In episode 24 of The Critical Social Worker podcast, host Professor Christian A. Stettler and student co-host Niko speak with David, co-founder of Turiya of Alaska. Niko introduces himself at the start of the episode. He explains how he went from being in the U.S. Army for 12 years as a Human Resources Specialist to becoming a social work student at UAF. Niko currently manages the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program for interior Alaska. His program helps displaced and other at-risk veterans by providing resources that support their needs. His passion supporting veterans in Alaska is clear by the way his face lights up when he speaks of the joy he feels when helping others. More information about the SSVF program can be found here: Supportive Services for Veteran Families (va.gov). If you want to know more about the SSVF program and opportunities, you can reach Niko directly at niko@fairbanksrescuemission.org.
Special Guest, David aka Yoga Man!
This week’s guest is David, cofounder of Turiya of Alaska. David began his yoga practice approximately 32 years ago as a college student fulfilling electives. His yoga practice has since grown deeper and more meaningful, and he now shares it with many people, including those incarcerated. During his time on the podcast, David shares his knowledge of yoga, breath work, and practicing in prisons.
More on Turiya of Alaska…
Turiya of Alaska believes in a post-lineage, trauma sensitive and therapeutic approach to yoga, meditation and mindfulness. It is through the lenses of service, practice and self-reflection that we are invited to take yoga out of a studio setting and infuse it into our daily lives and the lives of others in our community. Turiya Of Alaska (thinkific.com)
Turiya of Alaska is a social justice-minded LLC bringing the practice of yoga into correctional facilities, mental health institutions, and rehabilitation centers. Backed by the accrediting entity Yoga Unify, their training offers a unique service-based, 200-hour program that allows students to dive deeper into their personal practice in an accessible and non-competitive way, preparing them to teach trauma sensitive yoga in non-studio settings if they choose. You can find out more information on Turiya of Alaska on their Instagram or Facebook page. Turiya Uncharted (thestriveproject.com)
Curiosity struck when David mentioned how some individuals in the yoga world may not receive his use of the word turiya. So, what exactly is turiya, and why would the use of the word be contradictory? David defines turiya as “the idea of connecting the unconscious side of yourself with your conscious side of yourself.”
A little research reveals that the word turiya is from the Hindi language, and the Hindus are very religious/spiritual. I believe the contradiction may lie in David’s belief that yoga doesn’t have to be a spiritual practice. He aims to eliminate the restrictions of some yoga practices and broaden the definition of yoga beyond being a spiritual practice.
The four states of consciousness are jagrat, svapna, shushupti and turiya. Jagrat is waking consciousness, svapna is the dream consciousness, shushupti is the deep sleep consciousness and turiya is higher consciousness which is beyond all previous states.
Entering the state of turiya requires inner silence. It can be achieved when the mind is free of mental blocks and bondages with time and space.
The goal of yoga and meditation is to achieve turiya, where oneness is felt with the universe.
Breathing is such a powerful tool that many of us overlook daily. David describes the relationship we should develop with breathing as a lifetime practice. When we pay attention to our breath, we find balance and control, something we should all seek to master in the social work field. The next time you feel overwhelmed, focus on breathing and notice how your nervous system adjusts.
“The breath is a lifetime practice; it’s a process.“
“Breathing brings us back to ourselves. It helps us make decisions that are a response rather than a reaction.”
-David
“There is a tangible relationship between breathing and the way one feels.”
– David
This video gives a broader view of yoga’s effects on inmates in prison. One of the most problematic issues with prisons is that most inmates have no chance of rehabilitation while locked away. However, programs like the Prison Yoga Project are looking to change that.
14 Responses
Madison Sawyer
|
Awesome blog, I really enjoyed your use of color and media!
Episode #24 was really interesting to listen to, especially since I never gave yoga much thought. Before listening to this podcast, yoga to me was just yoga. I understood people felt strongly about what it provided to people but I never truly understood. What stood out to me the most was exactly what you quoted; “The breath is a lifetime practice; its a process”. Never had I once thought about breathing in a deep meaningful way. Just the basic deep breath in and out to provide some calm. But the way David spoke on it, opened my eyes to a much bigger thing – that breathing isn’t just some involuntary thing we humans do. It provides and heals.
