The Funny Thing About Yoga

Donation-Based Yoga: Does It Actually Work?
This week on The Funny Thing About Yoga, we're tackling a topic we've been talking about recently and wondering how to do intelligently: donation-based yoga classes.
Can they actually work? Should yoga be free? Is there a way to make classes more accessible and still cover overhead and get paid?

In this episode, we explore donation-based models in both in-person and online spaces, share examples of studios and teachers we've seen make it work (and others that eventually phased it out), and brainstorm alternative ways to increase accessibility while still creating sustainable careers for teachers.

Fair warning: this is one of our more chaotic episodes. We ask a lot of questions, throw around a lot of ideas, and don't pretend to have all the answers. We acknowledge that neither of us has extensive firsthand experience running donation-based classes. Bradshaw also becomes mildly obsessed with profit margins at one point, which probably surprises no one.
A candid conversation about accessibility, value, community, money, and the complicated reality of trying to make yoga available to everyone while still paying the bills.

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🌊 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 Us
Podcast: @thefunnythingaboutyoga
School: @cayayogaschool
Hosts: @gianagambino & @bradshawwish

🌐 More Links
gianayoga.com
bradshawwishyoga.com
cayayogaschool.com
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This week on The Funny Thing About Yoga, we're joined by Bay Area yoga teacher, intuitive coach, and astrologer Susannah Freedman for a conversation that spans yoga, astrology, purpose, and what it means to live in alignment.

Although we'd been hearing each other's names in the yoga community for years, this was our first time sitting down together, and it quickly became one of those conversations that could have gone on for hours!
Susannah shares her journey from yoga teacher to intuitive coach and astrologer, and how decades of studying Bhakti Yoga, Vedantic philosophy, astrology, and consciousness have shaped the work she does today. Together, we explore how astrology can be used as a tool for self-inquiry, energy and spirituality, finding your higher calling, trusting intuition, and bringing ancient wisdom into everyday life.

Whether you're deeply immersed in yoga or astrology, or simply curious about the bigger questions of purpose, identity, and spiritual practice, this episode offers an open-minded and thoughtful exploration of what it means to know yourself more fully.

We hope you enjoy the conversation.

Find Susannah Freedman Online:

WEB: https://susannah-freedman.com/
IG: @_Susannahfreedman_
SUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@callingyouhome
ASTRO BOOKING: https://susannah-freedman.com/astrology

Want to support our podcast? Join our Patreon for extra content

🌊 Upcoming Retreats

Portugal Relax by the Sea Retreat: August 4-10, 2026

📚 Read the Podcast Blog:
The Funny Thing About Yoga on Substack

📲 Follow Us
Podcast: @thefunnythingaboutyoga
School: @cayayogaschool
Hosts: @gianagambino & @bradshawwish

🌐 More Links
gianayoga.com
bradshawwishyoga.com
cayayogaschool.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on The Funny Thing About Yoga, we start with a little life update: Bradshaw's healing journey, summer finally arriving, daily dog walks, Giana navigating late-stage pregnancy while caring for a dog with kidney disease, Joe experiencing a bit of sympathy pregnancy himself, and, as usual, plenty of tangents along the way.

Then we dive into this week's topic: Why do we all think something is wrong with our bodies?

From body image to health and wellness, it can feel like there's always something to fix. Everywhere we look, we're being told there's a better version of ourselves waiting to be unlocked: healthier, cleaner, more optimized, more attractive, more productive. Social media feeds us endless symptom checklists, diagnoses, protocols, supplements, cosmetic procedures, and before-and-after transformations, while algorithms continually reinforce the fears and insecurities we engage with most.

We reflect on the messaging we grew up with as millennials, including the magazines, television, diet culture, and beauty standards of the early 2000s, and ask whether things are actually worse today. While some of those messages have evolved, we now carry an endless stream of information in our pockets, making it easier than ever to compare, analyze, diagnose, and criticize ourselves.

In this conversation, we unpack the complicated relationship between body image, health, self-improvement, and self-acceptance. We explore how social media shapes the way we view both our appearance and our health, why so many of us have become amateur detectives of our own bodies, and how both the healthcare system and wellness industry can leave people feeling like they're constantly searching for answers or deficiencies.

We also discuss how these pressures affect men, how body image shows up within the queer community, particularly among gay men, and the role yoga teachers can play in helping people develop healthier, more compassionate relationships with their bodies.

A thoughtful, honest conversation about wellness, self-acceptance, mental health, and learning to question the idea that we are always a problem waiting to be fixed.

Want to support our podcast? Join our Patreon for extra content

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🌊 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 Us
Podcast: @thefunnythingaboutyoga
School: @cayayogaschool
Hosts: @gianagambino & @bradshawwish

🌐 More Links
gianayoga.com
bradshawwishyoga.com
cayayogaschool.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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: @KATHRYNBUDIG
SUBSTACK: 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 Us
Podcast: @thefunnythingaboutyoga
School: @cayayogaschool
Hosts: @gianagambino & @bradshawwish

🌐 More Links
gianayoga.com
bradshawwishyoga.com
cayayogaschool.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 @movewithchhavi
Website 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 Us
Podcast: @thefunnythingaboutyoga
School: @cayayogaschool
Hosts: @gianagambino & @bradshawwish

🌐 More Links
gianayoga.com
bradshawwishyoga.com
cayayogaschool.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.