Peter's Podcast

Be a fly on the wall as Jenny and I discuss the background of several yoga techniques and the treasure that comes from practicing them. We talk about the way Tantra describes our limited universe and how life becomes like a card game that can be rewarding as well as challenging.

We mention a practice called arohan-awarohan and how it balances the the gunas of nature, rajas and tamas, to help you maintain sattva, or graceful living. There, you can experience life like you're floating on an inflatable raft at the beach. I mention that metaphor is from Alan Finger, our teacher at ISHTA Yoga, who is an ongoing source of inspiration for me.

I wanted to invite you to become a subscriber to Peter's Podcast. By that I mean sign up to download it regularly from wherever you get your podcasts, but also to support Peter’s Podcast on Patreon.com. Patreon is a great funding site that let’s me make this podcast without the need for product advertisements, which I think is nicer for both of us. You can subscribe there for any amount you like. I have a special Subscriber level at a dollar, but you can choose more or less to set your own value for this information and the effort it takes to make Peter’s Podcast.

If you have comments, you can make them in the show notes at peterspodcast.simplecast.fm.

Thanks for listening!

In this episode, I am live from Stockholm, where I speak with fellow ISHTA Yogiraj, writer/editor, creative coach, and educator Ulrica Norberg. Ulrica and I talk about what it means to bring yoga into the way that we live in the world. We cover that topic from a few perspectives, including the balance between work and personal time, how we tackle new challenges, and whether it's possible to follow the advice of the Bhagavad Gita to act without attachment to the outcome.

We mention a couple yoga concepts:

Ulrica also uses the phrase "I-ness versus me-ness," an idea from art criticism regarding subject versus object, or pure experience as opposed to evaluating me who is experiencing.

We mention Alan Finger, our teacher at ISHTA Yoga and Yogobe, a Scandinavian source for online yoga classes.

If you’re planning to be in Europe in August, I’m teaching a workshop in Berlin on August 7 and two in Helsinki on August 4 and 11. You can always find out about what I'm doing on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

If you like this podcast, please support me on Patreon. This allows me to avoid making you listen to advertisements to fund the project, which I think is nicer for both of us.

Thanks for listening!

This month I'm teaching abroad, so I've arranged for a special episode of Peter's Podcast for people missing my classes in New York. In this episode, we have a live recording of a full meditation practice, with an explanatory lecture beforehand. You can just listen to the lecture, or try the meditation, too.

The lecture begins with a description of Tantra, which is a foundation of ISHTA Yoga. We then cover the practice, which uses mantra — or sound vibration — to create a shift in your state of mind. This allows an easier and sometimes deeper meditation than you get with just sitting quietly or being mindful. I lead the practice and leave time in the recording for the meditation itself. After about 15 minutes, there is a closing practice (samyama) that helps bring the wisdom you gain in meditation back, in a way that helps you deal with life on a day-to-day basis. There's ambient music by Moby during the meditation minutes. I really enjoy his ambient meditation music which he provides free for download here: Moby: long ambients1.

If you enjoy the class format in this episode, please come to a meditation class at ISHTA or when I am visiting a town near you.

I decided not to interrupt my podcast with advertisements, so if you like it, please support it on Patreon, a wonderful artist-funding web community. You can support the podcast at any level you like. Various levels will soon get you cool rewards, like questions on the podcast, a decal of me as a motorcycling meditator, and a temporary tattoo of Like Happiness, but More Permanent. See Patreon.com/peterspodcast for details.

Learn more about me at www.peterferko.com or follow my comings and goings on Facebook. And please share the podcast with friends who you think would appreciate it.

Special thanks to my student and friend, photographer Francesco Sapienza who took my logo photo.

In this episode, I’m coming to you live from Helsinki, Finland where I’m teaching in a yoga teacher training with Aino Siren and Mikaela Soldan. They created both an ISHTA teacher training and a pop-up yoga studio for the summer. They are both ISHTA Yoga teachers, whom I had the pleasure to have as students. We talk about the training and the pop-up that Aino and Mikaela created.

We also talk a lot about real yoga, and the relationship between asana, philosophy, and life's challenges. There are some pointers for teachers in this episode, too!

If you’re in Helsinki, check the site ishtayoga.fi for Aino and Mikaela at the popup studio class schedule. I’m teaching two meditation workshops at the pop-up Aug. 4 and 11.

If you’re planning to be in Berlin in August, I’m teaching a workshop there sponsored by SOULWORX on August 7. You can always find out about what I'm doing on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

If you like this podcast, please support me on Patreon. This allows me to avoid making you listen to advertisements to fund the project, which I think is nicer for both of us.

Thanks for listening!

In today's episode, I discuss a yogic approach to political realities with Wendy Newton and Jenny Bloom. We tackle how to be concerned about what's going on while operating from a place of balance. We touch on some current events, like the travel ban and this summer's controversial Julius Caesar. We also try to clarify the distinction between the nature of the universe to oscillate between action and withdrawal and our role as the conscious actors within those oscillations.