Yoga practices not being directly related to being a spirituality practice. All I ever knew was that yoga was designed around spiritual aspects, its a part of what yoga is. I understand that the spiritual aspect may limit some people from being willing to practice yoga, and David is aiming to eradicate that issue. To this I would say, to each your own. Non-spiritually linked yoga may not be a bad thing, and could open new doors to different types of yoga. Theres always room for growth and change!
Michelle Trahan
|
Thank you, Madison!
David’s insight on breathing in this episode and Zenia’s thoughts in the last have made me think of yoga and breathing more deeply. I used to consider yoga only to improve my flexibility and mobility rather than a practice involving breathwork. As a dancer, I knew the importance of breath for movement qualities and connection. Still, I had never given it much thought as a solo activity where everything else was zoned out and focused only on breathing.
I agree with you that there is always room for growth and change. As we continue to evolve, so must our ways and practices.
Devin Gittlein
|
I liked your thoughts and description of this weeks podcast episode. I think that David aiming to make yoga something that can be practiced with or without spiritual values is a good goal since so many people see it as exclusively spiritual although the physicality of it really doesn’t have to be. I also had never really thought of yoga as being an inaccessible activity, like the mentioned perception in the podcast. This is probably because in my life it has always been accessible, whether I wanted to utilize it or not and I value the new partial understanding of the potential societal hurdles people may have to get over in order to practice it.
Your blog was beautiful and interesting to read!
Michelle Trahan
|
Thank you, Devin!
Can you clarify what you mean by “in my life it has always been accessible, whether I wanted to utilize it or not?” Did you grow up in a household where yoga was commonly practiced? Or did you grow up in an environment where you had the autonomy to be whoever that may be? Either way, I love that for you!
Kaylana Nations
|
Hello Michelle,
I really enjoyed reading your blog and it was very appealing to the eye. In the podcast, I loved how David went into detail about the breathing aspect of yoga. I have taken probably around 15 yoga classes with the UAF yoga club. A different instructor would come each week and each instructor seemed to have their own style of yoga. I don’t remember this instructor’s name but it seemed like the whole class was simply breathing in different ways. I felt the best I had ever felt by the end of this class. I didn’t exactly know why because I usually liked the classes with more movement. After listening to David explain the importance of breathing and how breathing brings us back into our bodies I have a better understanding as to why I felt so good after that yoga class. The instructor a lot of the time would say to breathe out and imagine you giving the earth your energy then breathe in some energy from the earth. I’m not a very spiritual person but I could truly feel the energy transfer.
I want to also add that a therapist once told me that a big part of why “smoking” relieves stress is because the person is simply breathing deeply. There are a lot of other aspects but I thought that was very interesting. You also bring up the importance of breathing in social work which is a big thing. We are gonna be stressed very often and I truly believe allowing ourselves to breath and re-connect with ourselves will do wonders. thank you again Michelle for this very insightful vlog.
Michelle Trahan
|
Thank you, Kaylana! I love your name, by the way—so beautiful.
Interesting thought about smoking. I’m not a smoker, but I know several people who do/did. And now that you mention how smoking is connected to the breath, it really makes sense! Back in November 2013, a relative visited me here in Alaska from Louisiana for the first time. As you can imagine, the climates between the two states are vastly different. She wasn’t used to the cold and said she was short of breath trying to breathe outdoors. She was also somewhat of a chain smoker, and anytime she felt anxious, she would step outside to smoke. She was so cold and short of breath whenever she went out that she inhaled her cigarettes as fast as she could. I remember her saying that she felt zero relief after smoking a cigarette, which was unusual for her. She also mentioned she felt worse afterward, and now I realize it was because of her breathing.
Abbigale Wheeler
|
Hey Michelle. I really liked all of the illustrations in your blog and found that they helped me to connect emotions to what I was reading as well as just being nice to look at.
I think that programs such as these are incredibly important to have in prisons to not only help to rehabilitate prisoners but also to help them feel more free and give them more options on how they choose to spend their time behind bars. I agree with you that breathing is something that is really easy to ignore, but once we start to pay attention to it, it can help us in almost all aspects of our everyday lives.
Michelle Trahan
|
Thank you, Abbigale!
