Latest / Vox Novus with Victor Fuhrman / Dr. Tracey L. Ulshafer – Sh!t Yogis Shouldn’t Say!

Transcript

Dr. Tracey L. Ulshafer – Sh!t Yogis Shouldn’t Say! · Vox Novus with Victor Fuhrman

0:06
Speaker 1: Vox Novus, the New Voice, Vox Novus, the New Dimension,
0:15
Speaker 1: Vox Novus thought and movement leaders who will share from
0:19
Speaker 1: their experience and offer tools to help us navigate our
0:23
Speaker 1: rapidly changing world. My name is Victor Furman. Welcome to
0:29
Speaker 1: Vox Novus, the New Voice. We know that yoga practitioners
0:43
Speaker 1: may use sacred Sanskrit terms, but is it appropriate for
0:48
Speaker 1: yogis and euguinis to use a vulgar language? My guest
0:53
Speaker 1: this week on Vox Novus, Doctor Tracy l Alschaeffer says
0:57
Speaker 1: that there are some words that yogi should refrain from
1:00
Speaker 1: amusing and sometimes not. Reverend Doctor Tracy is the founder
1:04
Speaker 1: of One Yoga and Wellness Center, which operated as a
1:07
Speaker 1: physical studio in New Jersey until twenty twenty two. Doctor
1:11
Speaker 1: Tracy continues to escort international yoga and healing retreats. Her
1:16
Speaker 1: self published award winning fictional book, The Accidental Yogini continues
1:21
Speaker 1: to be praised as an easy read with digestible yoga
1:25
Speaker 1: philosophies spread throughout. The book was rebranded as a series
1:29
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four as The Accidental Yogini Kristen and
1:34
Speaker 1: a new book, The Accidental Yogini Padma was also released
1:38
Speaker 1: with more books to come. Her website is one yogacenter
1:42
Speaker 1: dot net and she joins me this week to share
1:45
Speaker 1: her path and just publish book. Sh exclamation point t
1:50
Speaker 1: Yogi's shouldn't say. Please join me in welcoming to Vox
1:55
Speaker 1: Novus doctor Tracy Alshaffer. Welcome doctor Tracy.
1:59
Speaker 2: Hi, how are you today?
2:01
Speaker 1: I am wonderful, Thank you. How are you, my friend?
2:04
Speaker 2: I'm doing well myself. It's a great day, sons.
2:08
Speaker 1: Absolutely, absolutely, Tracy. We have a new audience meeting you today,
2:12
Speaker 1: so let's share how we met and how yoga changed
2:15
Speaker 1: our lives and paths. It was my pleasure to meet
2:18
Speaker 1: you when we were both pursuing our Doctor of Ministry
2:21
Speaker 1: degrees with a new seminary back in twenty twenty, and
2:24
Speaker 1: we were both associate ministers with the Interfaith Temple. Please
2:28
Speaker 1: share with our listeners your early path and how it
2:31
Speaker 1: evolved before yoga, massage and healing became your calling.
2:37
Speaker 2: Sure, I guess the biggest shift for me. I had
2:45
Speaker 2: a car accident as a teenager. I had a compression
2:49
Speaker 2: fracture in my spine which created this week link, and
2:55
Speaker 2: as I worked as sedentary desk job, things got worse.
3:00
Speaker 2: I didn't particularly have any faith growing up. My parents
3:08
Speaker 2: both said you can figure out what you believe in,
3:11
Speaker 2: so I didn't have spiritual practices at that time. I
3:14
Speaker 2: was kind of lost, and a friend of mine said,
3:18
Speaker 2: you might benefit from yoga. Let's check it out. So
3:23
Speaker 2: flash forward a month or so into this yoga practice,
3:28
Speaker 2: and suddenly I'm feeling stronger and not taking advil in
3:33
Speaker 2: my back is feeling better. So I realized there was
3:36
Speaker 2: something to this, and soon I noticed that the physical
3:42
Speaker 2: improvements weren't the only thing. I was having a better mindset.
3:49
Speaker 2: I was starting to make decisions about my life that
3:54
Speaker 2: put me in a better place, better relationships, a job
3:59
Speaker 2: that more suited me. And then finally I made the
4:03
Speaker 2: decision to leave that all behind, Corporate America, all that stuff,
4:07
Speaker 2: and to do my own healing practices. So I had
4:12
Speaker 2: a yoga teacher training that I completed, and that was
4:17
Speaker 2: after a massage therapy program. So two years of training
4:24
Speaker 2: and study and then I just said that's it. I'm
4:27
Speaker 2: in both feet full time and I didn't look back
4:31
Speaker 2: so since then, and that was some time around nineteen
4:35
Speaker 2: ninety nine or two thousand, when I finally finished graduating
4:38
Speaker 2: from all of that. I have been in this holistic
4:43
Speaker 2: spectrum since then.
4:46
Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting because my yoga path started also
4:50
Speaker 1: with a back injury. I had actually sustained a back
4:53
Speaker 1: injury in my twenties and I carried it into my forties.
4:57
Speaker 1: And a friend of mine said, have you ever t yoga?
5:01
Speaker 1: And I said no, And they said, try yoga. It's
5:03
Speaker 1: going to help your back. And I had an adult
5:08
Speaker 1: education newspaper from the local high school and there was
5:11
Speaker 1: an ad that said take yoga with Judy Hamsa, and
5:15
Speaker 1: there was something about the name Hamsa I didn't understand.
5:17
Speaker 1: I didn't know the name, but something about it resonated
5:20
Speaker 1: with me, and I started taking yoga classes and Judy Hamsa,
5:24
Speaker 1: whose Judy became my teacher and also a dear friend.
5:28
Speaker 1: And during the course of this she asked me, she said,
5:30
Speaker 1: I love your voice. Would you start facilitating a meditation?
5:33
Speaker 1: And I did, and then we started taking a series
5:36
Speaker 1: of trips to a zen monastery up in Livingston, Manor,
5:40
Speaker 1: New York. And at one of these trips somebody mentioned
5:43
Speaker 1: the word reiki and there was something that again resonated
5:46
Speaker 1: with me. I didn't know what it meant, but there
5:48
Speaker 1: was something about the word that resonated with me. And
5:51
Speaker 1: there were three of us who said early next year,
5:54
Speaker 1: and within two weeks we were actually in our first
5:56
Speaker 1: reiki class together, and reiki and yoga with a raw
6:00
Speaker 1: conpuels that sort of reopened my path from a spiritual sense,
6:03
Speaker 1: and I'm grateful for both of them. You are a
6:06
Speaker 1: prolific author, prolific. Before we discuss your just published new book,
6:13
Speaker 1: sh exclamation point t that yogi shouldn't say, tell us
6:17
Speaker 1: what inspired you to write your best selling series, The
6:20
Speaker 1: Accidental Yogini.
