The Inner Work Podcast

In this week's episode Mat and Ash have the honor of chatting with Ellen Grace O'Brian, an esteemed yoga teacher from the direct lineage of Paramahansa Yogananda, about her new book, "The Jewel of Abundance: Finding Prosperity through the Ancient Wisdom of Yoga." In this special episode, Ellen clarifies the misconceptions we have around the concepts of wealth and prosperity in the spiritual practice of yoga where it is often thought we must reject these things. Luckily, we do not need to abandon the world and go live in a cave to reach our full potential, and are meant to live within the world without limitation. However, to get to this point of inner freedom we must surrender to something Higher and commit our life to a greater service and love, and in so doing we become truly wealthy and prosperous. To learn more and order the book, visit https://ellengraceobrian.com/

In this first episode of Season 2, Mat and Ash take you through the themes of consciousness that are responsible for all our happiness, suffering, success, failure, self-esteem, and everything in between. Mat and Ash share their own struggles with particular themes and how to understand and work through them to find the peace waiting on the other side. When we understand the themes of consciousness with compassion and humility, we are able to use the Inner Work Process to uplift and heal ourselves and others. It is only in becoming aware of our attachments to particular themes which bring us suffering, that we are able to move on in our evolution to greater degrees of true freedom and lasting happiness. This you will find out, has to be allowed and surrendered to, rather than sought or acquired.

In this week’s podcast Mat and Ash interview Susannah Freedman, the author of Suffer Less: Using Yogic Principles To Live a More Peaceful LifeSusannah shares how the deeper teachings of yoga can lead us to finding our life purpose, living joyfully, and is the pathway to lasting peace. This episode is for anyone interested in removing unnecessary suffering from their lives and becoming more in alignment with inner freedom. To connect with Susannah or to learn more about her book, trainings and retreats visit SusannahFreedmanYoga.com or find her on Instagram @susannahfreedmanyoga

Ancient cultures have celebrated the coming into womanhood with ceremony and ritual. But we have lost this connection to our bleed, to our cycles, and we have forgotten the powers within us, the sacred energy we harness that can only be accessed by connecting to our natural rhythms. That of our blood, our womb, and the moon.  In this week's podcast Mat and Ash interview Leanna Pareja, the co-creator of Spirit Woman, which is both a community and educational space for woman to reconnect with the divine feminine, sacred ritual, ceremony, and ancient traditions that connect us with our bleed and sacred cycles.  Leanna talks to us about what it means to become a woman through rite of passage and explains why we might be disconnected to our cycles. Through our cycles, we as woman have access to our super powers of intuition, creativity, foresight, and many other extra abilities. But our cycles are not just during our bleed, they last a full lunar cycle.  How does the moon affect our cycles?  What types of transformations are we actually experiencing during a 28 day period and how do we tap into the deeper powers of our bleed?  What are the four seasons a woman goes through each month? How do we honor each season and make the most of being a goddess? How do we track our cycles and why should we? Even Mathew shares how this new knowledge has transformed his relationship with Ash and enhanced their lives together! This podcast is basically bad ass and everyone, man and woman needs to hear this!

In this week's episode Mat and Ash discuss their personal journey to healing Mat's past pornography addiction and speak about the effects it has had on their relationship and spiritual journeys. Pornography use is at an all time high and is becoming more and more common and accepted. However, the effects pornography has on the brain are equivalent to that of drugs like cocaine and heroine. So why is no one talking about this in the yoga and spiritual community? Do we believe we are immune? The impact of being exposed to pornography is much greater than we can imagine and has the power to dramatically impact the quality of our day to day lives in ways we might not even be aware of. If you or your partner are struggling with dissatisfaction with life or your relationship and have been exposed to pornography this episode is for you! Mat and Ash get vulnerable, raw, and real around inner work regarding this uncomfortable and sensitive subject. No judgment. Only healing.

In this week's episode Mat & Ash interview Pedro Luna, creator of @yogimemes. Besides creating viral and comical yoga memes, Pedro is a dedicated practioner of yoga, seasoned teacher, and advocate for using social media to raise the frequecy of the planet...one meme at a time! In this week's episode Pedro tells us about his journey to finding yoga + how he first began creating viral yoga content that eventually changed the direction of his life. How we can use yoga to harness our creativity and hits on the controversial topic of yoga and spirtuality in relation to social media.

In this week's episode Mat and Ash talk about their experience with evacuating their home in Hawaii due to volcanic eruption and all the life lessons that accompanied it.Mat shares his process of accepting loss and letting go of resistance to change, while Ash discusses her fear of death and thinking about it differently for the first time.

We all want to be happy and free but the obstacles always seem to pile up. What is going on? In this weeks episode Mat and Ash disclose their personal stuggles with addictions, pursuing happiness, and realizing true freedom in life. 

In this week's episode Mat and Ash discuss the world of frequencies and vibrations. They talk about how to use the inner work to make lasting changes in our own energies. Mat discusses his methods of shifting his frequency to one of gratitude and optimism while facing fear. Ash shares her practice of mantra and yoga.They also explore the levels of consciousness, how to protect ourselves from our environment, and using affirmations to make shifts in our energetic state. Lastly, they explain "The Secret" and the law of attraction, common misunderstandings, and how to best apply the teachings.Download, "The Inner Work: Positive Affirmations to Reprogram Your Mind" here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/inner-work-positive-affirmations-to-reprogram-your/1359483807

In this episode Mat and Ash share their experiences about acquiring a "spiritual identity" and the current trends revolving around yoga and appearing "spiritual". Mat reveals his past struggle with looking the part, but avoidance to making the actual changes within. Ash shares her stories of wanting to be the "perfect yogi" and the image it seemed to entail, especially surrounding social media.In this episode Mat and Ash talk about the purpose of the Inner Work, what it is, the goal, and its process. They clarify the meaning behind words often heard in yoga and spiritual communities such as enlightement, samadhi, self-realization, and true contentment. Lastly, pointing us to take an honest look at our coping mechanisms in times of discomfort, and to push through the discomfort to the liberation that is on the other side.

In this week's episode Mat and Ash talk about current, unexpected changes taking place in their lives. Mat discusses fear after losing half of his investments, while Ash reveals feelings of helplessness during major transitions, especially revolving around money. Together, they have opened multiple businesses and taken many huge risks in the past. In this episode they share the wisdom that taking big leaps of faith have taught them, how they are dealing with their current crisis differently than before using the Inner Work, and dive deeper into the practical application of yoga philosophy. Afterall, yoga is a living practice and our most uncomfortable circumstances of life are the best opportunities to impliment the teachings.This episode will inspire you to choose optimisim over doubt, to have faith rather than fear, and be courageous in life's most challenging situations.

The Inner Work podcast is unfiltered stories, lessons, and conversations all about the journey of yoga. The return to our true Self through the process of surrendering and letting go of everything we are not. The path to Self-realization and lasting contentment can sometimes be a difficult, messy path with lots of turbulence. But if we stay the course, and overcome our inner obstacles, all of our darkest hours eventually evolve into something we can laugh about and even be grateful for. We find the best way to learn, and to teach, is through laughter. So sit back, relax, and enjoy The Inner Work Podcast. You are in for a treat! New Episodes every other week on Monday's.