Escaping Samsara

To us Monica is an embodiment of the yogic way of living. With around 40 years of spiritual practice she is also a Doctor of Chiropractic , Yoga Therapist and co-author of "Ashtanga Yoga, Practice and Philosophy" and "Ashtanga Yoga, The Intermediate Series". Her passion for teaching yogic anatomy unlocks this uneasy subjects to many of her students. In intensive immersions that she offers together with her husband, Gregor Maehle, Monica is also teaching chanting. Her devotion and love for the practice helps students to tap into the world of infinite beauty the moment the first OM together is chanted. We are privileged and grateful to have her on our show.

• Monica's first encounters with Samsara Halahala
• Glimpse into the Essence and discovery of Hridaya, the spiritual heart
• Meditation practice, meeting Maharaji Prem Rawat
• Starting on the path of Yoga
• Role of meditation in allaying the fear of death
• Work and discipline in a spiritual practice
• Surrendering, synchronicity and serendipity
• Tapping into emotional scars and working with samskaras through yoga practice
• Yoga as a form of psychotherapy?
• Role of ethics on and off the mat and thoughts on teaching it
• Embracing humanity and finding refuge in practice

You can find many great articles by Monica in the blog https://chintamaniyoga.com/blog/, as well teaching schedule under https://8limbs.com/.

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Talking to Simon Borg-Olivier is like going snorkelling with Jacque Yve Cousteau - you suddenly find yourself in a bathyscaphe at the bottom of the ocean exploring its depth and multifacetedness of creatures you never knew existed, although in our case it's the ocean of Yoga and the creatures are different angles to view mudras, kriyas, asanas, yogic breathing and the concept of movement itself. In this fascinating talk Simon takes us on a wild ride through many different angles to view the common things - from questioning the validity of the most basic instructions like lifting your arms and drawing your shoulders down in Surya Namasakara to how almost any yogic tool can cause a different outcome based on your intention and tiniest details of your technique.

We speak about Simon's ideal practice routine, how to nourish yourself with practice in the hard time of Covid-19 caused isolation, how to stay connected while being isolated and physically disconnected, how to expand your meditative practice far beyond the formal time spent on the yoga matt. This interview offers you so many dimensions to explore, think and question your views and believes, and we felt very enriched, and once again mystified with all the new pieces of the yogic puzzle.

• Looking into drishti and physiological aspecs of chanting
• Simon's take on breathing practice
• Practice of kriyas - the intricacies of Nauli & Lauliki and dosha specific objectives
• Moving from the core
• Self isolation and how yogic tools can help: meditative states
• Meditative cleaning :)
• Thoughts on what makes a supportive practice vs. increasing stress level through activity
• Coping with isolation and finding a perspective in the info swamp
• Breathing waves geekery
• Ratios in Nadi Shodana and the subject of Kumbhaka
• Are you able to breathe into your chest in a relaxed way?
• 7 stages of Hatha Yoga treatise and Basti kriya as a prerequisite for mudra, asana and pranayama
• Important paradigm shifts to happen in modern postural yoga
• Kapalabhati, Bastrika, Nauli and the danger of misinterpretation of their purposes
• Shades of Kumbhaka
• Incredible hyperventilation experiment
• Words of caution and thoughts on selecting a teacher and teaching

Check out YogaSynergy or his personal website for more information on Simon's teaching.

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Lorraine Cavanagh is an Anglican priest, theologian and a sincere practitioner of Christian path. Her journey is about cultivating and helping others to establish personal relationship with God, outside of any dogmatic concept or structure. It's about spirituality, and not about church. She is also a writer and a podcast host.

In this interview Lorraine shares with us her thoughts on the problems of modern Christian religion, the common misunderstandings about major Christian concepts and helps us better understand some fundamental metaphors of Christianity. We speak about the practice of prayer and the importance of silence, and ask her many more quirky questions, while she kindly and lovingly shares her wisdom with us.