“help them feel more free”
I would take a guess and say that most people in prison would not use your above phrase to describe their life behind bars. The purpose of prison is to take away freedom and provide inhumane living conditions for those deemed unfit to live with the rest of society. Prison designers believe that this is an effective way to reform criminals. Yeah… Probably not…
Your above phrase is a good way of saying, “It’s not where I’m at physically, but mentally and emotionally.” And that speaks volumes. If more incarcerated individuals could find peace where they are, it probably would help them make a more positive shift in who they are.
Kelsey McFarland
|
Michelle,
I really enjoyed your section that covered what they said about breathing. All of the quotes you chose to use were powerful and thought provoking. This weeks podcast, in addition with last week’s podcast, really have me thinking more about breath and breathing, and its connection to our mental and emotional states. I find what David said about it helping us to make decisions based on response rather than reactions to be so filled with truth, and thought that the choice to use that quote in particular was a great one. Using breathing in those moments to help ground ourselves is an incredible tool that I feel often is overlooked or underutilized. I know that personally, when I begin to feel stressed in a moment, it can manifest itself in my breathing. Taking the time to stop myself and focus on that rather than what is causing me the stress buys me the time I need to not only calm myself physically (breathing, heart rate, tensity in body etc) but pulls me out of that feeling of being overwhelmed and allows me to think about things in a calmer state. This is something that I have only recently realized within the past five years or so, but I wish I had been taught earlier. Skills like these should be more common knowledge and widespread.
Michelle Trahan
|
Thank you, Kelsey!
You know what, girl? We are all always learning. Your awareness of yourself and using breathing practices to help you recenter is commendable. I agree that breathwork should be taught more widely. It would be amazing if teachers and/or parents taught it as part of early learning. Adults with deep issues often have unhealed inner children. It just makes me think about the what-ifs. Like how society might be different, perhaps healthier if tools and techniques like breathwork were a part of standard education.
Hailey Luder
|
Hi Michelle. Firstly, I just want to say that I love how eye catching your blog in. Putting in all the different art, pictures, videos, and colorful words blocks really help keep attention on the page and what you were saying. I’d never given yoga much thought before this, but I do believe it’s worth looking into now. I do agree that focusing on breathing can help someone find control ,I know it can help a ton during panic or anxiety attacks. I also loved reading all your quotes, and I thought it was a nice idea to add those in there. Good job!
Regan Gray
|
I really enjoyed the video you shared about the Prison Yoga Project. It gives more insight into how yoga has been helping inmates participating in the project. As David mentions in the podcast, bringing yoga into the prisons gave the inmates something to do, and to look forward to. As the video you shared mentions, The Justice/prison systems in the U.S. don’t seek to rehabilitate but punish. The inmates’ environments while in prison leave many worse off than they were entering prison. It is interesting to see how yoga has allowed a type of inner healing process to occur within some of the inmates.
Myah Sundby
|
Hey Michelle! I just wanted to say that your blog is absolutely amazing! I loved how you used different colors, quotes, and images that perfectly complemented your writing. Your explanation of Turiya of Alaska was also really interesting and inspiring. Your message on yoga, breathing, and the Turiya lifestyle really resonated with me and reminded me of the breathing practices I learned in therapy. Thank you so much for sharing such a beautiful and meaningful message!
Rayanne Alick
|
Hi Michelle, you’ve done such a great job on your blog! I love the pictures that you have chosen to go with. I feel like many people don’t understand the importance of breathing, or just don’t take it seriously enough (myself included). Even though I do understand how beneficial breathing practices are, it still manages to slip out of my mind when I need it the most. In the past I have had a behavioral health therapist who helped me to practice a lot of breathing techniques. Back then, I didn’t understand how much of an impact it had on me. I was just a teenager in high school. Now, I do realize when I need time to myself and when I need to breathe and concentrate on breathing. It isn’t until minutes later when I sit back and realize that I need to take a deep breath and just think about how things are going.
Madison Sawyer
Awesome blog, I really enjoyed your use of color and media!
