Heart Yoga Radio

YOGA REGULATION? NO THANKS

This podcast addresses a situation current on planet Yoga in the UK and will be of special interest to UK Yoga teachers and teacher trainers. The situation I allude to is the decision made by a government licensed body [Skills Active]  in conjunction with the British Wheel of Yoga to institute a 'National Occupational Standard' [NOS] for a Yoga teacher. This was attempted 12 years ago and didn't succeed, most likely because of considerable opposition from the Yoga Community. I give an outline of the history and the players in this mad game and then demonstrate that Yoga should not be regulated by any governmental agency or narrow interest. Rather, I contend, it is necessarily diverse and therefore beyond the scope of regulation. I then give an account of the Independent Yoga Network which was set up 12 years ago in the face of the first attempt at NOS to defend freedom and diversity and promote Yoga.  [Free. 44 minutes.]

A CRUEL DECEPTION: THE MANUFACTURE OF DISCONTENT AND THE SPIRITUAL SUPERMARKET

In this podcast, I take issue with a couple of examples of a common new age trope that promises the fulfillment all your desires easily if only you partake of this or that snake oil. I assert that this idiocy both exaggerates and underestimates the promise of meditational quietness given that its motivations lie in a quest for profit and influence. The discussion briefly explores will, desire, the tendency to wish-fulfillment fantasy and suggests what the real possibilities for meditation might be. [Free. 18 minutes.]

PATANJALI'S ZEN: COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST SIX APHORISMS OF THE YOGA SUTRA

In this podcast, we comment on the first six aphorisms of Patanjali's Yoga Sutra. The podcast stands alone but is also intended to supply the background to a practical weekend to be held at The Parkdale Yoga Centre, Wolverhampton on October 22nd - 23rd 2016. This weekend is ideal for yoga teachers, dedicated practitioners and open-minded beginners in Yoga. 

The section of the Yoga Sutra we concern ourselves with here is very direct, un-ornamented, non-technical and revelatory, if only you look in the direction it points in. [Free. 1 hour 16 minutes.]

ENERGY MEDITATION

Energy meditation outlined: as the anti-dote to dogmatism, as the revelation of the dance of things, as the loosening of identity, as the revelation of our perspectival condition. It's role in giving sparkle to letting-be, mind meditation is considered. Focused awareness is compared with spacious awareness. The koan of non-doing is encountered and the passion of life becomes the fuel for easeful meditation. The use of bardos of any kind (including those between moments) to leap into freedom is hinted at. [Free. 52 minutes.]