CHITHEADS with Jacob Kyle (Embodied Philosophy)
Jacob Kyle
Chitheads is a smorgasbord of contemplative education. Each episode is like a mini masterclass, exploring the diverse landscapes of spiritual practice, philosophy, and the transformative power of embodied knowledge. Each episode is crafted with the curious and open heart in mind, aiming to illuminate the path of self-inquiry and empowerment for yoga teachers, scholar-practitioners, meditators and other spiritual seekers and contemplative folks from around the world. From the profound teachings of Yoga and Buddhism to the sometimes complex theories of contemplative psychology and the vibrant tapestry of indigenous wisdom, our guests share insights that awaken, challenge, and inspire. With every episode, we dive into discussions that matter, exploring questions that guide us closer to our true selves and to a deeper understanding of the world around us. Our mission is to create a space where wisdom (and not fame, power, or money) is the center of gravity and what we are most concerned about cultivating in this lifetime. Join us on Chitheads as we explore the liminal spaces of consciousness, embrace the complexities of the human experience without dogma or self-righteousness, and discover the beauty again and again of the interconnectedness of all things. Subscribe to Chitheads on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform, and please consider leaving us a positive review on one iTunes, or your favorite podcast player. Come dive into these in-depth conversations that illuminate our path of contemplative discovery. If you’ve felt like you’re the only one full of chit – full of consciousness or awareness ˀ– welcome home. This community of listeners, seekers, and scholar-practitioners is for you.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Nov 18, 2020 • 44min
Alberto Villoldo on Shamanism (#122)
Medical anthropologist Alberto Villoldo has studied the shamanic healing practices of the Amazon and Andes for more than 25 years. He is the founder of the Four Winds Society, which trains modern shamans in the practice of energy medicine. He directs the Center for Energy Medicine in Chile, where he investigates and practices the neuroscience of enlightenment. Over the course of two decades with the shamans in the jungles and high mountains of the Andes, Villoldo discovered a set of sacred technologies that transform the body, heal the soul, and can change the way we live and die.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oct 20, 2020 • 59min
Daniel Simpson on the Truth of Yoga (#121)
In this episode we discuss: Daniel Simpson’s upcoming book, The Truth of Yoga. Daniel shares his intention and inspiration behind this comprehensive overview integrating contemporary history with scholarly history Differentiating yoga history and yoga philosophy as evolutionary systems of ideas Debunking commonly misunderstood concepts and myths of yoga evolution Connection points to tradition within modern practices Postural practice and being definitive about the unknown Reinterpreting yoga traditions, cultural appropriation and exploitation of yoga The nature of ultimate and relative truths in yoga Daniel Simpson teaches yoga philosophy at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, on teacher trainings and online. He earned his Masters degree in Traditions of Yoga and Meditation at SOAS (University of London), the home of the pioneering Hatha Yoga Project. He is the author of The Truth of Yoga, a comprehensive guide to the history of practice, which will be published in January by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. His website is http://danielsimpson.infoSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oct 13, 2020 • 1h 10min
Philip Goldberg on Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times (#120)
In this episode, we discuss: Co-sustaining spiritual practice and effective social action. Tips for carving out time for practice/ finding your core practice. Yogananda’s balanced, spiritual and responsible life. Sacred citizenship vs. the myth of rugged individuality. Practice as a wellspring for creativity. Harnessing imagination in the service of recognizing modes of our own experience. Knowledge of theory as it contributes to experience in practice. Philip Goldberg has been studying the world’s spiritual traditions for more than 45 years. He is the author or co-author of some 25 books published in more than a dozen languages. His book American Veda was named by Huffington Post and Library Journal as one of the Top 10 Religion Books of 2010; it was followed in 2018 by the popular biography The Life of Yogananda. He blogs on Spirituality & Health and cohosts the Spirit Matters podcast.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 16, 2020 • 42min
Chris Walling on Yoga Therapy Research (#119)
Dr. Chris Walling, PsyD, SEP, C-IAYT has been an active leader in healthcare for nearly two decades. His work integrates the developmental, biological, and somatic aspects of the lifespan. His work in academic medicine has included the administration of multidisciplinary leadership teams in hematology-oncology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and geriatric psychiatry. He is a Clinical Research Fellow in the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium at the Kinsey Institute located at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Dr. Walling is the current President of the United States Association of Body Psychotherapy, the hub of somatic psychology. His clinical focus in the behavioral sciences has examined the intersections of neuropsychotherapy, affect regulation, and somatic psychotherapy. Dr. Walling is the former Executive Administrator for the UCLA Longevity Center and Division of Geriatric Psychiatry. He currently serves as the Vice President of Education at the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation where cutting-edge research is conducted in geriatric integrative medicine. Dr. Walling is also a member of the Somatic Experiencing Research Committee at the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute in Boulder, Colorado. Dr. Walling is a clinical associate at the New Center for Psychoanalysis and a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in Los Angeles, California.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 8, 2020 • 1h 8min
Mirabai Starr on Feminine Mysticism (#118)
