Heart Yoga Radio

ON THE BODY [PART ONE]: YOGA AND THE BODY

This is the first part of a series on the human body. It deals with various attitudes to the body found within yoga culture and texts and attempts to evaluate them against their usefulness for life. I also propose that the affirmation of the human body and the attribution of the highest value to it is essential to Yoga practice. Accordingly, the value of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika lies in the fact that it refrains from condemnation of the body whilst reminding us that "Hatha is for Raja". This recording was first put out on YouTube some time ago. We're repeating it here because it touches on many of the themes we want to explore in more detail in this series. [Free. 30 mins.]

PATANJALI ON PRANAYAMA

This short podcast is stimulated by Yoga Sutras 2.49 to 2.52. In these few short aphorisms, Patanjali outlines four elements of pranayama.The first three prefigure the  much later Hatha Yoga pranayama of Svatmarama which is an operation of will upon the body, particularly upon rhythms of breath. The fourth pranayama is a more subtle breath disciplne which reveals the 'light'! [19 minutes. Free]

ON YOGA POSTURES

This short podcast is one of our 'glossary' style talks. It elucidates Patanjali's take on asana as well as Svatmarama's as found in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and contrasts both of these with 'modern postural yoga'. I go on to suggest a particular approach to asana practice which I find to be fruitful. [11minutes. Free.]

EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON? REALLY?

This short podcast takes a swipe at the current platitude that 'everything happens for a reason', characterising it a an escapist notion. [9 minutes. Free.]

CHAOS AND COSMOS PART 2

In this seond part of four, the theme of the coincidence and mutual dependence of opposites comes to the fore. This is a theme central to the world-views of our three sages: Buddha, Lao Tzu and Heraclitus. Amongst particular opposites discussed are oneness and multiplicity, chaos and cosmos, high and low, nirvana and samsara and more. The discussion also considers language, human suffering and flourishing, interconnectedness and strategies for living.

FREEDOM

In this podcast we consider the inner freedom promised by yoga and meditative disciples in general. The discussion touches on vedanta, the yoga sutra, existentialism, slavery, and more. The core point is that the moment we commit to yoga, we necessarily embrace our ineluctable freedom. [47 minute. Free.]

TANTRA

This short talk describes Tantra in general terms and is the first entry in our 'verbal glossary' which we hope will help listeners negotiate the vast field of spirituality. [5 minutes, free.]