The Inner Practice-Stories of Healing from the Yoga mat into Life

In this powerful episode of The Inner Practice, I sit down with Jen Lindren from the Prison Yoga Project to explore the profound human need for connection, healing, and belonging.

Jen shares a moving story from a yoga session inside a correctional facility. After class, one participant found the courage to share a deeply personal experience. What happened next was simple yet transformative—another incarcerated individual responded with understanding and validation. In that moment, barriers fell away, and two people connected through a shared human experience.

This episode invites us to look beyond labels, judgments, an...

Sometimes the work we’re called to do grows quietly from our own stories—through loss, unanswered questions, and a deep desire to create something different.

In this episode, I sit down with Jen Lindgren, trauma-informed educator, movement facilitator, and Director of Training with the Prison Yoga Project. Jen’s work supports incarcerated individuals and communities navigating adversity—but her connection to this space is deeply personal.

As a child in the 1990s, Jen visited her father during his incarceration. Years later, she returned to that same environment as a yoga teacher, holding space for others w...

What if your healing journey began in the most unexpected place:  on a pool table in an after-hours bar?

In this deeply moving episode of The Inner Practice, Jackie sits down with Jen Lindgren, Director of Training with the Prison Yoga Project, yoga facilitator, and teacher to explore a story rooted in pain, resilience, and profound transformation.

Jen shares what it was like growing up with a father who was incarcerated, navigating the weight of stigma, and struggling with her own trauma. Through raw honesty, she speaks about the struggles of self-harm, the search for b...

Cassie Doucette didn’t just find yoga—she felt it.

From her very first class, something shifted. The connection between breath and movement offered a new way of being—one that traditional addictions counselling hadn’t fully provided. Over the past 11 years as co-owner of The Loft Yoga Studio, Cassie has cultivated more than a yoga space—she’s built a sanctuary for authenticity in a community where emotions are often left unspoken.

In this episode, Cassie shares how yoga helped her move through anxiety, reshape her relationships, and create a space where people can safely explo...

What happens when you grow up in a place where emotions are kept quiet and fitting in feels essential for belonging?

In this trailer episode of The Inner Practice, Cassie Doucette shares how yoga became a turning point in her life. From walking into a class where everything felt intimidating and “perfect,” to discovering a deep sense of stillness and inner peace, her journey reveals the quiet power of stepping onto the mat.

Cassie reflects on the unspoken culture of small-town life—the pressure to conform, the “stiff upper lip” mentality, and how generations of patterns c...

Healing rarely fits inside a ten-minute appointment or a prescription pad. In this episode of The Inner Practice, we sit down with Dr. Jill Bailey, a physician whose career has evolved from the front lines of small-town family medicine to the deeply emotional terrain of mental health, addiction medicine, and mindfulness.

After fourteen years of walking alongside patients through their most ordinary and extraordinary days, Jill felt called to look beneath the illness to the humanity of the person. Today, she shares her journey as a general practitioner, psychotherapist, researcher, and educator who is helping...

In the fast-paced world of clinical medicine, the "knocks on the door" are relentless. For physicians, the challenge isn't just the sheer volume of work—it’s the high-stakes requirement to maintain focus on minute details while being constantly pulled away by phone calls, urgent interruptions, and the administrative hum of a busy practice.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Jill Bailey to explore the intersection of high-level clinical performance and mindfulness. We discuss what mindfulness is and the how and why to integrate it into your life. 

If you are feeli...

In this episode of The Inner Practice, host Jackie Vandertuin sits down with Dr. Amy Wheeler—yoga therapist, educator, former varsity athlete, and sports psychologist—to explore what it truly means to live the practices we teach.

Amy’s path began in high-performance sport at the University of Northern Iowa, where she developed a deep understanding of discipline, resilience, and the intelligence of the body. Her journey evolved into sports psychology, working with elite athletes, and later into yoga therapy and integrative healthcare education.

In 2022, her life shifted profoundly with a diagnosis of cancer of the to...

In this deeply moving trailer of The Inner Practice, Dr. Amy Wheeler shares an intimate reflection on the moments before undergoing surgery for tongue cancer—and how yoga transformed what could have been a state of fear into one of calm, trust, and inner steadiness.

Rather than becoming overwhelmed by anxiety, Amy describes how she turned inward, grounding herself in a felt sense of being loved. Drawing on her background in yoga therapy and nervous system regulation, she recognized what happens in the body when we move toward fear and consciously chose a different path.

