Keen on Yoga Podcast

Dr. Robert Svoboda is the first Westerner ever to graduate from a college of Ayurveda and be licensed to practice Ayurveda in India. During and after his formal Ayurvedic training he was tutored in Ayurveda, Yoga, Jyotish, Tantra and other forms of classical Indian lore by his mentor, the Aghori Vimalananda. He is the author of twelve books including Prakriti: Your Ayurvedic Constitution and the Aghora series, which discusses his experiences with his mentor during the years 1975 – 1983. (Information on all of his books can be found here) Dr. Svoboda was born in Texas in 1953, and in 1972 earned a B.S. from the University of Oklahoma in Chemistry with a minor in French. After being ritually initiated into the Pokot tribe of northern Kenya as its first white member in June 1973 he moved to India, where he lived from 1973-80 and 1982-86, receiving his Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (Ayurvedacharya) from the University of Poona in 1980. In his final year of study at the Tilak Ayurved Mahavidyalaya he won all but one of the University of Poona’s awards for academic excellence in Ayurveda, including the Ram Narayan Sharma Gold Medal. The Aghori Vimalananda also owned thoroughbred race horses, and Dr. Svoboda served as his Authorized Racing Agent at the Royal Western India Turf Club in Bombay and Poona between 1975 and 1985. He later served as Adjunct Faculty at the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, NM, and at Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA. In the years since 1986 Dr. Svoboda has traveled extensively, spending three months per year on average in India. He often speaks on Ayurveda, Jyotish, Tantra and allied subjects in locales across the world. 

Nea established Ashtanga Yoga Dubai in 2013 and the yoga shala Nilaya House in 2017, a yoga studio offering a full range of yoga classes which she runs and teaches from. She received level 2 authorisation from Sharathji Jois in 2010. She also is an avid student of yoga philosophy as well as running an ethical textile business working with local Indian woman to ensure fair conditions and pay. In this podcast Nea and Adam are discussing the female menstrual cycle. As a man, you may notice him floundering at points. However, as a teacher of many women he thought it an extremely important subject to learn about. Nea has been personally involved in charting her own cycle for a number of years now to her own benefit. She discusses the importance of honouring her cycle and the natural ebb and flow of life it suggests. Therefore, instead of trying to gloss over these cycles, to homogonise our lives it makes more sense to use these natural, biological patterns of the body accordingly and follow their guidance. As they say, there is a season for everything. It appears through our conversation, it is only when you respect and even embrace the winter and spring, that you can also then enjoy the summer. Nea is currently completing a three-year Yoga History and Philosophy program (Traditional Yoga Studies) and one-year certificate in Ayurveda (American Institute of Vedic Studies).  Her aim is to empower and inspire students to learn, explore and grow along their own very personal path of yoga, uncovering what brings balance and joy and keeps the flame of yoga burning bright.      

Rupert Spira came across the poetry of Rumi at the age of fifteen, in 1975, and soon after this met his first teacher, Dr. Francis Roles, at Colet House in London. Dr. Roles was himself a student of Shantananda Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of the North of India. Under his guidance Rupert learnt mantra meditation and was introduced to the classical system of Advaita, or non-duality, which formed the foundation of his interest and practice for the next twenty-five years. At the same time he also learnt the Mevlevi Turning, a sacred Sufi dance of movement, prayer and meditation. During this time he read everything available by the Russian philosopher P. D. Ouspensky and learnt Gurdjieff’s Movements. In the late 1970s he attended Krishnamurti’s last meetings at Brockwood Park, close to his childhood home, and was deeply impressed and influenced by his intellectual rigor and fierce humility. Throughout these years Rupert also studied the teachings of Ramana Maharshi and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj on a continuous basis. In the same year that he discovered the poetry of Rumi, Rupert saw a retrospective exhibition of a well-known studio potter, Michael Cardew, at Camberwell Arts Centre in London, an event which was to change the course of his life. Already disenchanted with the scientific path on which he had embarked, he found that pottery provided a new avenue of exploration and experience, and one that was completely consistent with the questions evoked by his encounter with the non-dual understanding. As a result, in 1977 Rupert left school and enrolled in the Ceramics Department of West Surrey College of Art and Design, under Henry Hammond. In 1980 he moved to Wenford Bridge in Cornwall, where he lived and worked with Michael Cardew, then aged eighty, for the last two years of his life. Rupert once said that he was completely re-educated during the time he spent with these two founding fathers of the British Studio Pottery Movement, combined with his regular attendance at Colet House. In 1983 Rupert opened his own studio, and over the next thirty years he made pieces that are to be found in private and public collections around the world. A turning point in the mid-1990s led Rupert to the American teacher Robert Adams, who died two days after Rupert arrived in the US. However, on this visit he was told about another teacher, Francis Lucille, whom he met several months later. The first words he ever heard Francis say were, ‘Meditation is a universal “Yes” to everything’. Although it was the kind of statement anyone might encounter on the spiritual path, this moment was pivotal in Rupert’s life: ‘I realised that I had arrived home, that this encounter was the flowering and fulfilment of my previous thirty years of seeking’. When Rupert asked at that first meeting what he should do next, Francis replied, ‘Come as often as you can’. Over the next twelve years Rupert spent all the spare time that work and family commitments would allow with Francis, exploring the sense of separation as it appears in the mind in the form of beliefs and, more important, how it appears in the body as feelings of being located and limited. Francis also introduced Rupert to the Direct Path teachings of Atmananda Krishna Menon and the Tantric approach of Kashmir Shaivism, which he had received from his teacher, Jean Klein. Of the essence of these years, Rupert writes, ‘The greatest discovery in life is that our essential nature does not share the limits or the destiny of the body and mind. I do not know what it is about the words, actions or presence of the teacher or teaching that seem to awaken this recognition of our essential nature as it truly is, and its subsequent realisation in our lives, but I am eternally grateful to Francis for our friendship.’ Rupert lives in Oxford, UK, with his wife, Ellen Emmet, a therapist and yoga teacher in the non-dual tradition of Kashmir Shaivism, and his son, Matthew. He holds regular meetings in the UK, US, Netherlands and Italy, as well as online webinars and Retreats at Home.  