6:24
Speaker 2: I always loved writing, even as a kid I had,
6:29
Speaker 2: you know, kids would be out playing in the in
6:32
Speaker 2: the playground and I would be squirreled away somewhere writing
6:37
Speaker 2: plays and short stories. So that was always an important
6:44
Speaker 2: part of my life. And when I was, you know,
6:51
Speaker 2: twenty two years of owning a yoga studio and watching
6:54
Speaker 2: the transformation that takes place with people, the transformation that
6:59
Speaker 2: took place in my own life, I wanted to combine
7:05
Speaker 2: my two passions of writing and sharing what yoga can
7:11
Speaker 2: do for people, how it can transform their life. So
7:15
Speaker 2: I got the idea to write a book called The
7:18
Speaker 2: Accidental Yoghini where this you know, this young girl, her
7:24
Speaker 2: life's a mess and somebody wrecked, just like our story's victor.
7:29
Speaker 2: Somebody in her life says, why don't we try yoga?
7:33
Speaker 2: And she reluctantly goes into it. She doesn't think it's
7:36
Speaker 2: going to help, and lo and behold, it changes her
7:40
Speaker 2: entire life. And so I wrote that. I think that
7:45
Speaker 2: might have been published in twenty eighteen. And then a
7:48
Speaker 2: couple of years ago, I closed my yoga studio and
7:53
Speaker 2: I was in Florida with my mother and wondering what
7:58
Speaker 2: I should do. UH didn't really have a lot of
8:01
Speaker 2: work at that time, so I started writing a second
8:04
Speaker 2: book and UH and decided to rebrand the whole series
8:11
Speaker 2: and call it the Accidental Yoghini Book Series and then
8:15
Speaker 2: give it a name. So the first book got rebranded
8:18
Speaker 2: as The Accidental Yoghini Kristen, and then The Accidental Yoghini
8:22
Speaker 2: Padma came out UH last year, and I've gotten good
8:28
Speaker 2: reviews from them, and I've won some awards for the
8:31
Speaker 2: first book and some Reader's Choice five stars. And now
8:36
Speaker 2: I'm working on my third book. So I I'm just
8:40
Speaker 2: trying to sprinkle yogic wisdom in a digestible way for
8:46
Speaker 2: people and and have them see that there's there's many
8:51
Speaker 2: different ways that this practice can can can help you.
8:57
Speaker 2: So you know, even even people that are probably what
9:02
Speaker 2: you might feel are the furthest away from being a
9:06
Speaker 2: yogi or a HUGGINI, it can help if you just
9:10
Speaker 2: let it in. And it has some very profound healing
9:14
Speaker 2: because it incorporates all the facets of the human person, body, mind, spirit, everything,
9:23
Speaker 2: And it's just a complete self development practice that's thousands
9:28
Speaker 2: of years old. But I want to bring it to
9:30
Speaker 2: people that you know, may have preconceived ideas about it
9:36
Speaker 2: and may think that it's only for people that are
9:39
Speaker 2: bendy and flexible or just for I hear a lot
9:44
Speaker 2: people think, well, it's just for rich white women.
9:47
Speaker 3: You know.
9:47
Speaker 2: Yogas for everyone and everybody, And so that's what I
9:52
Speaker 2: try to portray in my books different different heroines from
9:56
Speaker 2: different walks of life.
9:58
Speaker 1: And as you mentioned, your latest nations are Podma and
10:01
Speaker 1: the newer release of Kristen. Let's start with Podma, her
10:05
Speaker 1: path and how yoga changed her life.
10:08
Speaker 2: Padma is the story of a newly married young mother
10:14
Speaker 2: and has a lot of stress and anxiety about being
10:20
Speaker 2: the perfect mom and wife. I think a lot of
10:25
Speaker 2: women do that to themselves. We, you know, have these
10:30
Speaker 2: aspirations that we have to do be this perfect person.
10:35
Speaker 2: And so for Padma, and she is an Indian American
10:41
Speaker 2: woman who's a family member practiced yoga, but it was
10:47
Speaker 2: never brought into her own life. So through a series
10:50
Speaker 2: of a few things I won't I don't want to
10:51
Speaker 2: give too much away about the book, she does find
10:54
Speaker 2: her way to the yoga practice and actually back to
10:57
Speaker 2: the motherland of India and it and what happens for
11:01
Speaker 2: her is this calling her true life purpose. Her Dharma
11:07
Speaker 2: finds her or she finds it. And then at the
11:12
Speaker 2: end of the book, you see this very different person emerge.
11:16
Speaker 1: And share with our listeners the meaning of the word
11:19
Speaker 1: the name Padma.
11:21
Speaker 2: Padma is Sanskrit for lotus, so their lotus symbol in
11:28
Speaker 2: Hinduism and Buddhism is a deep We could talk about
11:34
Speaker 2: that probably for an hour. But part of her journey
11:41
Speaker 2: that her teacher says is I think you're going to
11:43
Speaker 2: find the truth and the true meaning of your name.
11:46
Speaker 2: So she does. She does understand that to a deep,
11:51
Speaker 2: deeper extent. Through her travels through India. What is the
11:55
Speaker 2: lotus flower and what does it represent?
11:58
Speaker 1: How does Christian's journey from Podmas.
12:03
Speaker 2: Kristen was the first book, So in that one, there's
12:10
Speaker 2: a little bit more of my own story in it.
12:13
Speaker 2: It's not about me, and there's a lot of creative liberty.
12:15
Speaker 2: There's a lot of my students in it. But it
12:18
Speaker 2: is a woman who works in corporate America who has
12:22
Speaker 2: an issue with her hip or her back. She's not
12:25
Speaker 2: even sure. So she's in pain all the time and
12:28
Speaker 2: she doesn't like her job, and a family member recommends yoga.
12:34
Speaker 2: She starts yoga and the next thing, you know, similar
12:37
Speaker 2: to my story, she's out of pain and starts to
12:41
Speaker 2: realize that the job maybe isn't the thing for her.
12:44
Speaker 2: The relationships that she's she doesn't have a solid, true relationship,
12:49
Speaker 2: so she starts to seek out these these aspects of
12:53
Speaker 2: her life that are more true to her, and she
12:56
Speaker 2: winds up at the end being actually a yoga teacher
13:00
Speaker 2: and it changes your life. So the different heroines, but
13:07
Speaker 2: same common thread.
13:09
Speaker 1: Both Padma and Kristen reflect discovery and healing journeys for women.
13:16
Speaker 1: This message is so important, especially after the challenges of
13:20
Speaker 1: the current political climate have created for women. What message
13:23
Speaker 1: would you offer concerning this?
13:27
Speaker 2: My only advice is always to be true, and I
13:32
Speaker 2: think if you are able to find a way to
13:36
Speaker 2: be true, you will be a guide a light for others.
13:43
Speaker 2: Your truth won't resonate with everyone, it's not meant to,
13:48
Speaker 2: but you will. You will find and you will help
13:51
Speaker 2: the people that are meant to find and help you.
