A Return to Center with MARIE RUSSEL

The moment you realize you’re off center can sting and not because you drifted, but because you start judging yourself for drifting. I’m back after a few weeks away, and I wanted to record a short, honest reset about what the practice really looks like in real life: you tighten, you react, you lose the thread, and then you get to choose your way back.I talk about the familiar gap between awareness and action. We often know we’re not feeling clear, grounded, or in the flow, yet we still spiral into frustration. Drawing from yoga, mindfulness, and A Course in Miracles, I share the one question that keeps helping me unwind the inner knot: “Am I willing to see this differently?” It’s simple, but it creates space between a trigger and a reaction, between a shallow breath and a full one, between bracing in the body and softening into truth.We also zoom out to the bigger frame: perfection isn’t the goal. Returning is. Pain can be purification, and even the hard moments can be used for learning when we stop lingering in them and start meeting them with willingness. I share practical ways to return throughout the day, including breath, journaling, and support tools from the ARC program built around the 365 lessons of A Course in Miracles.If you’re ready to come back to center with more speed and more kindness, listen now, share it with a friend who’s been stuck in a cycle, and leave a review so more people can find the practice.

The words “I am very holy” can feel like a comfort… or like a dare. It really depends on what life has asked you to walk through.In this episode, I share a grounded and very personal reflection on A Course in Miracles Lesson 35, and why this line can feel hardest to believe right after heartbreak, public doubt, messy relationships, or those quieter moments when we begin to lose trust in ourselves.If your sparkle has dimmed a little… or if you’ve found yourself hesitating to be seen again… this conversation is meant to meet you right there.We talk about what happens when “feedback” starts to feel like critique disguised as love, and how projection can quietly move through a community or friendship until you begin believing a story about yourself that was never yours to carry.I also explore the connection between the way we see ourselves and the environments we unconsciously create around us. Sometimes we find ourselves drawn into dynamics that both lift us up and slowly cut us down at the same time.And woven through all of it is the reality of practice. I share honestly about what happens when I drift away from my anchors, whether it’s Ashtanga Yoga or ACIM. When I step away, I spiral. And when I return, I remember what is actually true.You’ll also hear a potent, very practical way to work with Lesson 35 in daily life.Scan your mind for the labels you’re wearing today.Maybe it’s failing, imposed on, depressed, victorious.Then gently add the correction:“But my mind is a part of God. I am very holy.”It’s simple.It can be confronting.And strangely, it can also feel like a deep exhale.A quiet practice of mindfulness and forgiveness you can bring into the middle of real life.If this episode helps you breathe a little easier, please subscribe, share it with someone you love, and leave a review so more people can find their way back to center.

Ever notice how the smallest acts—drinking water, taking a breath, choosing a softer thought—are the first ones we resist when we most need them?In this episode, we explore the quiet mechanics of resistance and the deeper resilience that forms when we stop fighting our own becoming.Instead of pushing harder, we look at what happens when we bring fear, judgment, and attack thoughts into the light—and allow willingness to do the real work.We trace how growth often starts in the dark: seeds splitting underground, identities shedding on the way to something truer. Drawing from A Course in Miracles, we unpack the chain of change—thought to feeling to behavior—and why any real shift begins with mindset. We talk about tapas, the yogic burn that refines us, and how dissolving shame reveals a deeper innocence the divine never stops seeing. Along the way, I share the story of how I began teaching yoga, and why reflecting the light already present in others has become the most honest work I know.You’ll also hear about ARC, Return to Center, a practical, human-scale platform designed to help you take the dark to the light in minutes, not months. Think simple tools, gentle daily prompts, and intimate community spaces where we can actually practice. And because stories teach, we look at a Ted Lasso moment where service pulls a reluctant heart back to the pitch, reminding us that purpose lives where we stand with others, not apart from them. By the end, you’ll have a handful of ways to reframe fear, release attack thoughts, and return to center—again and again—until resilience feels less like armor and more like trust.If this resonates, follow along, share it with a friend who needs a lift, and leave a quick review so others can find the show. Your reflections shape what we explore next.