• Lorraine's remarkable experience - the choosing of the Path
• True meaning of Mission and Evangelism in Christianity
• Reasons and consequences of the spiritual experience
• Institutionalised religion and what increasing spirit of managerialism does to it
• Misunderstanding of the conecpt of Prophecy
• Hard questions and the mechanism of prayer as a tool to address them
• Depression, dark night of the soul and the purpose of it
• Metaphor of Jesus dying and how death is not the end of the story
• God, Christ and Holy Spirit experiences
• Importance of scielence
• Difference between contemplative life and activism?
• Calling, destiny, providence and the weaving together
• Abuse of power in the context of religion and the chronic loneliness of the human condition
• Lorraine's books

You can find out more about Lorraine's work at https://www.lorrainecavanagh.net/

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Mark Togni is a Zen monk, advanced Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga practitioner and teacher. In this geeky interview Mark shared with us his insights on intersection of great amount of different practices and traditions.

Differences in effects of Vipassana, Zen and Yogic chakra and Kundalini raising meditation techniques. Interdependent co-arising in Zen, self-inquiry approach of Advaita Vedanta and Patanjali's Yoga Sutra philosophy. Breathing waves, bandhas and energetic patterns of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga's sequences. These are just a few things we discuss in this over an hour long interview with Mark Togni.

What makes this conversation so valuable is that his statements are based not on the book knowledge, but are coming from his first hand experience with different spiritual practices. Listen in!

• Journey to India and meeting his teacher Sri H.W.L. Poonja (Poonjaj, Papaji)
• Thoughts on the selecting the Guru and how to reconcile different philosophical views of Yoga and Buddhism – interdependent co-arising, self-inquiry
• 10 Great Precepts and how does a Zen Monk end up practicing 4th Series of Ashtanga
• Unified mind, passive and active Samadhis and asana practice
• Intersection of 8 Limbs of Patanjali and Zen
• Difference in effects of Vipassana, Zen and Yogic Chakra / Kundalini raising meditation techniques
• Thoughts on selecting a Guru
• Reconciling Zen's interdependent co-arising, Advaita's self-inquiry and Patanjali's philosophy
• Unraveling Samskaras through practice and Gestalt therapy
• Ida and Pingala, and thought son effects of meditation before and after asana practice
• Breathing waves and bandhas as form of response to the heaven and earth connection
• Effects of different Ashtanga sequences, energetic patterns and reasoning
• Finding a balance between Asana, Pranayama and Meditation
• Combining practices from different spiritual traditions
• Mark's thoughts on Yoga and spiritual landscape of today

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Nicky Knoff has an incredible life story and a yoga journey that stretches over more than 50 years. Being 82 at the time when we recorded this interview, she is vibrant, full of life and excited about teaching yoga to her students. Nicky shares the story of her life with us – from growing up in a prisoner's camp in Indonesia, discovering yoga and meeting many inspirational teachers to her philosophy and approach to teaching that aims to integrate higher limbs of yoga in a holistic and balanced practice.

• Be here now – Nicky's childhood memories of prisoner's camp in Indonesia
• Discovering yoga by observing its fruits in a close friend
• Bikram Choudhury, BKS Iyengar, Desikachar and S. N. Goenka
• Why students are discouraged from doing yoga during Goenka retreats?a
• How Vipassana and Yoga help us confront the same issues in a synergistic way
• Nicky's Pranayama practice
• Pranayama as integral part of asana practice and how Ujayi can help during labor
• Ashtanga sequencing and lack of attention to Pranayama in traditional Ashtanga Vinyasa way of teaching
• What is to consider when designing your own asana and pranayama routine
• Difference in breathing patterns and their effects as taught by Desikachar, BKS Iyengar and Pathabi Jois
• Teaching main objective to focus on when teaching people with PTSD
• Nicky's approach to integration of higher limbs in her teaching to offer balanced yoga practice

You can learn more about Nicky's teaching and access many valuable materials at https://www.knoffyoga.com/

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In this episode we interview Matthew Sweeney, a long-term yoga practitioner and teacher. Matthew's path of self-inquiry is a remarkable journey through different systems and approaches, from Martial Arts and Zen Shiatsu to Iyengar Yoga and Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. A long-term absorption in yogic practices together with open-mindedness an interest in Meditation, Tantra, Gestalt Therapy, Transpersonal Therapy, Transforming Cellular Memory, Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta helped him to crystallise his understanding and develop his own authentic and honest approach to teaching. He has written several books and created DVD teaching programs, as well as many great reflections in form or free articles. He is currently based in Ubud, Bali, where he teaches courses in his beautiful shala – Vinyasa Krama Mandiram.