13:54
Speaker 2: I would say, as long as you're following your truth,
13:58
Speaker 2: you know it's all coming. So just stay stay with that.
14:02
Speaker 1: Focus on that and for both of us we talk
14:06
Speaker 1: about second chapters. These books also look at second chapters,
14:11
Speaker 1: significant life changes that both women and men experience as
14:15
Speaker 1: they reach their late thirties and early forties. How would
14:18
Speaker 1: you suggest they approach and embrace those changes?
14:25
Speaker 2: Well, I think that people that are on the path
14:29
Speaker 2: are fairly open. So you know, understanding that our experiences
14:38
Speaker 2: brought us here to these moments of to they set
14:44
Speaker 2: us up for where we are and what we're living
14:47
Speaker 2: in and what we're experiencing. So you know, be open
14:54
Speaker 2: and also remind yourself at all times that even though
14:58
Speaker 2: you may have lived a lot and been through a lot,
15:02
Speaker 2: you don't know everything. There's always more to understand or learn,
15:08
Speaker 2: So you know, forget what you think you know, and
15:14
Speaker 2: I go back to that follow your truth, you know,
15:16
Speaker 2: but but also be open for the universe and how
15:21
Speaker 2: it's going to divinely guide you. If you're too busy,
15:25
Speaker 2: you'll miss a lot of those signals. And I find
15:29
Speaker 2: that a lot of people today are too busy. So
15:34
Speaker 2: they get to this point in their life where they
15:37
Speaker 2: want to make a change, but they're just so caught
15:41
Speaker 2: up in their life and they and they believe that
15:45
Speaker 2: there's nothing that they can do to change it because
15:48
Speaker 2: just it, it is what it is. I hear that
15:50
Speaker 2: a lot. But when we're open, and sometimes it just
15:55
Speaker 2: takes us to do one thing a little different to
15:58
Speaker 2: shift the energy, and then suddenly something opens up and
16:03
Speaker 2: we can experience we can experience a deeper truth and
16:09
Speaker 2: then understand, Wow, there's something more deeper I'm meant to
16:13
Speaker 2: be doing here. And I think that that's a lot
16:16
Speaker 2: of people's agitation. They don't realize that there's something else
16:20
Speaker 2: under the surface because they're just too busy kind of
16:23
Speaker 2: getting through life. Does that make sense?
16:26
Speaker 1: Absolutely? And for both of us, this reflects the blessing
16:30
Speaker 1: of synchronicities in our lives, synchronicities. Carl Jung referred to
16:34
Speaker 1: them as coincidences without causal connection, sacred coincidences without causal connection.
16:42
Speaker 1: And for both of us, it was the synchronicities and
16:44
Speaker 1: the willingness to look at them and embrace them and
16:48
Speaker 1: say yes, that works for me and.
16:50
Speaker 2: Move forward right right.
16:54
Speaker 1: Tell us about your founding of one yoga center, how
16:57
Speaker 1: the school ensued, and why you chose to it in
17:00
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two.
17:04
Speaker 2: Well, when I was leaving that corporate job and I
17:09
Speaker 2: had started doing some massage therapy, some reiki, I had
17:13
Speaker 2: started teaching a few yoga classes at that time, which
17:18
Speaker 2: was around around the turn of the century. I love
17:21
Speaker 2: saying that makes me feel so ancient. Around the turn
17:27
Speaker 2: of the century. But when that timeframe, yoga was really
17:31
Speaker 2: starting to boom in the area, so there weren't many
17:36
Speaker 2: studios around. I was teaching a few classes and suddenly
17:40
Speaker 2: found this need to really open something bigger. So I
17:46
Speaker 2: opened a yoga studio and then I was really just
17:52
Speaker 2: busting at the seams. In a couple of years, I
17:54
Speaker 2: had to open a bigger wellness center. It wound up
17:57
Speaker 2: being a huge wellness center for one thousand plus square
18:01
Speaker 2: feet with many rooms that I rented to different holistic
18:06
Speaker 2: practitioners and had yoga trainings sometimes three at a time,
18:11
Speaker 2: multiple classes. It was a really really big place and
18:16
Speaker 2: busy place, and yoga exploded at some point in the
18:23
Speaker 2: two thousand, let's say fifteen area where there was a
18:27
Speaker 2: yoga studio on every corner. And then what happened was
18:32
Speaker 2: a lot of my students started going to other places
18:36
Speaker 2: that might be closer to their home. And one day
18:41
Speaker 2: this is a story for another time, but I came
18:44
Speaker 2: back from Peru after having a very deep spiritual experience
18:49
Speaker 2: and realized that this big wellness center wasn't right anymore,
18:55
Speaker 2: and so I downsized. I moved the location, and I
18:59
Speaker 2: focused just on my offerings instead of having a lot
19:03
Speaker 2: of other people that I spent most of my time promoting,
19:06
Speaker 2: and they were lovely people, but I really just needed
19:10
Speaker 2: to make it more concise about my offerings and what
19:14
Speaker 2: I could do for people. So I did that, and
19:17
Speaker 2: then COVID happened, and we all know how that changed
19:24
Speaker 2: the world. So I actually, for a while I was
19:29
Speaker 2: still doing hybrid yoga classes, but I started selling crystals
19:35
Speaker 2: and I had a huge crystal sale business. I loved it.
19:41
Speaker 2: I still do. But one day I looked at my husband.
19:46
Speaker 2: I actually was sick. He had gotten COVID. He brought
19:51
Speaker 2: it home and gave it to me. He was so
19:53
Speaker 2: kind that way of sharing. We were sitting on the couch.
19:58
Speaker 2: I couldn't get anybody to my class. I couldn't get
20:01
Speaker 2: anybody to even water the plants. And I looked at
20:04
Speaker 2: him and I just said, I'm tired. I don't think
20:08
Speaker 2: I can do this anymore. I think I'm done. So
20:12
Speaker 2: he said okay, and a couple months later I closed,
20:16
Speaker 2: and the idea was I think what happened with that
20:22
Speaker 2: time frame is a lot of people who weren't living
20:26
Speaker 2: their true lives, or they weren't living in their true
20:29
Speaker 2: homes or doing what they really impassioned about. Or maybe
20:35
Speaker 2: the time for what we were doing was over and
20:38
Speaker 2: we needed a push to do something a little bit different.
20:42
Speaker 2: And I think that's what happened to me. The brick
20:44
Speaker 2: and mortar of owning a physical location was over, and
20:50
Speaker 2: I needed to expand myself to offer things to a
20:54
Speaker 2: more global community. So it gave me the opportunity to
20:59
Speaker 2: kind of say way into that.
21:01
Speaker 1: And what are your offerings today? What do you offer?
21:04
Speaker 2: I do healing retreats around the world. I go to
21:08
Speaker 2: planetary power places, earth chakra places. We lean into the land,
21:15
Speaker 2: we do healing work for ourselves and the planet. I
21:21
Speaker 2: also offer different workshops on yoga or Thai yoga body work,
21:28
Speaker 2: and I write and so I'm working on more lecture
21:35
Speaker 2: workshop series that incorporate my books and offering them at
21:42
Speaker 2: different places.
