Welcome to another year of yoga and activism. This episode we discuss why self-care is necessary and why it’s not nearly enough. We talk about how no one should be able to OM their way out of taking action and, finally, I plead for your input on future episodes of the show.
Here's the episode of Codeswitch about "Going Off the Reservation."
Learn more about Refilling Your Well, with Priti Robyn Ross.
And this is my latest version of escapism, from the 188sqft folks.
Follow a simple guided breath practice to calm the mind and expand the lungs.
A brief introduction and guided meditation practice of tonglen - a traditional Tibetan Buddhist practice of giving and taking.
A note here, tonglen uses visualization of taking in suffering - and then alleviating it. Be conscious of your capacity in this regard.
A brief introduction and guided practice of nadi shodhana, alternate nostril breathing, for balancing the body and mind.
A brief and simple guided body scan meditation intended to improve awareness and presence.
A simple introduction to kumbhaka, a holding breath pranayama, as well as a guided breath meditation focused on attachment and letting go.
In this series we focus on "just the practice." Here is a brief guided meditation on the universal sound of om.
You can find the Om Mantra Chanting audio that I used available for download here.
In this series we focus on "just the practice." This episode introduces a brief guided meditation focused on being and having enough, letting go and letting it be.
The script for this meditation is by Michael W. Taft and can be found here.
In this series we're focusing on "just the practice." This episode offers a simple introduction to the concept and practice of sense withdrawal - or pratyhara. It's perfectly ok to shut out the world every once in a while, especially if the goal is to go deeper inside your own self.
Note: I do offer some alternatives for meditative driving, but, in general, don't close your eyes while you're in charge of the vehicle. I shouldn't have to say that. But just in case.
In this series we focus on “just the practice.” This episode offers an introduction to Bhramari Breath or bumble bee breathing. Give yourself a buzz and take your focus inside for just a little while.
In this series we focus on “just the practice.” Today, a led practice of what is sometimes called skull shining breath, or kapalabhati. Great for clearing out stagnancy, getting unstuck and infusing yourself with energy. Side note: Get your tissues handy because this one will also clear your sinuses.
Fourth in a series of five shows discussing the kleshas - the obstacles to liberation - this time we talk about two sides to the same distracting coin, aversion and attraction, and what happens when we let our dislikes dictate the way we are in the world around us. Plus, we play a fun game that isn't really either and I couldn't go a whole show without mentioning the patriarchy.
We discuss the Ayurvedic definition of health and, in this hellscape of relentless bad news, why tending to your whole health is not as futile and purposeless as rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
It's Thanksgiving week and I am grateful for my health and for these notes by Seth Abramson about our current administrations tendencies to terrorize the citizenry, because they made me feel less alone.
The briefest of forays into Hinduism, Buddhism and Western selfishness allows us to examine how we define Self and how we behave in the world. We discuss the glorious Rube Goldberg machine that is the human embodied existence and whether or not there is an enduring candle flame amidst the winds of whatever.
The article by Robert Write, Buddhism Is More 'Western' Than You Think.
One example of a Rube Goldberg machine, a deliberately complicated contraption where a series of linked things interact in order to perform a relatively simply task. See also, life.
In our conversation about the kleshas (the obstacles to liberation) we talk about raga or desire and The Princess Bride. I also manage to take a sandwich metaphor way too far for my own good.
Here is a link to the book, The Dharma of 'The Princess Bride' by Ethan Nichtern, which I both quote in this episode and highly recommend.
There's a lot in here about whether desire is an obstacle to liberation - is it good or bad or neither? And through that discussion, I referenced a few back episodes that might be of interest.
Episode 33 - Attachment, Sam Wheat and Hamlet includes a discussion of attachment and its relationship to desire and liberation.
Both Episodes 41 and 44 are about the obstacles to liberation as put forth by Patanjali, while Episode 41 introduces the idea of the kleshas and mentions who Patanjali is and what the Yoga Sutras are.
Episode 41 - The Kleshas, The Ignorati and the Goal of Yoga
Episode 44 - Labels, Asmita and the True Self
How do you know your True Self? We talk about ego, the second of the five kleshas - or obstacles to liberation. How can we know what is self and what is outside of the self? There's some mistaken identity, we have some fun with labels and are horrified by looking through old pictures.
An easy article in Yoga Journal called, "Mistaken Identity"
A little bit more about labels from Yoga Hyde.
In Part 2 of our conversation with Adriene of the Boonie Breakdown, we talk about real-life examples of using meditation as a tool in the real world, how yoga is not praying, and how no one is trying to convert anybody. Except that I kind of am.
Here's where you can find The Boonie Breakdown.
Last week, we mentioned both Jessamyn Stanley and Black Girl in Om and I neglected to link to them in the show notes. I added those links there - and here.
We talk to the one and only Adriene of the Boonie Breakdown in the first of a two part conversation about yoga and meditation - what got her back into her practice and where it might take her next. In this episode we also talk a little bit about lady podcasting and if there’s such a thing as a “good slave owner.”
When you're done listening to this episode, check out The Boonie Breakdown.
We mention Jessamyn Stanley in this show, author of Every Body Yoga and more.
And here's a link to Black Girl in Om, the podcast and online publication.