Ahead of the October 17-19 weekend workshop, Moving with Integrity - A Yogic Perspective for the Dance of Life, facilitators Šuka and James sat down to discuss the motivations and perspectives behind their distinct and complementary work. Here Šuka asks James about how his approach to yoga and yogic education is perhaps different from what many people might experience in 'yoga classes', about his journey as student of yoga and Sanskrit and the principles that underpin his teachings. You...

Ahead of this October's Moving with Integrity Weekend Workshop in Leipzig, Šuka and I sat down to share a little about our perspectives and approach to work. Šuka is a movement educator, who has integrated his passions for movement and music in the exploration and discipline of dance. A former professional dancer, Šuka now devotes himself to sharing and teaching his ongoing research into movement as a means to more richly experience what it means to be alive. Šuka's dance career b...

I am not ONLY this body In certain circles, one sometimes hears repeated pronouncements like ‘I am not this body’, ‘I am not this mind’, ‘I am not this ego’. These phrases are often derived from much more precise teachings encoded in the Sanskrit language. Phrases like ‘I am not this body’ can be useful in helping us to open up or reconsider our perspetive, but they can also be misinterpreted. Here I share ideas to suggest that it may be more useful to consider the teaching...

Sacred Stories, Timeless Teachings - Myth, Mantra & Self-Inquiry in the Yogic Tradition In Conversation with Nadine Szumilas: - Why is story such a central and potent part of the yoga teaching tradition? - Why is Sanskrit so powerful, and what's different about reciting in Sanskṛt? - What is special about yogic mythology? And: what will we do in the Sacred stories - Timeless Teachings sessions? Sacred Stories, Timeless Teachings - Myth, Mantra & Sel...

Yoga does not ask us to be anything we are not, but invites us on an unrelenting journey deeper into the heart of who we really are. This journey takes courage, honesty and an ongoing interrogation of our presuppositions, a willingness to explore how our perspectives are tinted and veiled by our particular experiences. When we gather with others in a confidential satsang - one in which we can explore honestly in confidence, without being shackled by fear of ostracisation or hasty ...

Despite the common dictionary definitions of nature as something separate from or other than human, really we are never separate from nature. We are nature. Nature is our very nature! We are born, we will die, and in between those two great changes, we will experience constant change, just like everything else in nature. Yoga works with human nature to practically invite us into the recognition and remembrance of our deeper, subtler nature. www.jamesboagyoga.com

Dharma - one of the most foundational principles in yoga and the broader Indic tradition. As a verb: that which supports, holds, sustains As a noun: the essential quality or property of a thing. For example, liquidity, the tendency to flow downwards and follow a path of least resistance, coolness and sweet taste are all dharma-s of water. Luminosity and warmth are dharma-s of fire. For humans: our capacity for self-reflexive awareness, our curiosity and our predilection for beauty are all int...

I believe in miracles...I am reminded that I am a walking, breathing, pulsating miracle...This amazing vehicle of a human body is a miracle, and it demonstrates our remarkable capacity as human beings to reconcile and integrate things that might seem impossible to bring into harmony.The earth, water, fire and air of our bodily vehicles cohere in a space of beauty and sustained cohesion.Our capacity for beauty, rhythm and harmony is greater than we might realise.Yoga offers us a practical meth...

On congruence and new year's resolutionsOn being impeccable with our word and cultivating śraddhā - self-trust. Practising congruence between thoughts, speech and actions.How speech - standing at the threshold between thoughts and actions - offers a powerful focus to help cultivate greater congruence, confidence and self trust.With reference to the Sanskṛt subhāṣita 'wise saying':Manasyekam vacasyekam karmaṇyekam mahātmanā |Manasyanyat vacasyanyat karmaṇyanyat durātmanā ||One whose thoug...

This episode considers some of the rich layers of meaning encoded in one of the Sanskṛt verses that is traditionally sung before study of the Bhagavad Gītā:Sarvo’paniṣado gāvaḥ dogdhā gopālanandanaḥ |Partho vatsaḥ sudhīrbhoktāḥ dugdhaṃ gītāmṛtaṃmahat ||All the upanisad-s are like the cows, Kṛṣṇa, joy of the cowherders, is the milker. His dear friend Arjuna, son of Pṛtha is the calf. The skilfully oriented - those with a wise outlook - enjoy the nectarine milk that is the Gītā. The Upaniṣ...