21:44
Speaker 1: My guest is doctor Tracy Alshaffer. Her book, Her new
21:47
Speaker 1: book that we're going to be talking about is sh
21:50
Speaker 1: exclamation point t Yogi's shouldn't say? Tracy, please share with
21:55
Speaker 1: our listeners where they can find out more about you
21:56
Speaker 1: and get all of your wonderful books.
21:59
Speaker 2: My website is one yoga center dot netne spelled out
22:03
Speaker 2: yogacenter dot net. And what about the books there on Amazon?
22:10
Speaker 2: You can also purchase them through me at my website.
22:14
Speaker 1: And we'll be back with more of Tracy after these words.
22:17
Speaker 1: On the own Times Radio.
22:18
Speaker 4: Network, the best of the holistic, spiritual and conscious world
22:24
Speaker 4: ome Times Radio IOMFM. Ome Times Magazine is one of
22:29
Speaker 4: the leading online content providers of positivity, wellness and personal empowerment.
22:34
Speaker 4: A philanthropic organization. Their net proceeds are funneled to support
22:38
Speaker 4: worldwide charity initiatives via Humanity Healing International. Through their commitment
22:43
Speaker 4: to creating community and providing conscious content, they aspire to
22:47
Speaker 4: uplift humanity on a global scale. Home Times Co creating
22:51
Speaker 4: a more conscious lifestyle.
22:54
Speaker 1: Imagine yourself being transported to India, to the banks of
22:59
Speaker 1: the Ganga than Ashram in Rishikesh. Visualize that you were
23:03
Speaker 1: welcome to Satsan with an American Sanyase who shares the
23:07
Speaker 1: wisdom of her Guru. Your visualization has manifested. Joined Satfi
23:13
Speaker 1: Bagawati Saraswati for inspiration and transformation every Thursday at eleven
23:18
Speaker 1: am Eastern on Old Times Radio.
23:23
Speaker 5: So I'm a cat and I just moved in with
23:25
Speaker 5: this new human and she's got this little toy she's
23:28
Speaker 5: always playing with all day long. Tap tap tap tap
23:31
Speaker 5: blue bloop. She can't put it down there it is.
23:34
Speaker 5: Oh and get this, She even talks to it. Last
23:37
Speaker 5: week she asked it for Chinese and guess what, Akerel
23:41
Speaker 5: showed up Like magic. Humans have cool toys.
23:44
Speaker 2: A person is the best thing to happen to a
23:46
Speaker 2: shelter pet.
23:47
Speaker 5: Be that person adopt brought to you by the ad
23:50
Speaker 5: Consul and the Shelter Pet Project dot Org.
23:54
Speaker 1: Back on Vox Novus. My guest this week my dear friend,
23:57
Speaker 1: Reverend doctor Tracy Alshaffer. We're going to be talking about
24:00
Speaker 1: her new book sh exclamation point T Yogi's shouldn't say. Okay,
24:07
Speaker 1: it's time for me to watch my language. What inspired
24:11
Speaker 1: your brand new book.
24:13
Speaker 2: Oh, Victor, I was, as I mentioned earlier, in Florida
24:17
Speaker 2: with my mom. I had closed my yoga studio. I
24:20
Speaker 2: had a lot of feelings. I had a lot of
24:23
Speaker 2: pent up agitation about a lot of things. I needed
24:31
Speaker 2: an outlet. I needed a way to express a lot
24:35
Speaker 2: of things. So I just started writing this book. And
24:40
Speaker 2: that was in twenty twenty two. So I put it
24:45
Speaker 2: away for a while. As you know, life does, it
24:51
Speaker 2: marches on, you get busy, you start doing other things.
24:55
Speaker 2: And I revisited it in January, and and when I
25:01
Speaker 2: reread it, I said, wow, I actually have most of
25:05
Speaker 2: the book done. It just needs some editing and some
25:08
Speaker 2: build out. And so I sat down and I did that,
25:12
Speaker 2: and I finished it, and I just thought it was
25:16
Speaker 2: a good time for it.
25:19
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Now you're a Jersey girl or joysy girl, and
25:25
Speaker 1: I'm a Brooklyn boy, So these words are not uncommon
25:28
Speaker 1: to us, especially growing up. Tell us who you dedicated
25:32
Speaker 1: this book to and why you think they would love it?
25:36
Speaker 2: Well, I hope they would love it. Let's say that
25:39
Speaker 2: both of my grandmothers have passed. They were both very
25:43
Speaker 2: influential women in my life. They were both very strong,
25:48
Speaker 2: but in different ways. My one grandmother, Rachel, she was
25:54
Speaker 2: my Jewish grandmother. She was born with polio and she
25:58
Speaker 2: was told she could ever do lots of things in
26:01
Speaker 2: her life, and her sole mission was to prove everybody
26:05
Speaker 2: wrong and do all of the things that she was
26:08
Speaker 2: told she could never do. So one of her greatest
26:12
Speaker 2: loves were the Philadelphia Phillies and when they were on
26:16
Speaker 2: all she used to do was curse at them, Curse
26:20
Speaker 2: at the refs, curse at them. It was comical to
26:26
Speaker 2: see this older woman with that kind of language. My
26:29
Speaker 2: dad used to call it. She sounded like a truck driver,
26:32
Speaker 2: that's what, so you know, it was normal language in
26:40
Speaker 2: my house. My other grandmother, she didn't really so much her.
26:45
Speaker 2: She was quieter in her demeanor, she was quieter in
26:50
Speaker 2: her strength. But when she got into her nineties, especially
26:57
Speaker 2: later nineties, she started to cut loose and it was
27:02
Speaker 2: hilarious to hear her curse. She was Italian, so sometimes
27:07
Speaker 2: these Italian words would slip out and it was just
27:11
Speaker 2: it was just funny, and I think she was very humor.
27:14
Speaker 2: She did it for effect. She did it. She said
27:17
Speaker 2: these things for effect and to get a rise out
27:19
Speaker 2: of people. So I dedicated the book to both my
27:25
Speaker 2: grandmothers and in hopes that they would they would both
27:28
Speaker 2: appreciate the humor and be proud of of the work.
27:34
Speaker 1: I think they both love what you've done. I really do.
27:37
Speaker 1: I have that sense about that absolutely. So, as you
27:41
Speaker 1: had mentioned before, you massaged your way out of corporate
27:44
Speaker 1: job with benefits studied massage and yoga instruction. You shared
27:48
Speaker 1: that you're a big fan of the Buddha and his
27:51
Speaker 1: middle path, and you say, so, try a little meditation,
27:55
Speaker 1: use a little cursing, do a little proniyama, watch a
27:59
Speaker 1: bit of a student good movie. Do you think Sidhartha
28:01
Speaker 1: would have agreed with you on cursing in the movie, Victor.
