CHITHEADS with Jacob Kyle (Embodied Philosophy)

In this episode we discuss:  How religious fundamentalism is problematic Many gods and choosing one god to workshop The key to finding heaven here and now is the recognition of an omniscient God that is available to everyone at all times and in all spaces Distortion of the Hindu way of life by colonialism and the spread of a more open-minded approach to the divine Yoga of constant union    Defining features of the Vedic way of life Being in an age of darkness and transition Vanamali Mataji resides in Vanamali Ashram, Rishikesh. Vanamali is one of the names of Lord Krishna and she is an ardent Krishna Bhakta. Mataji always dresses in lavender as that is the colour of Krishna in transcendence. She has published many books on the Hindu gods - The Complete Life of Krishna, The Complete Life of Rama, Shiva - stories and teachings from the Shiva Mahapurana, Hanuman - Devotion and Power of the Monkey God, The Science of the Rishis, In the lost city of Krishna, Nitya Yoga - (Essays on the Bhagavad Gita) etc. Mataji regularly conducts classes on the Vedic Way of Life and the Sreemad Bhagavad Gita both in the Ashram and abroad. The Ashram is run by her brother - Mohanji who is an exemplary Karma Yogi. The Ashram does a lot of charitable work in both Rishikesh and in a small Himalayan village called Gaja. About a hundred widows are being given rations and many have also been adopted by various philanthropists all over the world. They also help in running a small village school in Gaja and a tribal school in the Wyanad district of Kerala.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we discuss: Quantum physics is an astounding entry into consciousness and puts trans-personal psychology on the map. Why spiritual teachers talk so much about quantum physics. Key features and principles of Quantum Physics and the role of the observer, quantum collapse, quantum entanglement, and downward causation. How we actually live according to the quantum worldview and manifest our reality. How archetypes are our internal stimuli, the divine waiting for us to act, and the lifestyle of living around a certain archetype.  Creativity, the power of intention and what comes next. What is a quantum activist and how do we become one. Theoretical Quantum Physicist Dr. Amit Goswami is a retired full professor from the University of Oregon’s Department of Physics where he served from 1968 to 1997. He is a pioneer of the new paradigm of science called “science within consciousness,” an idea he explicated in his seminal book, The Self-Aware Universe, where he also solved the quantum measurement problem elucidating the famous observer effect. Goswami has written several other popular books: The Visionary Window, Physics of the Soul, The Quantum Doctor, Creative Evolution, God is Not Dead, HowQuantum Activism Can Save Civilization, Quantum Creativity: Think Quantum, Be Creative, Quantum Economics: Unleashing the Power of an Economics of Consciousness. In his most recent book, The Everything Answer Book (April 2017), Goswami's basic premise is that quantum physics is not only the future of science, but it is also the key to understanding consciousness, death, God, psychology, and the meaning of life. In short, quantum physics offers a theory of everything. In his private life, Goswami is a practitioner of spirituality and transformation. He calls himself a quantum activist. He appeared in the film What the Bleep Do We Know!? and its sequel Down the Rabbit Hole as well as the documentaries Dalai Lama Renaissance and the award-winning The Quantum Activist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we discuss: Yoga’s evolution in New York City immediately following 9/11 and how Susanna found a yoga practice rooted in an intelligent spiritual worldview Does everything happen for a reason? How Karma and Lila (divine play) interact in our lives. Yoga of cancer as a deep inner conversation with the body rather than the language of battle. What is pilgrimage? Can we engage in pilgrimage even if we can’t travel to spiritual sites? Susanna’s pilgrimage with Kali, the Mother Goddess who represents all possibility. Choosing who to walk through your (inner) life with. Susanna Harwood Rubin is the author of Yoga 365: Daily Wisdom for Life On and Off the Mat. She is a yoga teacher, writer, and artist whose work is rooted in South Indian Philosophy. Based in NYC, Susanna teaches internationally and speaks on yoga, meditation, and Hindu myth. Her spiritual home is in Chidambaram, at the great Nataraja and Tillai Kali Temples. She teaches  Devi Soul Yoga, combining yoga asana with mantra, myth, and mudra, and is the creator of 30 Things and Writing Your Practice workshops and online courses that apply yoga philosophy and myth to the practice of writing. Susanna writes for numerous publications and has been featured on HuffPostLive, MSNBC Today, SHE Summit, Yoga Journal, Mantra Wellness, and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we discuss: What is a deity and the spectrum of deities Different ways to approach deities (as a person with whom you have a personal relationship or an impersonal supreme that is beyond names and forms) The role of sacred art in nourishing our spiritual nature How to discern which type of sacred art to use Eka's recent work on altars and having a place of divinity in your home What a simple deity altar would include Main misrepresentations and appropriations and why this matters as a practitio Ekabhumi Charles Ellik is an award-winning poet, author, illustrator, yoga instructor and arts educator with 18 years of international teaching experience. Through a ritualized and meditative creative method, he makes artworks for ceremonial and educational use that help people deepen their spiritual practice, recognize the divinity of common experiences, and find meaning in the beauty of our world. His artworks may be found in yoga studios, private homes, and on altars around the world. He is currently part of the