Episode #24 was really interesting to listen to, especially since I never gave yoga much thought. Before listening to this podcast, yoga to me was just yoga. I understood people felt strongly about what it provided to people but I never truly understood. What stood out to me the most was exactly what you quoted; “The breath is a lifetime practice; its a process”. Never had I once thought about breathing in a deep meaningful way. Just the basic deep breath in and out to provide some calm. But the way David spoke on it, opened my eyes to a much bigger thing – that breathing isn’t just some involuntary thing we humans do. It provides and heals.
Yoga practices not being directly related to being a spirituality practice. All I ever knew was that yoga was designed around spiritual aspects, its a part of what yoga is. I understand that the spiritual aspect may limit some people from being willing to practice yoga, and David is aiming to eradicate that issue. To this I would say, to each your own. Non-spiritually linked yoga may not be a bad thing, and could open new doors to different types of yoga. Theres always room for growth and change!
Michelle Trahan
Thank you, Madison!
David’s insight on breathing in this episode and Zenia’s thoughts in the last have made me think of yoga and breathing more deeply. I used to consider yoga only to improve my flexibility and mobility rather than a practice involving breathwork. As a dancer, I knew the importance of breath for movement qualities and connection. Still, I had never given it much thought as a solo activity where everything else was zoned out and focused only on breathing.
I agree with you that there is always room for growth and change. As we continue to evolve, so must our ways and practices.
Devin Gittlein
I liked your thoughts and description of this weeks podcast episode. I think that David aiming to make yoga something that can be practiced with or without spiritual values is a good goal since so many people see it as exclusively spiritual although the physicality of it really doesn’t have to be. I also had never really thought of yoga as being an inaccessible activity, like the mentioned perception in the podcast. This is probably because in my life it has always been accessible, whether I wanted to utilize it or not and I value the new partial understanding of the potential societal hurdles people may have to get over in order to practice it.
Your blog was beautiful and interesting to read!
Michelle Trahan
Thank you, Devin!
Can you clarify what you mean by “in my life it has always been accessible, whether I wanted to utilize it or not?” Did you grow up in a household where yoga was commonly practiced? Or did you grow up in an environment where you had the autonomy to be whoever that may be? Either way, I love that for you!
Kaylana Nations
Hello Michelle,
I really enjoyed reading your blog and it was very appealing to the eye. In the podcast, I loved how David went into detail about the breathing aspect of yoga. I have taken probably around 15 yoga classes with the UAF yoga club. A different instructor would come each week and each instructor seemed to have their own style of yoga. I don’t remember this instructor’s name but it seemed like the whole class was simply breathing in different ways. I felt the best I had ever felt by the end of this class. I didn’t exactly know why because I usually liked the classes with more movement. After listening to David explain the importance of breathing and how breathing brings us back into our bodies I have a better understanding as to why I felt so good after that yoga class. The instructor a lot of the time would say to breathe out and imagine you giving the earth your energy then breathe in some energy from the earth. I’m not a very spiritual person but I could truly feel the energy transfer.
I want to also add that a therapist once told me that a big part of why “smoking” relieves stress is because the person is simply breathing deeply. There are a lot of other aspects but I thought that was very interesting. You also bring up the importance of breathing in social work which is a big thing. We are gonna be stressed very often and I truly believe allowing ourselves to breath and re-connect with ourselves will do wonders. thank you again Michelle for this very insightful vlog.
Michelle Trahan
Thank you, Kaylana! I love your name, by the way—so beautiful.
Interesting thought about smoking. I’m not a smoker, but I know several people who do/did. And now that you mention how smoking is connected to the breath, it really makes sense! Back in November 2013, a relative visited me here in Alaska from Louisiana for the first time. As you can imagine, the climates between the two states are vastly different. She wasn’t used to the cold and said she was short of breath trying to breathe outdoors. She was also somewhat of a chain smoker, and anytime she felt anxious, she would step outside to smoke. She was so cold and short of breath whenever she went out that she inhaled her cigarettes as fast as she could. I remember her saying that she felt zero relief after smoking a cigarette, which was unusual for her. She also mentioned she felt worse afterward, and now I realize it was because of her breathing.
Abbigale Wheeler
Hey Michelle. I really liked all of the illustrations in your blog and found that they helped me to connect emotions to what I was reading as well as just being nice to look at.
