Embodied Philosophy

Radical Teaching Roundup
2022-09-21 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
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Radical Teaching Roundup: How did the conference change your perspectives?

Based on the talks explored in the conference on innovative teaching, what were the most inspiring and transformative moments? What talks felt the most actionable, and why? How can we as a community integrate the idea of “contemplative pedagogy” into our different teaching contexts?

Join Marcy Goldstein, Stephanie Corigliano & Jacob Kyle for this community conversation.

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Autobiography of Yogi
2022-09-26 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
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Autobiography of Yogi: The First Classic Text of Modern Yoga

For many, Autobiography of a Yogi was the original, iconic text that linked the esoteric traditions of Yoga to the spiritual and religious traditions of Christianity and the west. It presents a classic tale of Paramahansa Yogananda as a spiritual seeker, wandering the far reaches of sacred lands in search of esoteric knowledge and an enlightened teacher. First published in 1946, it introduced several generations of seekers to narratives of levitating gurus and crazy adepts, thereafter expanding the perception of human possibilities and contemplative practice. Yogananda went on to establish the Self-Realization Fellowship, an interreligious, international community of founded upon yogic principles. Join Anya Foxen, Vineet Chander, Philip Goldberg, and Jacob Kyle for a lively, interactive discussion that will delve into the legacy of this important text and the impact that it continues to have for yoga communities worldwide.

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Philip Goldberg has been studying the world’s spiritual traditions for more than 45 years. He is the author or co-author of some 25 books published in more than a dozen languages. His book American Veda was named by Huffington Post and Library Journal as one of the Top 10 Religion Books of 2010; it was followed in 2018 by the popular biography The Life of Yogananda. His most recent book is the timely Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times. He blogs on Spirituality & Health in Elephant Journal, cohosts the Spirit Matters podcast, and leads American Veda Tours to India.

Vineet Chander is the Assistant Dean for Hindu Life and Hindu Chaplain at Princeton University and a Religious Life Leader at the Lawrenceville School. His areas of specialty include Bhakti theology, models of pastoral counseling, and the Hindu-American diaspora community. His writing has appeared in a number of publications, and he is co-author of Hindu Chaplaincy and co-editor of Hindu Approaches to Spiritual Care: Chaplaincy in Theory and Practice.

Anya Foxen is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on the intersection of South Asian yogic and tantric traditions and Western esotericism and metaphysical spiritualities. Her current writing examines the transnational evolution and popularization of yoga in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She is also a yoga teacher and long-time practitioner.

Jacob Kyle, MSc, MA, is a yoga asana teacher, writer, philosophy educator and the Founder/Director of Embodied Philosophy, an online educational platform for Eastern philosophies and contemplative practices. Kyle holds two Masters Degrees in Philosophy: an MSc in Political Philosophy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an MA in the History of Philosophy from the New School for Social Research. He was initiated into Neelakhanta Meditation and has since then been enrolled in Blue Throat Yoga programs under the tutelage of esteemed Kashmir Shaivism scholar Paul Muller-Ortega, studying the texts and practices of the Trika Kula lineage of Kashmir Shaivism.

Healing Magic: Comic images, Fractals, Synchronicity, and Neuroscience
2022-10-24 14:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York)
Monday, October 24, 2022 at 2 pm ET

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Healing Magic: Comic images, Fractals, Synchronicity, and Neuroscience

Art often expresses more than what words can say, making them a powerful tool for healing.

In their newly published book, The Eel & the Blowfish: A Graphic Novel of Dreams, Trauma and Healing, the teachers of this webinar explore a psychotherapeutic journey of discovery. In this talk, they show how, with the help of images, the analysis of dreams and transference helps to work through emotional issues.

This seminar presents an alternative approach to healing through images. They can offer an aesthetic distance that softens the pang of difficult topics and speak a language that words cannot.

Who is this seminar intended for?

