Integral Yoga Podcast

Robert Sankara Moses has 50 years’ experience as a teacher of yoga and advaita vedanta. Born in South Africa, Robert studied architecture, travelled abroad and, in 1972, discovered yoga in the tradition of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, India. He served in the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers for 22 years, teaching yoga teacher training and advanced training courses worldwide. He founded and continues to co-publish Namarupa: Categories of Indian Thought, a magazine about the philosophies and arts of India. Robert leads annual pilgrimages to sacred places of India.

Links:

Website: www.namarupa.org

Instagram: @rmosesnamarupa

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Jonathan Foust, MA, CSA, is a guiding teacher with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington and a founder of the Meditation Teacher Training Institute in Washington. A senior teacher and former president of Kripalu Center, he leads retreats, trainings and classes in the Washington DC area and around the country and works individually with those interested in healing and spiritual awakening.

He lives outside of Washington, DC with his wife, Tara Brach and their slightly demented dog.

Links:

Website: https://www.jonathanfoust.com/

Contact: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHDVc7mqJEl3iIv901uKG-Q

Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?mt=2

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foustjonathan/

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Moksha Sommer of the band HuDost sits down with Avi Gordon and discusses musical performance as a practice, the beauty of collaboration, and learning to laugh when things go wrong.

HuDost functions as a duo or as a band. HuDost’s core musicians are Moksha Sommer and Jemal Wade-Hines.

They have been fortunate to have incredible performance opportunities throughout the years and have toured internationally since 2006 collaborating with wild, astonishing, and respected artists, musicians, dancers, and activists.

Quotes from the interview:

* I think every one of us can be in service, but how that service takes shape is really different, and different people have different strengths with how they can be of service.

* There doesn’t have to be loneliness in any of this - real service is about coming together with other people - that’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned through music, too.

* I think any kind of practice whether we’re looking at spiritual practice, musical practice, or yogic physical practice what it really comes down to is doing it so much that you end up with muscle memory for it.

* Now it’s like, if mistakes are made, just laugh. It’s ok. Move on.

Connect with HuDost

HuDost website: https://www.hudost.com/

Twitter: @hudost

Instagram: @_hudost

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hudost/

YouTube: HuDost

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Vyasa Smith and Avi Gordon discuss gratitude, the advantages of getting away from the "hustle and bustle", and how enlightened beings treat others.

Vyasa is an Integral Yoga Teacher and resident of Satchidananda Ashram Yogaville. He currently serves as the Yogaville Academy Administrator. He enjoys traveling, hiking, and studying Jnana yoga.

Quotes from the Interview:

* I imagine that’s what [Nelson] Mandela was thinking: Ok, I’m in prison but I’ve got my mind, I’ve got God, and so you can’t take that. I can understand things more in solitude.

* There’s a point in your life where you realize nobody is as interested in your spiritual growth as you will be.

* It’s just nuts how connected you can get when you’re away from the hustle and bustle - the things that open up for you are just amazing.

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Swami Asokananda and Avi Gordon discuss courage versus conformity, discipline, and moving towards loving unconditionally.

A monk since 1975, Swami Asokananda is one of Integral Yoga’s® foremost teachers—known for his warmth, intelligence, and good humor. His teaching comes out of his own practice and experience while absorbing the wisdom of his Guru, Sri Swami Satchidananda. While he enjoys sharing the practical wisdom of yogic philosophy (especially the great Indian scripture, the Bhagavad Gita), he also loves his practice of Hatha Yoga.

He presently serves as president of the IY Institute in New York City. Before this position, he served as the President of Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville and Integral Yoga International.

Quotes from the Conversation:

* I would say [it's] even fun just to be who you are. It’s a lot of stress to be something you’re not or try to project an image that’s not quite the reality for you. It’s more relaxing to..”yep, this is who I am. And I’m ok with that.

* I try to be like a good in a way traditional Integral Yogi, but as Asokananda expresses that which may not conform to the norm, and I’d rather risk that than be inauthentic to myself.

* I’m more influential by letting go of control.

* It’s your job to relax. It’s your job to love. End of story. Do your job.

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Hamsa Cho and Avi Gordon discuss yoga in leadership and decision-making, and how to grow without "beating ourselves up".

Hamsa currently serves as the executive director for Integral Yoga Institute New York. She has 20 years of business and consulting experience. Bringing yoga to all adds excitement to her life.

* The path to where you’re going is only straight in hindsight.

* We’re all imperfectly perfect, so we’re just in this game - we’re in this play, and all going through it as easefully and peacefully as possible.

* That’s how yoga works for me, is having that ahimsa toward myself of not beating myself up, but it also gives me the space to recognize I’m always learning and that I can always get better while still recognizing that I’m doing my best right now.

* I think part of being a leader is being able to see a larger picture and to get everyone moving toward that larger picture.

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Marisa Radha Weppner and Avi Gordon discuss accepting every moment, the path of bhakti yoga (love/devotion), and how "we're all going to graduate".