Th...

In this episode of The Inner Practice, host Jackie Vandertuin sits down with Stacie da Ponte for a thoughtful and expansive conversation on spirituality, yoga philosophy, humanism, and the courage to question inherited belief systems.

Raised Roman Catholic and surrounded by cultural and religious diversity, Stacie shares a pivotal moment after 9/11 that prompted her to step away from dogma and begin a lifelong journey of inquiry. Through existentialism, philosophy, and consciousness studies, she sought a framework for living that supports coexistence, compassion, and care for both people and the planet.

Yoga...

In this trailer Stacie describes Plato's Parable of the Cave.  Stacie delves into the philosophical thought of truth, and how those with different experiences or backgrounds may perceive it, much like spirituality or religion.  Stacie describes how a yoga practice helps us move from conditioned perception and unconscious patterns helps us move toward awareness, clarity and a deeper truth.

Tune into the full episode where Stacie describes growing up as a Roman Catholic and how her journey through faith and life caused her to question and how yoga and her own personal journey continues to facilitate her qu...

In this second conversation with Cailea Davis, The Inner Practice moves deeper into the lived experience of PTSD within a family system. Together, we explore what it means to witness trauma up close, especially through the lens of of someone who lives with a caregiver who is experiencing PTSD.  

Building on our previous episode, Cailea reflects on her father’s life as a Chief Paramedic and the subtle, often misunderstood ways PTSD showed up at home. We talk about recognizing trauma without language for it, the impact PTSD has on loved ones, and how understanding reflection on her...

In this deeply moving episode, Cailea Davis shares a powerful and intimate perspective on PTSD, one that is often overlooked: the experience of a child trying to make sense of a parent’s invisible struggle.

Through her story, Cailea reflects on growing up not understanding why her father, a first responder, seemed distant, irritable, and unavailable. As a child, she internalized those moments—wondering if she had done something wrong, asking why he didn’t want to spend time with her, and quietly wishing he could simply be more present. What she didn’t yet have the language...

In this episode of The Inner Practice, we speak with Cailea Davis, a yoga teacher, multidimensional healer whose journey through grief reshaped her life, her work, and her understanding of healing.

Raised in a family devoted to caring for others, Cailea felt called to support people from a young age. But everything changed in 2017 when she lost her father to suicide. That loss sent her on a deeply personal journey inward—one that challenged her identity, her capacity to give, and her relationship to stillness.

Stepping back from her career, Cailea be...

In this trailer, Cailea speaks of the heartache and pain of the loss of her father to suicide.   Cailea describes her journey through a path that she felt was carved in stone until her father's death sent her on a path of discovery.

This heartwarming episode that is filled with wisdom and questioning will let you know that you are not alone in your journey filled with grief.  As Cailea describes in this episode, "The deepest roots grow where the strongest winds blow".

This trailer discusses suicide.  Please take care when listening.  If you or some...

In this episode, athletic therapist and yoga teacher Amanda Halls shares her powerful journey of navigating chronic illness and rediscovering her identity through yoga, Pranayama, and self-compassion.

Amanda first encountered yoga at fourteen, learning from a family who lived their yoga—teaching her early lessons about spirituality, connection, and embodied wisdom. Her path led her into Athletic Therapy, where she worked with high-performance athletes, Field Hockey Canada, box lacrosse teams, and spent 14 years at Sheridan College.

But when a chronic neurological disorder suddenly changed her ability to mo...

In this trailer episode, Amanda shares the moment her body asked her to listen. After experiencing a significant health event marked by neurological symptoms, she was forced to slow down and seek support from her physician—something that didn’t come easily. Accustomed to pushing through and quietly declining help, even when colleagues offered it, Amanda continued to rely on grit and perseverance.

In this preview, she offers a glimpse into what’s to come: a deeply personal story of healing, where yogic principles became a quiet but powerful companion. Stay tuned as Amanda reflects on how her pr...

In this episode, Mel Grime shares a courageous and deeply personal story of growing up in England with an alcoholic father, navigating a culture of “stiff upper lip” expectations, and learning to survive by becoming the good, people-pleasing girl.