All are welcome. Psychotherapists, somatic practitioners, yoga and psychology teachers, other kinds of clinicians, trauma sufferers may find particular value.

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Leanne Domash, PhD is a psychologist/psychoanalyst, playwright and Embodied Imagination practitioner. She has had a life-long interest in the creative process and has written and/or presented nationally and internationally on art, architecture, writing, wit and humor, theater, and spirituality as they intersect with the psychotherapeutic process. She recently published “Imagination, Creativity and Spirituality: Welcome to Wonderland” (Routledge, 2021). Leanne is Clinical Consultant, New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis; Voluntary Psychologist, Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center, NY, NY; and Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY, NY.

Terry Marks-Tarlow, PhD is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Santa Monica, California. She is adjunct professor at Pacifica Graduate Institute and at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Terry conducts workshops and trainings nationally and internationally in clinical intuition, creativity, interpersonal neurobiology and nonlinear science. She is a prolific author and editor, including Mythic Imagination Today (Brill, 2021) and A Fractal Epistemology for a Scientific Psychology (Cambridge Scholars, 2020). She illustrates her own books, co-curates a yearly psychotherapist art exhibition, “Mirrors of the Mind: The Psychotherapist as Artist”, and attempts to maintain balance in life with piano, ballet, and yoga.

Alzheimers Prevention & Yoga Therapy Today
2022-12-14 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
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Alzheimers Prevention & Yoga Therapy Today

Alzheimers Disease is a type of dementia that right now at least 50 million people are living with throughout the world, and an estimated 152 million will be living with the disease by 2050. Until recently, the attitude towards this condition has been one of despair, but research over the last several years has shown that our genes do not have to determine our fate. In fact, the groundbreaking research at some of the top academic medical centers in the world has shown contemplative practices and perspectives can in fact help prevent the onset of Alzheimers disease and promote greater well-being.
Join Dr. Chris Walling, Embodied Philosophy’s Dean of Faculty & Vice President of the Alzheimer’s Research & Prevention Foundation (ARPF) as he presents the latest cutting-edge research from ARPF’s findings on helping people live better, longer.
Dr. Walling will summarize the four pillars of Alzheimer’s Prevention that have proven for nearly three decades to help slow and in some instances reverse brain aging. Come and discuss with him the insights from these advances and the use of evidence-based approaches in yoga therapy that have also shown to reverse cellular aging, improve memory decline, and enhance neuroplasticity. Our With-In attendees will be some of the first to hear of their upcoming research paper on spiritual fitness and yoga, this is not to be missed!

The With-In is a community conversation on a timely topic. Modern spiritual communities, in various ways, are attempting to integrate ancient teachings and traditions with the challenges and questions of modern life. This intersection provokes excitement and curiosity that can be deepened through a co-creative process of community discussion. Questions, confusions, and controversies can arise when one attempts to bridge the ancient and modern. This can be illuminating, but not always comfortable. The With-In provides the community members of Embodied Philosophy an opportunity to learn through the lived experience of others. It is a container through which you can creatively and compassionately sit with these experiences in discussion and community.

Register now for the member-only event…

If you are already a member sign in and then pre-register for the live event. If you are not a member, click “Get Access Now”, sign up for your Free Trial, and then pre-register for the live event. You will need to be subscribed to be able to receive reminder emails from Embodied Philosophy including to receive the Zoom link for the live event.
For support, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.

Dr. Chris Walling, PsyD, MBA, C-IAYT, SEP is a licensed clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, and researcher. Dr. Walling is an Adjunct Professor of Somatic Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies and is the Research Chair & Past-President of the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy. He is a Clinical Research Fellow at the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium located at Indiana University where he also serves on the International Advisory Council at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. Dr. Walling is the Vice President of Education & Outreach for the Alzheimer’s Research & Prevention Foundation and serves as Dean of Faculty at the Embodied Philosophy Institute. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the International Psychoanalytic Association. Dr. Walling maintains a private practice in Los Angeles, California.