In this fifth conversation with William S Whorton, I ask him about his success in avoiding some of the ways human beings sabotage their own lives that he became keenly aware of as a teenager. I also asked Bill about his marriage. When I worked with Bill at Chulalongkorn University, I was aware how many of the students were so moved and inspired by the way he spoke of his beautiful wife, as I was. During this conversation, Bill also shares lots of practical wisdom and insight around intuition,...

In this first 'thanking the teachers/thoughts on the guru' episode, I give thanks to my third year junior school class teacher, Mrs Eggleston. During my schooling I was fortunate to have some wonderful teachers. I also encountered and survived others whom I would describe with different types of adjective. But I had enough great ones to help me learn at least to some degree how to learn. Mrs Eggleston impressed into my awareness some of what I consider the most important teachings of my whole...

In this fourth conversation with William S Whorton, I ask him about one of the formative experiences of his life that I have had the privilege of reading about, Bill's first encounter with the TRANSCENDENT through the music that came into his life as he walked past the Second Baptist Church one Sunday in his hometown as a teenager. Bill then went on to become the only white member of this church, and to meet spirit through music that took him beyond ordinary consciousness. We also talk about ...

I enjoyed this third conversation with William S Whorton, co-translator with Acharn Tassanee Sinsakul of The Bhagavad Gītā published last year by Uppsala Books: https://uppsalabooks.com/bg on the 65th anniversary of Bill's first day of training in the Marine Corps. It is a privilege to listen to Bill and receive some of the fruits of a lifetime of seeking and practice on the WAY of yoga and the sincere search for TRUTH. In this conversation we touch on themes of initiation and transformation,...

Yoga practice is EVERY DAYAs Rabindranath Tagore, translated by William Radice said it:Every day, the dawn Brings a blessingTo whatever is still growingTowards the SunRabindranath Tagore - Sparks/ Sphuliṅga, 31Yoga practice is an every day affair.An all day, every day endeavour.A day and night, summer and winter ever new commitment.As Tagore’s words remind us, ‘every day, the dawn brings a blessing to whatever is still growing towards the sun.’I first encountered this verse in a collecti...

Sometimes people have the misperception that yoga is about 'chillaxing' or 'going with the flow'. Yoga is about balance. Sometimes of course, taking things easy and going with the flow is the optimal way of being, but if we just go with the flow, it won't be long before we are tipped over a waterfall, lacerated on razor rock or stranded in an oxbow lake...Yoga practice is about getting in the flow and working with the intelligence of life. If we just flow on with our previously established ha...

A fairly freewheeling episode in which I share thoughts on mastery and apprenticeship. In recent weeks I have had the privilege and joy to share in person with several long term colleagues whom I had not seen for some time. More than once this topic came up. It seems in the world today that genuine mastery of a particular art, craft or discipline is perhaps rarer than only a short time ago. In a world that offers endless distractions that never bring lasting satisfaction and perpetuate some l...

Āsana literally means 'seat', the seat not just of our physical body, but of our whole psychic reality. Yoga techniques seek to cultivate a seat of awareness that is steady and clear, so we can move through the rich opportunities of life with greater poise, ease and in ways that can help us keep learning along the way. These days, āsana, or yoga posture practice, is one of the ways many people make some first kind of encounter with the perspectives of yoga. But beyond poses, posture, attitude...

This May 8-12 2024 I will be collaborating with Clare Nicholls on a living the yoga sūtra-s immersive retreat during which we'll explore how we can embody the practical, whole life teachings of yoga. In this conversation, Clare and I share some of our ideas, motivations and experiences of teaching, practising and studying with nature as the guru. This includes a mention of the teachings and practice can help us attune more deeply to our essence - satya, how they can help us come into truer rh...

This week I'm going to be collaborating with Rosa Tagliafierro of ashtanga yoga italia in Milano, giving a weekend immersion in Italian. Here is an Italian themed podcast episode in which I share a yogic perspective on the Italian folk song Bella Ciao, a song I have sung since the first year I began learning Italian as an eighteen year old at university back in the 20th century.