From Opera to Om: Matthew Shaw on Mental Health, Reinvention, and the Power of Retreats

Yogaland Podcast

Andrea Ferretti

Health & Fitness, Yoga, Yogaland

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week my guest is Philadelphia-based yoga teacher, Matthew Shaw. Matthew joined the Jason Crandell Yoga Method team as our Lead Teacher Training Mentor this year and has been a longtime student of Jason's.

What I didn't know until a few weeks ago is that Matthew spent 20 years in a previous life as a successful opera singer, performing on major stages across Europe—including Germany, Austria, and Hungary.

In this conversation, Matthew shares how, in the second half of his career, just as he was really taking off, anxiety and depression decided to tag along. He talks openly about imposter syndrome, how he found solace through yoga and Western meds (you know I love my meds so I'm here for it!) and how his whole journey lead him to where he is today.

We spend the second half of the conversation focused on retreats, why they are so vital, and how he creates intentional, supportive spaces for his students to both adventure and reset.

We talk about:

Why success didn’t solve his self-doubt—in fact, it made it worse
The cultural pressures of perfectionism in classical performance
His transition to becoming a yoga teacher and community builder
The joy he finds leading yoga retreats around the world

Why retreats offer so much more than a temporary escape—and how they can ripple outward to impact our daily lives

You can find shownotes here: yogalandpodcast.com/episode362

We've got two YTT events coming up! Module II of Jason's 300-hour begins August 20th. You can get all of the details and join us here: jasonyoga.com/300

And if you are considering becoming a yoga teacher, join our 200-hour waitlist! I will send you details and interesting content as well as details about the training. Get all the info here: jasonyoga.com/200

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, I'm Andrea Ferretti and this is Yoga Land.
0:11.7	Before I get started with today's interview, I want to just mention a few upcoming events with Jason.
0:18.7	So module two of his 300- training begins August 20th, and the focus for
0:26.0	module two is spine and core. So you may or may not know that Jason's 300 hour training is split
0:33.4	into three different modules. You can take them in any order. You can take them in any time frame,
0:40.4	so you don't have to finish all three modules in a year. We purposely design the program to be
0:47.6	really flexible in this way so that you can take the modules as they fit into your life and into your schedule.
0:55.6	The other thing I remember about module two is that this is a heavy patangoli module. So if you're
1:01.6	interested in philosophy, this is one for you as well. You can get more information about Jason's
1:07.7	300 hour training and you can register atasonyoga.com slash 300.
1:14.4	We've also started a wait list for the 200-hour training, which is happening again next January
1:22.4	26, which might sound really far away, but it is less far away than you think.
1:27.6	We're opening early bird enrollment for that September 1st of this year.
1:32.9	And we've got lots of information about that program online.
1:37.2	You can get the syllabus.
1:40.4	You can get all of the dates and details for the live calls. And you can join the waitlist at jasonjoga.com slash 200.
1:49.5	Today I have such a special interview for you with a special yoga teacher.
1:55.3	His name is Matthew Shaw.
1:56.7	A lot of you know Matthew, especially if you have done the 300 hour.
2:02.0	He did his 300 hour training with Jason.
2:04.9	And now he works with us as our lead teacher training mentor.
2:11.1	So he helps mentor the mentors.
	...

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