In this episode of "The Heart of Yoga " Rosalind kicks off the Yogic Arts Series with a deep and enlightening conversation with artist and Yogini Melissa Forbes. They explore the intersection of art and spirituality through the study of Yantra, numerology, and Jyotish (Vedic astrology). Melissa shares her personal journey into sacred geometry and how these ancient traditions have shaped her practice, teaching, and artwork. Through this conversation, listeners are invited into the rich, intricate world of sacred Yogic arts and the deeper meaning behind these practices.

 

 

They discuss…

• The profound relationship between Yantra, numerology, and the energies of the planets, exploring how specific shapes, colors, and numbers influence one's life and spiritual journey.

• Melissa’s background in sacred geometry and her teachings on how constructing Yantras can help align an individual's energy with cosmic forces.

• The influence of Melissa’s teacher, Harish Johari, and the tradition of integrating chanting, numerology, and sacred geometry into the spiritual practice.

• Insights into the powerful energy of certain colors and planets, such as working with green and emerald to harness the healing energy of Mercury.

• The importance of natural movement and geometry in understanding the true essence of Yoga beyond its physical form.

 

 

Favorite Phrases:

• "The study of the macrocosm via the microcosm. Tantra offers a holistic approach to the universe through the lens of the individual."

• "The energy of the Yantras is all about alignment—through sound, color, and shape, we can tap into the deeper forces of the cosmos."

• "Working with a spiral in sacred geometry mirrors nature’s own patterns; it’s a theme that’s as universal as the DNA in our bodies or the form of a fern unfurling."

 

 

Resources Mentioned:

• Books by Harish Johari: Numerology, Tantra, Ayurveda: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Harish-Johari/410046710

• https://melissaforbes.art/retreats
  
  You are invited to join Melissa on her Sacred Geometry luxury retreat in India, January 2025. Melissa leads an annual retreat at Shreyas, member of Relais & Chateaux, focusing on Sacred Geometry. An excellent opportunity to explore the inner dimensions and rekindle our creative energies, and direct it towards spiritual unfoldment. Yoga, Ayurveda and Art in a refined beautiful environment.
  
  
• Connect with Melissa on IG @melissaforbes8

 

Timestamps:

• [00:00:00] Introduction to the episode and guest, Melissa Forbes

• [00:01:00] Melissa shares her initial journey into Yoga and sacred geometry

• [00:03:00] Discussion on numerology and the relationship mandala

• [00:06:00] Exploring the deeper meaning of Yantra and the connection with planets

• [00:20:00] Transition into Jyotish and how numerology ties into personal energies

• [00:36:00] Retreat discussions and how participants interact with the Yogic arts

• [00:50:00] Personal anecdotes about U.G. and Melissa's experiences in sacred spaces

• [00:59:00] Conclusion and final reflections on art, spirituality, and cosmic energy

In this episode of the Heart of Yoga podcast, Raul Petraglia, a former high-flying corporate executive, shares his incredible journey from the high-stress world of luxury hospitality to finding profound peace through the practice of Yoga. Raul opens up about his past life of excess and stress, the physical and emotional toll it took on him, and how a serious health crisis led him to discover Yoga. This transformative experience not only saved his life but also inspired him to dedicate himself to sharing the healing power of Yoga with others, including the corporate world he once inhabited.

 

 

They discuss:

• Raul’s early life in Argentina and his rise in the luxury hotel industry, leading to a lifestyle of excess and eventual burnout.

• The pivotal moment when Raul realized his lifestyle was unsustainable, leading him to seek a different path through Yoga.

• How Raul’s journey into Yoga began as a necessity for physical rehabilitation and evolved into a profound personal practice.

• The unique challenges of teaching Yoga within a corporate environment and the impact it has on stressed executives.

• The importance of adapting Yoga practices to individual needs, as Raul did for his own mother.

 

 

Favorite phrases:

• "I used to party till sunrise. Now I wake up to see the sunrise and do my practice."

• "There is a special feeling there, Mark. It’s like this is my goal, my dharma."

• "Yoga is participation in reality via the breath."

 

 

Resources:

• Books: The Heart of Yoga by T.K.V. Desikachar 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56303.The_Heart_of_Yoga

• Websites: Heart of Yoga Studio 

 https://www.heartofyoga.com/studio

 

 

Timestamps:

• [00:00] Introduction: Raul’s background and entry into Yoga.

• [07:00] Corporate Burnout: Transition from a high-stress career to discovering Yoga.

• [16:00] Yoga’s Impact: How Yoga transformed Raul’s life.

• [26:00] Teaching Yoga: Bringing Yoga into corporate settings.

• [40:00] Personalizing Yoga: Adapting practices for individual needs.

• [52:00] Reflection: Raul’s ongoing journey and mission with Yoga.

 

This episode is a recording of a talk Mark Whitwell gave at the Omega Institute in New York in 2008. He speaks of Reality itself as an intelligent nurturing force, like a mother. Yoga is our direct participation in this nurturing reality, not an effort to achieve some future spiritual goal. 

 

This episode is a dharmic reset-reminder of yoga as participation in union, merging strength and receptivity just as we came into being ourselves through the union of our parents. Mark encourages listeners to see that any pain or difficult circumstance in life is ultimately healing and rebalancing when embraced fully. The practice of yoga reconnects us to the fact that we are cared for, no matter what arises.

 

Quotes:

 

- "Looking for God implies God is absent."

- "The more charming or logical a teacher is, the more they'll delude you into thinking you are less and have to get somewhere." 

- "Spiritual language implies you're not already there and have to attain something."

- "Relate to the life in people rather than labeling something as evil."

- "Mother is here. You are utterly cared for."

- "This pain is healing. My pain is nurturing."

- "On the mat is my complete intimacy with reality. I can now go off the mat and do it."

Timestamps:

 

4:00 - Discussing reality as nurturing force

8:00 - Pain as healing 

15:00 - Promising a daily yoga practice 

27:00 - Relating to pain and healing

38:00 - Reality appearing as you 

58:00 - Closing discussion

Welcome back to “God and Sex” book club part 3.

Mark and Rosalind argue about themes of the book around relationship, love and intimacy. 

 

Mark goes to the root of things as usual, connecting up the separate self to how relationship chaos plays out, and how yoga intervenes.

 

We discuss the longing for a “soulmate” and whether this idea is useful, reflect on the China teacher training, and a few more controversial subjects relating to intimacy. 

 

Be aware some of these subjects may be connected with painful emotions in ourselves & feel free to reach out any time if you need to. 

 

Key Topics Covered

 

- The presumption of being a separate self as the root of human suffering

- How religions tend to devalue the body and sexuality  

- Ramanuja's teaching that we need yoga to actualise oneness

- Participating in the union of opposites through yoga 

- Merging with your experience to understand yourself and life  

- Letting go of ideas like "soulmate" that create impossible expectations

- How vulgarity and abuse can also be expressions of denying sex

- Sharing yoga as a way to increase intimacy and improve relationships

 

Key quotes:

 

- "The hostility and disturbance in the world arises because people are not loving their life."

- "If the man could learn to love bodily, sexually, then there would be peace." 

- "Consciousness perceiving an object is a single movement — there is no separation."

- "Once you've tasted actual intimacy, the common patterns of sex finish."

- "There must be yoga, and there must be the polarity of opposites within and without."

- "The presumption of being a separate self with problems is an illusion."

- "You can't use anybody to make you happy."  

 

Resources

- God and Sex: Now We Get Both by Mark Whitwell  

- Yoga of Heart by Mark Whitwell

 

 Timestamps

 

[00:00:00] Introduction  

[00:01:00] The problem of separation as the root of suffering  

[00:06:00] Ramanuja's teaching about needing yoga   

[00:11:00] How religion devalues the body and sex

[00:16:00] Krishnamacharya's example of yoga and family life  

[00:21:00] How modern society still denies sex 

[00:26:00] Merging with your experience through yoga

[00:31:00] Letting go of the myth of "soulmates"   

[00:36:00] The misery caused by unrealistic expectations  

[00:41:00] The problem with techniques and sacred sexuality 

[00:46:00] The motivation to share these teachings  

[00:51:00] Being cautious about rushing into relationships

 

This episode explores rekindling our innate connection to nature through yoga and sensing practices. Rosalind has an insightful conversation with her friend Henriette Geber, a yogini with a deep love of the mountains, plants and animals.

 

They discuss how yoga helps us become more sensitive, intuit nature's aliveness, and dissolve harmful ways of relating that assume separation. Henriette shares how yoga empowers her natural affinities, from studying art history to living with the German Alps.

 

We discuss removing overlays of ideology to intuitively relate directly with the living world.