28:06
Speaker 2: I love this question and thank you for it. This
28:11
Speaker 2: book you have to read understanding heavy sarcasm, and for
28:19
Speaker 2: people that don't get that, it's maybe not their book,
28:25
Speaker 2: The Buddha's Middle Path. It's really not about extremes, right,
28:31
Speaker 2: it's about balance, finding balance in the middle, and it's
28:37
Speaker 2: about not denying the extremes, but integrating them into a balanced,
28:49
Speaker 2: harmonious life or living. And it's like the Yinyan symbol, right,
28:55
Speaker 2: there's light in the dark, and there's dark in the light.
28:58
Speaker 2: So we can't deny those shadows. We shouldn't live in
29:03
Speaker 2: the extremes either. So when I say do a little this,
29:06
Speaker 2: do a little that, there's this sarcastic edge to that.
29:10
Speaker 2: I want people, though, to think about these things when
29:16
Speaker 2: they read the book. I want it to elicit certain emotions.
29:23
Speaker 2: I want them to dig deep into what they believe
29:28
Speaker 2: and what they think. And I do think that Saddartha
29:33
Speaker 2: would appreciate.
29:34
Speaker 1: That absolutely well. The famous story of his enlightenment was
29:41
Speaker 1: he was under that tree and he opened his eyes
29:45
Speaker 1: and they asked them who he was, and he said,
29:48
Speaker 1: I am awake. And I think what we're talking about
29:50
Speaker 1: is awakening to the fact that we need to embrace
29:53
Speaker 1: everything that resonates with us in life.
29:55
Speaker 2: Right exactly. That's the journey, right, that's our that's why
30:00
Speaker 2: we're here.
30:01
Speaker 1: I think it's funny when you had mentioned to do
30:04
Speaker 1: a little praniyama, use a little cursing. I was thinking
30:06
Speaker 1: of that song Casey and the Sunshine Band do a
30:08
Speaker 1: little dance, make a little up, get down tonight. Get that.
30:14
Speaker 1: You say even jackasses can be yogis I assume you've
30:19
Speaker 1: met a few. I mean, yogi's not jackass.
30:23
Speaker 2: I have. I've met a few of both, don't both? Yeah, No,
30:29
Speaker 2: I have, I've experienced. I'll tell you one profound person
30:36
Speaker 2: that I met, and I won't I won't say his name.
30:39
Speaker 2: But there was a traveling yogi that came to Princeton
30:42
Speaker 2: University early on in my career. I think I was
30:45
Speaker 2: still studying in school for yoga training. I don't believe
30:50
Speaker 2: I was even teaching yet, or maybe I just started teaching.
30:53
Speaker 2: But it was one of those synchronistic events where I lived.
30:58
Speaker 2: I lived outside of Prince and I came home one
31:01
Speaker 2: day and there was a flyer stuck in my door
31:05
Speaker 2: for this, uh, this yogi that was going to be
31:09
Speaker 2: at Princeton University through the I think it was the
31:12
Speaker 2: hin Hindu or Hinduism society was bringing him in and
31:17
Speaker 2: I and I said, well, I don't know who put
31:19
Speaker 2: it there or how this got there, but I'm going
31:21
Speaker 2: that's a sign, right. So I went and I knew
31:27
Speaker 2: Princeton University a little bit but not great. I knew
31:30
Speaker 2: I knew the building, but I didn't know where in
31:32
Speaker 2: the building. I found myself upstairs and this this Indian
31:38
Speaker 2: man was just kind of walking in the hall and uh,
31:43
Speaker 2: you know me, my Jersey self. I just walked up
31:45
Speaker 2: and said, hey, do you know where this guy is?
31:47
Speaker 2: And he says, oh, it's going to be downstairs, and
31:49
Speaker 2: I said, okay, thank you, and I went downstairs and
31:53
Speaker 2: we're waiting and then the guy that I saw in
31:55
Speaker 2: the hallway is the guy. He winds up being this
32:01
Speaker 2: holy man, this traveling yogi. And one thing that I
32:05
Speaker 2: that I realized quickly, and I've noticed this with the
32:09
Speaker 2: Dalai Lama, who I was privileged to see when he
32:13
Speaker 2: was at Rutgers University many years ago, twenty some years ago,
32:17
Speaker 2: when he came here. They do the same thing when
32:22
Speaker 2: they are asked a question that comes to them. In
32:30
Speaker 2: this case Princeton University. Very academic, very smart people, but
32:37
Speaker 2: sometimes a little too much in our heads, right, So
32:41
Speaker 2: when asked a particular question. The first thing this man did,
32:47
Speaker 2: and I've seen the Dalai Lama do, is giggle. So
32:52
Speaker 2: this heavy, deep philosophical, academic loaded question comes and the
32:59
Speaker 2: first thing they do is pause and laugh. One of
33:03
Speaker 2: the things that I've learned is not to take myself
33:07
Speaker 2: so seriously. I learned that that day, and I continue
33:14
Speaker 2: to learn that, and I hope that I bring some
33:17
Speaker 2: of that in the book.
33:19
Speaker 1: Absolutely. You know, it's interesting. I think all of us
33:22
Speaker 1: have had some form of a teacher in our lives
33:25
Speaker 1: who've helped us to achieve that same realization not to
33:28
Speaker 1: take ourselves too seriously. I worked for men many years ago,
33:32
Speaker 1: and he was a brilliant, brilliant businessman. But they had
33:37
Speaker 1: a couple of expressions that he used all the time.
33:41
Speaker 1: One of them was I may not always be right,
33:43
Speaker 1: but I'm never wrong. And the realization was, I'm working
33:46
Speaker 1: for you. I have to respect what you have to say,
33:49
Speaker 1: whether I agree with it or not. That was a
33:51
Speaker 1: very important realization for you to have as a young man.
33:54
Speaker 1: The other realization, the other thing he used to say
33:57
Speaker 1: when someone did something that he didn't like, he would say,
34:00
Speaker 1: what do you have? S h exclamation point T for brains?
34:06
Speaker 1: And the concept of what he was basically saying. He says,
34:10
Speaker 1: think he was teaching us to think before we reacted
34:13
Speaker 1: or moved forward in a certain way. And I'm grateful
34:16
Speaker 1: for all of those teachers, even at the time that
34:18
Speaker 1: they may have seen a little bit harsh. I'm grateful
34:20
Speaker 1: for those teachers. Yeah, for sure, you offer a whole
34:26
Speaker 1: chapter on the F word, and I don't mean faith.
34:31
Speaker 1: Does that reflect your new Jersey upbringing?
