The metaphysical roots of healing often reveal themselves long before we have the language to name them. This conversation began in one of those quiet, unexpected moments, a time when pain became a messenger, alignment felt emotional as much as physical, and my body was speaking a truth I could no longer ignore. My injury forced a kind of listening I had avoided, and Daniel Castro was one of the teachers who helped illuminate what lived beneath the surface.

We’ve created a yin practice guided by Daniel that reflects the same principles held in this conversation. It’s a quiet space to land, to listen, and to let the body reveal what it’s been carrying.

Watch the full yin practice created by Open Heart here: https://youtu.be/gRhvHTBulU8

Key Moments

00:00 Opening reflections on injury and intuition

01:04 Yoga as a catalyst for inner shift

01:53 Daniel’s early path into teaching

08:20 The quiet healing power of yin

11:45 The metaphysical layer of disease

17:23 Energy, consciousness, and the body

24:17 Fascia, trauma, and stored memory

26:47 Emotion, tension, and physiology

28:10 Rolfing and release work

30:03 Family constellations and lineage

32:03 Soul patterns and lessons

33:09 Karma and the roots of yoga

36:24 Surfing, flow, and surrender

41:18 Vulnerability and softening fear

45:16 Living with an open heart

47:32 Closing reflections

We first met in Costa Rica, long before I understood the deeper layers of my own healing. Daniel’s approach to yoga, grounded, anatomical, intuitive, opened my eyes to the metaphysical roots of healing in a way I had not encountered before. Through fascia, breath, yin yoga, and subtle alignment, he revealed how the body, mind, and emotional landscape are always in conversation. His teaching felt like ancient wisdom with modern clarity, a reminder of how deeply consciousness lives in the body.

In this episode, we explore how injury can become insight, how tension often carries meaning, and how stillness through yin yoga can reveal the metaphysical roots of healing that shape our physical experience. Daniel’s understanding of the body is woven from decades of teaching, meditation, bodywork, story, and deep observation. He speaks with precision and presence, guiding us into the truths beneath pain, the layers we often overlook.

For those inside medicine — physicians, nurses, trainees — who are navigating burnout, emotional fatigue, or the quiet spiritual dissonance that accumulates inside a system built on endurance, this space was created with you in mind. The heart holds what the schedule, the protocols, and the pager never ask about. Open Heart exists to name that unspoken reality and offer a place where healing feels honest, embodied, and allowed.

As a physician, I have often witnessed the gap between physical healing and emotional truth. I have seen arteries open yet patients remain unwell. I have felt intuitive signals arise long before any test result. This conversation lives in that intersection where modern medicine meets spirituality, where science meets soul, and where the metaphysical roots of healing become part of the story rather than something dismissed. It is where integrative healing, consciousness, and the heart mind connection finally meet.

Connect with Daniel Castro:

Email: nilahastayoga@gmail.com

Instagram: @nilahasta

Recommended Reading:

Your Body’s Telling You: Love Yourself! by Lise Bourbeau

Paperback (Amazon):

https://www.amazon.com/Your-Bodys-Telling-You-Yourself/dp/2920932437

Author’s Foundation (Bio and resources):

https://lisbourbeau.com/en

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

Paperback (Penguin Random House):

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/314588/the-body-keeps-the-score-by-bessel-van-der-kolk-md/

Amazon (Paperback):

https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0143127748

© 2025 Priya Rao Media LLC. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THIS YIN YOGA SERIESThis Yin Yoga series was created to help you soften into the deeper layers of your body, fascia, and energy system. Each practice is organized by energy center (chakra), offering a gentle way to work with the physical, emotional, and subtle spaces that are asking for attention. We move through 15 postures, each with variations so you can meet yourself exactly as you are — without force, without striving.This practice is part of a wider conversation with yoga instructor Daniel Castro on Open Heart, where we explore the body as a living memory field and the ways stillness can unlock healing, intuition, and emotional release. You can watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/axlQ-p3OdlsRather than following a rigid sequence, this series invites intuition. Your body already carries its own intelligence. Trust it.⸻HOW TO USE THIS SERIES1. Choose 4–6 posturesLet your intuition lead.You can:• Select one posture per chakra for a full-system resetor• Stay with one energy center if something feels tender, activated, or simply presentThere is no right way — only what feels true in your body today.2. Hold each posture long enough to reach the fascia• Beginners: 1–2 minutes (fascia release begins around 90 seconds)• Traditional Yin: 3–5 minutesSoften into the hold. Let the effort fall away. Give your fascia space to unwind at its own pace.3. Repeat on both sidesFor unilateral shapes (twists, hip openers, side-body work), repeat on the opposite side to restore balance.4. Listen closely to your bodyYin is a quiet conversation.Find the place where sensation is present but your nervous system remains steady — the space between ease and effort, where healing can happen without strain.5. Expect more than a physical releaseAs fascia unwinds, you may notice:• Emotions rising• Old memories surfacing• Energy shifting• Waves of relief or opening⸻00:00 Opening / Settle In00:04:44 Toe Stretch00:05:56 Ankle Stretch00:07:38 Squat00:11:16 Frog Pose00:14:34 Dragon Pose00:18:29 Swan Pose00:20:44 Shoelace00:22:46 Square / Double Pigeon00:26:15 Angel Wings00:27:50 Sphinx Pose00:30:43 Supported Half Bridge00:33:12 Fish Pose00:35:19 Open Wing Pose00:40:56 Bananasana⸻Fascia is a living, sensory matrix — a held archive of tension, stress patterns, and the emotional residue we never had words for. When the body softens and the fascia begins to release, those imprints can surface. This is normal. Often, it’s deeply healing, a quiet invitation into integrative healing and consciousness-awareness.To explore how fascia, emotion, and energy intersect, you can listen to the companion Open Heart conversation with Priya Rao, MD — where science meets soul and the subtle body meets modern medicine.⸻You can return to this series 1–2 times per week, depending on what your body and energy system need. Yin is gentle but profound. With consistency, it supports long-term fascial, emotional, and energetic release. Even a single posture a day can shift your nervous system.Above all, let intuition guide you:If your body feels tight, tender, emotionally heavy, or energetically stagnant, it may be asking for Yin.If you feel overstretched, depleted, or tired, rest is the wiser choice.⸻CONNECTYoga Instructor — Daniel CastroIG: @nilahastaEmail: nilahastayoga@gmail.comPodcast Host — Priya Rao, MDIG: @dr.kothapalliPodcast IG: @openheartthepodWebsite: openheartpodcast.com⸻MEDICAL DISCLAIMERThis video is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician before beginning any new exercise practice. Move at your own pace and adapt based on your personal health.

