Escaping Samsara

It’s easy to get caught up in the intellectual debates of spirituality, or spending hours creating exalted states of consciousness, but the actual effects of all this practice are borne out in your everyday life and nowhere is that more apparent then in your intimate relationships.  Marriage is an interesting thing from a spiritual perspective. It could be an excuse to end your practice and focus on “real life”. Or it could be something you use your practice to escape from. Both of these pitfalls deny the chance to use “relationship yoga” as a tool to bring about lasting changes, reduced suffering, and the embodiment of deep wisdom.  To help us understand this, we speak to Mark Usher, a men’s coach, who has made marriage his main life practice. 

David Garrigues has been practicing Hatha Yoga, specializing in advanced Ashtanga Vinyasa for about 30 years. Few people understand the rigors and challenges of long-term asanas practices as deeply. As a fellow vinyasa enthusiast, and keen meditator, I've long been fascinated by the overlap between the two and how much asana practice can be considered a meditation in and of itself -- and not just a preparation. In our discussion, we look closely at the integration between medieval Hatha Yoga and its modern forms, how long-term practice challenges your faith, and the struggle between defining, and leaving things unsaid. Check out David's new book: Ashtanga Yoga Vinyasa here

This is a companion episode to our "Ashtanga and Fatherhood" episode. We're talking about how yoga practice changes for women after pregnancy and in the years of child-rearing. We talk about the challenges of physical recovery and the requirements of emotional labor. How time is the essential factor, and how we witness time can change everything.

Today, we sit down with Rich Ray, a seasoned practitioner of meditation and director of Ashtanga Yoga Portland Maine (and also creator of some dope Instagram visuals @richrayyoga) With over 25 years of Zen and Ashtanga experience, Rich’s commitment to self-discovery and inner peace led him on a transformative path as a resident monk at a silent monastery four years. During this profound period of self-reflection, he cultivated profound insights that continue to influence his life and teachings. As well as founding his studio, Rich also taught yoga and meditation at state prisons in California and New Hampshire and started a meditation program at a women’s county jail in Boston, Massachusetts. In our chat we discuss: The intersection of Zen and Ashtanga practice. How to make Ashtanga practice more meditative. Yoga and aging. And the secrets of the Advanced Ashtanga series.

In this episode, we try to find out if the yogis and the Buddhists are describing the same thing when they talk about Samadhi. Are the paths aiming at the same experience but using different language to talk about it? Or are there deeper differences? To find out, we host a conversation between Gregor Maehle and Leigh Brasington who practice and teach deep Samadhi meditations from the yogic and Buddhist schools, respectively.   

MC Owens is a Buddhist teacher, translator, and author who uses a sutra-based curriculum to teach the history, philosophy, and practices of Buddhism. He has taught in universities, colleges, monasteries, and a variety of unique venues including museums, teahouses and nightclubs. Through Lotus Underground, MC Owens offers courses and private study, and is building the Lotus Underground School of Buddhism, which will combine traditional methods with immersive technologies to provide resources and develop innovative approaches to the study of Buddhism.  He is also a teacher for the San Francisco Dharma Collective, where he currently hosts Dharma Doors, a Sunday evening gathering that brings sutras to life through recitation, translation, humor, and storytelling.  MC Owens' dharma talks, sutra recitations and deep dives into Buddhist texts can be found on the Lotus Underground soundcloud and youtube.  He is also the author of the historical fiction novel, A Sacrifice of Monks

A little Ashtanga episode for your ear holes! Nothing I like better than a fine and geeky Ashtanga-based chat and what a privilege to do so with the raconteur himself, Russell Case. Russell has been practicing and teaching Ashtanga yoga for more than 25 years. A humble and refined teacher, he was given Authorization by Pattabhi Jois in 2005. Case is known for his joking spirit, and his perpetual eye toward social justice work. When Pattabhi Jois invited him to his pranayama class in 2007, he considered this distinction to be the highest grade.  Russell co-hosts the Finding Harmony Podcast with Harmony Slater which is one of my favourite yoga podcasts and if you like Ashtanga you should check them out

Shaila Catherine is the founder of Insight Meditation South Bay, a meditation group in Silicon Valley, and also Bodhi Courses, an online Buddhist classroom. She has been practicing meditation since 1980, with more than nine years of accumulated silent retreat experience. She has taught since 1996 in the USA, and internationally. Shaila studied with several Asian masters in India, Thailand, and Nepal, including H. W. L. Poonja, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, and Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, in addition to the founders of several western meditation centers including Christopher Titmuss and Joseph Goldstein. She completed a one-year intensive meditation retreat with the focus on concentration and jhana, and authored Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity. Shaila practiced under the guidance of Venerable Pa-Auk Sayadaw from 2006-2015, and authored Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhana and Vipassana to help make this traditional approach to meditative training accessible to western practitioners. In 2014, Shaila founded Bodhi Courses to develop and offer teachings in an online classroom.

Stu Girling is a yoga teacher, anatomy expert and author. He runs Love Yoga Anatomy online and on Youtube, and is the author of Illustrated Yoga Anatomy book. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions about yoga, ashtanga, avoiding injury and maintaining healthy bodies.  We asked questions such as: How to return to yoga practice after pregnancy? How to do yoga asana with sciatica? Avoding ankle pain in lotus pose Why should spiritual yogis care about anatomy? How crosstraining can stop you getting injured What's with Setu Bandhasana?  Find more from Stu https://loveyogaanatomy.com/ Stu's book: https://illustratedyogaanatomy.com/

There’s been a lot said and written about the changes female yogis go through when they become mothers. Now, for the first time, we discuss Ashtanga Yoga and fatherhood. Our guests, Mark Robberds, Prem Carlisi, and Scott Johnson have about 80 years of practice and teaching experience between them, close to 100 if you include me.  Mark and I are new fathers, Scott Johnson’s kids are teenagers, and Prem is a grandfather. It was really special to sit with a group of men and learn about realising the goals of yoga in family life.  Show Notes Becoming a father and how men experience having a baby How to continue a yoga practice while holding the responsibilities of family life How to maintain a quality relationship with your partner And the play of masculine and feminine in the yoga of relationship Check out our guests online! https://www.markrobberds.com https://www.markrobberds.com/ https://stillpoint.yoga/ https://www.ashtangayogabali.com/