 

Key Topics 

 

- How yoga cultivates sensitivity to ourselves as nature 

- Dissolving the illusion of separateness from nature ingrained by society   

- Honoring the aliveness and subjectivity of all creatures and systems

- Henriette’s countercultural move from the mountains to the city and back again

- Following our natural talents and relationships that emerge through yoga

 

Insights

 

- Assumptions of nature as passive or dead prevent us from sensing its aliveness

- Rituals trying to "connect" can reinforce separation if that belief is still there    

- Our bodies intuitively know which plants are healing if we relax our seeking mind

 

Quotes

 

"Yoga has given me this, that I trust what comes out of me. I think I was very outward oriented, like, how do you do certain things? How am I perceived? Always thinking like, oh, my perception might be really wrong or not even feeling how do I relate from the inside to this and giving me the sensitivity to actually feel how is my relationship to this, how is my sensing of this and then the strength to also act upon it and not be afraid."

 

"If you cannot feel your body, you cannot feel the natural world because ultimately it's the same thing. It's totally the same thing." 

 

“It’s always there. It's there. You just need to listen.”

 

Resources

 

- Franz von Stuck's painting "Sin" that Henriette wrote her thesis on

- The Correction by Amy Mindell, a book referenced

 

Timestamps

 

[00:00:00] Introduction  

[00:01:00] Henriette's background in the mountains and move to Berlin

[00:05:00] How yoga enabled tuning into her needs

[00:10:00] Studies in art history and disconnect from life   

[00:15:00] Henriette's return to the mountains from the city

[00:20:00] Painting of a woman and snake Henrietta was drawn to 

[00:25:00] Positive symbolism of the snake across cultures

[00:30:00] Henriette's relationship with animals and plants

[00:35:00] Accessing intuitive knowledge about medicinal plants

[00:40:00] Story illustrating the ever-present relationship between humans and nature  

[00:45:00] Rituals reinforcing separation versus assuming connection   

[00:50:00] Being in relationship versus demanding feelings from nature

[00:55:00] Living creatures acknowledging Henriette 

[01:00:00] Moving to farm not being the happily ever after

[01:03:00] Closing

In this week's episode of the Heart of Yoga Podcast, Mark and Andy Raba explore the world of psychics, seers, shamans and sages.

As director of the Yoga Education in Schools Charitable Trust in New Zealand, Andy leads initiatives to bring yoga-based health programs to young people in NZ and abroad.With a Master's degree and over a decade of experience fostering literacy in NZ schools, Andrew has extensively published on yoga and meditation and is dedicated to bringing yoga's benefits to students' wellbeing.

They discuss how to discern truth from charlatanry, the ethics around predicting the future, and why embodiment through yoga is key.

Mark emphasizes the importance of maintaining autonomy through daily yoga practice rather than seeking escape or solutions from spiritual leaders. He shares perspective on how psychics and seers should serve the community without claiming special powers.

Mark and Andy also talk about relating to the subtle realm, trauma healing, and keeping ourselves safe from disempowerment on the spiritual path. Tune in for an insightful discussion about navigating the mystical with open eyes and an empowered heart.

Key Points: 

 

• There are genuine psychics and seers who have special abilities to perceive realms beyond normal perception. However, there are many more charlatans who falsely claim such abilities.
  
  

• To discern truth from falsehood, it's important to have your own direct participation and intimacy with reality through yoga practice. This gives you autonomy and empowerment.
  
  

• Making predictions about the future is unethical. It implies you don't have access now to deeper knowledge about your life.
  
  

• Psychics and seers should be ordinary, humble people, not claiming to be special or different. Their abilities should be used to serve the community, not for ego or profit.
  
  

• For people with trauma, the subtle realm can seem an escape. But yoga brings embodiment and healing, not escape. Wake down into the body, don't go up into the subtle.
  
  

• The gross tangible world and the subtle intangible world are one, not separate. Through embodiment and intimacy with the tangible, we access the intangible.
  
  

• Keep yourself safe from disempowerment by spiritual leaders. With yoga practice for autonomy, you can discern who to learn from without losing yourself.
  
  

Connect with Any Raba :

Instagram: @_andyraba_

www.yogainschools.org.nz

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 Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/yogaofheart

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In this episode, Mark interviews Eva about her journey discovering Yoga and music. Eva shares how she was classically trained in cello as a child but hated the competitive pressure. She dropped music for 18 years until finding Yoga, which helped her rediscover enjoyment and presence. A few years into Yoga, Eva spontaneously picked up guitar and started playing purely for pleasure, posting videos online.

 

Mark and Eva explore how yoga catalyzed Eva's musical reawakening. Yoga helped Eva let go of striving for perfection and future attainment, and instead play music for the joy of each moment. Eva discusses how Yoga taught her to receive support and gave her courage to be vulnerable sharing imperfect musical videos. She also describes realizing Yoga isn't about achieving a thoughtless state, but being fully immersed in each experience.

 

Eva offers an inspirational example of how Yoga provided the foundation to rediscover her musical self by cultivating presence, receptivity and relationship.

Keypoints: 

• [00:03:00] Discovering yoga helped Eva find enjoyment and presence
• [00:05:00] Yoga was the catalyst that allowed Eva's musical talent to emerge
  
  
• [00:08:00] Eva learned to receive support and be vulnerable through Yoga
  
  
• [00:12:00] Eva rejected the competitive classical music system as a teen
  
  
• [00:18:00] Finding a Yoga teacher who respected Eva as an individual was pivotal
  
  
• [00:20:00] Yoga felt like the opposite of Eva's prior athletic yoga experience
  
  
• [00:25:00] Eva played music purely for enjoyment rather than future goals
  
  
• [00:30:00] Eva had to unlearn criticism and perfectionism around mistakes
  
  
• [00:40:00] Simple Yoga helped a depressed musician rediscover her artistry
  
  
• [00:50:00] Eva realized Yoga wasn't about achieving a thoughtless state

Memorable Quotes 

"Yoga as a system should adapt to the individual, not the other way around."

"It's not to get to the end, to the grand crescendo of the great symphony. It's every note along the way in harmony with every other note."

"There's no state like that, that I should be striving towards. What I have right now and what I'm doing right now is it."

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In this episode of the Heart of Yoga podcast, Mark has an insightful conversation with his student Irina Esposito about her journey with Yoga. 

The cosmos and everything in the cosmos is obviously a pure intelligence, energy and an intrinsic harmony. In religious language of ancient India it is Shiva Shakti… or all that is, and there are no problems. This was Irina’s sudden realization. It hit her “like a done of bricks”. This is the realization of an ordinary life of anybody when the Hatha Yoga Tantras are practiced daily, actually, naturally and non obsessively.

Life is unity, an indivisible condition of no separation, no difference, unique individuation in the context of utter singularity. Thank you Irina for your Yôga realization and sharing this, your self with the world Here. 

Irina shares how the simple daily yoga practice Mark taught her is transformative.
She began to feel more connected to herself and worry less. The conversation explores pivotal moments of recognition Irina experienced through her practice, as well as how yoga shifted her perspective on body image and food.

An illuminating part of the talk is when old family patterns came up after a vacation with a parent, showing there are still habitual conditionings even after deep insights. Overall, the episode offers a beautiful glimpse into the power of dedicated yoga practice.  

Timestamps:

3:55 - They discuss Irina's experience in yoga teacher training with Mark and how she started a daily practice. 

12:55 - Irina talks about how yoga helped her feel more connected to herself and her body. 

28:35 - Irina describes a moment of recognition where she deeply felt that the whole universe is female and male energy. 

38:50 - Irina shares how yoga changed her relationship to food and body image.

55:15 - Irina talks about going on vacation with her mother after her recognition and how old patterns came up again.

Quotes:

"You gave us the simple practice and I just tried to do it every day. And this is so different to the practice I did before."
"I don't overthink that much. The crown is open and receiving."

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In this episode, I'm joined by Joseph Lauricella. We dive into Joseph's journey on The Yoga Bus, making yoga accessible to everyone. It is truly inspiring.

We talk about the power of yoga for newcomers and the limitations of the popular styles. Joseph shares his motivation behind his book, "Miracle of Body Wisdom," and his vision for authentic yoga education for all.

We discuss the discipline of writing a book. Also the function of yoga in dealing with anxiety in tough times. We explore how whole body breathing can boost our well-being and making yoga suitable for everyone, regardless of beliefs or body type. We discus the YES program, Yôga Education in Schools. How Yoga isn't just an exercise; it's vital for our future, a subject as vital as any other subject taught in schools, such as mathematics or physics! 

We discuss unity, authenticity, and the healing journey after loss. Joseph shares his personal story of loss and healing, and the positive impact of recent gatherings and upcoming retreats in Mexico. We're all in this together.

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In this episode, we dive deep into Mark's transformative journey to India. Mark shares his personal experiences and first impressions upon arriving in this vibrant and diverse country. He discusses how The Beatles' presence in Rishikesh influenced his interest in Indian wisdom traditions, making it a global phenomenon.

