The Funny Thing About Yoga

This week, we're joined by one of our dream guests, Kathryn Budig- someone we've wanted to have on the podcast for years!What starts as a conversation about Kathryn's shoulder injury quickly unfolds into a much bigger discussion about what it means to evolve. We talk about changing our practices, embracing Western medicine, redefining strength, and letting go of the idea that yoga has to be difficult to be meaningful. We reminisce about the era of Yoga Journal, the teachers and communities that shaped us, and how the landscape of yoga has transformed over the past decade.Together, we explore the realities of teaching in today's world: shrinking memberships, the challenge of filling workshops and retreats, and why community, not asana, may be the future of yoga. Kathryn shares how Haus of Phoenix has intentionally prioritized connection and why she's become less interested in making asana the center of everything she teaches. The conversation also dives into the emotional side of being a public-facing teacher. Kathryn and Bradshaw unpack parasocial relationships, people believing they know you through social media, the anxiety of showing up to teach, and the pressure of wondering whether people will like you before you've even walked into the room. We discuss boundaries, people-pleasing, and why choosing what and how much you share is one of the most important forms of self-care.We also talk about Kathryn's Substack, writing as a way to reclaim your own voice, her experience navigating divorce, and why the customer isn't always right, especially when it comes to protecting the integrity of retreats and communities.Finally, Kathryn opens up about her experience as a queer woman, what she's learned from coming out later in life, being "straight-passing," and how queerness has invited her into a deeper exploration of identity, authenticity, and belonging. It's a thoughtful conversation about finding yourself, questioning who you've been taught to be, and creating a life that feels genuinely your own.This is a conversation about reinvention, resilience, community, boundaries, identity, and what it means to keep evolving, both on and off the mat.Find Kathryn Budig Online:WEB: https://www.kathrynbudig.com/PRACTICE: https://www.thehausofphoenix.com/IG: @KATHRYNBUDIGSUBSTACK: https://kathrynbudig.substack.com/Want to support our podcast? Join our Patreon for extra content🌊 Upcoming Retreats Amalfi Coast Yoga Retreat: July 25 - August 1, 2026  Portugal Relax by the Sea Retreat: August 4-10, 2026📚 Read the Podcast Blog:The Funny Thing About Yoga on Substack📲 Follow UsPodcast: @thefunnythingaboutyogaSchool: @cayayogaschoolHosts: @gianagambino & @bradshawwish🌐 More Linksgianayoga.combradshawwishyoga.comcayayogaschool.com

This week on The Funny Thing About Yoga, we sit down with Chhavi Sahal, a yoga teacher, strength coach, and sleep consultant based in New Delhi, India, to explore a side of yoga that often gets overlooked.Chhavi shares how she discovered yoga at a young age through school competitions, how her teaching unexpectedly grew within her gym community, and why so many older adults began seeking out her classes. We talk about the increasing need for strength as we age, what Hatha yoga really is (beyond the stereotypes), and some of the key differences between yoga culture in India and the United States.The conversation also dives into the contrast between yoga’s flashy, attention-grabbing side and the quieter, less visible practices that can be just as transformative. Along the way, we discuss keeping an open mind, challenging assumptions, and what it means to build a sustainable practice that serves you for life.A thoughtful conversation about strength, tradition, aging, and the deeper layers of yoga that don't always make it onto social media.Find Chhavi Sahal Online:Instagram @movewithchhaviWebsite https://chhavisahal.org/  Want to support our podcast? Join our Patreon for extra content** CHECK OUT OUR 300-HOUR PROGRAM **🌊 Upcoming Retreats Amalfi Coast Yoga Retreat: July 25 - August 1, 2026  Portugal Relax by the Sea Retreat: August 4-10, 2026📚 Read the Podcast Blog:The Funny Thing About Yoga on Substack📲 Follow UsPodcast: @thefunnythingaboutyogaSchool: @cayayogaschoolHosts: @gianagambino & @bradshawwish🌐 More Linksgianayoga.combradshawwishyoga.comcayayogaschool.com

This week on The Funny Thing About Yoga, we’re joined by Charlotte Muller of Breathe Strength — yoga educator, studio owner, social media creator, and, like Giana, a fellow Long Islander.This conversation felt easy, heartfelt, and deeply relatable, beginning with nostalgic hometown connections and bonding over the experience of young parental loss.We talk about Charlotte’s path to yoga through grief, opening a studio during COVID, navigating major life transitions, and finding herself in the midst of unexpected, exciting new beginnings as she moves through pregnancy.Charlotte’s passion for yoga and fitness shines through, and hearing how she uses social media and her platform to share her love of theming, sequencing, and teaching is genuinely inspiring.From trusting you’re exactly where you’re meant to be, to noticing little signs, staying motivated when life hands you a whole lot of shit, making future plans, and embracing the messy beauty of building a life you actually want — this episode goes deep in the most grounding, human way.A warm, honest conversation about resilience, reinvention, and connecting with someone walking a surprisingly similar path.Find Charlotte Muller Online:instagram @breathe_strength tiktok @breathe_strengthwebsite www.breathestrengthwellness.com  Want to support our podcast? Join our Patreon for extra content** CHECK OUT OUR 300-HOUR PROGRAM **🌊 Upcoming Retreats Amalfi Coast Yoga Retreat: July 25 - August 1, 2026  Portugal Relax by the Sea Retreat: August 4-10, 2026📚 Read the Podcast Blog:The Funny Thing About Yoga on Substack📲 Follow UsPodcast: @thefunnythingaboutyogaSchool: @cayayogaschoolHosts: @gianagambino & @bradshawwish🌐 More Linksgianayoga.combradshawwishyoga.comcayayogaschool.com