34:35
Speaker 2: Well, I think it might be a little Jersey and
34:38
Speaker 2: a lot of gen X. I remember in high school
34:42
Speaker 2: I had a very good friend and I don't know
34:45
Speaker 2: if it was I think senior year when you have
34:46
Speaker 2: to write these papers and whatever, and his was on
34:51
Speaker 2: the just that the F word and how for our
34:56
Speaker 2: generation it has a whole different meaning and kind text
35:00
Speaker 2: than previous generations. So it's it's a common it's a
35:07
Speaker 2: common word, and it's and it's very eclectic, and it
35:13
Speaker 2: has a lot of deep meaning and it has a
35:16
Speaker 2: lot of fun superficial meaning depending on how you use it.
35:20
Speaker 2: So I think it's a I think it's a heavier
35:24
Speaker 2: dose of gen X, but there's definitely a lot of
35:27
Speaker 2: Jersey in it.
35:29
Speaker 1: And tell us a little bit more about why you
35:32
Speaker 1: dedicate so much time to the effort.
35:36
Speaker 2: Well, I think that there's a there's lots of layers
35:43
Speaker 2: that I go into in the book with respect to it.
35:48
Speaker 2: I didn't realize when I started writing it how much
35:51
Speaker 2: yoga philosophy I was going to dig into, I guess,
35:56
Speaker 2: and I wound up sort of doing that so that
35:59
Speaker 2: the chapter titles. The first chapter's title is the F word, right,
36:04
Speaker 2: that's it chapter title. And then there's other ones, and
36:09
Speaker 2: they're meant to grab your attention. They're meant to maybe
36:12
Speaker 2: even startle you a little bit, or you know, push
36:16
Speaker 2: some buttons. And what I wind up doing in the
36:20
Speaker 2: chapter is really syncing into yogic concepts and philosophies that
36:27
Speaker 2: relate to it and and and explore in a deeper,
36:32
Speaker 2: more profound way, I hope, but also with a lot
36:35
Speaker 2: of humor and levity. Is this how can how can
36:40
Speaker 2: we put this in any kind of yoga term? Or
36:43
Speaker 2: would a yoga even use this term? So, without giving
36:47
Speaker 2: too much away about the book, I felt like that
36:52
Speaker 2: was the most impactful way to start it.
36:56
Speaker 1: Is there power in the F word?
36:59
Speaker 2: Absolutely? Have you ever used it?
37:03
Speaker 1: Of course? Me with my virgin lips never and that
37:08
Speaker 1: never came out of my mouth. No, no, absolutely, what
37:10
Speaker 1: what What are some of the powers that are in
37:12
Speaker 1: that word?
37:16
Speaker 2: I took semantics in college, right, this class about semantics,
37:20
Speaker 2: which the reason I took it was I was really
37:25
Speaker 2: interested in the energy behind words in in uh in.
37:31
Speaker 2: In the context of that, the course didn't meet up
37:35
Speaker 2: to my expectations. That's another story. But I find that
37:41
Speaker 2: all words, just like anything, have energy to them. Right,
37:46
Speaker 2: So when we're using these specific words, when we're when
37:54
Speaker 2: we're trying to express something in a certain way, you know,
38:00
Speaker 2: finding just the right word that has the right nuance,
38:04
Speaker 2: it it brings a whole new life. So I think
38:08
Speaker 2: that particularly that one word has the ability the power
38:14
Speaker 2: to do that, but in lots of different ways. So
38:17
Speaker 2: it can. It can, it can be very deep, and
38:20
Speaker 2: it can be very It can elicit anger or other
38:26
Speaker 2: emotions in that realm, but it also can elicit laughter
38:31
Speaker 2: and and enjoy. It's a it's a very versatile little effort.
38:39
Speaker 1: Tell us the meaning of the Sanskrit word ahimsa.
38:44
Speaker 2: Ahimsa generally means non violence.
38:48
Speaker 1: Okay, and does it also mean forgiveness? Yes, okay, So
38:55
Speaker 1: may we find ahmsa within effery.
39:04
Speaker 2: Yes, why not? Everything is relative right and it's all
39:08
Speaker 2: about right intention.
39:11
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I love the expression. I haven't seen this word
39:15
Speaker 1: the e r y added on to the end of
39:17
Speaker 1: the F word until about five years ago. And I
39:20
Speaker 1: think it's a great word. M It means I'm sorry.
39:25
Speaker 2: It's a fun word.
39:26
Speaker 1: It's a fun word. It's a wonderful words. It's a
39:30
Speaker 1: word that implies that what's transpiring, what's taking place, is silly,
39:37
Speaker 1: really right, Yeah, the silliness of the f ory. I
39:41
Speaker 1: love that word. My guest reverend doctor Tracy Olshaffin, By
39:45
Speaker 1: the way, I'm also a reverend doctor and we're using
39:47
Speaker 1: the F word, so that's okay. I just want to
39:49
Speaker 1: let people know it's okay. Her brand new book sh
39:52
Speaker 1: exclamation point t Yogi's shouldn't say We'll be back with
39:56
Speaker 1: more of Tracy after these words on the Old Times
39:59
Speaker 1: Radio Network.
40:00
Speaker 6: Humanity Healing International is a small nonprofit with a big dream.
40:05
Speaker 6: Since two thousand and seven, HHI has been working tirelessly
40:09
Speaker 6: to bring help to communities with little or no oh.
40:13
Speaker 6: Our projects are not broad mandates, nor are they overnight solutions,
40:18
Speaker 6: but they bring the reassurance then no one is alone
40:21
Speaker 6: and that someone cares to learn more. Please visit Humanityhealing
40:26
Speaker 6: dot org. Humanity Healing is Where your Heart Is.
40:30
Speaker 3: Hello. I'm Sandy Sedgeby, a host of Home Times Magazine's
40:33
Speaker 3: flagship radio show What Is Going On. My passion is
40:37
Speaker 3: sifting through information, research and innovations from new thought teachers, speakers,
40:42
Speaker 3: and researchers, pushing back the boundaries of what we know
40:45
Speaker 3: about life, energy, metaphysics, and the universe. I love shifting
40:50
Speaker 3: perceptions about who we are, why we're here, and how
40:53
Speaker 3: quickly impossible becomes normal when we open our minds, expand
40:57
Speaker 3: our awareness, and accept that the only that exist those
41:01
Speaker 3: we place upon ourselves. So, if you're the kind of
41:04
Speaker 3: forward thinking, eager investigator of what lies beyond the current
41:08
Speaker 3: reality that most perceive, why not make a date to
41:11
Speaker 3: come play with me in the Field of Possibilities at
41:14
Speaker 3: four pm Pacific time seven pm Eastern time every Thursday,
41:18
Speaker 3: and together we can discover what's really going on.
41:23
Speaker 1: Hey Dad, your prescription will be ready in just a minute.
41:27
Speaker 2: Hey Dad, your laundry will be ready in just a minute. Dad,
41:31
Speaker 2: your lunch will be ready in just a minute.
41:33
Speaker 1: Hey honey, why don't you take a minute.
