Jenni and Travis are joined by the Jules Mitchell, MS to discuss yoga and artificial intelligence (AI):

• What is AI and how do we commonly interact with forms of AI today?

• In what way could AI be applied in a yoga context?

• What are the strengths and limitations of AI yoga classes?

Jenni and Travis are joined by special guests Dr. Jessica Steier and Dr. Andrea Love to discuss wellness myths in the yoga world:

• What is the wellness industry?

• What is a wellness coach/health coach?

• Are organic foods actually better for our health and the environment?

• Are multivitamins effective in terms of supporting health – or do they just make expensive pee?

Jenni and Travis discuss the top 7 most misused movement terms in yoga.

• Why did each of these movement terms make the list?

• How are their common uses in the yoga world unhelpful?

• How can we update our movement-based yoga language to be more in line with movement science?

Jenni and Travis are joined by special guest Alec Blenis to discuss what yogis should know about cardio:

• What is the cardiovascular system?

• Is heart rate always an accurate measure of actual exercise intensity?

• Can yoga be considered cardio?

• Can cardio interfere with strength gains? (a.k.a. the interference effect)

Jenni and Travis discuss yoga myths about the knees:

• Will running wear out your knees?

• Should we avoid locking our knees in yoga?

• Are knee pops and clicks bad?

• Are open chain knee extension exercises bad?

Jenni and Travis discuss the anatomy, biomechanics, and cueing of the knees:

• What is the structure of the knee joint?

• Is the knee joint only a hinge joint?

• Are quadriceps-targeted exercises the only way to strengthen the knee?

Jenni and Travis are joined by the amazing Catherine Wilkinson to discuss a yoga teacher’s scope of practice:

• How has Catherine’s opinion about the scope of practice of a yoga teacher changed over time?

• Should yoga teachers ask yoga students if they have any injuries?

• What are some common ways that yoga teachers “step outside their lane”?

This is part 2 of a 2-part series on fascia!

• What is Yin Yoga?

• What biomechanical effect does Yin Yoga claim to have on fascia?

• How does myofascial release affect the body?

• Is myofascial release an accurate term?

This is part 1 of a 2-part series on fascia!

• What are common conceptions and misconceptions about fascia?

• What is fascia? What is its relationship to connective tissue?

• How to tendons adapt to training?

Jenni and Travis discuss wild thing – a yoga pose that many yoga practitioners have strong opinions about!

• The anatomy & biomechanics of wild thing

• A controversial kerfuffle that happened in the yoga community surrounding this yoga pose a few years ago

• How to build strength for wild thing

Jenni and Travis are joined by Greg Nuckols to discuss whether stretching can make you strong. Points of discussion include:

• What does research suggest about whether stretching can cause muscle growth?

• Is hypertrophy the best term to use for muscle growth?

• What are the mechanisms of hypertrophy (or more accurately, muscle growth)?

Jenni and Travis discuss the anatomy, biomechanics, and cueing of hip rotation:

• What’s the basic anatomy of the hip joint?

• What does research suggest about the connection between lack of hip rotation and hip pain?

• Which yoga poses are the most confusing in terms of ascertaining their hip rotation alignment?

Jenni and Travis discuss what research suggests about whether we should truly “always listen to our body”:

• What is interoception?

• Does what we feel in our body necessarily reflect what’s actually happening in our body?

• Is it OK for exercises to be painful?

Jenni and Travis discuss the phenomenon of “magic muscles”: the tendency in the yoga, fitness, and rehab worlds to treat some muscles as more important or more special than other muscles.:

• Why is the quadratus lumborum (QL) a magic muscle?

• Why is transverse abdominis a magic muscle?

• Why is the psoas a magic muscle?

Jenni and Travis are joined by special guest Joe Miller, MS to discuss the physiology of breathing:

• Why do we breathe, physiologically?

• Is it helpful to teach yoga students to breathe “fully and deeply” all throughout their yoga practice?

• What physiological effects does ujjayi breathing have?

Jenni and Travis discuss what scientific research suggests about nasal vs. mouth breathing:

• What claims are commonly made about nasal vs. mouth breathing?

• What is the Buteyko Breathing method?

• A closer look at 2 popular books on breathing:

  • Breath by James Nestor

  • The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeown

• What type of research would need to be done in order to investigate a possible causal link between mouth breathing and negative health effects?

Jenni and Travis are joined by science communicator Jonathan Jarry, MS to discuss complementary & alternative medicine:

• What is evidence-based medicine? What is science-based medicine?

• What is complementary & alternative medicine (CAM)?

• What is the wellness industry?

• What are some qualities that all complementary & alternative medicine modalities have in common?

Yoga teacher Jenni Rawlings and Exercise Science professor Travis Pollen discuss a selection of yoga alignment cues that don't make sense!

Yoga alignment rules covered in this episode include:

• Stack the shoulder over the wrist in side plank pose

• Don’t let the feet turn out in wheel pose

• Don’t place your foot on your inner knee in tree pose

• Don’t jump back to straight-arm plank pose; instead, jump into bent-elbow chaturanga

Jenni and Travis are joined by the amazing Claire Zai (a strength coach with Barbell Medicine and competitive powerlifter with a master’s degree in physiology) to discuss myths about women and strength training:

• Strength training around the menstrual cycle – how important is this?

• Strength training and menopause

• Strength training and osteoporosis

• Strength training and pregnancy

Jenni and Travis discuss everything down dog, from anatomy to biomechanics to alignment rules and myths:

• How does down dog affect the body biomechanically?

• Should we externally rotate our shoulders in down dog?

• Should we ground our inner hands in down dog?

• What’s the right length for down dog?