Mark reflects on the powerful impact of rock music from England and the U.S. on his life, particularly highlighting the musical genius of Ray Davies from The Kinks. He opens up about his initial moments in India, painting a vivid picture of the sights, sounds, and emotions that overwhelmed him.

We explore the challenges and insights of being a white minority in India, contrasting it with Mark's observations as a part of the white majority in New Zealand. Mark shares his candid thoughts on India's lack of a social welfare system and how survival takes on a unique meaning in this bustling country.

Throughout our conversation, Mark takes us on a spiritual journey, recounting his encounters with Bhakti Vedanta Swami and the worldwide temple movement initiated through chanting in Hyde Park. We delve into the essence of India's holy cities, bringing to light the blend of spirituality and commerce that characterizes them.

Mark's trip to India serves as the central narrative, intertwining with various topics such as colonialism and the preservation of authenticity in a rapidly changing world. Mark's personal experiences and insights offer a captivating window into his adventure and the profound impact it had on his life.

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Our guest today is our wonderful collaborator in Japan, Minami Takashima.
Minami is a yogini and heart of Yôga teacher, teaching in the traditions of the hathayoga non dual Tantra. She has written the introduction to the Japanese second edition of Mark Whitwell’s Yôga Heart and teaches throughout Japan and the world. 

Born in Sapporo, Japan, she found that early life spiritual awakenings were not really helping with the pain of corporate life and socialization, but were rather making society’s misalignment with nature’s flow even more obvious and miserable.
One day, she came across Mark’s book Yoga of Heart, and says “this changed my life completely.” “There’s no steps to be taken”. “Everything you are seeking to become, you already are.” “You are the power of the cosmos”— the book was a great statement of your life’s actual worth. 

Minami has had victory over the oppressive misogyny of society that restricts women, and men, and all of life. In this victory she understands the difficulties of the usual life, so can be extremely helpful to others going through what she has had to go through herself. In Yôga such a person is called the “Acharya”, one who can teach. 

Minami found that traditional heart of Yoga, Hathayoga practice bridges spirituality and tangible reality, allowing our masculine and feminine aspects to find their natural harmony. Knowing herself and her students to be Reality itself (“divine existence” itsel.) Minami teaches from the authority of her own experience and power. She lives in Japan and New Zealand with her yogi-musician husband Rey. 
Teaching mainly one on one in an intimate, traditional way, Minami serves others to find their innate power, intelligence and beauty. 

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Clayton Joseph Scott is a singer, songwriter and master Yoga Teacher. Born in Los Angeles, California, he attended Santa Monica High School. Clayton lived most of his life as a street hustling native of Venice Ca. He was raised in the culture of musicians and pioneers of the counter culture.

Clayton speaks clearly about over coming addiction of every kind. He was in his own words, a gourmet addict, masterful at keeping addictions finely counteracting each so as to hold them in all in place. Until…. ? 

As a Yôga enthusiast (one of his addictions) for many years Clayton mastered all the popular styles of the yoga industry. In this context he discovered the principles of the modern founder of Yôga, Tirumalai Krishnamacharya and was then able to make sense of it all. 

Clayton’s own music career is highlighted by his touring band Brightside. He has a number of notable albums of poetic depth and beauty. 

Albums and EPs include Heavy Rest, More Love, West of Lincoln, Let Go and View from the Moon.

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Teaching at Liliana Lakshmi's teaching training, this question arises.. hear the response. 

In this episode, Mark explores how Yoga can provide a sense of unity and belonging amidst conflict and division in the world. He emphasizes that Yoga is not about seeking or trying to get somewhere, but recognizing and participating in the beauty, power and extraordinary intelligence that is always there, the wholeness and the harmony. 

Mark argues that religious seeking and presumption of separation are the root of conflict, and Yoga dissolve this illusion. He shares the principles from Krishnamacharya on adapting Yoga to each person’s needs, and the recognition of the Tantras of life’s inherent unity.

His position is that teaching Yoga is the necessary, cultural shift required to end conflict in separation, to end trauma, destructive tribalism and disconnection.

They discuss: 

- Why Yoga is needed as the response to divisiveness and terror. 

- Krishnamacharya’s emphasis on Yoga as embracing ‘what is’ rather than seeking some future state 

- How religious doctrine has been used to create division, but true religion needs Yoga as its practical means

- The end of spiritual seeking and ideas of a perfect future state - wholeness is already here

- The tantric recognition and response

- Adapting Yoga to each person’s body, age, health and cultural background 

- Teaching Yoga as a stand against trauma and disconnection in the world

Favorite phrases:  

“The yogas of participation in the given reality.” 

“Your body is in a profound unity with the total cosmos.”

“Yoga is the practical means by which individuals actualize the great ideals of their culture, of their religion.” 

“Trying to come into union implies the two are separate.”

“Your body is the extraordinary intelligence that is the cosmos happening as you.”

Bali teacher training www.heartofyoga.com/bali-ytt

Timestamps:

[00:00:00] Introduction

[00:02:00] Krishnamacharya's emphasis on adapting Yoga to the individual 

[00:05:00] Already being the beauty - no need to get somewhere   

[00:10:00] Yoga as actualizing the ideals of religion and culture

[00:15:00] Division created by religious doctrine and seeking   

[00:20:00] The body as already in unity with the cosmos

[00:25:00] Yoga as participation versus seeking 

[00:30:00] Personal examples of transformative effects of simple Yoga

[00:35:00] Science, religion and Yoga as three stabilizing forces 

[00:40:00] Consciousness and objects as a unity

[00:45:00] No separate self or other

[00:50:00] Being beyond gender identification   

[00:55:00] Introducing principles of Krishnamacharya's Yoga

 

Liliana Lakshmi and her husband Satya are renowned yoga teachers, whose influence extends from India to the Americas, and from Berlin to Bali. Liliana, born into tribal culture of indigenous shamans of Colombia was quickly able to understand the shamanic cultures of ancient India, their yogas of participation and the profound realization of their ancient cultures, both of India and the Americas. Liliana is the hope of humanity, and she will not be exploited by any mere belief systems or point of view. She embraces all life and all cultures in the samyama of truth, the spotlight of absolute reality. Liliana is a bridge for humanity of cultures, ethnicities, of East and West, and of ancient to modern. Mark shares some time with Liliana discussing their time together over the years and their mutual purpose to bring the Yoga of intimacy to the entire world. 
They discussed the lost teaching of the Tantras that flourished for a thousand years prior to the 14th C. Liliana shares her early life in shamanic culture, and her eventual pilgrimages to India and Europe.

In this episode you will hear...

''... I went to to see a doctor and ... I was asking ... how does it look if I want to remove these implants? And I remember ... he would tell me ''but you're a very young woman. You don't want to look like a man''...''

''...There is a beautiful tribe in the north and I feel my ancestors land coming from there...they're quite famous because they have the ability to connect through space and time with all the tribes in another parts of the world...''

 

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Ernessa Bergman is a world-travelling Yogini, Mother and Biosynthesis / Somatic Body Psychotherapist who is currently living and working in Tel Aviv, Israel. She reflects on her long friendship with Mark at trainings around the world and her life as a mother and yoga teacher.

In this episode you will hear...

'' ...you torture yourself with the insanity of trying to get enlightened or something, or the insanity of trying to get to God. It is completely insane. It creates the separate self that is seeking.''

''...In the heart, that's where it says you break your heart, you start to cry because you realize that everything you've been doing up until now, at least mentally ...consciously, has not been putting your attention in the place that can give you more joy..."

"...This yoga of participation in the given reality, the power of the cosmos that is factually their condit. Just like it happened to you and you pass it on to every kind of person there, and you do it without drama, without theater. You just do it consistently and you just stood your ground. You bloom in your own garden..."

 

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Mark Whitwell interviews Rosalind Atkinson about her life with yoga and realisations. In particular, Mark asks about her academic studies of english literature, especially the mystic poet William Blake, and the relevance of these studies to her life in yoga.

This episode will be of interest to anyone with a mixed experience in academia or poetry, who is interested in the yogic process of making inspiration relevant to our lives right now.

We also discuss the last two years of teaching around the world through zoom, and end with a little teaser about a new project, called "Wardrobe Dharma".

In this episode you will hear...

''And I got to the end of this research project ... and I was trying to write a conclusion that summed up what I had learned in the process. And I came across a line by Blake that said something like ... the true faculty of knowledge is experience... And it was a very unsettling phrase to me because I realized in that moment that of everything I'd written about passionately, it wasn't my experience I was writing about Blake's experience.''

''I fell straight into the spiritual seekers trap of hungrily seeking experience...for myself...''