This is my second interview with Alexander Medin.  Alex has had many incarnations, many lives. However, the common thread I feel running through his history has always been the striving for self-understanding - nothing less than yoga. I would suggest, this was evident in his younger, unsettled years getting into trouble with the police, becoming Norwegian champion boxer, the professional ballet dancer, actor and finally a Certified Ashtanga yoga teacher. But, this episode focuses particularly on his most recent work; setting up “Back in the Ring”, a foundation teaching yoga to Norwegian prisoners; many of whom are serving long-term sentences. Even by Alex’s standards, what he has achieved with this is remarkable, leading to government funding to provide yoga teaching across the board in Norwegian prisons. In this podcast we discuss the practicalities of this, the difficulties and the achievements. Many of the prisoners have gone on to become yoga teachers in their own right. Some are employed in the running of Alex’s yoga hotel ‘Nosen’ high up in the Norwegian fjords.

Robert Sankara Moses has 50 years’ experience as a teacher of yoga and advaita vedanta. Born in South Africa, Robert studied architecture, travelled abroad and, in 1972, discovered yoga in the tradition of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, India. He served in the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers for 22 years, teaching yoga teacher training and advanced training courses worldwide. He founded and continues to co-publish Namarupa: Categories of Indian Thought, a magazine about the philosophies and arts of India. Robert leads annual pilgrimages to sacred places of India.  Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Robert has been teaching Pranayama and philosophy courses on Zoom to students from around the world.

Keen on Yoga Podcast with Peg Mulqueen, the forerunner of the Ashtanga podcast and blog with Ashtanga Dispatch. Starting in 2009 I would credit her for providing a general exposure of many of the well known Ashtanga teachers unique to the time. For, most of us, not lucky enough to attend their workshops, this was a democratising of the scene. Moreover it encouraged an unprecedented sense of community spirit. Peg is also a mother, teacher and dedicated student of Ashtanga in her own right. She has been practicing for almost 20 years. At the same time, bringing up her daughter and spending time as a writer for Yoga Journal. Living on a farm in rural Montanta, she presents to me the picture of a well-rounded, furthermore, accomplished individual. Peg has interviewed by now all the well-known ashtanga teachers. In addition she is a voice to be listened to in her own right. She is adamant about presenting the practice in a realistic and approachable light. Moreover to women and mothers who are all too often side-lined in their needs, or assumed to be taught the same as men. Meghan, Peg's daughter “officially” joined her work in 2017. Though she had always been a part of Ashtanga Dispatch, 4 years ago, she really because her right hand and often better half. Of course, also in this interview Peg shares a few anecdotes about her time running Ashtanga Dispatch. And we talk about the take home points from running a yoga podcast and how it has affected our own practice.

Welcome to the Keen on Yoga Podcast with Angela Jamison. Angela is the founder and director of Ashtanga Yoga Ann Arbor, located in Michigan, USA.  She grew up on an isolated farm / intentional community in rural Montana, a remote mountain area of the northern US. From there, she was lucky to receive a scholarship to attend college to study Philosophy and Journalism in Oregon. In the year 2000 Angela discovered ashtanga in Seattle. The primary series helped her to heal from severe intestinal parasites acquired while living in Central America.  In 2001 she moved to Los Angeles to attend grad school at UCLA. Soon afterwards she was hit by a car in a crosswalk. This near fatal accident resulted in a day of full body paralysis. Subsequently her commitment to ashtanga to heal from that trauma was firmed. She spent the rest of her 20s studying two very different topics with equal intensity – the sociology of American empire, and the practice of ashtanga yoga. It was a wonderful time and place for ashtanga. Of the many practitioners and teachers who helped her, the strongest influences were Maty Ezraty and Chuck Miller. In addition, their student Heather, now Radha Carlisi. However, Dominic Corigliano is the teacher who most impacted her during that time. He taught her to assist him in 2007. Mysore In 2009, Angela moved to Ann Arbor for a visiting assistant professor position at the university there. In the same year she travelled to Mysore for the first time to study with R Sharath Jois. After strong encouragement from him, she finally left the university and started teaching yoga full time in 2011. She spent her 30s slowly building community and teaching, with 2-4 months each year in India studying the yoga tradition. Sharath gave her his blessing as a certified teacher in 2017. The best preparation she had for directing a shala was working a variety of jobs. Including union organizing, waiting tables, administrative positions at Amnesty International and a library, and teaching undergraduates at UCLA. This background led her to see her work both as directing a school – just as our teachers in India model  – and also as a form of community building. Growing up “off the grid” surrounded by survivalists has shaped her idea that ashtanga can be a key resource during times of social upheaval. This is because it helps us cultivate both robust physical health, and robust communities. Thereby allowing us to learn complex forms of empathy and cooperation, which help us in difficult times. Online Covid Impact During Covid, her work has mostly migrated online – to a digital platform students built to facilitate ongoing connection and learning. Dozens of students from the early years of the  her work have found their way back to what they call the shadowshala. In addition, new people have found it too. The chance to re-connect with early students who now live around the world, and see people learn to sustain a home practice in the midst of great challenges, has been extremely meaningful. But she is eager to return to the sort of real-live practice that can only happen in a Mysore room with everyone breathing and moving together.  You can find out more about Angela on her website.