I think that programs such as these are incredibly important to have in prisons to not only help to rehabilitate prisoners but also to help them feel more free and give them more options on how they choose to spend their time behind bars. I agree with you that breathing is something that is really easy to ignore, but once we start to pay attention to it, it can help us in almost all aspects of our everyday lives.
Michelle Trahan
Thank you, Abbigale!
“help them feel more free”
I would take a guess and say that most people in prison would not use your above phrase to describe their life behind bars. The purpose of prison is to take away freedom and provide inhumane living conditions for those deemed unfit to live with the rest of society. Prison designers believe that this is an effective way to reform criminals. Yeah… Probably not…
Your above phrase is a good way of saying, “It’s not where I’m at physically, but mentally and emotionally.” And that speaks volumes. If more incarcerated individuals could find peace where they are, it probably would help them make a more positive shift in who they are.
Kelsey McFarland
Michelle,
I really enjoyed your section that covered what they said about breathing. All of the quotes you chose to use were powerful and thought provoking. This weeks podcast, in addition with last week’s podcast, really have me thinking more about breath and breathing, and its connection to our mental and emotional states. I find what David said about it helping us to make decisions based on response rather than reactions to be so filled with truth, and thought that the choice to use that quote in particular was a great one. Using breathing in those moments to help ground ourselves is an incredible tool that I feel often is overlooked or underutilized. I know that personally, when I begin to feel stressed in a moment, it can manifest itself in my breathing. Taking the time to stop myself and focus on that rather than what is causing me the stress buys me the time I need to not only calm myself physically (breathing, heart rate, tensity in body etc) but pulls me out of that feeling of being overwhelmed and allows me to think about things in a calmer state. This is something that I have only recently realized within the past five years or so, but I wish I had been taught earlier. Skills like these should be more common knowledge and widespread.
Michelle Trahan
Thank you, Kelsey!
You know what, girl? We are all always learning. Your awareness of yourself and using breathing practices to help you recenter is commendable. I agree that breathwork should be taught more widely. It would be amazing if teachers and/or parents taught it as part of early learning. Adults with deep issues often have unhealed inner children. It just makes me think about the what-ifs. Like how society might be different, perhaps healthier if tools and techniques like breathwork were a part of standard education.
Hailey Luder
Hi Michelle. Firstly, I just want to say that I love how eye catching your blog in. Putting in all the different art, pictures, videos, and colorful words blocks really help keep attention on the page and what you were saying. I’d never given yoga much thought before this, but I do believe it’s worth looking into now. I do agree that focusing on breathing can help someone find control ,I know it can help a ton during panic or anxiety attacks. I also loved reading all your quotes, and I thought it was a nice idea to add those in there. Good job!
Regan Gray
I really enjoyed the video you shared about the Prison Yoga Project. It gives more insight into how yoga has been helping inmates participating in the project. As David mentions in the podcast, bringing yoga into the prisons gave the inmates something to do, and to look forward to. As the video you shared mentions, The Justice/prison systems in the U.S. don’t seek to rehabilitate but punish. The inmates’ environments while in prison leave many worse off than they were entering prison. It is interesting to see how yoga has allowed a type of inner healing process to occur within some of the inmates.
Myah Sundby
Hey Michelle! I just wanted to say that your blog is absolutely amazing! I loved how you used different colors, quotes, and images that perfectly complemented your writing. Your explanation of Turiya of Alaska was also really interesting and inspiring. Your message on yoga, breathing, and the Turiya lifestyle really resonated with me and reminded me of the breathing practices I learned in therapy. Thank you so much for sharing such a beautiful and meaningful message!
Rayanne Alick
Hi Michelle, you’ve done such a great job on your blog! I love the pictures that you have chosen to go with. I feel like many people don’t understand the importance of breathing, or just don’t take it seriously enough (myself included). Even though I do understand how beneficial breathing practices are, it still manages to slip out of my mind when I need it the most. In the past I have had a behavioral health therapist who helped me to practice a lot of breathing techniques. Back then, I didn’t understand how much of an impact it had on me. I was just a teenager in high school. Now, I do realize when I need time to myself and when I need to breathe and concentrate on breathing. It isn’t until minutes later when I sit back and realize that I need to take a deep breath and just think about how things are going.