''It's like if my mind was the king and the body was the peasants of the kingdom. Even if the king ignores the peasants, they're still there. And they're still feeding him. But he's just not acknowledging them... Abusing them, mistreating them, not appreciating their work. ''

"Blake's poetry speaks in and as that force of life that is beyond the mind. And that's why obviously people from different cultures resonate with it. If it was just culturally constructed, then the English would love Blake the best. But they didn't, they thought he belonged in a straight jacket."

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What is natural movement for a human being?   In this episode we are graced with the presence of Anne-Tyler, yogini of the Americas and her profound story of evolving movement patterns from the strictures of ballet into the natural forms for a human body.    Mark and Anne-Tyler discuss learning to dance from a young age in the UK and developing her skills when moved back to the US, and how it wasn't obvious that ballet is a very unnatural way of movement. They discuss abuse of power in the world of ballet and the feeling of being replaceable at any minute.   Tapping into pure beingness sheds a light while still being in the trap. Learning how to breathe. Getting through the stranglehold of thought, seeking and performance. Returning to the truth, returning to the heart, returning to the breath and to nature. Real yoga for real people, not performance, not gymnastics.   ''I came here to disrupt patterns''. The breath enables the shedding of layers of old patterns and reveals one's true being. There is no denial or suppression in Yoga. Teaching people how to help themselves. Yoga as an empowerment and embodyment practise.

Anne-Tyler's teachings and online gatherings are here at www.bloss-om.com or on social media @theecstaticblossom

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Mark and his dear friend Patrick collude at the beach in Australia to discuss Patrick's life of Yoga and insight. They unpack the lie of "trying to get there" through Yoga. Get where? We are already here!

Patrick breaks down the regular Australian conditioning of beer and sport, and relates how one sentence from a partner inspired a quest for change.

They chart the murky waters of addiction to asana, and transforming it to participation in reality.

Patrick teaches Yoga and Tai Chi in Australia, Sri Lanka and Fiji, and has been the heart and soul of Fiji teacher trainings for nearly a decade. His teaching is characterised by wisdom, humour and the unexpected.

Explore Patrick's website at https://www.bodyawareness.com.au

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This podcast tells the story of Maja’s transition from social activism to Yoga revelation. How Yoga becomes the means to enacting the change we want to see. As Gandhi said.. “be the change you want to see.”

In this conversation we hear once again the process to become an actual Yoga teacher in real life and community. From Sloviana Maja’s background and society has had its own traumas and horrific trials. Life has been difficult.

Maja speaks of her personal victory in the midst of societal patterning, hostility and despair. As a government public health professional working in the struggles of social policy Maja has been conscientious and ambitious to improve the difficult conditions of the world. She speaks of how her Yoga has enabled her to do this, while transcending conflict with society and in herself. 

Maja speaks of the various vehicles in which she has learned to teach Yoga effectively. At her work in very large groups of colleagues, in smaller intimate circles of friends, and in one-on-one private tuition. 

Maja is the hope of humanity.

In this episode we are graced by world-friend & yogini without borders Manisha Lebel. Yoga Teacher, Naturopath, Herbalist & Wisdom Holder.

Manisha and Rosalind discuss how Manisha's extensive yoga practice, teaching and academic research backgrounds resonated straightaway with the breath principles Mark was passing on.

We talk about being an outsider, New Zealand colonial patterning, people pleasing (especially as women), and how we can cut through indoctrination and authoritarianism of all kinds and stand in our own ground. 

We cut through the illusions of generational barriers to express our heartfelt gratitude for the friendship of each other.

“Everything that I have been seeking is where I am”. Manisha describes experiencing the breath as the central feature in the Heart of Yoga practice, everything else falls away and loses significance. Not a rejection of life’s roles, but a releasing of projections on one’s self, and an acceptance of reality as it is.

We discuss the falseness of the mind/body split and how the breath provides the doorway to realization that there is no such split between the heart, mind and body.

“What an opportunity to live before we die”. A discussion about the pain that the body goes through during life and how this often makes us disassociate the mind from the body to avoid feeling pain.

Manisha teaches both private and group sessions in her communities in rural NZ, and she talks about making relationship and breath the centre of every teaching occasion, and how this changes our relationships. And how, exactly?

We talk about moving away from the commercial Yoga industrial complex, and learning to deal in diverse forms of exchange. Beyond the money economy.

Manisha also tells the story of how she met Mark for the first time, and the profound effect that meeting had on her.

We also touch on the resonance of the yoga wisdom with Māori culture.

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How do we make the shift from practitioner to teacher? Who should become a teacher? How do we make sure we don't become "One more monkey" in the yoga industrial complex? How to keep the heart in yoga?

Mark interviews Andrew about his experience of this process and emergence from the middle-class massage into a life of meaning, play, & subversive subtlety as a practitioner & teacher.

Andrew talks about his current project offering yoga in high schools for both students and teachers, drawing on his own experience as a disillusioned teenager chafing against the restrictions of school and family. 

They discuss getting free of the search for an intangible distant realm of happiness, or a distant god, and instead coming home to the local and our immediate environment in time and space.

Mark and Andrew talk about the natural movement to wish to share yoga after feeling the doors it has opened in one's own life, and how this gradually becomes the most important thing in one's life.

How do we find teaching opportunities? When shoudl we teach? What if no-one is interested? What if they just want stimulating gymnastics?

Mark and Andy also discuss the resonance between aspects of yoga and of the indigenous Māori culture of Aotearoa / New Zealand. 

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''How to find a good yoga teacher?  How do you find a teacher that you trust, and can generate a connection with? Not only that, but find a teacher that does not see themselves in a position of power and does not have your monetary value as student in their ’business’ as a priority?" 

In this episode Mark and Rosalind talk about this most basic of questions, along with the even more basic questions of why we would even want a yoga teacher, and what that is anyway. 

Some aspects we cover:

- The origins of yoga as a practice of mutual respect and care for others and the community, without authority and power.

- the change in student-teacher relationships to power dynamics and business interest as the norm

- The three qualifications of a good yoga teacher according to Krishnamacharya.

- Cultism in spiritual practice; how to sense someone who is driven by social hierarchy, power and money. 

- The use of knowledge as a means to create seniority and power in the modern world of spiritual practice. And the contrasting experience had by Mark with his teachers Krishnamacharya and Desikachar.

- “Yoga is not a salvation cult”. A good teacher should not be promising any method or secret knowledge that will get you to where you think you want to go. Any promises of this nature should be treated with caution as the promise is most likely more of a product to be sold than a spiritual practice.

- A conversation about the ironic inflexibility of modern yoga, how it pushes people into predefined patterns regardless of the differences between individuals, and how this is a reflection of the patterning seen in modern society.

- What to look for: the breath as THE central element of asana practice. The unity of body, mind and breath must be present from the first moment of the yoga lesson, yet is often not given precise or any attention in modern yoga teaching.

- “You don’t do yoga, yoga does you”. Participating in the flow of life and being in the moment, as opposed to using spiritual practice to try and get somewhere you think you need to go, and how a good teacher can help thwart the latter tendency.

- Yoga as a method to release the mind from habitual thought. A symptom of modern living that affects most people in negative ways. Yoga can be a way to free yourself of unnecessary thought and be in the world's beauty.

To find out if we know a good teacher near you, please email studio@heartofyoga.com

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A conversation between Rosalind and Alesha Keen, yogini & important teacher of the UK. Alesha is breaking new ground in England, drawing upon her decades of experience across yoga, psychotherapy, and numerous other modalities from West and East to help individuals "bloom in their own garden." 

In our wide-ranging discussion, she offers us her first-hand yogic perspective on the initiations into embodied wisdom through our life, including the profound gateway into eldership of the menopause.

Some of the other things we discussed:

- The need for Yoga to be adapted to our bodies and lives as we ourselves and our needs change 

- Benefits of Yoga one-on-one as opposed to group classes 

- The barriers to Yoga created by its confusion with fashion, gymnastics and exercise, and how it can intersect with our already-pressured body image. 

- The journey with yoga and menopause and how the latter has demanded a refinement in asana and breath

- How both Yoga and the initiation into wisdom of peri-menopause and menopause call us to slow down and listen to the body... 

- Ageism and loss of intergenerational relationships... looking at some examples of reverence for the "wisdom of years" in non-western cultures.

- we discuss the unfortunate public perception of yoga as reflected in Ricky Gervais' new show 'Afterlife' and the painful yoga parody in it, and how to work with this

- The initiation that is motherhood is also woven into our discussion! 

You can find more information about Alesha's work and teaching at www.aleshakeen.com and www.aleshakeenconsciousliving.uk

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In this episode, Rosalind and Domagoj have an enlightening discussion demystifying Tantra. They explore how Tantra is a path to freedom that teaches you to fall in love with life. Tantra aims to help one realize everything is infinite and discover naturalness, spontaneity and openness to the mystery of life.