Mother, teacher, author, DJ, community organizer, life coach, podcaster, entrepreneur. Radha has taught yoga and meditation since 2002. Radha uses her graduate degree in transpersonal psychology and life coaching to bring a real-world mix of eastern and western spirituality and psychology to her teachings of self-empowerment and transformation. She is the co-director and producer of Yogafort for Treefort Music Festival. She is also a Nosara Yoga Institute Master Yoga Educator. She specializes in direct experience teachings of Yoga Psychology, Yoga History + Philosophy, Yin Yoga, Yoga Nidra, Meditation and Self-Awakening Yoga.

Quotes from the Interview:

* our yoga practices…I often describe that to my students as like brushing your teeth. We brush our teeth every morning and night, why would we not move our body and clear our our energy throughout the day?

* It helps me to remember that we’re all gonna graduate – we’re all gonna get there in our own time – that we can’t ever fall out of it, [out of] love or God.

* That’s a sweeter feeling…that even when you’re having an argument with your beloved and you’re losing you can feel like ‘Oh, this is God too’.

* It’s not your birthday every day. at some moments you want others to rise and shine.

Links:

Website: https://www.marisaradhaweppner.com/

Instagram: @marisaradhaweppner

Podcast: Love Service Wisdom - on podcast platforms

Album: Guidance - on all streaming platforms

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Zac Parker talks about finding a life that reflects one's values, the "selfish selflessness" of serving others, and learning to balance discipline and lightheartedness.

Zac has been teaching Yoga since 2014. He is certified as an Advanced Hatha Yoga and Restorative Yoga instructor. Zac's teaching is a natural extension of his own practice. He approaches his teaching with a balanced blend of light-hearted ease and focused awareness on the subtle sensations of Yoga practice. Zac currently serves as the Online Programs Coordinator at Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville, as well as regularly teaching a variety of Yoga classes. He holds a master’s degree in Anthropology.

Quotes from the Interview:

* "...when you’re trying to produce good results in the world, to be clear-minded, to be balanced, to feel content within yourself is the place from which you can be most effective. Period. There’s just no question.”

* “It feels good to serve others. That’s an enjoyable activity. Not based on something you “should” do or even you could say "it’s right to do". Simply because of the reward-feedback loop that’s created - that it feels good to serve others. It sounds paradoxical, it is paradoxical, but it can add to the contentment which you already have.”

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Laney Sullivan and Jameson Price talk with Avi Gordon about activism and the healing that comes from seeing our interconnectedness.

"Courage" and "Seasons", two songs from the album Courage, appear at the end of interview.

Høly River is founded by multi-instrumentalists Laney Sullivan and Jameson Price..This musical phenomenon has come to be known as Earth folk, a type of music inspired thematically by the natural environment. From harmonium engulfed melodies to mouth-harp stomp grass, Høly River taps into an embodied and innate celebration of internal and external worlds, attempting to bring them closer together with each beat. The music of Høly River carries the message of humanity’s need for reconnection with itself and the earth.

Quotes from the Interview:

* When we say reconnection with ourselves, or with the natural world, I think it’s really just witnessing ourselves in place of the natural world and as a part of it, interconnected, and drawing lessons from the natural world to be able to reflect back on how we can be better versions of ourselves, to ourselves, and to the world around us.

* Every moment is an opportunity for growth and to decide ‘what is the right thing to do?’, regardless of its outcome.

* To avoid burnout...this is my biggest lesson: I only do the things I love within activism.

Links:

Høly River website: https://www.holyrivermusic.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/holyrivermusic/

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Jaganath Carrera and Avi Gordon discuss the importance of wonder and attention, the nature of the mind, and the power of acceptance.

Jaganath Carrera is the founder and spiritual head of Yoga Life Society and its first Yoga Life Center in Woodland Park, NJ. He is a direct disciple of Sri Swami Satchidananda. Rev. Jaganath has taught at universities, prisons, Yoga centers, and interfaith programs. He established the Integral Yoga Ministry and developed the highly regarded Integral Yoga Meditation and Raja Yoga teacher training certification programs.

He served for eight years as chief administrator of Satchidananda Ashram – Yogaville and founded the Integral Yoga Institute of New Brunswick, NJ. a

He is the author of Inside the Yoga Sutras: A Sourcebook for the Study and Practice of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and Awaken: Inside Yoga Meditation.

Quotes from the Interview:

* Me as a carburetor I only find meaning when I’m attached to the car. Me as a human being I only find meaning in my life when I realize I’m attached to the whole. That I’m a part of the whole.

* Just accept whatever comes, however it comes, whenever it comes. Be patient, be strong, have faith.

* We can’t do this alone. We need each other to support. When we’re low we need a little support. And we’re there to offer support when someone else’s a little low. And that keeps us going until we can reach that final end stage of yoga.

Links:

Yoga Life Center: https://www.yogalifecenter.org/

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