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 P ..read more

Sarong Vit-Kory, founded the Tevoda Organisation, an NGO based in her mother’s home village in  Cambodia. She was born in a Thai refugee camp. Four years later, her family immigrated to the US and they lived in a Nashville housing project. Determined to better their prospects, Vit-Kory managed to buy her family a detached house in the suburbs by saving wages from her bar job. But her success was marred by sadness: in 2010, her sister was murdered and her father some years after. After achieving an MA in International Development she founded the Cambodian Tevoda Organisation, which support ..read more

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. S ..read more

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. S ..read more

What is going on in the mind of advanced meditators? How does someone who spent years as a nun see the world? Let's listen in... Buddhism, especially the Therevadha tradition which we cover a lot on this podcast, has always had female practitioners and leaders but they have historically been sidelined. So in this new series, we talk to female practitioners about their paths, starting with Willa Tania who is a former Buddhist nun in the Ajahn Chah tradition and is currently a counsellor living in New Zealand Show Notes Fist spiritual experience in nature Diet and spiritual practice Relation ..read more

Glimpses Into the Sufi World. While most hippies in the 60' went to India to find spiritually Michael Sugich went to Saudi Arabia in search of a Sufi guru and spent his life in a lesser known area of the Arab world living the spirituality of Islam. New episode is out now! Link in the bio. Show notes - First spiritual experiences and escape from show business - Remembrance of God - Vikrala - On Islam as foundation of Sufism - The only certain thing - Sharia as a safety net - Importance of guidance of a spiritual master - Working with breath in Islamic tradition, Haḍra ritual - Litanies and sp ..read more

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.  You can watch this episode on our Escaping Samsara Youtu ..read more

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.co ..read more

Thomas Van Breda is a scholar of religion specialising in the western esoteric tradition. He joins us to discuss notorious occultist Aleister Crowley and his contribution to the evolution of modern yoga. In 1901, Crowley travelled to Sri Lanka and studied what seems to be a mixture of Ashtanga and Shaivite Yoga. When he returned to the UK and started teaching. Is it possible that he was one of the first western yoga teachers ever? Or did his bombastic and strange personality only obscure these teachings? Show Notes  We discuss the occult and rejected knowledge systems Crowley’s problema ..read more

Nathan is joined by Marc Kate and Chad Lott from "Scary Thoughts Podcast" to discuss Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now." Unless you've been stuck in a Twitter flame war for the last 20 years, you will know about Tolle's bestselling spiritual treatise. But is it a classic or a self-help rip off?  We discuss the book, it's flaws and strengths and come to some new conclusions. We also discover Marc and Chad's meditation practices, the effect of nihilism and find out what Eckhart Tolle and Charles Manson have in common. http://scarythoughts.org/ https://failingforms.bandcamp.com/ Feel gra ..read more