 

Rituals in Tantra go hand in hand with meditation and realization of the teachings within oneself. The goal is freedom and absolute independence. They talk about transcending duality between matter and spirit, external rituals and internal experiences, embracing life and relationships as they are.   

 

They discuss:

 

- The importance of modernizing and adapting tantric rituals and practices to suit the practitioners rather than just following fixed external instructions. 

 

- How Tantric philosophy sees matter and spirit as one, both being divine. 

 

- The interplay and correlation between external tantric rituals and internal meditations and realizations.

 

- How intimacy, relationships and embracing life and others enables easy ascent of energy compared to forced individual practices. Loving presence effortlessly moves energy.

 

- How Tantra teaches one to fall in love with life just as it is - overwhelming, enormous and mysterious. 

 

- The role of a Tantric guru and how the teacher principal always exists within and guides one's own direct experience. 

 

Favorite phrases:

 

"The teachings are like gold jewelry, you receive a lump of gold and you must hammer it into a jewelry for yourself."

 

"If the doors of perception were cleansed, then everything would appear to men as it is - infinite."

 

Timestamps:

 

[00:00] Introducing the topics of discussion

[00:39] The essence of tantric rituals being inner experience vs outer form 

[02:28] Correlating external rituals and internal realizations in tantra

[05:19] Embracing life effortlessly moves energy compared to forced practices   

[09:10] William Blake on seeing matter and spirit as one  

[14:50] Falling in love with life as the essence of tantra

[18:45] The role of a tantric teacher and physical vs inner gurus

[21:20] Domagoj shares about his tantric guru

[28:04] Closing chant

 

Ryan Stanley is the Heart of Yoga in San Diego. He teaches from the heart to the heart of everybody. The message from UG Krishnamurti that "there is nothing to be liberated from" hit him like a tonne of bricks, and since then he has been restructuring his practice, yoga studio and teaching around this whole-body realisation.    Here he talks with Mark about the transition from 'yoga sales' to yoga instructor to an actual Yoga Teacher, sincerely caring about self and others. He has managed to bring all the other styles and put them into the context of the breath principles that Krishnamacharya, grandfather of modern yoga, actually taught. They discuss this and survival during the pandemic, and yoga in the midst of family life.    Follow this podcast for new episodes here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS/XML If you feel moved to submit a voice question for a future episode, you can do so here:

https://www.heartofyoga.com/podcast

Mark sits down with long-time friend and German Yogini Sybille Schlegel to reflect on many things, including the dreadful shadow of war in Europe, with its grim echoes of the past. Sybille draws on her background in history and present role as co-founder and teacher of Hatha Vinyasa Parampara Studio in Mainz. A student of Sanskrit, she talks about the journey from conscientious western academic to whole-body understanding.  Sybille speaks about discovering the principles of Krishnamacharya and the implications for her teaching and community, the influence of the sage Nisargadatta Maharaj, and the impact of yoga on all relationships.  As well as co-founding and teaching at her yoga school in Mainz, Sybille writes a monthly column for Yoga Journal Germany, and has co-facilitated the 'Good Vibes' Yoga Festival in Darmstadt. She has hosted Heart of Yoga teacher trainings in Mainz for many years & has been instrumental in introducing so many good people to their breath & embodied experience.  More info on the school at www.hathavinyasa-schule.de

From the banks of the holy Ganga to the East Village, Manhattan, Jeremiah Brimlow and Mark’s friendship has flourished. Jeremiah is a bridge of the ancient world to the modern times, of east and west, but also of the early days of yoga arriving in New York City to the current situation. Mark and Jeremiah reflect on the shifts they have seen, on the legacy of the US counterculture, and staying in the pure essence of spirituality in a confused world of spiritual business. Jeremiah is the Urban Angel because he does just that.     In this episode you will hear...   03:00 Jeremiah and Mark talk of New York, Lineage and staying pure and true to the vision of truth.   11:00 Giving others opportunity to become greater, and to disappoint. Knowing and following your true path. A Hippie heritage.   21:00 Finding ways to work together, and change the paradigm of living. Getting caught in nonsensical systems, and the systems are down. Hope.   36:00 There was always Yoga, and a culture that could be. Being downwardly mobile, and relating to every human with openness.   50:00 Feeding only one third of the belly. The posture of gluttony. One arm up.   64:00 Teaching, shared energy and finding a new perspective on the practice.   Follow this podcast for new episodes here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS/XML

If you feel moved to submit a question for a future episode, you can do so here:

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Malika Warda is a mystic Yogini poet currently residing in the land of ancient light, Western Australia, and co-founder of the extraordinary yoga, meditation and sound healing studio Cntrspace in Perth. She is the author of a book of poetry by the same name, a photographer, and a deep explorer of the human experience, drawing on her Yogic, Palestinian and Australian Indigenous heritage. Malika and Mark speak about her journey to find the real depth Yoga offers, the impact of finding it on her relationships with self and others, the unfolding of a profound yogic sexuality, and healing the mass social repression of the feminine.

You will hear how relatively quickly when a person receives yoga, transmission into local community can occur. Malika is a wonderful example of a yoga teacher of these recent times. 

You can find Malika on IG @malika.abuwarda___
and in person teaching at her studio in north Perth at Cntrespace.

In this episode you will hear...

03.30 How, where and why Mark & Malika met. A pivotal time in Malika's life. Finding more to Yoga.

08:00 Actual Yoga happening in and around Malika and her practice. Results and friendships.

12:00 Finding strength, beauty and form as the feminine. A process shown and shared. A feminine force repressed.

17:00 Empowered utterances of Yogic realizations. Sexual intimacy and freedom from patterning.

25:00 Spiritual wisdom was packaged as a mechanism of male authority. Adding value and actualization of a real Yoga practice.

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What is the relationship between Yoga and religion? Following on from last week’s episode with Janet Marshall talking about Yoga and Catholicism, this week we are honoured to be joined by Devaraj from Chennai, speaking from his perspective about the relationship between religion and Yoga. 

Is Yoga Hinduism? How do the two intersect? Devaraj was born and lives in the city where Krishnamacharya and his son TKV Desikachar taught for many years, and where they established the Krishanamacharya Yoga Mandiram, there to this day. He holds a fascinating perspective on Yoga and how it has empowered his devotional life.

Mark and Devaraj discuss what happened once he started practicing yoga. In Krishnamacharya’s scholarly view, the entire Hindu world should be given yoga as the most vital part of their devotional life. They discuss the lineage from Ramanuja Acharya to Krishnamacharya and the temple in Chennai.

04:00 What got a man from Krishnamacharya's home town involved with The Heart of Yoga. Discovering the practice of the unitary movement.

In this episode you will hear...

13:00 ''The whole of Hindu India should be given Yoga as the most vital part of devotional life''. From a life of seeking to a life of being present. How subtle changes affected home and work life.

28:00 Mark and Devaraj discuss stories of how aspects of Hindu society combined with Yogic ideas affect life and family relations.

39:00 Devaraj takes Krishnamacharya and Desikachar's book to the ancient temple of Ramanujar for blessing, as a Yoga participant and not a seeker.

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Mark Whitwell discusses with Yoga Teacher Janet Marshall of California the process of becoming a Yogini and Transmitter of Yoga. Janet talks about how Yoga helped her to actually understand for herself what was being talked about in the sacred text of her religious culture.

They discuss going beyond the restrictions of the usual life, and surviving getting lost in the sea of Yoga knowledge and coming back to the simplicity of the heart.Janet Marshall is a mother of three and Yoga Teacher in Southern California, and is deeply versed in Yoga philosophy and the Yoga therapy traditions that grew from Krishnamacharya and Desikachar’s work.

She is a full-time teacher of Yoga,  cares deeply for all her students and is a profound force of nurturing in her community. She co-founded the Heart of Yoga non-profit in the US back in the 2000s and has worked tirelessly to help make Yoga accessible to all. Thank you Janet.

In this episode you will hear...

04:00 Discovering Yoga from the position of a ''faithful'' person. Conflict with the church.

16:00 Truth is not a point of view.

25:00 No longer being attracted to the promise of salvation. Spirit baptism.

40:00 Innocently born into a very restricted world. Leaving a marriage of 20 years.

55:00 The importance of repetition. ''Pain is healing.''

60:05 Working with advanced aging people. Be who you are and teach what you know. Yoga therapy.

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Ilil is the Heart behind Tali Tali collective, a social enterprise to nurture indigenous weaving traditions (tali tali means weaving) and create income for rural women, including here on Taveuni island, Fiji.

Rosalind speaks with her about Tali Tali, the extraordinary hand made Yoga mats they are helping bring to the world, and the "Woven Village" program just completed, which included teaching yoga in the rural indigenous villages of Taveuni Island. Ilil talks about the joys and challenges of adapting Yoga to the needs of the women, being sensitive to Christian culture and traditional village culture. 

