with Melissa Shah

Welcome back to Yoga Solutions! Today, we explore how clarity is a threat to domination with guest Melissa Shah, yoga therapist and founder of Find Your Breath. Melissa shares how cultivating inner clarity helps us challenge systems that depend on our confusion, drawing on her work making yoga and Ayurveda accessible and adaptable.

Melissa reframes clarity as an ongoing process rather than a destination and guides us through a specific Pranayama for Clarity—using breath and Samana mudra—to help us process experiences, prioritize our energy, and find the focus needed to stand strong.

• [01:36] How overwhelm sustains confusion in dominant culture.

• [02:06] The challenge of prioritizing energy and finding your role when feeling overwhelmed.

• [03:09] Viewing clarity as a process, not a destination, and the power of drawing inward.

• [08:06] Samana Vayu breathing practice.

The opposite of clarity is confusion. One way confusion is sustained is through overwhelm – which is a big part of how our dominant culture functions

Just ask yourself, "What kind of support or nourishment do I need to get clear?"

Medical Disclaimer:

Please know any yoga wellness or health advice presented is not meant to replace the advice of your personal physician or other healthcare professional always seek competent medical care.

Download the Episode Transcript

Don’t miss an episode, follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, and Amazon Music/Audible.

Leave us a review in Apple Podcasts.

This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠ Yoke Yoga, the only FREE social yoga app. You deserve wellness. Enjoy your yoga today.

Yoke Yoga Social

@YokeYogaSocial

Get to Know Our Dynamic Hosts
Experts in Yoga, Social Change, Health and Wellness

yoga therapist, community builder, and public health advocate

Melissa Shah (she/they), a first-generation Indian American, is skilled at adapting yoga practices to the individual. She works to decolonize how we practice yoga in the West by helping people connect to their inner knowing, bringing to light disparities in wellness spaces, and reclaiming representation for South Asian yoga practitioners. The founder of Find Your Breath, Melissa also holds a masters degree in public health, with a focus on health policy, from Columbia University. 

As a steward of these sacred practices, Melissa currently offers individual yoga therapy and Ayurvedic support and promotes public health in communities by offering yoga education in public schools and clinical settings. She often guest lectures in trainings, facilitates annual retreats, and offers immersion-style learning for those committed to deepening their yoga studies through a holistic lens. Melissa holds over 2,000 hours in training and study in yoga, and their work has been featured by NBC Asian America, Yoga Journal, Anti-Racism Daily, and SHAPE magazine. When Melissa isn’t teaching, she loves to practice martial arts, sing, and is a novice surfer.

Host, Yoga Solutions Podcast & Founder, Yoke Yoga

Susanna Barkataki (she/her) has been called “a trailblazing yoga leader and visionary for our times.” An Indian teacher building bridges in the West, she is known for her work in decolonizing and embracing the roots of yoga. She is the tech founder of Yoke Yoga, a free yoga app of micro practices for more peace in seconds. Bringing yoga socially to all people to help solve everyday problems at YokeYoga.com

© 2023 Yoke Yoga | All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms | Community Agreements | Copyright Dispute