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 can also watch James interviewing Šuka here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9ptBC71TZs&t=49s 

Read more about the 17-19 October workshop here: https://jamesboagyoga.com/leipzigmovingwithintegrity/ 

And sigh up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/12HvPXuAC67RbtGHcog1AwHH_L0cInVHAp6sq8G-ApOk/viewform?edit_requested=true

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 began when he started practicing breakdance at the age of twelve in his hometown in Germany. Having had a strong fascination for music and sports from an early age, dancing offered him a way to combine these two passions and he started to dedicate his time and energy in developing a dance practice with a group of friends. 

Soon Šuka’s curiosity led him to explore a variety of movement styles and he went to study at Codarts Rotterdam to turn dancing into his profession. Since then, Šuka has danced professionally in international productions including with 18 Monkeys Dance Theatre in Bangkok, choreographed by Jitti Chompee and more recently with Dimitri Papaioannous. 

Having experienced what all his contemporaries at dance school were aiming for and performed at the top level touring internationally, Šuka realised more and more that it was actually teaching, working both with others steeped in the craft and with the general public that he found greater joy and satisfaction. 

These days, Šuka gives regular teachings where he lives in Germany as well as being a regular guest teacher at several dance festivals and extended workshops around the world. 

October 17-19, James and Šuka will offer a weekend together in Leipzig, Moving with Integrity: A Yogic Perspective for the Dance of Life: 

Read more here: https://jamesboagyoga.com/leipzigmovingwithintegrity/ 

Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/12HvPXuAC67RbtGHcog1AwHH_L0cInVHAp6sq8G-ApOk/viewform?edit_requested=true

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 more like, ‘I am not ONLY this body’.
The teachings of yoga ultimately aim to integrate and unify our understanding of ourselves - I, of the other - you, and of everything between and beyond - that! Otherwise stated, yoga which means amongst other things ‘to connect’ or ‘integrate’, means to disconnect us from our attachment to limited ideas and false beliefs so we may connect to the greater wholeness and vastness that we are really part of. 
But this does not mean ignoring, suppressing or repressing the body! The body is our faithful, most intimate companion. It is endowed with so much intelligence. It too is part of THAT - that intelligence which animates the all! When we savour, appreciate and harness the gifts of embodied consciousness, we can refine our understanding of ourselves and existence. 
It is not that we want to obsess with the body or become a slave to its whims and fancies. However, if we inhabit it with gratitude and cherish its gifts, we may come to recognise the perspective that as well as a heap of matter bound to decay, the body is also a miraculous divine vehicle and our means to recognise our deeper, subtler essence, here and now.

To read more about and sign up for the autumn 2025 online course on Living Rāmāyaṇa, use this link: https://jamesboagyoga.com/ramayana2025/

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 & Self-Inquiry in the Yogic Tradition 

Autumn sessions 2025 at Ikigai Praha 

- “It all begins with Gaṇeśa” Saturday 27th September 2-6pm Saturday 25th October 2-6pm 

Book here: https://www.ikigaipraha.com/events/sacredstories-ganesa 

More about the series: 

On hearing the word yoga, people often think of movement, flexibility, or postures on a mat. But yoga is — and always has been — so much more than that. Long before it became a modern practice of physical well-being, yoga was passed on through the spoken word, through story, song, and shared experience. It was a way of living, of seeing, of remembering what truly matters. 

This spirit will guide the special series of gatherings that will start this autumn at IKIGAI Praha, returning to the heart of yoga’s oral tradition — a space where myth, sound, and meaningful reflection come together as tools for inner clarity, balance, and transformation. 

These sessions are for anyone who senses that life holds deeper meaning — for those who carry questions, who long to grow, who wish to move forward without repeating old patterns. You don’t need to be a yoga practitioner to take part. This space is open to all who feel drawn to explore, reflect, and widen their perspective through timeless stories that speak to the human experience. Whether you’re seeking clarity, resilience, inspiration, or simply a quiet space to connect inwardly — these stories and teachings offer accessible and nourishing wisdom for real life.

 In these initial autumn gatherings, we will focus on the mythology and symbolism of Gaṇeśa, Lord of Beginnings and great icon of yoga. As we do this, we’ll discover and learn more about:

 -What yoga really means and how it relates to all aspects of life 

-Practical supports to face the unknown and embrace the mystery and majesty of life 

-Why in yoga and Indian mythology is it traditional to ‘start with Gaṇeśa’?  