Mirabai Starr is an award-winning author of creative non-fiction and contemporary translations of sacred literature. She taught Philosophy and World Religions at the University of New Mexico-Taos for 20 years and now teaches and speaks internationally on contemplative practice and inter-spiritual dialog. A certified bereavement counselor, Mirabai helps mourners harness the transformational power of loss. Her latest book, Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce & Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics, was named one of the “Best Books of 2019” by Spirituality & Practice. Mirabai is on the 2020 Watkins List of the “100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People of the World.” She lives with her extended family in the mountains of northern New Mexico.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 25, 2020 • 1h 7min
Lisa Danylchuk on Yoga for Trauma Recovery (#117)
Lisa Danylchuk is a licensed psychotherapist and yoga teacher trainer whose specialty is bringing yoga into trauma treatment. A graduate of UCLA and Harvard University, Lisa is the founder of the Center for Yoga and Trauma Recovery and creator of the Yoga for Trauma Online Training Program. She has authored three books, serves on the UN Task Force for the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, and is also a contributing editor for Best Practices for Yoga for Veterans, published by the Yoga Service Council.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 11, 2020 • 1h 15min
Jeffrey Kripal on Flips of Perspective (#116)
Jeffrey J. Kripal is the Associate Dean of the Faculty and Graduate Programs in the School of the Humanities and the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University. He is also the Associate Director of the Center for Theory and Research and the Chair of the Board at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. Jeff is the author of eight books, including, most recently, The Flip: Who You Really Are and Why It Matters (Penguin, 2020), where he envisions the future centrality and urgency of the humanities in conversation with the history of science, the philosophy of mind, and our shared ethical, political, and ecological challenges. He is presently working on a three-volume study of paranormal currents in the sciences, modern esoteric literature, and the hidden history of science fiction for the University of Chicago Press collectively entitled The Super Story: Science (Fiction) and Some Emergent Mythologies. There he intuits and writes out a new emerging spectrum of superhumanities (in both senses of that expression). His full body of work can be seen at http://jeffreyjkripal.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 21, 2020 • 1h 57min
Alex Auder on Socialist Yoga (#115)
Alex Auder, recently hailed by the NYTimes as “Yoga’s Instagram Provocateur” (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/style/yoga-instagram-alex-auder.html) is a native New Yorker, who grew up in the Chelsea Hotel, where she lived with her mother, the Warhol Superstar Viva, and her sister, the actress Gaby Hoffmann. Besides for being hailed as one of America’s “most influential” yoga teachers, Alex is an actress (you can find her as a recurring character in HBO’s High Maintenance) and writer (currently working on a memoir about growing up in The Chelsea with Viva). She and her husband/co-collaborator have a podcast called “15minutes with Alex.”Teaching for over 20 years, she has developed a keen eye and a genuinely authentic, irreverent, and original voice. Her classes are known for the graceful integration of clear and precise alignment cues, intelligent sequencing based on stability and functional movement, somatics, and vedantic philosophy.Alex has been interviewed and quoted in The New Yorker for the article about guru predators called: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/yoga-reconsiders-the-role-of-the-guru-in-the-age-of-metoo .When the pandemic landed, she closed down her brick and mortar studio on Philadelphia and now teaches two weekly live classes and has an extensive On Demand library of classes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 14, 2020 • 1h 1min
Lama Rod Owens on Love & Anger (#114)
In this episode, we discuss: The utility of righteous anger in activism. Spiritual practice as an expression of disrupting violence in the world. Discomfort as the place where realization and freedom arises from. Orienting to the collective - holding my needs and the needs of the collective together. The necessity of a commitment to practice for to create change. Dharma as a path to freedom, liberation, complete. Becoming yourself to free yourself. Lama Rod Owens is a Buddhist minister, author, activist, yoga instructor and authorized Lama, or Buddhist teacher, in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism and is considered one of the leaders of his generation of Buddhist teachers. He holds a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist Studies from Harvard Divinity School and is a co-author of Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation. Owens is the co-founder of Bhumisparsha, a Buddhist tantric practice and study community. Has been published in Buddhadharma, Lion’s Roar, Tricycle and The Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and offers talks, retreats and workshops in more than seven countries.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 8, 2020 • 52min
Nkem Ndefo on Trauma & Resilience (#113)
In this episode we discuss: Trauma as the root of most of our suffering Common misperceptions about trauma and stress 6 principles of a trauma-informed approach Incorporating neuroscience and a return to ancient practices What is resilience? Embodied activism - an everyday activism Making space for healing Nkem Ndefo is the founder and president of Lumos Transforms and creator of The Resilience Toolkit, a model that promotes embodied self-awareness and self-regulation in an ecologically sensitive framework and social justice context. Licensed as a nurse midwife, Nkem also has extensive post-graduate training in complementary health modalities and emotional therapies. She brings an abundance of experience as a clinician, educator, consultant, and community strategist to innovative programs that address stress and trauma and build resilience for individuals, organizations, and communities across sectors, both in her home country (USA) and internationally. Nkem is particularly interested in working alongside people most impacted by violence and marginalization.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
