Chats Over Coffee With My Yoga Teacher

In this episode Peter (a stand-up comedian) and Kayla (a yoga teacher) chat about what trauma is, Kayla’s trauma informed yoga teacher training, fight/flight/freeze responses, playing possum, consent frameworks, human’s attempts at domesticating various animals, what to do in a bear attack, Werner Herzog’s film ‘Grizzly Man’, exorcisms, and framing situations so that people feel in control. Plus Peter discusses his recent reading of the gospels and disputes whether a little boy really did help feed the 5000.Peter’s Website: https://www.peterbrushcomedy.comKayla’s Website: https://www.kaylamccormack.comPeter’s Substack Piece: https://peterbrush.substack.com/p/on-joke-formationsPeter’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterbrush_/Kayla’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylamccormackyoga/

This time out Peter (comedian) and Kayla (yoga teacher) chat about The Bible (don’t get put off yet!). They discuss the differences in the tones of the gospels and why that may be, gospels and Bible books that didn’t make the canon, Jesus as a moral philosopher, how Christianity's malleability meant it could move with the enlightenment, miracles, Paul vs Jesus, the historical accuracy of the nativity, whether modern Christians really believe in the virgin birth and resurrection, the problems with translation of ancient texts, religions and churches as successful memes and evolutionarily successful ideas, Tom Holland and the idea that all Western civilisation is culturally Christian, if humans rights, the abolition of slavery and the climate movement have all been based on a Christian framework, and whether societal moral progress is a solely Christian idea or if Eastern traditions have something to say about this. Plus there’s some other stuff on having to fact check literally everything these days, the trouble with having humans as role models and whether it is now totally uncool to be on TV.Peter’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterbrush_/Kayla’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylamccormackyoga/Peter’s Website: https://www.peterbrushcomedy.comKayla’s Website: https://www.kaylamccormack.com

Our yoga teacher and stand-up comedian duo once again meet up to chat over a hot drink. This time it's about whether we've lacked unifying cultural references since 1997, and then there's a long discussion about laughter. They discuss why we laugh in certain settings, why one person falling over might be funny but another person falling isn't, the concept of punching up and down, comedy or laughters use in breaking tension and creating in/out group dynamics. Why we fear being laughed at, embarrassment, involuntary noises in yoga classes, self-deprecation as a tool, being addicted to getting laughs, laughter yoga, laughters health benefits, experiencing transcendent moments as part of a group and how that can turn dark, dignity, true confidence and the lies in Jurassic Park.Kayla's Website: https://www.kaylamccormack.comPeter's Website: https://www.peterbrushcomedy.com/Kayla's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylamccormackyoga/Peter's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterbrush_/

The yoga teacher Kayla McCormack and the comedian Peter Brush return to chat about the hips, memory and the perception of time. Discussion includes stuff on hip anatomy, flexibility, whether emotions are really stored in our hips as some in the yoga community believe, the fallibility of our memories, repressed memories and the scandal of the recovered memory movement, Freud, when we form our fundamental beliefs, if our political opinions and morals are formed around hardwired personality traits, whether it's harder to change our minds on things in the internet age when we all have a written record of our past opinions, if time really does speed up as we get older and why, plus there's a stupid joke about Eartha Kitt.Peter’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterbrush_/Kayla’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylamccormackyoga/Peter’s Website: https://www.peterbrushcomedy.comKayla’s Website: https://www.kaylamccormack.com

Peter and Kayla (a yoga teacher and a stand-up comedian) chat about what EFT tapping is, and its possible therapeutic benefits. Also discussed are acupuncture and meridian lines, Chinese medicine, how the geography of a region may affect the culture of the people who live there, echinacea, placebos and the problem of self-reporting in medical studies, limiting beliefs, the genuine positive effects of priming in a yoga class, and what those ancestry websites are doing with all of our DNA. Also Peter scratches his car and due to his meditation practise is definitely not dwelling on it and barely mentions it continuously throughout the episode.Kayla's Website: https://www.kaylamccormack.comPeter's Website: https://www.peterbrushcomedy.com/Kayla's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylamccormackyoga/Peter's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterbrush_/

Our yoga teacher (Kayla) and comedian (Peter) combo chat about the contraceptive pill, how it works, it's physical and cultural impact, the potential for a male contraceptive bill, theories of evolutionary psychology for differences in sexual behaviour, managing menstrual cycles whilst playing elite sport, and whether we've been seduced into thinking there's a technological or pharmaceutical answer for all of life's problems (a pill for all ills, you could say). There's also a discussion about what the best time of the day/month/year to exercise, meditate or write funny jokes actually is.Kayla's Website: https://www.kaylamccormack.comPeter's Website: https://www.peterbrushcomedy.com/Kayla's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylamccormackyoga/Peter's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterbrush_/Subscribe to Peter's Substack here: peterbrush.substack.com

In this episode a yoga teacher (Kayla) and a comedian (Peter) chat about aging, whether western society actually reveres the elderly, lost knowledge, the invention of the teenager, living in a high-tech image-based culture, if solar flares will knock out all of our technology one day, cycles of fashion and political thought, the demographics of people in political life, representative democracy vs direct democracy vs communism, extended adolescence, whether we're ever actually ready to do anything until we've done it, resilience and triumphing over adversity, the lack of medical research that has been done on women, emotions creating narrative shortcuts in the brain, and mullets. Phew, that was a mouthful. So yeah, loads of stuff this month, hope you enjoy.Kayla's Website: www.kaylamccormack.comPeter's Website: https://www.peterbrushcomedy.com/Kayla's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylamccormackyoga/Peter's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterbrush_/Subscribe to Peter's Substack here: peterbrush.substack.com

A yoga teacher (Kayla) and her faithful student (Peter, who is also a comedian btw) discuss resolutions, how easy it is to set and keep them, whether having a moral focus underpinning a resolution makes it easier to keep rather than just setting a specific goal, fake meats, the ethics of certain diets, the flaws and potential politicisation of nutritional information, the naturalistic fallacy, eunuchs, the menopause, the opposite of green, and the demonisation of sugar.Kayla's Website: www.kaylamccormack.comPeter's Website: https://www.peterbrushcomedy.com/Kayla's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylamccormackyoga/Peter's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterbrush_/Subscribe to Peter's Substack here: peterbrush.substack.com

In this episode Peter and Kayla (comedian and yoga teacher, respectively) chat about the abdominal muscles, what and where they are, the benefits of maintaining healthy ones to help breathing and posture, and whether or not we should all be aiming to get a 6 pack. Also discussed are whether we live in a pro or an anti-natal society, aging and population control, vicariously living your holiday through Instagram and looking good naked.Kayla's Website: www.kaylamccormack.comPeter's Website: https://www.peterbrushcomedy.com/Kayla's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylamccormackyoga/Peter's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterbrush_/Subscribe to Peter's Substack here: peterbrush.substack.com