I decided not to interrupt my podcast with advertisements, so if you like it, please support it on Patreon, a wonderful artist-funding web community. You can support the podcast at any level you like. Various levels will soon get you cool rewards, like questions on the podcast, a decal of me as a motorcycling meditator, and a temporary tattoo of Like Happiness, but More Permanent. See Patreon.com/peterspodcast for details.

Learn more about me at www.peterferko.com. And please share the podcast with friends who you think would appreciate it.

Special thanks to my student and friend, photographer Francesco Sapienza who took my logo photo.

In this episode, I chat with Lindsay Sanwald. Known to her music fans as Idgy Dean, I know Lindsay as a yoga teacher and as part of a kirtan project, where we join forces to put a psych-rock vibe to traditional Sanskrit mantra.

We cover a lot of ground between the arts and yoga, including the way both serve as a "way" to help find one's purpose, or ISHTA devata — the energy that helps you experience the whole of who you really are.

We mention several artists in the episode, including:

We talk about my book, Yoga for Artists, and how yoga creates a path for tapping your muse as an artist.

Finally, we discuss the nature and value of mantra, including the sound Om, and how a mantra creates transformation.

I decided not to interrupt my podcast with advertisements, so if you like it, please support it on Patreon, a wonderful artist-funding web community. You can support the podcast at any level you like. Various levels will soon get you cool rewards, like questions on the podcast, a decal of me as a motorcycling meditator, and a temporary tattoo of Like Happiness, but More Permanent. See Patreon.com/peterspodcast for details.

Learn more about me at www.peterferko.com. And please share the podcast with friends who you think would appreciate it.

Special thanks to my student and friend, photographer Francesco Sapienza who took my logo photo.

In today's episode, I chat with Jenny Bloom about what the Yoga Sutras describe as keys to staying balanced when confronted by challenges with the people you encounter. These could be people who are out to harm you, but we also have trouble staying contented around people who are happy, sad, or successful.

Jenny and I also discuss what it means to be a yogi; what karma is — and why it's not good or bad; and how looking for happiness in things outside you is a mind trick.

I decided not to interrupt my podcast with advertisements, so if you like it, please support it on Patreon, a wonderful artist-funding web community. You can support the podcast at any level you like. Various levels will soon get you cool rewards, like questions on the podcast, a decal of me as a motorcycling meditator, and a temporary tattoo of Like Happiness, but More Permanent. See Patreon.com/peterspodcast for details.

Learn more about me at www.peterferko.com. And please share the podcast with friends who you think would appreciate it.

Special thanks to my student and friend, photographer Francesco Sapienza who took my logo photo.

Today’s guest is Wendy Newton. She is a yogiraj, or master of ISHTA yoga and a practitioner of Polarity Therapy, a yoga-based wellness system developed by Randolph Stone. She’s also my wife!

Today we invite you into our morning breakfast conversation, which is always about yoga and life. We broach the topic of deep living, which is one of the areas I want to explore via this podcast. We talk about living the way — like the Tao — of yoga, the challenges of dealing with political realities, and how deep living comes from deep study and consistent practice. We also touch on teachers and on ISHTA Yoga, and our comprehensive yoga study there with our teacher Alan Finger.

I decided not to interrupt my podcast with advertisements, so if you like it, please support it on Patreon, a wonderful artist-funding web community. You can support the podcast at any level you like. Various levels will soon get you cool rewards, like questions on the podcast, a decal of me as a motorcycling meditator, and a temporary tattoo of Like Happiness, but More Permanent. See Patreon.com/peterspodcast for details.

Learn more about me at www.peterferko.com. And please share the podcast with friends who you think would appreciate it.

Special thanks to my student and friend, photographer Francesco Sapienza who took my logo and episode photos.

This is our inaugural episode, where we introduce the broader scope of yoga and meditation. I am joined by yogini Jenny Bloom, a student of mine who is now a teacher. We discuss santosha, a yoga concept that defines happiness as contentment with what is. Jenny notes that my line about happiness could make a good tattoo, so we're going to make that a Patreon reward!

We go deeply into how you can be okay with what is while being deeply engaged with life. We also talk about where happiness comes from, and the temporary nature of the joy of online shopping.

I also share a little of my own history, about how I found yoga as a parallel to the joy I found in the arts. I quote my teacher Alan Finger of ISHTA Yoga, who initiated me as a yoga master (Yogiraj) and continues to serve as a source of inspiration.

If you like this podcast, please support it on Patreon. You can subscribe there at any level you like. Various levels get you cool rewards, like shoutouts on the podcast, a decal of me as a motorcycling meditator, and a temporary tattoo of Like Happiness, but More Permanent. See Patreon.com/peterspodcast for details.

Learn more about me at www.peterferko.com. Special thanks to my student and friend, photographer Francesco Sapienza who took my logo photo.