There are moments in medicine when a single phrase carries the weight of a lifetime. "Open heart" is one of those phrases. For many, it calls up the image of open heart surgery, the intensity of coronary artery bypass grafting, chest opened, a surgical team leaning into precision and trust. Chapters00:00:00 - Introduction and Guest Introduction00:01:20 - Dr. Mel Thacker's Personal Journey00:01:59 - Dr. Mel Thacker's Background00:05:44 - Overcoming Personal Struggles00:11:41 - The Impact of Medical Training00:12:30 - The Importance of Self-Care in Medicine00:15:13 - The Detrimental Effects of Sleep Deprivation in Medicine00:17:04 - Challenging the Norms and Overcoming the Fear of Being Judged00:17:31 - The Role of Gender in Medicine00:20:37 - Understanding and Trusting Clinical Intuition00:26:05 - Creating a Safe and Inclusive Environment in Medicine00:28:15 - The Joy and Satisfaction of Teamwork in Medicine00:30:46 - Detachment from Professional Identity and Diversifying Interests00:38:26 - Final Thoughts and Messages00:39:49 - Closing RemarksIn this conversation, Priya Rao, an interventional cardiologist and heart doctor, sits with Dr. Mel Thacker, a female surgeon who has walked through the fire of medical training and come out with a deeper understanding of what authentic healing requires. Together they explore the lived experience of women in medicine, the layers of pressure placed on a female physician, and the way those pressures can shape identity, intuition, and self worth. Nothing here is abstract. These stories are rooted in real hallways, real operating rooms, and the quiet exhaustion that so often hides behind the title of surgeon or doctor.Dr. Thacker opens her world with honesty, revealing the emotional cost of modern training, the long calls, the normalization of sleep deprivation, and the subtle culture that pushes clinicians to ignore their own bodies. Her voice echoes a reality many clinicians know well, the creeping weight of physician burnout and hospital burnout that affects even the strongest among us. These reflections touch on the wider mental health crisis within medicine, including the unspoken fear many carry when the topic of physician suicide is quietly mentioned in staff rooms and whispered among colleagues. Without dramatizing or sensationalizing, this conversation recognizes the landscape as it truly is, while also naming the possibility for something more human.Priya and Mel explore what it means to step outside the rigid expectations placed on surgeons, especially women in surgery who often feel watched, evaluated, or pressured to hold everything together without ever breaking. They discuss the fear of being judged, the courage required to challenge norms, and the liberation that comes from allowing oneself to be seen beyond a professional identity. Detaching from that single identity and returning to the full self becomes part of conscious medicine and heart centered leadership, not separate from it.They also speak to the importance of creating genuinely inclusive and safe environments, places where clinicians can voice burnout, grief, or uncertainty without fear. Teamwork becomes another form of healing, a reminder that none of us are meant to carry this work alone and that joy in medicine often returns through community, not productivity.If this resonates with you, stay close. Allow your own experiences to be part of the field we are building here. Connect with Dr. Mel ThackerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_surgeon_coach?igsh=dTNkNWpwZzhteWp5&utm_source=qrTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_surgeon_coach?_r=1&_t=ZT-91On6ZbCMsIFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BbLHQ1qXR/?mibextid=wwXIfrWebsite: https://www.melthackercoaching.com/Watch the podcast on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@openheartthepod© 2025 Priya Rao Media LLC. All rights reserved.