Welcome to the Commune podcast. My name is Jeff Krasnow.

Today on the show, I welcome Elena Brower, yoga teacher, best-selling author, host of the Practice You podcast, and one of my oldest and dearest friends

from my New York days. Elena has taught yoga and meditation since 1999, and her first collection

of poetry, Soffening Time, was released in 2023. And in today's episode, she reads selections from this book. Inspired by her poems,

Elena and I reflect on the nature of love, the importance of getting quiet, the paths for

personal transformation, and the practice of Zen Buddhism. Elena touches on the importance of self-awareness, vulnerability, and how poetry can

serve as a potent vessel for complex emotions and truths.

So just a somewhat humorous side note, I was suffering from a particularly acute bout of insomnia

during the time of this podcast. And the night before the interview, I took a THC-based

tincture as a sleep aid. And apparently I didn't pay close enough attention to the dosage as I woke up still very

much feeling the effects. So thankfully, this was an interview focused on poetry and not the

Krebs cycle. Anyhow, if I seem a little loopy, there you have the provenance of it. Before we dive in,

if you're interested in courses on creativity and poetry, along with functional medicine, nutrition,

gut health, meditation, or Ayurveda, well, you can sign up for 14 days of free all access to

the commune course library.

That includes more than 130 courses on spiritual and physical health.

Just go to Onecommune.com slash trial.

And please support this podcast by subscribing and leaving a review on your favorite podcatcher.

It really makes a big difference.

Okay, without further delay, I present to you Elena Brower, my old friend.

Krasnow, how are you, darling?

I've come to talk to you again.

...