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Hi, my name is Ava and I’m delighted to offer you “Functional Spirituality”, a free resource of talks, trainings and guided meditations. I use an academic approach to invite critical thinking into energetic, mystical and heart-based practices. Spirituality has a history of disempowering the individual and worshiping the guru or priest, without question. In this podcast, I aim to reduce the dogma that has rendered so many schools and practices ineffective - (and strange AF) - and to elevate the conversation around spirituality. I want to EMPOWER the meditator and yogi, to place the power back in our hands, to live directly from our own experience. I hope you enjoy! For Q&A questions, topic suggestions email Ava at functionalspiritualityretreat@gmail.com Visit www.functionalspirituality.com Follow us @FunctionalSpirituality or @avairani_ and our Yoga Studio at @spandaschool
Episodes
Monday Feb 09, 2026
Monday Feb 09, 2026
Relax and let Ava softly guide you into a felt sense of love, safety, and ease within your body. Through slow, steady breaths, you are invited to soften, open the heart, and reconnect with the body as a place of warmth and belonging.
This is a nourishing self love meditation with music that supports nervous system settling, embodiment, and gentle integration. A space to rest, receive, and meet your body with kindness, pleasure, and care.
Allow each breath to bring you closer to peace, presence, and a deeper relationship with your inner space.
If you enjoy this audio you can save the link somewhere in your phone, or make a playlist for it so you have access to this practice with one click.
Increasing accessibility to functional healing + non-dual spiritual oneness:
www.functionalspirituality.com
Free resources:
A monthly update for me on new offers and the energy of the month.
Join the Functional Spirituality Group and enjoy a free resource for meditators and yogis to connect to and enjoy a like-minded community.
Free training - 3 part method of Functional Spirituality:
Learn the clear, practical framework for deep healing, emotional regulation, and spiritual integration.
Connect on Socials
Where you can hear from us in daily life
Personal account & Functional Spirituality: @functionalspirituality
Studio: @spandaschool
Lavandula Botanicals: @lavandula.botanicals
Wednesday Feb 04, 2026
Wednesday Feb 04, 2026
In this conversational episode, Emma and Ava explore what it really means to “drop in” before any meaningful work, practice, or conversation. They unpack how embodiment shifts us from surface-level survival mode into deeper presence, clarity, and connection. Ava shares the moment she knew silent retreats would be her life’s work, and how her teaching evolved over time, from transcendence-focused awakening practices toward a more balanced approach that includes nervous system education, trauma awareness, and functional integration.
Together, they speak candidly about burnout, the dangers of “spiritual perfection” promises, and why some tools help in one season of life but fall short in another.
The episode also highlights the power of community and emotional safety, how being with others in a regulated, intentional space can create profound healing and belonging.
Chapter markers:
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The “drop in” and why it changes everything [00:00]
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How Ava knew silent retreats were her path [00:10]
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Awakening practices vs nervous system healing [00:18]
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Burnout: what happened and what it taught her [00:27]
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The “spiritual perfection” trap and one-size-fits-all promises [00:38]
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Is Ava “channeling,” or is it skill + environment + group energy? [00:52]
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Community, emotional safety, and why “sangha” matters [01:03]
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Yin vs yang in business and living in regenerative mode [01:14]
Increasing accessibility to functional healing + non-dual spiritual oneness:
www.functionalspirituality.com
Free resources:
Newsletter sign-up:
A monthly update for me on new offers and the energy of the month.
Community meditation:
Join the Functional Spirituality Group and enjoy a free resource for meditators and yogis to connect to and enjoy a like-minded community.
Free training - 3 part method of Functional Spirituality:
Learn the clear, practical framework for deep healing, emotional regulation, and spiritual integration.
Connect on Socials
Where you can hear from us in daily life
Personal account & Functional Spirituality: @functionalspirituality
Studio: @spandaschool
Lavandula Botanicals: @lavandula.botanicals
Monday Feb 02, 2026
Monday Feb 02, 2026
In this guided meditation, Ava invites you to slow down, feel into the body, and let effort soften.
As the nervous system unwinds, space opens for a grounded sense of joy, appreciation and connection to emerge on its own.
If you enjoy this audio you can save the link somewhere in your phone, or make a playlist for it so you have access to this practice with one click.
Increasing accessibility to functional healing + non-dual spiritual oneness:
www.functionalspirituality.com
Free resources:
A monthly update for me on new offers and the energy of the month.
Join the Functional Spirituality Group and enjoy a free resource for meditators and yogis to connect to and enjoy a like-minded community.
Free training - 3 part method of Functional Spirituality:
Learn the clear, practical framework for deep healing, emotional regulation, and spiritual integration.