What if happiness isn’t a goal but our natural baseline waiting beneath the noise? We open the door to that quieter center by looking at desire as a compass—what we truly want to feel—and then practicing small, practical shifts that bring peace into ordinary moments. Through A Course in Miracles and embodied tools from yoga, we explore how to soften the inner critic, listen to the inner teacher, and invite miracles, defined simply as shifts in perception.I share how the lesson these thoughts don’t mean anything becomes a lifeline when anxious loops try to run the day. We walk through a clear arc—awareness first, healing second—and name willingness as the subtle muscle that changes everything. Instead of demanding instant calm, willingness says I’m open to a kinder view, and that tiny opening lets love do its work. We talk about how contraction in the body signals misalignment, and how simple choices—one honest breath, grounding attention, a small movement practice—restore safety to the nervous system so the mind can soften.You’ll also hear why integration beats self-eraser mode. The inner critic once kept us safe; we thank it and invite it to rest, turning resistance into resource. Nature offers the model: seeds unfold without self-doubt. When we remove barriers to love’s presence, our coding for joy, clarity, and contribution begins to lead. From parenting moments to creative work, real-life stories show how gentle shifts bring surprising ease, more fun, and a steadier trust in guidance that’s already within.If you’re craving less reactivity and more calm, this conversation is your map back to center—clear, compassionate, and immediately usable. Listen, breathe, and practice the next right kindness toward yourself. If it resonates, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so others can find their way back to love too.

When the inner critic gets loud, most of us double down on control, comparison, and self-judgment. We tried a different way: letting all things be exactly as they are, even for a breath, and watching how quickly clarity returns. From the yoga mat to the checkout line, we unpack the “not good enough” loop and offer practical tools rooted in A Course in Miracles and Ashtanga Yoga to bring you back to center.We start by naming the critical mind for what it is: a habit of thought, not a verdict on your worth. Then we lean into a simple practice from the Course—these thoughts do not mean anything—to create space in the middle of reactivity. In that space, cause and effect becomes clean feedback rather than punishment, helping us course-correct without shame. We talk about life as specialized curriculum, equanimity as a skill you build rep by rep, and why contrast can be a teacher that points us toward what we truly want: peace, freedom, and steady joy.The heart of our conversation is innocence. Not denial, but the original wholeness that fear can’t touch. We explore what it means to choose love over fear in real time, how to lay judgments on the altar so they can be altered, and why forgiveness is a strategy for freedom, not a favor. You’ll leave with a short prayer for daily practice, micro-habits to pause and reset, and a fresh lens for your relationships that honors your worth and the worth of others.If this met you where you are, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs a gentle reminder today. Your support helps us keep making space for the quiet truth beneath the noise: only love is real.https://www.itsyoga.com/

What if the most radical move right now is not to power through, but to come home? In this episode, we (me + my inner teacher) return to the mic with a clear, tender, and unsparing look at spiritual bypass, the long shadow of 2020, and the courage it takes to rebuild from love instead of fear. After stepping back from teaching, trainings, and the public eye, I explore the terrain from free fall to a steadier ground and name the idea that changed everything: an aspect of us never left. That is the center we can trust.And this is A Return to Center.We walk through the difference between performance and practice, why “only love is real” isn’t a slogan but a daily discipline, and how thoughts become things when left unexamined. Drawing from Ashtanga Yoga and A Course in Miracles, we unpack core teachings—like “this is a required course” and “I don’t have anything that you don’t have; I just don’t have anything else”—to show how self-realization is less about adding and more about subtracting what blocks the signal. Along the way, we honor mentors who brought rigor to the work and share the messy truth of relationships, career shifts, and identity resets when forms change but essence remains.You’ll hear a practical framework for discerning love from fear, tools to slow down and choose again, and an invitation to train attention until clarity becomes default. Think of this as a compassionate reset: original intelligence over noise, presence over projection, integration over inspiration alone. If you’re craving grounded spirituality, daily practices, and a path that welcomes grief and grace with equal honesty, this conversation is a homecoming.Subscribe, share with a friend who’s ready for A Return to Center, and leave a review with one choice you’re making from love this week.