core faculty of livingsanskrit.com. His name was given by his first guru during a formal initiation ceremony into a tantric yoga lineage in 2005. Since that time, he has studied with many spiritual teachers and traditional artists both in India and the States. His art teachers include eminent western figurative painters like Domenic Cretara, as well as Newar artist Dinesh Charan Shrestha, Bikanir-style miniature painter Mahaveer Swami, Thangka painter Andy Weber, and yantra painter Mavis Gewant.Ekabhumi’s writing and artwork has been published widely, appearing in anthologies and journals like The Poetry of Yoga, Berkeley Fiction Review, and Pearl, as well as books like Shiva’s Trident by Swami Khecharanatha, Tantra Illuminated by Christopher Hareesh Wallis and Awakening Shakti by Sally Kempton. His instructional Shakti Coloring Book and the uplifting Bhakti Coloring Book are now available world-wide from Sounds True Press.Though his first love is the arts, he has a wide range of interests that are reflected in his many past occupations: event producer, stock options broker, handyman, journalist, ski boot fitter, competitive surfer and champion sailor. He toured internationally as a performance poet, and the poets he coached won numerous regional and national titles. He facilitated writer’s groups, hosted poetry readings, and organized spoken-word festivals for nearly 20 years, culminating in the acclaimed 2009 Individual World Poetry Slam.Ekabhumi is an inspiring, playful yet methodical teacher who helps students cultivate deeper intuitive states. For nearly two decades, he variously taught yoga, painting, public speaking, and creative writing to students ranging from kindergarten to post-graduate level. Much of his time is now spent creating educational material about interpreting, making, and utilizing sacred art of the dharma traditions. On weekends, he can be found in his garden practicing silence and learning directly from Nature.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode of the CHITHEADS podcast is from a previous panel discussion hosted by Embodied Philosophy on the intersection of somatics and spirituality. Featuring esteemed teachers Sally Kempton, Judith Blackstone, Rae Johnson, Scott Lyons and Tara Judelle. DR. SCOTT LYONS Dr. Scott Lyons is dedicated to teaching embodiment as a way of exploring human development, healing and transformation. Scott is the co-creator of Embodied Flow™, a Clinical Psychologist, and Mind-Body Medicine practitioner. Additionally, Scott is a Certified Body-Mind Centering® Teacher, Cranio-Sacral Therapist, Visceral Manipulation Therapist, Infant Developmental Movement Educator, Movement Therapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Clinical Hypnotherapist, Mindfulness-based Executive Coach, and Focusing Practitioner. TARA JUDELLE Tara Judelle is a world renowned yoga facilitator moved by bringing humans into their innate sense of freedom and purpose. After 30 years experimenting in all forms of movement, Tara co-created the School of Embodied Flow™ in 2014 to bring her current passions into a modern movement of Yoga. From a background in literature, film writing, directing and dance, Tara brings students on a journey of discovery of their numinous self through laughter, meditation, embodiment, movement & inquiry. DR. RAE JOHNSON Rae Johnson, PhD, RSMT is a scholar, activist and registered somatic movement therapist who currently chairs the Somatic Studies specialization in the Department of Psychology doctoral program at Pacifica Graduate Institute. The author of several books – including Elemental Movement, Knowing in our Bones, and Embodied Social Justice – Rae teaches and trains internationally on embodied micro-aggressions, somatic research methods, and the poetic body. DR. JUDITH BLACKSTONE Judith Blackstone, PhD, is an innovative spiritual teacher and a licensed psychotherapist in New York with forty years of clinical experience. She developed the Realization Process, a method of embodied psychological and relational healing and nondual spiritual awakening. She is the author of Belonging Here, The Enlightenment Process, The Intimate Life, The Empathic Ground and Trauma and the Unbound Body. An audio series of the Realization Process is available from Sounds True. SALLY KEMPTON Sally Kempton is a widely respected teacher of meditation and spiritual wisdom known to help students work with meditative experience as a framework for practical life-change. A former swami in a Vedic tradition, she has spent over four decades delving deeply into meditation and self-inquiry. Spirituality and Healthmagazine call her work “the meditation books your heart wants you to read.” She is on the faculty at Esalen and Kripalu, teaches meditation on Yogaglo & leads international retreats.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we discuss: How the world and yoga are open sourced. Vocabulary and framework of Daoist vs Indian yoga. The yoga technique doesn’t matter. What matters is that it is well done, that you have the skills and get it all into integrity (mind, body, breath). Useful metaphors and maps to define, understand and explore the territory of our bodies. Mystical practices, such as yoga, are practical and pragmatic. Participate in the awe. Speak the language of the spirit, play with math; the universal language that transcends the cultural. Music is math. Yoga is music. Visit  https://www.katonahyoga.com/about for the resources referenced in this podcast. Nevine Michaan, Founder and creator of Katonah Yoga possesses a gift for teaching the physical and esoteric aspects of yoga. Many consider her a philosopher, a poet; a seer. Her teaching methods are articulated intelligently with meaning and metaphor. Nevine's practical approach entwines the body, the breath and the imagination. Her unique dialogue and insight are matched by her extraordinary ability to convey and communicate her keen acumen. Michaan, born in Egypt in 1954, moved to New York at the age of three. In her early 20’s while studying history and comparative religion at Vassar College she discovered meditation. Nevine understood that there is a function(s), a formality and a fit to the universe and that yoga is a tool, a technique–a practice with repetition which gives us the opportunity to participate in life intelligently and joyfully. Nevine started a daily practice in NYC with renowned yoga instructor Allan Bateman, in the 1970s. She became fully immersed in what would become her life’s work(s). She began teaching Yoga in 1980 and founded the Katonah Yoga Center in Katonah, New York in 1986. Nevine continues to teach in her studio in Bedford Hills, NY and to inspire those both near and far, of all ages and backgrounds.