We also talk about the new (ancient) way of being of service, beyond the "do-gooders high" or imposing anything on communities, and how instead it can be about learning together, sharing tools. 

This will be a fascinating listen for anyone working with communities new to Yoga or suspicious to Yoga, as well as anyone suspicious of the plastic commodity known as the "yoga mat" and wondering what to do about that. And just inspiring in general as a story of having a positive dream, and making it happen despite all obstacles (like no planes going to Fiji). 

Please go to www.talitali.org to see/order the beautiful mats, read more about the project, and donate if you have the means! You can also follow on Instagram @talitali_tribe.

In this episode you will hear...

02:00 Ilil Lunkry's background, weaving, living and being. The birth of Tali Collective. Creating an empowerment program.

11:00 Working around the suspicion of Yoga as witchcraft, Christian sides of the community, putting the program together starting with Yoga.

29:00 Tantra, to weave and to bring things together, sacred gestures. What is weaving? How to weave Yoga mats from plants.

40:00 The community response to the program. Bringing the sexes together. Empowered women speaking their minds, and bring the program to the rest of the world.

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Ronan Tang and Xi Zhu are a bridge for humanity between East and West, master translators and facilitators of the Heart of Yoga in China. Together they facilitate the unity of ancient wisdom traditions. What is the relationship between Daoism and Veda, between Yoga and Chinese Traditional Wisdom practices? What is the relationship of ha-tha yoga to the yin and yang of the Dao? How does Tai Chi relate to Yoga? Ronan and Xi are the living examples of the answers to these questions in China, dear friends bringing together the wisdom traditions of their culture with those of their neighbour/sister country India. Together they speak with Mark and Rosalind about their process of "whole body translation", the story of working together for the last 15 years, why Chinese students adapt to "Yoga of participation" so easily, and their experience of how these teachings can bypass all techniques and bring harmony to relationship. They also discuss how Chinese characters such as 放松 (fàngsōng, relax) and 樂 (lè, yuè – joy, music) reveal insights especially relevant for Yoga practitioners.   If you are a Mandarin speaker/reader and would like more information on the community in China, online gatherings etc, get in touch with rosalind@heartofyoga.com.   In this episode you will hear...

02:30 Let go of the idea of relaxation. The Dao is precious.

06.00 What is the meaning of Yin and Yang.

11.00 Cutting through the panic for knowledge. Passing on the teachings in China.

19:00 Doubt, the power of the cosmos and realizations.

26:00 Working with B. K. S. Iyengar. Tools of needles, herbs and Yoga.

34:00 Yin, Yang and wisdom are deeply engrained in the DNA of the Chinese.

40:00 Ronan and Xi speak of Yoga and relationship(s). The Flower doesn't advertise it's own perfume.

48:00 Cultivating the best medicine from within, the intelligence of the body, and the students.

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Jessica Patterson is the founder and director of Root Centre for Yoga and Sacred Studies, which she offers to the world from her home in Colorado Springs, USA. Jessica is someone who has managed to successfully keep the heart in Yoga. She escaped the "Yoga Industrial Complex," and continues to teach purely as the force of nurturing in local community — and beyond.   Jessica speaks with Mark about keeping the Centre going through the pandemic, whilst always acknowledging that "Yoga is Not Commercial Activity". This episode will be heart-food for all practitioners and teachers "swimming against the stream" of commercialism and hegemonic co-optation of the sacred traditions, and navigating the demands of students with warped expectations of what yoga is. She also explains her ground-breaking "Untrainings," and how Yoga functions for students as an unlearning process, rather than the hoarding of more knowledge.     Online educational programs and more information at https://www.rootdownandgrow.com/root-teachers/jessica-patterson/   In this episode you will hear...  

01:00 The introduction.

05:00 Ancient arrowheads, wandering the ancient worlds. Trespassers and relationship.

12:00 A white trespasser v's indigenous wisdom. Traceable lines of trauma. The opposite of memory.

25:00 Pain is a function of mother nature. Don't meditate or meditate your way out of it. Un-training.

40:00 We should be falling on or knees on the mere sight of each other. Our bodies are not franchises. Yoga is not about the teacher. It's about the student.

50:00 The transition from instructor to teacher with a capitol T. Being here and being hair. When you're full you're a terrible consumer. Confronting patents.

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Yoga is not seeking for a future idealism. Yoga is participation in the given Reality (capital R). The beauty, the wonder, the power, the harmony that is intrinsic to your life. Yoga is not to use the body or the mind to seek. Yoga is to give the body and all ordinary conditions over to the capital-R Reality, which is its context. The collaboration of great luminaries has freed yoga from the unnecessary struggle that leaves so many people injured or disappointed. Mark and Rosalind discuss the implications of Yoga without struggle. 

In this episode you will hear...

01:20 Fish don't know what water is. What is reality? What is Yoga without struggle?

09:00 Yoga is giving over to life as it actually is.

16:00 Wandering around India. Finding authenticity.

24:00 Every movement taught by that system is like an expression, like a dance.

33:00 The body is for giving over to its actual condition...the cosmos.

44:00 Negative associations of sacred texts.

57:00 Yoga should be actual, natural and non obsessive.

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In part one of this two part episode, Rosalind is joined by Domagoj Orlić to demystify tantra, a profoundly misunderstood spiritual tradition.

 

As both a scholar and practitioner of Tantra, Domagoj sheds light on what Tantra actually is, its key principles and aims, and how it differs from the "Neo-Tantra" appropriated in the West. They explore Tantra's emphasis on liberation through feeling unity with the divine feminine, why ritual and initiation by a guru matters, and how Tantra can help overcome conditioning to realize inherent power.

 

Domagoj clarifies Tantra's nuanced relationship with sexuality and why it has been misportrayed. Far from just exotic techniques, traditional Tantra offers potent tools for those called to dive deep into self-realization and awakening through embodied practice.   

 

They discuss:

- What is Tantra? Defining the principles, aims and practices of traditional Tantra vs Neo-Tantra  

- Why guru, lineage and transmission matters in Tantra    

- Tantra as a monistic spiritual path emphasizing unity with the divine feminine    

- Ritual, puja and worship of deities to receive empowerment  

- Tantra's goal of deconditioning the mind and realizing power     

- Clarifying Tantra's nuanced relationship with sexuality     

- Tantra's influence on Yoga - integrating mantra, yantra, embodied ritual  

- Adapting traditional Tantra wisdom for the modern world and individual need  

 

Favorite phrases:  

"Tantra teaches us that we actually are very powerful and we have the power of Shakti to change reality, to change whatever we want to change and live our full human potential. That's the basic premise of Tantra."  

 

"The idea of the Tantric practice is to viscerally feel that I am one with the divine feminine...this can be called motherly love, which is the same as compassion, which is love generally, our ability to actually love life and love ourselves and love other people and love all creation."

Timestamps:

 

[1:00] Domagoj introduces his background in Tantra as a scholar, practitioner and teacher   

[3:00] What is Tantra? Domagoj reads his definition  

[5:00] Explaining the core elements: guru, lineage, student effort    

[7:00] How traditional Tantra differs from modern and Neo-Tantra   

[12:00] Clarifying Tantra's nuanced relationship with sexuality   

[15:00] Discussing themes from Passage to India that reveal Western misunderstandings of Tantra  

[17:00] Krishnamacharya's veiled tantric influences   

[21:00] Tantra's influence on Yoga - integrating ritual, mantra, deity   

[25:00] Yoga as a means to directly experience the ideals of religion  

[27:00] Tantra's monistic view of unity with the divine feminine as heretical  

[32:00] Tantra's emphasis on deconditioning to uncover power   

[34:00] Bringing tantra wisdom into the modern world  

[36:00] End of part 1 

 

Since psychedelics first escaped the research environment and sparked the counter-culture in the mid twentieth century, they have been aligned with the traditions of the East. But how do Yoga and psychedelics relate to each other? Are they complementary? Or antagonistic? Mark and Andy discuss the original counterculture, the current "psychedelic renaissance" and latest applications to mental health, as well as their own experiences.

 

In this episode you will hear...

 

01.32 High school Yoga catching on. The Divine is not located elsewhere. The colonization of spirit based cultures.

 

08:00 Screwy mainstream cultures, systems and radical Yoga. Capitalism without a product.

 

12:00 Spiritual change of states and that thing we all wanna hear more about : psychedelic experiences

 

23:00 Feeling like there's way to get to absent truths. Heroic quests. The problem is the ego. The solution is to destroy the ego.

 

28:00 You don't have to untie the knot. The knot never happened. Finding your way back. Psychedelics and prescription drugs. Yoga is a tool.

 

37:00 No more psychedelics, sex or weed until your practice is established. Yoga and Buddhist Mindfulness Meditation. There's a difference.

