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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
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
Thursday Oct 09, 2025
Thursday Oct 09, 2025
In this episode, Ava explores a listener’s question: “How do I deal with the terrifying fear of a loved one dying?”
Moments of birth and death often stir deep reflections about our own mortality. This conversation offers insight and comfort for anyone who is grieving a loss or living in fear of losing someone they love.
A gentle exploration of loss, death, and the path toward meeting them with greater awareness, compassion, and freedom from unnecessary fear and suffering.
Chapter markers:
00:00 – Introduction to the topic and update about Honey
04:30 – The power of death and how it pulls on fear and love
05:30 – What we need to accept: coming to terms with life and death
07:12 – How modern life distracts us from our mortality
08:42 – Grief as a reflection of love
09:58 – Key questions to ask yourself: grief vs. suffering
11:15 – Ava shares what she is learning to accept as Honey nears the end of her life
17:10 – What happens when we don’t fully allow ourselves to grieve
18:10 – Closing reflections and 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
Monday Sep 29, 2025
Monday Sep 29, 2025
Life constantly asks us to show up, give, and move forward. But to truly meet the world with fullness, we also need moments to return to ourselves. Without that inward pause, our energy scatters and we lose touch with balance, joy, and wellbeing.
This meditation is an invitation to slow down, hold yourself gently, and reconnect with your inner-strength.
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
Monday Sep 15, 2025
Monday Sep 15, 2025
In this episode, Ava opens up about some “real-life material” she’s currently moving through: a deep sadness rooted in an unmet childhood need. She shares her process honestly, in the hope that it may resonate with you and spark reflection on your own journey. We’d love to hear how this exploration touches you and the ways it shows up in your life.
Relevant links:
Guided meditations from Functional Spirituality
Chapter markers:
00:00 Introduction and update from Ava’s life
03:30 ‘I’m not good enough’
6:30 A deep need for connection that hasn’t been met
9:00 Achieving the sense of enoughness and worthiness
10:40 Integrating the sadness
11:30 Attuning to the unmet needs as adults
12:47 What to do now?
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