You start with a sore back, a little anxiety, or a desire to feel better… and somehow end up spending thousands of dollars on supplements, questioning your cookware, tracking your nervous system, and wondering if your WiFi is destroying your mitochondria.In this episode, we unpack the wellness pipeline - the slippery slope from genuine healing and self-care into misinformation, obsession, perfectionism, and trying to do all the things.We talk about the addictive pull of wellness culture, anxiety, OCD tendencies, the pressure to optimize ourselves, and how wellness can quietly become another impossible standard to live up to. Giana shares pieces of her healing journey, Bradshaw reflects on addiction and all-or-nothing patterns, and we explore the blurry line between being informed, being empowered, and getting completely consumed.We get into supplements, faith, fear, balance, checking in with yourself, managing anxiety, and the question underneath all of it: How do we care deeply about our health without losing ourselves in the pursuit of perfect wellness?A nuanced, personal, occasionally unhinged conversation about healing, control, wellness culture, and finding a little more honesty and balance along the way.Want to support our podcast? Join our Patreon for extra content** CHECK OUT OUR 300-HOUR PROGRAM **🌊 Upcoming RetreatsAmalfi Coast Yoga Retreat: July 25 - August 1, 2026 Portugal Relax by the Sea Retreat: August 4-10, 2026📚 Read the Podcast Blog:The Funny Thing About Yoga on Substack📲 Follow UsPodcast: @thefunnythingaboutyogaSchool: @cayayogaschoolHosts: @gianagambino & @bradshawwish🌐 More Linksgianayoga.combradshawwishyoga.comcayayogaschool.com

We start with life updates: Giana’s baby shower and travels to California, Bradshaw reflecting on how Giana’s family reminds him of his own, preparations for the baby, and an update on Bradshaw’s shoulder recovery. Naturally, the conversation spirals into dogs, consciousness, and the complexity of the human condition before we finally arrive at today’s topic: “Why Yoga Communities Don’t Feel the Same.” About 13 minutes in, we get to the heart of the conversation and explore what’s shifted in yoga culture, and modern culture more broadly, that has changed the feeling of the yoga studio as a true third space. We talk about the impact of technology, Groupon and ClassPass culture, social media, COVID, rising city costs, and the commodification of wellness. Before social media, people primarily practiced in person, inspiration came from teachers and community rather than algorithms, and the studio often felt less performative and more like a homecoming, a sacred reprieve from daily life rather than just another fitness class. We reflect on the small rituals many studios once had: tea stations, couches, bulletin boards, workshops that felt social, post-class dinners, arriving early to settle in, doors locking at start time, and the unspoken intimacy of practicing in the same room week after week. Now, with preregistration apps, late arrivals, online classes, and endless studio sampling, yoga can sometimes feel more transactional and convenience-driven. At the same time, we acknowledge that many modern shifts have also made yoga more accessible and brought more people into the practice. This episode isn’t about saying things were better before, but about exploring loneliness, belonging, changing culture, and asking how we might cultivate deeper community again in a world that increasingly pulls people apart.Want to support our podcast? Join our Patreon for extra content** CHECK OUT OUR 300-HOUR PROGRAM **🌊 Upcoming Retreats Amalfi Coast Yoga Retreat: July 25 - August 1, 2026  Portugal Relax by the Sea Retreat: August 4-10, 2026📚 Read the Podcast Blog:The Funny Thing About Yoga on Substack📲 Follow UsPodcast: @thefunnythingaboutyogaSchool: @cayayogaschoolHosts: @gianagambino & @bradshawwish🌐 More Linksgianayoga.combradshawwishyoga.comcayayogaschool.com