-How stories of Gaṇeśa offer a guide for our own life and practice. 

-How we can work to actually ‘change our minds’, renovate our habits and free ourselves from patterns that no longer serve us. 

Each session will include: 

• work with sound and song, 

• live storytelling,  

• unpacking of the practical treasure and real life application of the myth. 

• inquiry and discussion to deepen our understanding. 

Each session works as a stand alone unique offering, though it is optimal to attend both. 

Participants will also receive thorough notes, readings and exercises for continued practical engagement with the stories and teachings we explore in the sessions. 

The material offers insights and tools that continue to resonate long after. What you take with you can gently shape how you move through life, one moment at a time. 

Fees:  

3200czk for both sessions 

2000czk for a single session 

Autumn sessions 2025 - “It all begins with Gaṇeśa” 

Saturday 27th September 2-6pm 

Saturday 25th October 2-6pm 

Book here: https://www.ikigaipraha.com/events/sacredstories-ganesa 

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 condemnation - this is one of the most potent ways to accelerate the yogic process of looking in ways that reach beyond our habitual ways of looking. 

During this episode, I suggest how terminology often gets laden with associations that can exacerbate feelings of distance and otherness. I give a couple of examples of how the same term can come with vastly different associations for different people, associations that might usher people away from the reality that they actually share a lot of common ground. I also talk about how even our small and humble efforts may make more difference than we might ever know, and share a story that reminds us to never give up.

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 intrinsic dharma-s.
Like many words in the Saṁskṛta language, dharma can shine its meaning out in many different directions depending on the context. 
It indicates nature, law, the right, appropriate action or course of action. It sometimes refers to a body of practice or religious teachings intended to guide us in the direction of appropriate action. It is considered one of the foundational aims of life.
Dharma is a vast topic. This episode makes reference to verses 2.31 and 3.35 of the Bhagavad Gītā, to teachings from Zach Bush  https://zachbushmd.com/ and to a story of Rabbi Zuzya that I was intriduced to by storyteller Roi Gal-Or.  https://www.roigalor.com/ 

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 method to remember who we really are, reclaim our birthright and embody our responsibility as unique participants in the miraculous symphony of life.
Life knows how to live, the spirit never dies. 
May we remember how to live with spirit, inhaling and expanding, letting go and exhaling in rhythm and harmony with the cosmic rhythm we are here to dance with.

On congruence and new year's resolutions
On 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 thought, speech and action are one is a great soul.
One whose mind is one thing, whose speech another and whose action another again is a soul in torment.

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 Upaniṣad-s range far and wide, and include texts of diverse styles and of different focuses. The Gītā is regarded as the practical distillation - the milk - of all the Upaniṣad-s; and chapter two is the cream - the very essence of this deeply nourishing and supportive teaching.

The first chapter of the Gītā weaves the teaching of Kṛṣṇa’s dialogue with Arjuna on the kurukṣetra battlefield into the broader fabric of the Mahābhārata epic.
Chapter Two, in 72 glorious verses, then gives us the essence of the whole teaching which I’ll be exploring in the upcoming:
NEW ONLINE GĪTĀ COURSE October 2024-June 2025 
More details here: https://jamesboagyoga.com/bgch2online/
Enrol here: https://jamesboagyoga.thinkific.com/courses/BGch2makingthewholefieldsing

Chapter Two was the first chapter I studied with my meditation teacher, the first I translated with my first Sanskṛt teacher Acharn Tassanee Sinsakul, the first I translated with my Indian Sanskṛt teachers in Mysore, and the first I taught direct from the Sanskṛt, now more than fifteen years ago. 
I have had the privilege of exploring this chapter with groups more than a dozen times, but not now for several years. 
I am keen to return to the Gītā and I’d like to invite you to join me on an in-depth immersive course that will bring us into vibrant proximity with Kṛṣṇa’s empowering, pragmatic counsel and the timeless, practical teachings of what is widely considered one of the very greatest of spiritual texts. 

Similar to last year’s Living the Yoga Sūtra course, this will run for thirty sessions over more or less a ‘school year’ with an autum semester October until the first week of December, then a winter break, and a spring semester likely starting in February and culminating before the summer Solstice in June. 

As on previous courses, the main sessions will also be preceded by half hour recitation practice during which we will learn and practice the 72 beautiful verses of chapter two.

Course details here: https://jamesboagyoga.com/bgch2online/
Enrol here: https://jamesboagyoga.thinkific.com/courses/BGch2makingthewholefieldsing