Start with the quiet truth: strategy can’t fix what fear is running. We open with Danielle Laporte naming meditation as her most powerful business move, not because it’s trendy but because clarity makes better choices inevitable. From there, we trace a path from performance to presence, where daily practice cleans up the inner noise so love can do the heavy lifting.We swap origin stories about discovering A Course in Miracles and how the teachings move from confusing to catalytic. Only love is real becomes more than a quote when it meets real life—kids, deadlines, and a world on edge. We talk about forgiveness as a practical technology: a correction, not a punishment; a release, not submission. You’ll hear how to forgive while holding firm boundaries, why “vigilance in thought” matters, and how willingness alone can tip you back into alignment. Danielle shares her weekly atonement ritual, Marie walks through a five-day forgiveness flow, and together we map the terrain where healing starts to feel inevitable.We don’t dodge hard topics. Danielle speaks plainly about human trafficking, algorithmic suppression, and the cultural upheaval bringing hidden harm to light. The invitation is to look with courage, act with compassion, and protect children without fueling division. We explore energetic hygiene—late-night scrolling, cravings, and the subtle ways we get hijacked—and swap grounded tools for staying clear: meditation, breath, clean food, rest, and relentless choosing of light. Marie shares her radical healing journey with cancer as a lesson in devotion and discernment, offering an embodied example of trust and consistency.If you’re craving a conversation that is tender, unflinching, and immediately useful, this one will meet you where you are. Come for practical spirituality, stay for the relief that forgiveness brings, and leave with a handful of practices you can start today. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a review to help more hearts find their way here.

What if the fastest route to spiritual alignment runs straight through your relationship with your parents? We go there with honesty and care—naming resentments, reframing old stories, and practicing forgiveness not as a pass but as a path back to power. Instead of debating who was right, we focus on the only leverage that changes our life today: perception. That’s the heartbeat of Yoga Off the Mat and the core of A Course in Miracles—shifting from fear to love so the past stops writing our present.We start by mapping a simple, courageous exercise: identify three specific resentments and ask the gateway question—am I willing to see this differently? Whether the answer is yes, no, or maybe, clarity becomes momentum. A yes invites a soul lesson to embody; a no reveals the hidden payoffs of staying stuck; a maybe illuminates the support you need to move forward. We explore how dropping expectations of our parents frees everyone, how equality transforms “special” relationships into holy ones, and how honoring mother and father is really a code for honoring truth in all directions.Along the way, we unpack why thought creates form, why pounding on the screen never changes the movie, and how to use the mind properly with practical tools: awareness cues, journaling prompts, breath-led resets, and compassionate inquiry. You’ll hear how responsibility replaces victimhood without denying harm, how inner-child care repairs safety from the inside out, and why seeing your parents as saints-in-progress can reveal the same spark in you. The result is lightness—less reactivity, more presence, and a clear channel for guidance that wants your joy.If this conversation moves you, share it with someone who needs relief from old family loops. Subscribe, leave a review, and drop your “yes, no, or maybe” in the comments—what are you willing to see differently today?

What happens when we stop averting our eyes and decide to meet the dark with a grounded, loving spine? That question became impossible to ignore after a weekend that left me rattled by headlines, cultural narratives, and the quiet ways fear seeps into our habits. I turned to two anchors—yoga philosophy and A Course in Miracles—and followed them to an uncomfortable, liberating place: look directly at what hurts, withdraw your consent from it, and move your life in the direction of love with conviction.We unpack the difference between spiritual bypassing and spiritual bravery, and why “love always wins” doesn’t mean pretending villains don’t exist. I share how I talk to my kids about scary stories without feeding fear, and how we as adults can do the same for our own nervous systems. We explore media hygiene, cultural reward systems that platform darkness, and the practical power of discernment. Then we get specific: breath patterns to regulate stress, short daily rituals that build clarity, and simple choices that turn your attention, money, and time into votes for the world you want.This conversation is for heart-led people who refuse to be naïve or numb. If you’ve felt the weight of isolation, outrage, or confusion, you’ll find tools to create “six feet of light” around you—steadiness that doesn’t collapse under pressure. We talk agency over victimhood, saying no with love, and supporting creators and communities that lift consciousness. The silent war between fear and love plays out close to home: in what we watch, what we celebrate, how we speak, and how we serve. Let’s choose with care, practice with consistency, and make our presence useful.If this resonated, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a quick rating or comment. Your support helps this light reach the people who are ready to carry it forward.