Connect on Socials
Where you can hear from us in daily life
Personal account & Functional Spirituality: @functionalspirituality
Studio: @spandaschool
Lavandula Botanicals: @lavandula.botanicals
Wednesday Jan 28, 2026
Wednesday Jan 28, 2026
Many people think healing means fixing themselves, but real change often begins when a “protector” part finally feels met.
In this episode, Ava shares a personal IFS (Internal Family Systems) breakthrough from a retreat in India: instead of feeling guilt about time away from family, an old survival pattern surfaced: pressure, urgency, and the fear of falling behind. Through the lens of IFS, she explores how protectors work to keep deeper pain out of awareness, and how healing happens through contact, attunement, and relationship rather than force or self-improvement.
If you’re navigating anxiety, overdoing, or inner pressure, this conversation offers a grounded way to understand what’s happening inside and a compassionate pathway toward more space, safety, and inner freedom.
Listen in and share how this lands for you. Whether it resonates or challenges you, reflections are welcome.
Chapter markers:
- 00:00 Introduction to healing and inner freedom
- 09:00 IFS overview: protector parts, exiles, and the shift from fixing to meeting
- 14:30 “Healing is contact” attunement, nervous system resourcing, and compassion
- 22:00 What changes when the protector softens
Increasing accessibility to functional healing + non-dual spiritual oneness:
www.functionalspirituality.com
Free resources:
A monthly update for me on new offers and the energy of the month.
Join the Functional Spirituality Group and enjoy a free resource for meditators and yogis to connect to and enjoy a like-minded community.
Free training - 3 part method of Functional Spirituality:
Learn the clear, practical framework for deep healing, emotional regulation, and spiritual integration.
Connect on Socials
Where you can hear from us in daily life
Personal account & Functional Spirituality: @functionalspirituality
Studio: @spandaschool
Lavandula Botanicals: @lavandula.botanicals
Monday Jan 26, 2026
Monday Jan 26, 2026
This is a gentle guided meditation to support grounding, softening, and inner clarity.
Through a slow body scan, breath, and loving inner attention, Ava guides you to empty accumulated tension and reconnect with your inner space. This practice supports nervous system regulation and integration, allowing presence and ease to arise naturally.
A guided meditation with music. Ideal for mornings or moments when you want to return to yourself.
If you enjoy this audio you can save the link somewhere in your phone, or make a playlist for it so you have access to this practice with one click.
Increasing accessibility to functional healing + non-dual spiritual oneness:
www.functionalspirituality.com
Free resources:
A monthly update for me on new offers and the energy of the month.
Join the Functional Spirituality Group and enjoy a free resource for meditators and yogis to connect to and enjoy a like-minded community.
Free training - 3 part method of Functional Spirituality:
Learn the clear, practical framework for deep healing, emotional regulation, and spiritual integration.
Connect on Socials
Where you can hear from us in daily life
Personal account & Functional Spirituality: @functionalspirituality
Studio: @spandaschool
Lavandula Botanicals: @lavandula.botanicals
Monday Jan 19, 2026
Monday Jan 19, 2026
Take some time today to replenish yourself.
Amidst the chaos on the surface of the planet, in our thoughts, emotions, and body, we often meet life with subtle resistance. Beneath this effort, there is a deep stillness that remains untouched.
This guided meditation invites you to soften inner resistance and gently meet the moment as it is. Ground yourself in the quiet space of the Heart, where presence, safety, and ease naturally reside.
If you enjoy this audio you can save the link somewhere in your phone, or make a playlist for it so you have access to this practice with one click.
Increasing accessibility to functional healing + non-dual spiritual oneness:
www.functionalspirituality.com
Free resources:
A monthly update for me on new offers and the energy of the month.
Join the Functional Spirituality Group and enjoy a free resource for meditators and yogis to connect to and enjoy a like-minded community.
Free training - 3 part method of Functional Spirituality:
Learn the clear, practical framework for deep healing, emotional regulation, and spiritual integration.
Connect on Socials
Where you can hear from us in daily life
Personal account & Functional Spirituality: @functionalspirituality
Studio: @spandaschool
Lavandula Botanicals: @lavandula.botanicals
Monday Jan 12, 2026
Monday Jan 12, 2026
This guided awakening meditation draws on Hridaya meditation and the self enquiry teachings of Ramana Maharshi.
Through gentle heart based attention and simple enquiry, awareness is invited to turn back toward its source, allowing thoughts and identities to soften naturally.
This is an embodied, nervous system led approach to awakening that supports integration, safety, and lived clarity rather than striving or peak experiences.
An invitation to rest as what you already are, and to let awakening unfold in a grounded, sustainable way.
If you enjoy this audio you can save the link somewhere in your phone, or make a playlist for it so you have access to this practice with one click.
Increasing accessibility to functional healing + non-dual spiritual oneness:
www.functionalspirituality.com
Free resources:
A monthly update for me on new offers and the energy of the month.