The Spectrum and Contexts of Cultural Appropriation
2023-01-03 - 2023-01-25
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This is an OnDemand course.
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The Spectrum and Contexts of Cultural Appropriation

In this course, we will examine cultural appropriation, why it happens, how it can be harmful, and how to challenge it in our everyday lives. There will be four modules, and each of these four modules will weave together history, current examples, and cultural theory. Most importantly, we will work together to understand our how society encourages cultural appropriation and how we can rethink/reimagine/redream/re-envision our celebrations, representations, and spiritual selves towards the goal of positive change and further education.

MODULE 1: Introduction – Context and Spectrum
​​A straightforward introduction of cultural appropriation within the United States from the perspectives of people of color. This module will show where appropriation happens within American society, the roots of this problem, and how it’s connected to the oppression of minorities. Personal reflection and stance on this issue will conclude this first module.

Why does cultural appropriation happen?
How is it connected to white supremacy?
Mapping out your positionality

MODULE 2: Celebrating
One of the most visual and often overlooked forms of appropriation happens on the days we celebrate the most: Holidays. This module will considerproblems that arise with holidays by examining and discussing visuals representing popular celebrations, such as Halloween and Thanksgiving. Discussion of what these holidays mean to us and how they create false narratives of others will help facilitate a better understanding of how damaging particular forms of appropriation can be.

Halloween, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick’s, and Columbus Day
How are holidays tied to our identities and oppression?
Rethinking how you celebrate

MODULE 3: Mascots and Representations
The taking of culture and identity is perhaps strongest when it comes to American sports. From professional to high school, Americans have an unwavering loyalty to their team. This loyalty has led to misunderstanding, racism, and bigotry on a national scale when it comes to the appropriation of other cultures and identities. Looking at the recent changes of sports team’s names and the history behind that fight will help educate students about the harm mascots can cause.

Why do we create caricatures of groups considered “other?”
What is the harm caused by mascots and racist representations?
Reimagining the idea of tradition and legacy tied to mascots, high schools, teams, etc.

MODULE 4: Spiritualities
The spirituality of minority groups in the United States has been massively impacted by capitalism, federal laws, and society taking what it wants to fulfill its own wants. From music festivals to self-proclaimed “gurus,” this module will take a hard look how appropriation dilutes and breaks down the spiritual practices of Native American and Indian cultures.

What is the impact of capitalism on spiritual practices?
What is the spectrum of cultural appropriation when it comes to spirituality?
Redreaming or re-envisioning your spirituality to be anti-oppression and tied to positive impact and change

In this course students will learn:

About cultural appropriation in the context of white supremacy.
How to understand their place and privilege in society.
How cultural appropriation operates on a spectrum and is contextual.
How to identify the context of cultural practices.
About different types of cultural appropriation.
How to combat cultural appropriation in the different aspects of their lives.

If you are already a member sign in and add the course to your favorites. For support, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.

Eric Hemenway is an Anishnaabe/Odawa from Cross Village, Mi. He is the director of a tribal archives and has done extensive work under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Eric has worked on numerous exhibits, signage projects, curriculums, programs, professional developments, presentations and consultations with organizations on working with tribal communities throughout the country. He currently sits on boards for the Michigan Historical Commission, Little Traverse Conservancy and Clarke Library at Central Michigan University. He is a former board member for the National NAGPRA Review Committee and Michigan Historical Society.

Shreena Niketa Gandhi is a cultural historian of religion with expertise in religion, race, the Americas and Hinduism, and currently teaches at Michigan State University, where she starts of the first few weeks of all her classes introducing students to the concept of structural white supremacy and why that is important for a better understanding of religion in the U.S. Her research and public scholarship are on the history of yoga, and she is revising a manuscript on this using the framework of white supremacy and cultural appropriation. She also provides trainings for yoga studio to help their students think about cultural appropriation and making their yoga practice one that is anti-oppression. Through her scholarship, she hopes to make all Americans from all backgrounds better understand how we have all benefited and suffered because of systematic white supremacy and racism, and her scholarship on yoga is one illustration of this system. Professor Gandhi is also a part of the Feminist Critical Hindu Studies Collective, and together with her feminist collective they have published in Religion Compass, Text and Performance Quarterly and the Washington Post.

