, a car salesman, a yoga teacher, you know, a podcaster. I mean, it's, it's that special, unique gift. Maybe you help people to listen. It's like, and just that that beautiful journey is, is a lifetime and it's fantastic.

1:06:44 And it keeps going. And I don't think I'm at the end at all. I'm, I'm an avid learner still. And I, I just feel like it keeps getting better. That's the thing about aging is that your mind and your psychology, if you're working on it in any way at all, continues to get, keep, get you more liberated, continues to bring you more sense of freedom and joy, you know, and I think that's, that's the big turn on for me.

1:07:11 That's why I do what I do, because I enjoy it and I have the permission, I have the privilege to do that. Very well said and inspiring. So Lucy, I think we're going to I think we're going to wrap this up. I kind of want to keep going, but we're like coming up over an hour now and you know, I try to keep I try to keep it consistent with these length of episodes. But who?

1:07:41 But, but who knows, You know what, maybe, maybe, maybe there'll be another opportunity to kind of go further in other ways. There's obviously a lot here. You know, as I hear you talk in different ways, we're kind of jumping around in different conversations.

1:07:52 And I'm sure there's more depth than everything we are talking about and there's probably more that we haven't even addressed. So maybe there is an opportunity sometime where we can go deeper at some point. But that being said, let's kind of try to honor the time, not only the listener for yourself, but yeah, I mean, if I know you, that you have your trainings, you train or you help people become yoga therapists, you obviously have a lot of deep knowledge.

1:08:17 So people might be interested to learn more from you, connect with you, study with you, something to this effect. What would be the best way for people to kind of reach out and go through that? I think the easiest way is that I have an Instagram account, Lucy Saint John Yoga.

1:08:33 I have a website with all the offerings that I have currently. Some of them are online so some it depends with the time change you might end up doing a little bit more self-paced work rather than live live learning. But I'd just be happy if you just found me and gave me a message and say hey, that's something spoke to me. I'd love to hear from anyone who liked the podcast and, and what we had to say and what we shared together. Other than that, you know, come

1:09:04 to Vancouver, BC take a free class with me at Y Yoga. I'm at the big studio here and you can be my guest. Amazing. What if you have like 100 people showing up? I want to be your guest. Yeah, of course. Of course. Yeah, thank you for that. We'll, I'll, I'll collect that from you and I'll put it in the show notes for.

1:09:26 It's easy for people to access quickly and easily, but otherwise, yeah. Thank you so much for taking the time for exploring the Zoom call situation. Technology. It's been a while since I've used Zoom. So far, so good. Everything seems to have moved pretty well.

1:09:41 So thank you, Technology, and thank you, Lucy, for the time. Thank you to all listeners for tuning in and allowing us to speak into your ear for the last hour plus. If you do have any questions or do you have any feedback, of course, we're always open to hearing it.

1:09:56 This is how we learn and grow. You can reach out to me as well on Instagram, and then we'll have those pieces for Lucy as well if you want to reach out to her. Any final thoughts, Lucy? Anything that comes into your channeled mind that might be something that you want to share before we close it off. I just want to thank you so much again, Michael. And for anyone who who listened, I know that when my teachers used to tell me these crazy stories, sometimes I'd have to go back and re listen or just go

1:10:27 off into other worlds. So I think I'll just end with the Sanskrit word for thank you, which is how I mostly close my yoga classes. And that word is Danya vadaha. So thank you. And Danya vadaha. Danya Vadaha, amazing. Thank you so much, Lucy, and have a great rest of your day. And listeners will speak to you next week. Take care for now.

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