Join the Functional Spirituality Group and enjoy a free resource for meditators and yogis to connect to and enjoy a like-minded community.
Free training - 3 part method of Functional Spirituality:
Learn the clear, practical framework for deep healing, emotional regulation, and spiritual integration.
Connect on Socials
Where you can hear from us in daily life
Personal account & Functional Spirituality: @functionalspirituality
Studio: @spandaschool
Lavandula Botanicals: @lavandula.botanicals
Wednesday Dec 10, 2025
Wednesday Dec 10, 2025
So many people step into a yoga class expecting an ancient practice, yet most modern vinyasa is actually a recent aesthetic invention.
In this episode, Ava unpacks the toxic patterns shaping the modern yoga industry, why students often hand their authority over without realising it, and what a body led, trauma-informed practice looks and feels like in comparison.
If you love yoga, teach yoga, or care about spiritual integrity, this conversation offers clarity, context and a deeper understanding of what you are truly practicing.
Listen in and share how this information lands for you. Whether you agree or disagree, we welcome your reflections.
Relevant links:
Podcast episode: 4 stages of spiritual seeking
Functional Flow Yoga Teacher Training
Chapter markers:
00:00 Introduction to the topic
01:43 Setting the context for this conversation
07:00 Why Ava is positioned to speak on these topics
12:10 What modern vinyasa actually is and the goals behind it
15:44 The core issues within this style of practice
20:45 A body led, trauma-informed approach compared with the medicalised yoga model
26:16 The origins of Hatha Yoga and a summary of key points
30:50 Invitation to share your thoughts
Increasing accessibility to functional healing + non-dual spiritual oneness:
www.functionalspirituality.com
Free resources:
A monthly update for me on new offers and the energy of the month.
Join the Functional Spirituality Group and enjoy a free resource for meditators and yogis to connect to and enjoy a like-minded community.
Free training - 3 part method of Functional Spirituality:
Learn the clear, practical framework for deep healing, emotional regulation, and spiritual integration.
Connect on Socials
Where you can hear from us in daily life
Personal account & Functional Spirituality: @functionalspirituality
Studio: @spandaschool
Lavandula Botanicals: @lavandula.botanicals
Tuesday Nov 18, 2025
Tuesday Nov 18, 2025
Have you ever felt something is “off” in the coaching or wellness industry? In this episode, Ava unpacks the invisible pyramid shaping these spaces and why so many of us feel uneasy inside them. We explore skill bypassing, surface culture, cognitive dissonance and what real integrity looks like in practice.
A grounded, necessary conversation for anyone devoted to integrity, embodiment and real service.
Chapter markers
00:00 Introduction
02:17 The invisible pyramid
03:37 Bypassing the skill
05:06 Marketing mechanisms
06:40 The surface culture
07:51 Responsibility at the top
11:20 Cognitive dissonance
14:25 A way forward
19:30 Slower businesses, bigger impact
22:00 Integrity
Increasing accessibility to functional healing + non-dual spiritual oneness:
www.functionalspirituality.com
Free resources:
A monthly update for me on new offers and the energy of the month.
Join the Functional Spirituality Group and enjoy a free resource for meditators and yogis to connect to and enjoy a like-minded community.
Free training - 3 part method of Functional Spirituality:
Learn the clear, practical framework for deep healing, emotional regulation, and spiritual integration.
Connect on Socials
Where you can hear from us in daily life
Personal account & Functional Spirituality: @functionalspirituality
Studio: @spandaschool
Lavandula Botanicals: @lavandula.botanicals
Monday Oct 20, 2025
Monday Oct 20, 2025
In this episode, Ava explores the term privilege: how it’s been shaped, stretched, and sometimes misunderstood in today’s world.
With honesty and depth, she opens a compassionate conversation about how we can move toward greater understanding, healing, and collective repair.
We’d love to hear what this topic stirs or awakens in you!
Chapter markers:
00:00 – Introduction to the topic
02:42 – Why is privilege a non-sense term
03:50 - Privilege vs advantage
09:00 – Healing, repair, growth and dismantling unhealthy systems
12:09 - Functionality and intention
14:30 - Approaches that do not include you feeling shame, blame and guilt
16:55 - Recap
Increasing accessibility to functional healing + non-dual spiritual oneness:
www.functionalspirituality.com
Free resources:
A monthly update for me on new offers and the energy of the month.
Join the Functional Spirituality Group and enjoy a free resource for meditators and yogis to connect to and enjoy a like-minded community.
Free training - 3 part method of Functional Spirituality:
Learn the clear, practical framework for deep healing, emotional regulation, and spiritual integration.
Connect on Socials
Where you can hear from us in daily life
Personal account & Functional Spirituality: @functionalspirituality
Studio: @spandaschool
Lavandula Botanicals: @lavandula.botanicals