A move to Australia gave her room to breathe—to drop the mask, build a life with her husband, and reconnect with who she was beneath the conditioning. But a later move to Canada brought new challenges: losing her career role, lacking community, and experiencing the resurfacing of old insecurities and familiar inner voices.

Everyt...

In this trailer Mel, describes her experience of being still on the mat but hearing her mind.  Being still doesn't mean the mind is still.

Stay tuned for the full episode where Mel shares how growing up in England with the stoic attitude and an alcoholic father shaped her to strive for perfectionism and wear a mask.  Hear how she finds authenticity and self love that lead her create Her Space and place of healing for women.

You can find Mel Grime at her website https://www.melaniegrimerhn.com/

Instagram @melaniegrimerhn

Se...

This episode was recorded on November 20, 2025, at the beautiful Bodhi Tree Yoga Resort in Nosara, Costa Rica, during a week immersed in practice, nature, and community.

Join Sabine and Michele as they share a heartfelt, honest conversation about life before yoga, life after yoga, and the transformational power of going on a yoga retreat. They explore how yoga shifted their outlook, their daily habits, and their ability to find calm and clarity in the middle of real-life challenges.

Together, we discuss:
 ✨ What life looked like before yog...

Listen to this trailer as Sabine and Michele discuss if one is considering going to a yoga retreat what should they do.  This episode was recorded outside at the dining hall of the beautiful Bodhi Tree Yoga resort.

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This episode is sponsored by Jac...

In this episode, I’m joined by Mark Macleod—CEO coach, musician, and devoted practitioner of Kundalini yoga. Mark offers a thoughtful and deeply philosophical conversation about how yoga influences both his personal life and his work coaching CEOs of multi-billion-dollar companies.

Mark shares how he first discovered yoga, how Kundalini practices transformed his worldview, and why learning to listen inward is one of the most powerful tools for leaders navigating high-pressure environments. This conversation beautifully weaves together business, music, spirituality, presence, mindfulness, and personal growth, revealing how...

Kundalini yoga plays an integral part in Mark's life allowing him presence, achievement and so much more. Mark describes his initial hesitation to how his life was enhanced.

Tune in for the full episode to learn how Kundalini and the practice of yoga has woven its way through Mark's daily personal and professional life.

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Support the show

If you enjoyed this show, make sure you like, subscribe, follow and download the episode or simply leave a comment.  I would love to hear from you!  Please feel free to...

In this episode, I speak with Shelley Wishart—a lifelong entrepreneur, passionate mover, and the heart behind GoYoga. Shelley shares her inspiring journey through business ownership and the challenges that come with high-stakes decision-making.

We dive into how her meditation practice became a powerful tool for staying grounded during a potentially difficult business transaction, transforming stress and uncertainty into clarity, comfort, and calm. Shelley discusses how mindfulness supported her confidence, strengthened her intuition, and helped her manifest a positive outcome when the pressure was at its highest.

If you’re an entrepreneur, leader, or w...

In this trailer, Shelley talks about the high stakes world of selling a business and the fear of the unknown.  However, what eased the fear was meditation.  Shelley manifested the success which created calm in what could have been chaos.

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In this episode, I read The Gift of the Magi, a story that has stayed with me since the first time I heard it. My husband and I had just gotten married. We were living in our first little house, stretched thin on one income while I was in graduate school, and trying to make Christmas meaningful without much money to spare.

Hearing this story in that season of our lives was like being handed a quiet truth: Christmas was never really about the gifts. It was about the gift of being together. The gift of love...

The Gentle Whisper of Women is a heartfelt exploration of grief, love, and the quiet guidance we receive from those who shape us—whether they’re still here or part of the lineage that walked before us.

The episode opens in the stillness of night with a whispered question—“When will this pain end?”—and unfolds through memories of a woman whose presence, kindness, and strength anchored an entire family. Listeners journey through the rawness of early grief and the years of carrying a loss that never fully disappears, only softens.

A pivotal conversation...

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Tracy Armstrong, a retired school administrator and yoga teacher from Orangeville, Ontario, who shares a powerful and deeply honest story of anxiety, insomnia, perfectionism, eating disorder recovery, and alcoholism. Tracy opens up about growing up with chronic anxiety and the pressure to appear “perfect,” and how these early experiences gradually manifested into disordered eating and later addiction.

With vulnerability and clarity, Tracy reflects on the moment she realized her drinking was affecting her time with her family—a turning point that led her toward addiction...