 

46:30 Is the a Yogic framework for the use of psychedelics? A call to stop interfering. Higher defilements.

 

56:00 Current culture doesn't have the capacity to enjoy mystical experiences without it turning into a problem.

 

1:04:00 The sublime and the ordinary are one. The secrets of the universe are already given. Putting Yoga in the drinking water.

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Mark and Simone discuss the roots of addiction, its cause and its cure. Simone relates her journey through her husband's early death and being mother to three little boys through to adulthood. Simone holds a PhD in nursing and works in the field of chronic pain. She is the author of Yoga Rx for the 12 Steps, and working on a new book on helping friends and family deal with addiction in their loved ones.    Simone's story is a reminder that Motherhood is yoga. Our teacher Krishnamacharya would say that mothers are the nurturers of the community, therefore they must be nurtured too, and given their yoga and space to practice every day.    "I find Simone's story particularly helpful for all people struggling with pain, grief, and addiction of all kinds. So, everyone, really. Most pertinent is that after a long academic career in chronic pain management, it turns out that the skill Simone holds as a yoga teacher proves the most useful healing methodology. It's a story of hope and triumph over circumstances." — Mark   In this episode you will hear...   01.30 Seeing a friend in despair, in the grips of alcoholism. How did it happen ?

08.10 Mothers ''get'' Yoga first. Please the mother and everybody is happy.

16.00 Pain and isolation. Tapping into something outside of one's self.

22.25 The birth of feeling loved, cared for and nurtured. Recovery.

26.00 The motivation and inspiration behind the book.

35:00 How the boys are doing in the modern world and their Yoga.

44.30 Four years of western medical education, Simon's journey and revelations.

57.00 The loss of a home. Everything up in flames.

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Minami Takashima was a successful business woman in corporate Japan, and here she tells her story of stepping out of exploitation and corporate hierarchy and stepping into her own power. Minami and Rosalind talk about the role of Yoga in this journey and how it has inspired her to teach across different countries and languages. The key theme is finding the authority of our experience and power. Minami offers private sessions in person in Nelson, New Zealand, and over Zoom in English and Japanese. You can find her on Instagram here :  @yogawithminami

In this episode you will hear...

01.53 The Belly Of The Beast : Corporate Japan.

05.00 ''Being a woman you are second class...''

07.00 Getting free from the internal and external structure.

11.15 A little shoot of yoga into corporate life. Mother being the first Guru.

17.40 The process of Yoga learning, synchronicity and Bali.

21.15 Awareness of invisible hierarchies, breaking points and gratitude.

30.00 Stuck in Oz during the pandemic and finding the motivation to keep sharing.

37.00 Bringing teachings back to Japan and meeting Japanese culture and suppressed sexuality.

45.00 Tantra, sex and taboo.

50.45 Finding confidence in teaching, where it comes from and the power of one's own experience. Not needing approval.

54.50 Yoga texts and different relationships with knowledge. Being the authority of your own experience.

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Mike Bucher is a musician in Los Angeles. His band, Iglu and Hartley have had hit singles around the world — great uplifting rock and roll. He now ventures forth as "Mike B and the Universe" with has solo album just released, 'Bloom Baby Bloom'.

Mike is a yogi and a teacher in the heart of yoga. Mike speaks candidly about staying real in the midst of celebrity and the life of a working musician, and speaks about how Yoga has been a catalyst for his life, music and relationship.

He teaches in Los Angeles and on his new album combines his great love of the American tradition of song and his yoga realization. Here we have a meeting of Woodie Guthrie, Bob Dylan and the Kinks. It is a very useful work in the world! Highly recommended. Stream or download it here!

In this episode you will hear....

 

2.30 - The band, meeting Mark and the touring artist years.

9.00 Strength That Is Not Received Destroys Itself.

11.00 The tortured artist syndrome and substance abuse.

15.15 The effect of yoga practice before a big concert is not just for the performer.

25.40 No such thing as ''I am a separate body....a sperate world...''

27.05 You don't need to try to get into someone else's Mandala. You're sitting in your own.

30.00 Yoga does not require sophisticated language. Just practice.

35.00 Intimacy must come with yourself first before anyone else. '' You can't take heaven by storm''.

37.00 How Heart Of Yoga resonated with Michael with living in the heart of the yoga industry.

43.00 Teaching Yoga to those with special needs and in a downtown L.A. church. Coming from a Catholic background.

48.30 You must teach Yoga with respect with who a person is.  Yoga and religion.

55.00 Song writing, Mandalas, inspiration and writing the new album of 108 songs.    

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Kelsey Barrett is a modern-day witch. She is a practicing herbalist and Yogini.

Mark says:

“In previous centuries she would have been burnt at the stake for her strange powers that threatened the knowledge authority of orthodoxy. She would have been shunned to the outskirts of the town, a forest dweller with twigs and moss in her hair and strange garb. These days the public realize she has useful healing powers, so allow her to enter the town or village.”

Kelsey combines medicinal herbs, Yoga and intimacy arts to help her friends navigate the tricky waters of our time.

Mark and Kelsey discuss her craft and realization. Dialogue includes sexuality, intimacy and the necessity for a personal hathayoga to actualize sublime intimacy.

Otherwise sacred sexuality seems to be confined to the poetry and iconography of forgotten cultures. Yet obviously remains the potential of every person today. Actual Yoga makes sacred intimacy real and no longer just fanciful unfulfilled desires.

The mind of the modern West is like a closed box of lidded thought that cannot be pierced or access the obvious mystery dimensions above the crown or go deep into the roots of Mother Earth.

Kelsey recalls her crown opening up to higher dimensions and the state of the Yogini… a flow of life synchronistically ascending and descending, mysteriously became her experience.

In the ancient world after death a Yogi’s crown was ceremonially pierced, symbolizing the ascent of the life force infinitely above, in death as in life. Such sublimity arises as everyone’s potential through Yoga.

Intimacy with all aspects of life, for example Kelsey talks about the power of rose for the heart, and the power of realising illness as visitation of the Goddess.

Follow Kelsey on Instagram here: @heavynettlegathering

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Yoga IS Relationship. What does that mean?

I thought it was doing the splits on the beach and posting it on Instagram?

I thought it was living alone in a cave for twenty years until you could live on just air?

Mark and Rosalind explore just exactly HOW yoga transforms our relationships, and lift the lid on some of the challenges and dysfunctions in relationships that make yoga sorely needed.

Some previous relationship dysfunctions get aired as examples of the usual mess and how it can change.

We discuss what “connection” really means and whether it comes from another person, how to stop evading emotions, and the urgent need for a transformed approach to relating with the ones we love.

More themes:

• Guidance and direction vs dysfunctional social dynamics
• Hierarchy within relationships - is it inevitable
• God and Sex, Now We Get Both
• Everybody is blooming in their own garden

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In this special episode, we share (with permission) edited extracts from a May weekly “Teacher’s Gathering” in the Heart of Yoga Studio.

Mark is speaking about who can teach Yoga, about what is required to teach Yoga, and about being your authentic self.

Teachers around the world share their experience, discussing what the role of the teacher really is, how to cope with teaching on zoom, and whether you can even decide to be a yoga teacher.

A capital-R Reality check and sense of communal support for all teachers out there.

This teachers’ gathering happens weekly. It’s open to all supporting members of the Online Studio.

You can join at:

www.heartofyoga.com/studio

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In this week’s episode, Mark and Rosalind talk about the expansion of consciousness that happened in the 60s and beyond, “on wings of song.”

It was the Beatles going to Rishikesh that first took Mark to India, and we tease out these connections between the two “freedom systems” of Yoga and rock and roll.

We listen to the Kinks with the first use of sitar-like drone on a western pop song (“See My Friends”) and talk about Little Richard’s riotous performances as group therapy for a repressed society.

• Can rock and roll be legitimately seen as having some spiritual effect or purpose, or is it “just” entertainment?
• Is it a legitimate form of inspiration? How should we respond?
• Why did so many talented artists die so young, and is it avoidable?
• Was this when God and Sex really came together in public consciousness for the first time?

We go free range ruminating on the remarkable gifts given to us all by our musical luminaries, and discuss practices to really receive these transmissions and make the most of them.

This episode features short musical clips replicated only for commentary and criticism under ‘Fair use’ (legal doctrine that allows a user to use portions of copyrighted materials for the purpose of commentary, criticism, reporting, teaching, and research).

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As yoga studios shut down across the world, yoga teacher Joseph Lauricella came untethered from his Chicago teaching space, yet he wanted to find a safe way to be in Nature and continue to share practices of breath and intimacy with yourself with people.

The ‘The Yoga Bus’ project was born.

Continuing public education into Yoga as spiritual practice, so much more than fitness.