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we discuss: How David found yoga, his evolution as a teacher, and the teachers who have influenced him. His current view on his 2012 interview in New York magazine: David Regelin's Unorthodox Style of Yoga Yoga skepticism  Yoga as a human science A few principles from his Geometry of Yoga The 200-hour yoga teacher training model David Regelin is a traveling yoga teacher based in New York City. Sought after for his workshops and teacher's intensives, his unique talent for simple yet precise articulation of form and technique, echo in the bodies and minds of his students. As a young teacher, David was at the forefront of what became a popular trend of choreographed vinyasa classes to the sound of live music. He created the "Multi-Intenso" experience, a class that garnered a cult following in New York City. "Multi-Intenso" is a technique based, athletic and dynamic style of yoga centered around handstands. Over time, David's reflective nature and incessant personal investigation into the potential transformative powers that a yoga practice can give, has led him to a more comprehensive approach to how physical form relates to psychological and emotional states. Inclined toward the mystical and timeless, greatly influenced by intensive study with Nevine Michaan, David's practice and teaching have evolved into a more refined adaptation of how an asana (postural) practice can instigate profound mind-body awareness.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we discuss: Yoga as activism in the context of freedom and agency How her contemplative practices have shifted her relationship to racism and how anger isn’t the only way to create change The many tracks of activism and how can we work together What a practice looks like in the context of a correctional facility or rehab facility Impact of meditation and yoga and how they can address the unique challenges that folks who are incarcerated experience Privilege and reparations around race, indigenous peoples, homophobia, sexism and poverty Our relationship with social media – are you “meditating” on Facebook? People referenced in the podcast are: Erika Hart, Rachel Cargle, Adrienne Maree Brown and Susan Barataki Oneika Mays (LMT, E-RYT) transitioned to yoga and meditation from a career in corporate retail over 10 years ago. Oneika used that experience to support social justice non-profits and teach meditation and yoga inside jails. As Training Director at Liberation Prison Yoga she co-facilitated trainings with teachers and practitioners interested in serving incarcerated populations. As Director of Operations onf Transformation Yoga Project she supported a team that has served over 10k people and leads yoga teacher trainings inside prisons. Today, Oneika is the Mindfulness Coach at Rikers Island and facilitates workshops around cultivating resilience and compassion through meditation and other mindfulness practices. At Rikers she works one-on-one with incarcerated folks. She believes that meditation and mindfulness practices can forge a path to freedom and build resilience. Oneika is passionate about supporting teachers and leaders who bring peace and healing to QBIPOC and folks impacted by the incarceration and its aftermath.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we discuss: Symbol of spirals and the journey of the soul  How forms come into being  Morphic resonance and how working with sound relates to Rupert Sheldrake's theory  Western culture's loss of relationship to sound and the effects of externalizing sound as entertainment  The human body as a wind instrument  Reclaiming our voices through the use of the voice as a meditative tool Hear a sample of Jill’s overtone chanting - a magical, meditative technique Untangling the web of ancestral fields to heal families and ancestors Jill Purce is recognized internationally as the pioneer of both the sound & the ancestral healing movements. In the1970’s she introduced the teaching of overtone chanting throughout the world & the spiritual potential of the voice for healing & meditation. In the early ‘70’s she lived & worked with German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen exploring the spiritual dimension of music. She learned overtone chanting in the Himalayas with the chant master of the Gyutö Tibetan Monastery. Jill practiced Dzogchen since 1978 with, Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. In the last 40 years she pioneered her workshops, Healing Voice & Healing the Family and Ancestors, the latter a unique combination of Family constellations, chant & ceremony. Author of The Mystic Spiral: Journey of the Soul. Her recordings include Overtone Chanting Meditations and The Healing Voice. She lives in London with her husband, Rupert Sheldrake and their two sons, musician Cosmo and ecologist Merlin. www.healingvoice.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Julie Brown Yau, trauma healing expert, discusses inter-generational trauma, spiritual practices, and the role of anger in healing. She emphasizes addressing trauma through body, mind, intellect, imagination, and spiritual practice. Julie's unified approach incorporates neuroscientific findings, depth psychology, and Eastern wisdom to resolve trauma and cultivate compassion.