Episodes

Friday Mar 17, 2017
LEGS ON A SNAKE
Friday Mar 17, 2017
Friday Mar 17, 2017
In this podcast we ask if consciousness is in need of improvement through 'spiritual cultivation' or if such games are 'legs on a snake'. [Free. 18 minutes.]

Monday Jan 23, 2017
Monday Jan 23, 2017
This is my contribution to a public meeting put on by the Independent Yoga Network [IYN] to clarify the attempt being made by BWY and Skillsactive to institute a National Occupational Standard for a Yoga Teacher in the face of concerted and reasoned opposition from key players in the UK Yoga Community. The meeting was held on the 14th January 2017. I am introduce by Ellen Lee, Chair of the IYN. Other presenters were Swami Ambikananda Saraswati [Traditional Yoga Association], Jim Gough [IYN Treasurer], Nick Elwell [BGi Insurance], and Satish K Sharma [General Secretary, National Council of Hindu Temple (UK)]. The complete proceedings, which run to over 3 hours, will be available from the IYN online magazine, namaskaram, shortly. [Free. 22 minutes.]

Sunday Jan 15, 2017
SYNCHRONICITY
Sunday Jan 15, 2017
Sunday Jan 15, 2017
Synchronicity is the phenomenon in which we encounter meaningful coincidences. It tends to occur if we are in dialogue with our unconscious mind, whether through meditation or psychoanalytic types of engagement. In this podcast we consider the nature of this phenomenon and its possible use for self-enquiry. The book Synchonicity [1952] by C G Jung and Wolfgang Pauli is drawn upon as is Jung's approach to the I Ching. [Free. 25 minutes.]

Sunday Jan 01, 2017
THOUGHTS ON RELAXATION
Sunday Jan 01, 2017
Sunday Jan 01, 2017
This podcast isn't a guided relaxation or a 'how to' discourse. Instead, it attempts to map the territory and indicate its endlessness. [Free. 30 minutes.]

Wednesday Dec 21, 2016
CARLOS CASTANEDA'S PATH WITH HEART
Wednesday Dec 21, 2016
Wednesday Dec 21, 2016
This podcast takes its inspiration from the following quotation from Castaneda's The Teachings of Don Juan (1968): "Therefore you must keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions ... Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, the path is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you." [Free. 18 minutes.]

Sunday Dec 11, 2016
CONSIDERING CULTS
Sunday Dec 11, 2016
Sunday Dec 11, 2016
In this podast we attempt to characterise 'cults' and identify psychological processes that sustain them. This broadens out a little into considerations of dominance and power dynamics in general. [Free. 30 minutes.]

Friday Nov 25, 2016
CHOOSING A YOGA TEACHER TRAINING
Friday Nov 25, 2016
Friday Nov 25, 2016
There's a lot in the air at the moment about what constitutes a proper training for a yoga teacher. Here's what we have to say about it. [Free. 25 minutes.]

Friday Nov 11, 2016
YOGA'S COUNTER-CULTURAL ROOTS
Friday Nov 11, 2016
Friday Nov 11, 2016
In this podcast, we explore Yoga's counter-cultural roots in the ancient Saivite-Dionysian religion. [Free. 38 minutes.]

Tuesday Nov 01, 2016
CRYING YOGA
Tuesday Nov 01, 2016
Tuesday Nov 01, 2016
In this podcast, Anna talks about crying yoga. Pete chips in with some remarks about the unconscious. [Free. 38 minutes.]

Saturday Oct 15, 2016
IS ADJUSTMENT OF YOGA POSTURES BY TEACHERS NECESSARY OR USEFUL?
Saturday Oct 15, 2016
Saturday Oct 15, 2016
In this podcast, we take issue with the sacred cow of 'adjustment' i.e. the practice on the part of some 'yoga teachers' of taking hold of a student's body during yoga posture (asana) practice in order to 'correct' it. [Free. 21 minutes.]