William J. Broad, Tara Stiles, and moderator Jason Wachob

Last week, two unlikely mat-fellows came together for a night of yogic discussion at the Apple store in Soho.

Slim Calm Sexy author and celebrity yoga teacher Tara Stiles and William J. Broad, senior science journalist at the New York Times, sat down with Mind Body Green’s Jason Wachob to discuss how yoga can promote physical, psychological, and spiritual health.

The event was set up to promote the authors’ respective books: Stiles’ Yoga Cures and Broad’s The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards.

Broad and Stiles have differing views: In his book, Broad actually calls Stiles out on providing misinformation about how yoga can speed metabolism. And he in turn has been accused of (and lambasted for) overblowing the risks of injury to yogis. But the discussion was uber-friendly, and even excessively chummy at times.

The duo covered everything from how they first got into yoga to how yoga can lower blood pressure, help with depression, and curb overeating, and stayed away from topics that had potential for controversy.

Yes we all want to be friends, but we’re hoping Broad’s next appearance on the New York Yoga Journal Conference’s “Yoga Shouldn’t Hurt” panel will address the controversy that still surrounds this topic.

To listen to the entire conversation: Download the Apple podcast for free here.