We start, as usual, with some wandering banter touching on astrological shifts for Aquarius, shrinking brains, talking to sisters, and whatever else comes up along the way.Then we settle into the heart of the episode: “Listen to Your Body”- a cue used constantly in yoga spaces, but what does it actually mean? And more importantly, is it really landing?We unpack how disconnected many people are from their bodies, and how vague cues like listen to your body can miss the mark when students don’t yet know what they’re listening for. Giana shares an example from a semi-private session that highlights this disconnect, sparking a bigger conversation around the difference between discomfort and pain, comparison in class, overriding your own internal compass, and how easily students become further detached from themselves. We also explore how distractions, from external pressure to even the music in class, can pull people further out of their embodied experience.From there, we talk about what it actually means to cultivate connection. As teachers, how do we offer language and options that help students tune in rather than tune out? How do we give permission for what they’re genuinely feeling?We also dive into nervous system work and embodiment. Giana shares how years of deep flexibility were, in part, tied to an inability to fully feel sensation in her body, and how reconnecting through different healing modalities completely changed her relationship to movement. She can still access the same range, but now from a place of awareness rather than disconnection.The conversation expands into what embodiment really means- mind, body, and spirit- and how pregnancy has added layers of distraction, discomfort, and change that have made feeling fully embodied more complex.And because this is us, we wrap up with funny stories about Bradshaw’s unique gifts and the humbling experience of taking public yoga classes while injured.Want to support our podcast? Join our Patreon for extra content** CHECK OUT OUR 300-HOUR PROGRAM **🌊 Upcoming Retreats Amalfi Coast Yoga Retreat: July 25 - August 1, 2026  Portugal Relax by the Sea Retreat: August 4-10, 2026📚 Read the Podcast Blog:The Funny Thing About Yoga on Substack📲 Follow UsPodcast: @thefunnythingaboutyogaSchool: @cayayogaschoolHosts: @gianagambino & @bradshawwish🌐 More Linksgianayoga.combradshawwishyoga.comcayayogaschool.com

This episode starts with some major life updates. Bradshaw shares the story behind his collarbone surgery, and Giana opens up about navigating iron infusions during pregnancy. As usual, one tangent leads to another, and we somehow end up talking about the Venice Biennale, tattoos, being emo, queer allyship, sugar addiction, and what it’s like to lose friends far too early in life.Nearly 20 minutes in (classic), we finally settle into the heart of the episode, what to do when your yoga practice stops feeling good. We talk about pregnancy, injury, burnout, plateaus, and losing passion, those seasons when a practice that once felt nourishing starts to feel frustrating, stale, or disconnected.More importantly, we offer ideas for how to navigate it, including nervous system regulation, taking intentional breaks, exploring other movement modalities, finding new teachers, shifting your goals, reconnecting to what first drew you in, and giving yourself permission to let your practice evolve with you. Bradshaw also shares his experience with SI joint dysfunction and how pain reshaped his relationship to movement.We close with a bigger question. Did you love yoga, or did you love the transformation phase, the honeymoon phase of becoming someone new through it? Because even a “good addiction” can become unhealthy, and sometimes the path back is less about pushing harder and more about learning a new way to practice.We also share funny stories about getting the ick before the ick was a thing, and trying to impress doctors with our anatomy knowledge.Want to support our podcast? Join our Patreon for extra content🌊 Upcoming Retreats Amalfi Coast Yoga Retreat: July 25 - August 1, 2026  Portugal Relax by the Sea Retreat: August 4-10, 2026📚 Read the Podcast Blog:The Funny Thing About Yoga on Substack📲 Follow UsPodcast: @thefunnythingaboutyogaSchool: @cayayogaschoolHosts: @gianagambino & @bradshawwish🌐 More Linksgianayoga.combradshawwishyoga.comcayayogaschool.com

After two intense weeks of our 300-hour immersion in Chicago, we’re finally sitting down to catch up, and a lot has happened.Bradshaw shares the story behind his unexpected collarbone surgery and what it’s been like navigating recovery, forced stillness, and the mental challenge of slowing down. Giana opens up about eloping, celebrating at her baby shower, and stepping into a season of major life transition all at once.From there, the conversation unfolds into something deeper- how life has a way of interrupting our plans, what happens when you stop forcing and start listening, and the strange little signs, synchronicities, and moments that make you wonder if something bigger is at play. We talk about trusting timing, finding love on your own timing, embracing change instead of resisting it, and the quiet wisdom that can come when life makes you slow down.And because we can only stay serious for so long… we wrap things up with a little yoga game and start firing off our yoga hot takes- calling out trends, and truths from the yoga world that might ruffle a few feathers.Part life update, part philosophy, part chaos- just the way we like it!Want to support our podcast? Join our Patreon for extra content** CHECK OUT OUR 300-HOUR PROGRAM **🌊 Upcoming Retreats Amalfi Coast Yoga Retreat: July 25 - August 1, 2026  Portugal Relax by the Sea Retreat: August 4-10, 2026📚 Read the Podcast Blog:The Funny Thing About Yoga on Substack📲 Follow UsPodcast: @thefunnythingaboutyogaSchool: @cayayogaschoolHosts: @gianagambino & @bradshawwish🌐 More Linksgianayoga.combradshawwishyoga.comcayayogaschool.com