What happens when spiritual service meets the very real cost of doing the work? We go straight at the tension between worthiness, pricing, and integrity, using a Facebook post that sparked judgment as our doorway into a deeper practice. Along the way, we unpack how scarcity hides under the mask of compassion, why victimhood and entitlement are two sides of the same coin, and how receiving can be a courageous act that keeps communities resourced.I share the unglamorous realities behind “free” offerings—studio rent, mics, childcare, editing—and why valuing peace, presence, and transformation means funding them. We explore practical discernment: invest where you feel loved and supported; withdraw from containers that are aloof, withholding, or unkind. If money is permission and power, then where we spend becomes culture-making. That’s how we move from judgment to agency and from burnout to sustainable service.We also get personal about healing money shame. Charging isn’t a betrayal of love; it’s what allows love to keep showing up. When we receive well, we can offer sliding scales, scholarships, and robust free resources without hollowing ourselves out. Using touchstones from yoga philosophy and A Course in Miracles, we frame miracles as shifts in perception: from not enough to sufficiency, from isolation to circulation, from fear to trust.If you’re a teacher, healer, or seeker wrestling with “How dare I charge?” or “Why does this trigger me?”, this conversation offers grounded tools and a compassionate mirror. Come for the stories; stay for the reframe that helps you align your values, your prices, and your impact.If this resonated, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs this reframe, and leave a review so more listeners can find us. Then tell us: what belief about worth or money are you ready to release?

What changes when we stop avoiding the dark and decide to look—calmly, clearly, and with love? We open this conversation with shaky news and heavy feelings, then move toward grounded practices that help us keep our eyes open without losing our center. Drawing on yoga philosophy and ideas from A Course in Miracles, we explore how avoidance quietly empowers fear, and how attention infused with love withdraws our consent and restores agency.We talk about teaching kids that love still wins while telling the truth about villains, violence, and complexity. From there, we widen the lens: how media, awards, and cultural incentives shape our minds; why training attention matters; and how to choose inputs that elevate rather than drain. Practical tools show up throughout—meditation, breathwork, compassionate boundaries, and small daily choices that build a stable field of calm around you. Six feet of light is our shorthand for presence you can feel: less judgment, more rest, clearer speech, and steady action.We also tackle the big questions that keep surfacing: if abundance exists, why does scarcity persist? How do we move from victimhood to conviction without becoming cynical? Our answer is simple, if not easy—align what you consume, fund, and celebrate with the world you want. Invest in teachers and trainings that expand awareness. Withdraw attention from content that glamorizes harm. Support music, art, and stories that nourish the psyche. The silent war between fear and love is not won with slogans; it’s won with disciplined hearts and everyday bravery.If this conversation stirred something—hope, anger, clarity—lean in. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who needs steadiness today, and leave a quick rating or comment to help more people find this work. Your voice helps the light carry.

In a world that feels overwhelmed with problems—global health crises, economic instability, shifting education systems, uncertainty about the future—it’s easy to believe we’re drowning in complexity. But what if, beneath all the noise, we truly have only one problem?In this episode, we explore a radically different way of approaching today’s challenges: through the remembrance that we are connected to the Divine. That the same intelligence that orchestrates the Universe—making flowers bloom and palm trees emerge from coconuts—is available to guide us through every difficulty.Nature knows what to do. The Universe knows what to do.Our suffering comes from thinking we don’t know enough, aren’t lovable enough, or aren’t good enough.This is the illusion we are here to heal.We are children of God—extensions of Love, created by a magnificent and loving intelligence. When we fall into the belief that we are anything less, we slip into a kind of spiritual insanity. But when we return to our true identity, we gain access to the clarity and wisdom needed to approach any problem in our lives.This episode invites you back into that remembrance.Back into connection.Back into sanity.Back into Love.Prepare to ask yourself the questions that matter most:Who am I?Where did I come from?Where am I going?Can I see myself as God created me?Join us for a conversation that reframes fear, dissolves illusion, and realigns you with the intelligence that heals, guides, and transforms.