Santina’s journey from suffering to awareness and understanding through yoga has led her to a rich and real study of yoga as a living practice. She holds degrees in Law/Arts from the University of Melbourne as well as a Master of Gestalt Therapy. Santina was given her Level 2 Authorisation to teach Ashtanga Yoga by KPJAYI in 2016. She believes there are many pathways into and towards healing and inner transformation. After years of anorexia, bulimia, heroin and other substance abuse, she came to understand that these compulsive behavioral patterns were just a means to escape the boxed-up feeling of terror, rage, shame, despair, grief and unworthiness deep within her psyche and physicality. San has developed an intimacy with the physiology and spirituality of our human form. Her commitment to a life of process, practice and courage cultivates rich soil from which to provide meaningful guidance as an Ashtanga yoga teacher. Her practice embodies the Ashtanga Yoga system, and she has diligently completed the Primary, 2nd and 3rd series of this method under the guidance of Mark Togni. Both Ashtanga Yoga and Gestalt methods helped her to realise that whenever she wanted to escape herself through compulsive behaviour, what she was really hungry for was a deep and abiding connection with herself that brings forth the joy of being comfortable in her own skin. It is through Santina’s theoretical and applied educational background that enables her to insightfully and compassionately work with students of all experiences and skills. “Personal Philosophy of Life, Practice and Process”  Santina believes that with each breath and in every moment we are in a process of evolving from who we have been to who we are becoming.  Blending yoga asana and the Gestalt Method, she works using an experiential, dialogical and integrative approach to self-discovery and embodied awareness. Through compassionate understanding, confirmation to present-moment experience and heightened awareness, we can complete what is unfinished from the past and open pathways to our emerging creative selves. Understanding how our inner processes can function to sustain disruptive patterns, as well as challenge and support the possibilities for creative problem solving, can lead to deliberate actions that transform our relationship to ourselves, to others and to life!

Breathing practice has become increasingly popular, partly at least, as we look for ways to help lessen the anxiety of these most uncertain times we are living through. Harmony is uniquely positioned to guide us in this having studied what she terms as ancient breathing (the subject of a new course she is soon to launch), with both Pattabhi Jois as well as the renowned Sri O.P Tiwariji; the then head of the Kaivalydam Institute for research on yoga near Mumbai in South India. In this interview, we discussed how best to build up a practice, what breath to start with and the signs or symptoms that we are doing it effectively.  We also talk about the fact that – even without dealing with anxiety – pranayama is most helpful to balance of the intensely stimulating affects of our ashtanga practice on our nervous systems. For, the practice itself often stimulates the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight), which can be helpful in resolving trauma. On the other hand, we also need to balance this with tapping into the calming effect of the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest), which is not adequately found addressed in the way most people practice, and want to practice (ie. with a certain speed and dynamism that is invigorating, yet, also needs balance for this reason). Finally, Harmony shares some of her own experience with using pranayama to fight inflammation, fatigue and digestive-issues. Here, we delve into the science behind it regarding oxygen and Co2 exchange, as well as considering how to commence breathing if you find yourself resistant or even frightened by the prospect of sitting quietly and focussing on your breath.

Welcome to the Keen on Yoga Podcast with Luke Jordan. Always feeling that there was something more to life, Luke first began formal study of Eastern mysticism in the 1990s while at University. He plunged headlong into the practise of Ashtanga Yoga in the year 2000. This began the on-going journey that would take him around the world seeking out experts, gurus and teachers in the field of Yoga and spirituality. Luke is always seeking to ground his practice and teaching in the wider Yoga philosophical tradition. He holds a Master’s degree in Indian Religion (his main focus being the deeper meaning of the Yoga philosophy). He remains an avid student of mystical spiritual traditions and peppers his ‘teachings’ with insights drawn from his readings of the worlds spiritual traditions and mythologies. We are sure you will enjoy this yoga podcast with Luke Jordan, you can find out more about him on his website.