Joseph Lauricella is the author of 3am Bull Rider, a memoir about living on the road across the United States in 1995, Codi and the Maple Tree, a children’s book based on his experiences rescuing a wolf cub and living with him and 42 other wolves for a year.

In addition to being an author, Joseph is a master yoga teacher and bodyworker, which inspired him to write and publish: Postures, Prayers, and Poems: A Yoga Journey Through Earth Body and Soul, which he reads us a poem from in this podcast.

Joseph currently lives on the Yoga Bus with his two Chihuahua Yoga dogs and is working on his next book. He has a degree in Sociology and Native American Studies and is deeply influenced by mentorship within Lakota traditions, as well as his own Roman Catholic Italian immigrant family background.

Mark and Joseph discuss teaching in a natural, non-patterned way, just sharing, how to adapt to changing circumstances and where the motivation to do so comes from.

As well as Yoga as a reminder of the state of unconditional love, handling overwhelm of worldly patterning, and being on the road with the Grateful Dead as a template for the Yoga Bus.

Joseph and Mark talk about Roman Catholic Italian origins and how this mixes with Yoga, and discovering Yoga as a Catholic — do Christians need Yoga?

And finally Joseph reads us the poem ‘Breath’ from his book Postures, Prayers and Poems.

Links

Postures, Prayers and Poems

Joseph's Website

Joseph's Instagram

 

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Mark sits down again with his friend Andrew Raba to talk about education, cultishness, ambition, choosing a career path, the mess that is our early twenties, psychedelics, and learning Yoga.

• What is self-understanding?
• Where do we find it?
• Is ambition a positive or negative quality?
• How do we know what to do with our lives?
• What is Yoga exactly and how can it help?
• How do I find my natural directions?

Mark and Andy discuss these questions and others, under the overarching theme of Yoga and the empowerment of self-responsibility, making the choice to love and to quit blaming others for our emotional state.

“Yoga is not information gathering.”

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This episode features Kathrin, a Yoga practitioner and mother of two living in Germany. She shares how she came to Yoga to relieve suffering during the pandemic, and through her daily practice discovered a profound intimacy with her own body and breath. Kathrin describes how Yoga helped her shift from feelings of "not being enough" to simply receiving and participating in each moment just as it is.

 

She and Mark discuss how Yoga connects us to the miracle of life, and talk about translating this experience into everyday life and language. Key topics include releasing shame, rebuilding society through education, participating in wholeness already here, and rediscovering the beauty in one's own culture and tradition.

 

They discuss:

 

- How the pandemic and suffering led Kathrin to deeper Yoga practice  

- Moving from self-judgment to receiving and intimacy with the body   

- Letting go of "becoming" and future salvation, participating in life now  

- Translating Yoga wisdom into everyday German life and language

- Educating our children in wholeness beyond knowledge and thought   

- Rediscovering beauty in her Catholic upbringing through Yoga

- Releasing cultural shame and rebuilding society through education 

- Sex and eros as mutual participation versus transaction

 

Favorite phrases:

 

"Everything that lives is holy." - William Blake

 

Resources:  

 

- The Art of Yoga online course

- Hridaya Yoga Sutras (German translation) 

- Writings and podcasts by Mark Whitwell (German translations)

 

Timestamps:  

 

[00:00:00] Introduction

[00:02:00] How Kathrin came to deeper Yoga practice

[00:05:00] Discovering intimacy with body and breath 

[00:10:00] Yoga for everybody

[00:15:00] Participating in life now, beyond self-improvement

[00:20:00] Rediscovering beauty within her Catholic upbringing 

[00:30:00] Rebuilding society through education

[00:35:00] Shifting views on sex and intimacy 

[00:45:00] Translating Yoga wisdom into German  

[00:50:00] Releasing cultural shame

 

In this week’s episode we are joined by the eternal warm love presence of Durga Julia Sánchez, musician, yogini, and inspiration. Durga speaks to us from her home country of Colombia of her extraordinary heart-connection with her beloved teacher and husband Ramgiri, and the immense process of courage that is calling us all to open our heart to one another.

And of the heart-wrenching process of grief that we must go through when that love transitions from in the body to the formless, as it will for us all. And the role of Yoga in all of this, in the life of a devotee.

Gratitude to you, Durga, for this gift of clarity and honesty from within that grieving process of ‘losing’ one’s Beloved and navigating that pain.

We feel and invoke the blessing presence of Baba Neem Karoli Baba (Maharajji), guru to Ram Dass, Ram Giri, Krishna Das and so many others. Mark and Durga discuss how Yoga serves the devotees of such extraordinary beings, as the practical response to grace, and to conduct their gifts… which are always given, but are they being received?

And reflect on past times sharing Yoga with Ramgiri and Durga in the US and the connection with the work of Heartsourcing, the enduring project of Ram Giri’s work which is now continued by Durga.

Learn more about Ramgiri’s lifework in his book, “HeartSourcing”, foreword by Ram Das, which Durga is currently working on translating to make available in Spanish.

https://store.lamafoundation.org/products/heartsourcing-by-ramgiri-braun-ph-d

https://www.facebook.com/HeartSourcing/

“All conflict is in truth a burning away of conflict itself. Pain makes us tired of pain, and although the confused mind revels in its distortions, there is a fundamental sanity in everyone that bides its time, but will not be denied.” — Ramgiri, 2018

Private whole-body prayer yoga lessons via Zoom in Spanish — email juliamsanchez@gmail.com for availability.

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In this episode, Mark sits down (over Zoom) with his dear long-time friend Ana Berry: musician, media presenter, actress, Yoga teacher and mother.

Ana describes growing up in Oklahoma and the saving influence of jazz and gospel, and the imprint of culture upon her mother as a beauty queen and TV personality.

From Hollywood to New York, her search for Yoga that didn’t just exacerbate body self-hatred culminated in meeting Mark in a class in LA, followed by initiation into the ancient roots of Yoga with Mark at the Kumbh Mela in India.

• What does Yoga look like when taken out of these deep usual patterns of “I’m not good enough, I need to be skinnier / fitter / stronger / younger / smoother / more flexible / happier / better”?
• What is missing from the vast majority of Yoga classes in terms of NOT breaking these social patterns?
• Ana tells the story of becoming a mother and embracing the unexpected twists and turns of life — how when it doesn’t go to plan, sometimes it goes better.
• Yogis are not made on assembly lines — what does it look like to be a genuine teacher and practitioner in Oklahoma?
• What does it look like to release the mind’s plans, and embrace the unexpected?
• And the thing that everyone needs to know, how do we communicate Yoga to our partners, and why is that so important?

Ana Berry
Yoga Teacher, Singer, Mantrika and co-owner of the Bhakti House, Tulsa
IG and FB: @wholebodyprayer

Video version on YouTube

Encounters at the Kumbha Mela with Mark Whitwell:

Bali moments

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A special edition of the Heart of Yoga podcast as Melissa Forbes speaks about her life as an artist and Yoga practitioner and her friendship with UG Krishnamurti.

How do we describe him?

It’s difficult, but with love and gratitude, delight and humour, Melissa and Mark reminisce about their unusual friend - Melissa travelled with UG for the last five years of his life as his companion and “balance.”

She speaks about the power of art to help people use their right brain instead of the dominant left-brain, her obsession with spirals as the form of the cosmos and UGs resolution of this, and how he changed her Yoga from strenuous Astanga style to fluid participation in the spirals.

Learn more about The Heart of Yoga Online Studio and join us here:

https://www.heartofyoga.com/studio

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These interviews are useful because they describe how many different kinds of people receive Yoga and make use of Yoga, and how Yoga is functioning in their personal and unique lives.

“Yogis are not made on assembly lines.”

In this episode, Mark speaks with Frederic Ballario, his long-time friend, on his process of discovering the breath and the Yoga of wine and Tea. Frederic describes moving from Champagne, France to California, USA, many years ago and searching for the truth in wine.

Frederic is a master of Tea and Wine, and he explains how these ancient arts have been purified and made useful in the context of Yoga understanding and practice.

What do our sacred substances look like when we remove the cultural habit of looking for stimulation?

What is the role of wine if we already have a quiet mind, and are not looking to calm or subdue ourselves?

What does shamanic use of alcohol look like?

How does a teacher encourage each person to become themselves, not duplicate the teacher?

Do we even need a teacher?

What is the role of Yoga in coping with deep grief?

How do we relate to these vast beautiful ancient traditions? Are they static? Are we part of them, or consumers of them?
Reflections on the ability to receive and how it transforms our lives.

And finally Frederic reflects on offering silent Tea ceremonies over Zoom during the pandemic, followed by very human conversations and connections.

Join one of these ceremonies inside the Heart of Yoga studio https://www.heartofyoga.com/studio (launching Sunday 31st Jan 2021) or through Frederic’s IG: @liquidsungod

 

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