In this intimate and insightful episode, we explore how our inner energies shape the way we show up in our closest relationships. The conversation begins with a moment of unexpected acknowledgment—a new friend noticing the radiant harmony between Marie and her husband. Their dynamic, she observed, carries a higher frequency, one grounded in mutual respect and a deep honoring of the divine masculine and feminine.Drawing from A Course in Miracles, we explore the idea that everything in life is a relationship—including our relationship with our own internal energies. Each of us carries a blend of feminine, masculine, and child energy, and the way we relate to these inner parts influences how they express themselves.When masculine energy is unbalanced, it can show up as anger or aggression. When feminine energy loses authenticity, it may appear heavy or withdrawn. And when child energy is out of alignment, overwhelm and anxiety take over. Yet when these energies are true and aligned—supported by spiritual grounding—they can express as clarity, compassion, playfulness, curiosity, and vitality.Our work, then, is to value, honor, and harmonize our inner family. To create space each week for these energies to breathe and express. And to learn how this inner harmony becomes the foundation for healthier, more connected intimate relationships.How do we bring this wisdom into our partnerships? How do we honor our partner’s masculine and feminine—encouraging expression, not constriction? How do we trust each other’s energy enough to drop our defenses and show up emotionally naked?In today’s episode, I share personal stories, practical tools, and spiritual insights to help you step into deeper intimacy, vulnerability, and authenticity. Together, we explore how to move beyond fear and into a relationship dynamic where both people feel grounded, passionate, playful, and fully themselves.

The Deeper We Go, The Lighter We Get: Love Lessons from Cancer (Part 2)In this powerful continuation of Love Lessons from Cancer, we explore what it truly means to heal from the inside out. Cancer is an intensely personal journey, and while no one can walk it for us, we can love each other through it. In this episode, we dive into the inner work that transformed a diagnosis into a doorway—one that opened toward mental, emotional, and spiritual healing.Meditation became the strongest form of medicine: a daily practice of surrendering the analytic mind, fear-based thinking, and limiting belief systems to a higher, healing intelligence. When the mind realigns with its natural state—light, spacious, connected—healing happens. We discuss the profound truth that our thoughts can create fear, pressure, and even disease… or they can create peace, clarity, and relief.This episode explores how the emotional burdens we carry—fear, guilt, judgment, resentment—place the body in a constant fight-or-flight state. When our children and coworkers become the “bears,” stress compounds and the body pays the price. Healing requires a new inner dialogue, a shift from the lower mind to the higher mind, from fear to faith, and from pressure to presence.You’ll hear reflections on commitment, surrender, and the deep belief that the universe always has our back. We look at what it means to live as four-dimensional beings—spirit first—because our relationship with the divine shapes every relationship we have on Earth.This episode is a reminder that the more we release what weighs us down, the lighter and healthier we become. It’s about clearing the mind, healing emotional wounds, and letting the body follow. It’s about becoming vibrant again by reconnecting to the inner light that never left.Highlights“Our role in this life is to realign to our higher minds where we have a choice.”The universe has your back—especially when fear appears.Emotional and spiritual healing as essential parts of remission.Understanding the power of the mind that was created by the same energy that holds the solar system in place.Seeing ourselves as four-dimensional beings: spirit, mind, body, breath.“God is always good with you—but if you aren’t good with God, relationships begin to strain.”How spiritual clarity can transform mental, emotional, and physical health.Lightening the emotional load so the body can heal and thrive.

Fear can calcify in the body—or it can become a doorway back to love. Marie opens up about her breast cancer journey and the surprising ways yoga philosophy, A Course in Miracles, and evidence-informed practices reshaped her choices, biology, and beliefs. From the shattering grief of losing Larry to the unexpected arrival of Daniel, she traces how unprocessed emotion and nonstop hustle hardened into a wake-up call in her right breast, the energetic “masculine” side. What followed was a radical commitment to inner guidance: noninvasive therapies, meditation, and daily habits that turned down stress chemistry and turned on healing.We unpack what it means to take darkness to light—naming anger, grief, and unworthiness and surrendering them for reinterpretation. Marie shares tangible steps that supported measurable change: high-dose vitamin C and oxygenating IVs, light and frequency work, and a food shift from keto to a fruit-forward, low-fat rhythm inspired by Medical Medium. She explains how pH balance, liver load, sleep, and nervous system regulation shaped her outcomes, and why epigenetics matters: you’re not a prisoner of your genes. Along the way, she challenges inherited “tribal” stories—comparison, superiority, gossip—that subtly divide us and strain our health.This is a candid, practical, and hopeful guide for anyone navigating illness, overwhelm, or old narratives that no longer fit. You’ll leave with language to meet fear without collapsing, tools to support your body’s chemistry, and a reframe of remission as re-mission: returning to purpose, presence, and service. If you’re ready to question the scripts that keep you small and try gentle, consistent practices that build trust in your body and life, this conversation will meet you where you are and walk with you forward.If this resonated, subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest reframe—what belief are you ready to lay down and what new one will you practice instead?