In this interview with Matthew Sweeney we go in-depth on a great variety of topics and get really geeky.

• Relationship between Moon Sequence & Ashtanga Primary Series. Background & Purpose.
• Impact of different asana practices on the state of mind – tamasic, rajastic, sattvic?
• Different angles to look at Vinyasa Krama
• Sequences of Ashtanga Yoga
• Yamas and Niyamas
• Matthew's take on 8 limbs of Patanjali
• Focusing on Stambha within Pranayama and Meditation
• Dharana, Dhyana and attachment to the practice
• Pratyahara and misunderstandings around it
• Self-enquiry and Advaita Vedanta
• Potential of higher limbs and limitations of the system
• Benefits of combining different observer consciousness practices
• Spirituality and technique

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Sarong Vit-Kory, founded the Tevoda Organisation, an NGO based in her mother’s home village in  Cambodia. She was born in a Thai refugee camp. Four years later, her family immigrated to the US and they lived in a Nashville housing project. Determined to better their prospects, Vit-Kory managed to buy her family a detached house in the suburbs by saving wages from her bar job. But her success was marred by sadness: in 2010, her sister was murdered and her father some years after. After achieving an MA in International Development she founded the Cambodian Tevoda Organisation, which supports young children in Baray Village in Takeo.

In our chat we talk about transnational culture, growing up in Nashville, God and Catholocism and the spirituality of Cambodia. 

Shaila Catherine is the founder of Insight Meditation South Bay, a meditation group in Silicon Valley, and also Bodhi Courses, an online Buddhist classroom. She has been practicing meditation since 1980, with more than nine years of accumulated silent retreat experience. She has taught since 1996 in the USA, and internationally. Shaila studied with several Asian masters in India, Thailand, and Nepal, including H. W. L. Poonja, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, and Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, in addition to the founders of several western meditation centers including Christopher Titmuss and Joseph Goldstein. She completed a one-year intensive meditation retreat with the focus on concentration and jhana, and authored Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity. Shaila practiced under the guidance of Venerable Pa-Auk Sayadaw from 2006-2015, and authored Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhana and Vipassana to help make this traditional approach to meditative training accessible to western practitioners.

In 2014, Shaila founded Bodhi Courses to develop and offer teachings in an online classroom.

What is going on in the mind of advanced meditators? How does someone who spent years as a nun see the world? Let's listen in...

Buddhism, especially the Therevadha tradition which we cover a lot on this podcast, has always had female practitioners and leaders but they have historically been sidelined.

So in this new series, we talk to female practitioners about their paths, starting with Willa Tania who is a former Buddhist nun in the Ajahn Chah tradition and is currently a counsellor living in New Zealand

Show Notes

• Fist spiritual experience in nature
• Diet and spiritual practice
• Relationship between psychotherapy and Buddhism
• The heart practices of Buddhism (Brahmavihara)
• The usefulness of guided meditations
• “Buddhist practices are holographic”
• Social Justice and anger energy
• What is Nibbana?
• "Joy and happiness are primary"

Lovers of technical yoga talk rejoice! In this extraordinarily geeky interview Gregor sheds light on nuances of pranayama and meditation practices described in great detail in his books. We also talk about his most recent book about the Map of Transformative States and get a glimpse into the upcoming work with a fascinating discussion on mudras. This is a great interview for everyone going deeper into the higher limbs of Ashtanga Yoga.

Show notes

• On Stanislav Grof and Aldous Huxley
• Chakras and brain circuits
• On Nadi Shodhana and types of visualisations
• Ista Devata visualisation in Kumbhaka
• Surya vs Chandra Bhedana
• On relationship with the spirit world
• On Basti kriya
• Kundalini rising techniques and Ego
• Mudras!
• Things to consider when sequencing different practices

To find out more about Gregor’s teaching, learning materials, courses and in-depth blog article visit https://8limbs.com/

Check out new books by Gregor Maehle: 

CHAKRAS, DRUGS AND EVOLUTION: A Map of Transformative States

“How To Find Your Life’s Divine Purpose: Brain software for a new civilization”

Head over to www.escaping-samsara.com to discover more episodes.

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