41:36
Speaker 7: When you help care for a loved one, you give
41:38
Speaker 7: them as much time as you can, but it's just
41:40
Speaker 7: as important to take time for yourself. AARP can help
41:43
Speaker 7: find free care guides to support you and your loved
41:46
Speaker 7: one at AARP dot org slash caregiving. That's AARP dot
41:49
Speaker 7: org slash caregiving, brought to you by AARP in the
41:52
Speaker 7: add Council.
41:53
Speaker 1: Back on Vox Novus. My guest this week my dear friend,
41:57
Speaker 1: Reverend doctor Tracy Allshaffer. We're about her brand new book
42:03
Speaker 1: sh exclamation point t Yogi's shouldn't say, Tracy, Have you ever,
42:09
Speaker 1: in a time of upset, told someone to kiss your asla?
42:14
Speaker 3: No?
42:14
Speaker 2: But I want that on a shirt.
42:20
Speaker 1: Is there a place for hatred in yoga?
42:25
Speaker 2: That's another really good question. And one of the reasons
42:31
Speaker 2: that I use some of these words and went there
42:36
Speaker 2: with some of these chapters is I want people to
42:38
Speaker 2: ask those questions, and I want them to really lean
42:41
Speaker 2: into them and think about them, because I think that
42:44
Speaker 2: there are a lot of these feelings about spiritual paths
42:52
Speaker 2: and teachers that in many ways we're not human or
42:57
Speaker 2: we're held to certain high standards we either imposed by
43:01
Speaker 2: ourself or by our community and others, that we are
43:07
Speaker 2: should be perfect, or we should be this, or we
43:09
Speaker 2: should be be that. And certainly we aspire to be
43:13
Speaker 2: good people, that are helpful people, that are kind people.
43:19
Speaker 2: But to deny certain aspects of the self is to
43:24
Speaker 2: deny our complete humanity. So hate is a part, it's
43:32
Speaker 2: an emotion, it's a feeling, just like anger is. We
43:38
Speaker 2: like to refer them as shadow energy or shadow stuff. Again,
43:47
Speaker 2: I think that's in some ways to downplay that they
43:51
Speaker 2: that they're valid, but they are. We've all experienced these things,
43:56
Speaker 2: so we don't you know, there's this whole again philosophy
44:03
Speaker 2: about attachment and avoidance in yoga. They're both equally not fantastic.
44:11
Speaker 2: So we can't avoid as much as we can't be attached.
44:16
Speaker 2: So we have to embrace those qualities. But I think
44:20
Speaker 2: with a certain amount of emotional intelligence as well. So yes,
44:26
Speaker 2: I think I believe there's space for that in yoga.
44:30
Speaker 2: There should be space for that in yoga, and we
44:33
Speaker 2: should be we should be questioning those things and then
44:38
Speaker 2: where do they come from and what is the underlying
44:43
Speaker 2: energy that's bringing them up. This is how healing occurs,
44:47
Speaker 2: not by avoiding that it exists.
44:49
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I remember early on when I first started taking
44:53
Speaker 1: yoga classes, if I would to were to pull a
44:57
Speaker 1: muscle in something other than the yoga class, I would
45:00
Speaker 1: use the S word as a response to that. And
45:05
Speaker 1: I had pulled a muscle yoga class, and I used
45:10
Speaker 1: all of my power to refrain from using the S word.
45:13
Speaker 1: After that happened, and I came to the realization, you
45:17
Speaker 1: know that, I had a discussion with my dear friend,
45:19
Speaker 1: my yoga teacher at the time, and I came to
45:22
Speaker 1: the realization that, you know, what, we're human beings, and
45:25
Speaker 1: if this is part of our normal humanity, it should
45:29
Speaker 1: be part of the yoga.
45:30
Speaker 2: Practice too, right, Yeah, And I think I talk about
45:34
Speaker 2: a lot of this in the book, and some of
45:37
Speaker 2: it I just kind of drop in and let you
45:39
Speaker 2: let you ponder it. But these are these are important
45:44
Speaker 2: qualities and aspects of the journey. So I appreciate your
45:50
Speaker 2: questions and bringing this up so we have an opportunity
45:52
Speaker 2: to talk about it, because I want people to understand
45:56
Speaker 2: the full context of where I'm coming from with the book.
46:01
Speaker 1: Is there vanity in yoga?
46:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I had. I was in a class once.
46:10
Speaker 2: I remember this teacher, I incorporated it. I adopted it
46:14
Speaker 2: from her. We were in a class and for anybody
46:19
Speaker 2: who practices yoga knows tadasana, which is mountain pose. And
46:25
Speaker 2: normally in many situations, you're coming up from the floor
46:32
Speaker 2: to a standing position, and when you get there, what
46:36
Speaker 2: is the first thing that you do? You fix your clothes,
46:40
Speaker 2: you adjust your shirt, you tuck things in, you make
46:44
Speaker 2: sure you look good. Right, And that's what she said.
46:48
Speaker 2: She's she called it fix your clothes pose, and I
46:52
Speaker 2: loved that, and it's like, it's true. Is anybody looking
46:56
Speaker 2: at us, No, we're doing it for ourselves. We want
46:59
Speaker 2: to make sure will look good.
47:01
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Absolutely. Proniama is the act of different breathing exercises.
47:09
Speaker 1: Is it possible to curse through prontiama?
47:14
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think you could well, right, just like there's
47:20
Speaker 2: there's mantras that are internal, right, so you could curse
47:24
Speaker 2: internally during pranayama. I could do it. Yeah.
47:31
Speaker 1: Is there is there a purpose for cursing during pronayama?
47:36
Speaker 2: I think I tell a story in the book. I
47:37
Speaker 2: don't want to retell it now, but there was a
47:40
Speaker 2: situation that I was in. It was an excruciating, painful experience,
47:47
Speaker 2: and I wanted to give up the whole time, and
47:54
Speaker 2: there was only so much positive encouragement that it worked.
48:00
Speaker 2: And at some point I resorted to cursing and telling
48:04
Speaker 2: myself you're never going to get through this, you can't
48:07
Speaker 2: do it, and then I would make myself so mad
48:12
Speaker 2: I would do more, so it kind of fueled me
48:16
Speaker 2: to go further. So it worked. It worked in that capacity.
48:21
Speaker 2: So I've found that there are these extreme times where
48:29
Speaker 2: all of the love and light doesn't help me, and
48:34
Speaker 2: I have to dig into a whole other side of
48:37
Speaker 2: myself to get through. And that's where that comes in.
48:41
Speaker 1: I think that's a recognition again of our humanity, that
48:43
Speaker 1: we're not perfect, and sometimes we have to make a
48:46
Speaker 1: change and adjustment in order to fulfill that which we
48:50
Speaker 1: aspire to. And if the process involves self cursing, then
48:55
Speaker 1: and then you take the action after the self cursing,
48:58
Speaker 1: then it served its purpose.
49:00
Speaker 2: We serve this purpose, right, right?
49:03
Speaker 1: Aren't there curse words in Sanskrit?
49:06
Speaker 3: Oh?