In this episode, we explore the unexpected turning points that happen not in a yoga pose, but in the space between our thoughts. Our story begins with a book—“A Course in Miracles.” The moment it appeared, there was an instant pull. Even without fully understanding the text, something deeper was happening. The words on the page seemed to work behind the scenes, rearranging inner patterns, shifting spiritual alignment, and touching a part of the psyche that analytic thinking couldn’t access.Encountering “A Course in Miracles” felt massive. It offered the kind of mental training that wasn’t about discipline or achievement but about real transformation. Around this same time, Dorothy’s teachings entered the picture, helping bridge what was happening on the yoga mat with what needed to happen everywhere else—the off-the-mat practice.As Larry often said, “You’re only on your mat for an hour and a half a day—if you’re lucky. What happens the rest of the time?”This question opened the door to a new way of practicing: not just applying bandhas in a pose but using breath and presence throughout the day. But trying to be mindful from a place of doing—checking boxes, trying to be good—quickly felt impossible. The real work needed to come from a place of being: being more loving, more open to changing the mind. And this is precisely the heart of “A Course in Miracles.”The book defines transformation simply: a miracle is a shift in perception. A change of mind. Miracles happen naturally when we’re aligned with love. And suddenly, here was an authoritative, uncompromising voice saying, “You are not upset for the reason you think you are.”That one sentence became a lifeline. Changing the mind—really changing it—was often harder than a handstand. From here, the conversation shifts to the heart of the episode:Who is your teacher when you step off the mat?Yoga teaches:Now is the time for yoga.Yoga is the stopping of how the mind turns.Then the seer rests in their true nature.Most of us spend the day listening to the wrong teacher—the inner critic. That voice evaluates, judges, compares, blames, and condemns. It tells us we’re not enough or others aren’t enough. It speaks the language of separation.But both yoga and “A Course in Miracles” point to a single problem: the belief that we are separate—from the divine, from our creator, from who we truly are. When the mind is spinning in its habitual patterns, we can’t see ourselves clearly. The problem isn’t out there—it’s in the way the mind turns.Over time, another voice begins to emerge: the inner teacher. It speaks softly, kindly, lovingly. For many, it’s a voice unfamiliar at first. But once we start listening, everything begins to shift.Putting this into practice becomes a kind of growing up. It requires taking radical responsibility for our own thoughts and emotions—no more blaming someone else for how we feel. This is where the real off-the-mat training begins. And it’s here that yoga and the Course intertwine in a profound way.Today’s episode is ultimately about that thread—the legacy of teachers like Dorothy and Larry, the bridge between movement and mindset, and the inner journey that unfolds long after we roll up the yoga mat. It’s a reminder that the most transformative practice isn’t always visible. It happens in the quiet spaces where we choose, again and again, to shift perception, return to love, and listen to the voice that gently leads us back to our true nature.

Greetings, I’m so glad you’re here. I’m your host, Marie Russel, and this is Yoga off the mat.In this podcast, I will explore how we can use the philosophy of Yoga & principles from A course in Miracles, to transcend some of the seemingly difficult poses, situations, relationships,  that we find ourselves in, off the mat.I’ll be sharing stories, tools, practices that I’ve learned, sometimes the hard way, in how live with a lot less fear, and a lot more love.It a practice in how to access all those easy breezy feelings we have in yoga classes, off your mat and in your life.It learning how to navigate the roads of life from a place of being Centered and Connected to the Divine.Essentially, its a practice in aligning to the You that you love to be with.So let’s start getting real.