49:07
Speaker 2: You know it's interesting. I'm not a Sanskrit scholar, but
49:12
Speaker 2: I did a little research because I wanted to understand
49:15
Speaker 2: this a little bit better myself. You know, there's no
49:20
Speaker 2: direct curse words in Sanskrit in a modern sense, apparently,
49:27
Speaker 2: but you know, this is a classical language. It was
49:33
Speaker 2: mostly used in the Vedas, the Upanashads, so these spiritual
49:38
Speaker 2: and religious texts. However, there are ways that you can
49:46
Speaker 2: reflect or express certain things in Sanskrit. Like the word
49:54
Speaker 2: mudha means full, we're idiot, so it's it's not calling
50:00
Speaker 2: someone a jackass, but that's as close as as you'd
50:05
Speaker 2: get in Sanskrit to something like that. And even the
50:09
Speaker 2: word cursing, it's it's meant different in this context. In Sanskrit,
50:17
Speaker 2: and in these specific texts, there were sages who actually cursed,
50:24
Speaker 2: but when they cursed someone it was more something like
50:29
Speaker 2: may you be struck with misfortune? That was their cursing
50:34
Speaker 2: of the person. So I find you know again, I
50:38
Speaker 2: love when I find these things because it reminds me
50:43
Speaker 2: it's not all about that, you know, that light aspect.
50:51
Speaker 2: There is another aspect that we have to integrate. And
50:56
Speaker 2: so yeah, it's there, it's all there. It's just not
51:02
Speaker 2: in as as much of a forward way. I guess
51:06
Speaker 2: that we use it today.
51:08
Speaker 1: That makes the gentleman that I had mentioned earlier that
51:11
Speaker 1: I had worked for many years ago, who used to
51:13
Speaker 1: use these expressions to bring us to the realization that
51:17
Speaker 1: we were making mistakes, are not perfect A true yogi.
51:22
Speaker 2: Right, he was absolutely, absolutely.
51:26
Speaker 1: What would you suggest for someone who gets s H
51:31
Speaker 1: exclamation point t in their third eye from a passing pigeon?
51:37
Speaker 2: That's supposed to be good luck, isn't it?
51:39
Speaker 1: Is that a good way? I didn't know that.
51:41
Speaker 2: I think when you get dropped on by a bird
51:45
Speaker 2: and it's on your either the crown of I think
51:47
Speaker 2: the crown or the forehead, it's supposed to be good luck.
51:50
Speaker 2: I don't know about the eye.
51:54
Speaker 1: Well, this is the third eye, so that would be
51:56
Speaker 1: the forehead, right, right, right. In all seriousness, you share
52:01
Speaker 1: a tremendous amount of information on yoga practice and spirituality
52:06
Speaker 1: in this book. What would you like readers to take
52:08
Speaker 1: away from it? Uh?
52:11
Speaker 2: Again, you know, question, question what you know or or
52:17
Speaker 2: why you believe in the things that you do. Don't
52:20
Speaker 2: take yourself so seriously. One of my yoga teachers used
52:25
Speaker 2: to say it was kind of corny, but he used
52:27
Speaker 2: to say, angels fly because they take themselves lightly, you know,
52:32
Speaker 2: And I think you have to get back there. Everybody
52:38
Speaker 2: today takes everything and themselves and everyone else. So seriously,
52:44
Speaker 2: and I'm not saying things aren't serious, but there has
52:50
Speaker 2: to be some levity and laughter and taking yourself lightly.
52:56
Speaker 2: Let's let's not forget the importance and this significant of
53:00
Speaker 2: that in if an Indian or a Tibetan holy man
53:06
Speaker 2: does it, and you can watch the joy and the
53:10
Speaker 2: glimmer in their eye when they giggle at something that's
53:13
Speaker 2: so serious, you can you can see where that wisdom
53:18
Speaker 2: comes from. Come on, let's let's take a minute to
53:21
Speaker 2: appreciate the joy is a part of life and we're
53:24
Speaker 2: meant to be joyful.
53:26
Speaker 1: And I think we need to laugh and curse every
53:28
Speaker 1: day as an exercise.
53:30
Speaker 2: Let's do it. Let's see what happens.
53:34
Speaker 1: My guest, my dear friend, Reverend doctor Tracy Alshaffer, her
53:38
Speaker 1: brand new book sh exclamation Point T Yogi's Shouldn't Say
53:44
Speaker 1: Tracy again, Please share with our listeners where they can
53:46
Speaker 1: get your books and find out more about you and
53:48
Speaker 1: your amazing work.
53:50
Speaker 2: Absolutely so. The new book Sah exclamation Point T Yogi
53:55
Speaker 2: Shouldn't Say That is launching on Amazon on this Saturday,
54:00
Speaker 2: March twenty ninth. All my other books are on Amazon
54:03
Speaker 2: as well. All the Yoghini books and a few other
54:06
Speaker 2: books that I wrote previous to that, So you can
54:09
Speaker 2: buy everything on Amazon their print on demand. I also
54:14
Speaker 2: have copies here that I can sell to people on
54:20
Speaker 2: my website, which is one yogacenter dot net, and I'm
54:25
Speaker 2: happy to autograph them. And I'm also looking for opportunities
54:30
Speaker 2: to collaborate with other people for workshops and book signings.
54:36
Speaker 2: So if this speaks to you, if this work or
54:40
Speaker 2: my thoughts, if it speaks to you, please do you
54:44
Speaker 2: reach out. I'm looking to collaborate with a lot of
54:47
Speaker 2: more people this year.
54:48
Speaker 1: And Tracy, what are you offering in terms of personal
54:50
Speaker 1: services if.
54:53
Speaker 2: You are in New Jersey or the surrounding area. I do.
54:58
Speaker 2: I'm a licensed massage therapists, so I do massage therapy.
55:02
Speaker 2: I also have a program of Thai Yoga body work
55:06
Speaker 2: I teach that's National Board certified for Continuing Education units.
55:12
Speaker 2: But I also offer that to people. I also do
55:15
Speaker 2: what I call quantum healing sessions. So it's a blend
55:19
Speaker 2: of lots of different things, shamanic practices, reiki, all kinds
55:25
Speaker 2: of things that I've amassed along my journey, and so
55:30
Speaker 2: those are private offerings and private yoga that I offer,
55:34
Speaker 2: and then the retreats. I have a huge trip to
55:38
Speaker 2: Egypt and through Egypt that I am now booking for
55:42
Speaker 2: October of twenty twenty twenty six for people who want
55:46
Speaker 2: to explore the power behind that land.
55:53
Speaker 1: Beautiful Reverend doctor Tracy, thank you so much for joining
55:56
Speaker 1: us and sharing your wisdom, and your wisdom which is
55:59
Speaker 1: filled with humor as well as practical application. Thank you
56:02
Speaker 1: so much. Thank you, Victor, and thank you for joining
56:07
Speaker 1: us on Vox Novius. I'm Victor the Voice Furman. Have
56:11
Speaker 1: a wonderful week.