Chant Mantras for Jacob’s 40th Birthday
2023-02-18 12:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York)
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Mantra Party: Chant Mantras for Jacob’s 40th Birthday
While Embodied Philosophy is only a little over seven years old, its founder is sadly much older. In honor of his 40 years around the sun, Jacob is inviting all members of the Embodied Philosophy Wisdom School to join him at a birthday party, of sorts. Instead of getting tipsy on cheap wine from the supermarket, partiers will get intoxicated with the śakti by reciting some of the yoga tradition’s most potent and powerful mantras. This event will be largely a practice session, but also an opportunity for Jacob to express his gratitude to the online community of Embodied Philosophy, say a few words about Embodied Philosophy’s history and where we’re headed in the future. There will be an opportunity for members to converse and ask questions following the practice session.

OUTCOMES: Wisdom School Members who attend this With-In will:

Recite somewhere between 1 and 40 mantras
Overview the basics of Sanskrit pronunciation
Deepen their sense of community with other members
Learn a little about the potency of mantra practice
Party like it’s 1983

The With-In is a community conversation on a timely topic. Modern spiritual communities, in various ways, are attempting to integrate ancient teachings and traditions with the challenges and questions of modern life. This intersection provokes excitement and curiosity that can be deepened through a co-creative process of community discussion. Questions, confusions, and controversies can arise when one attempts to bridge the ancient and modern. This can be illuminating, but not always comfortable. The With-In provides the community members of Embodied Philosophy an opportunity to learn through the lived experience of others. It is a container through which you can creatively and compassionately sit with these experiences in discussion and community.

Pre-register now for the member-only event…

If you are already a member sign in and then click “I’ll be there” to pre-register for the live event. If you are not a member, click “Get Access Now”, sign up for your Free Trial, open the live event and then click “I’ll be there” to pre-register for the live event. You will need to be subscribed to be able to receive reminder emails from Embodied Philosophy including to receive the Zoom link for the live event. For support, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.

Jacob Kyle, MA, MSc, is a meditation teacher, writer, philosophy educator and the Founding Director of Embodied Philosophy, an online educational platform for wisdom studies and contemplative practices. Jacob holds an MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics and Political Science (2007) and an MA in Philosophy from the New School for Social Research (2013). In 2020, Jacob was initiated as an Acharya (authorized teacher) of Neelakhanta Meditation in the tradition of Blue Throat Yoga by scholar-practitioner Paul Muller-Ortega. Jacob is a devoted student and practitioner of the Śaiva-Śakta Darśana.

Yoga: From the Past to the Future
2023-03-05 00:00 - 2023-03-26 23:59 (America/New_York)
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This is an OnDemand course.

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Yoga: From the Past to the Future

Yoga has changed a great deal since the earliest descriptions in Indian texts. A meditative way of renouncing the world has been transformed into a globalized industry focused on postures. Traditional goals of alleviating suffering are usually framed in terms of health and well-being, while ancient ideas about spiritual freedom are widely conflated with New Age philosophy. All of this had started to happen before the modern Western yoga boom, but commercialization has added new twists. As this rapid evolution continues, what preserves a connection to earlier traditions? How far can yoga be stretched before becoming something else? This course highlights themes from the past that keep traditions alive in the 21st century, while also reflecting on contemporary agency. Identifying potential continuities amidst all the change, it provides a corrective to misappropriation and inauthenticity.

Module 1: Prioritising Postures
For much of the history of yoga, the primary practice involved sitting still. Non-seated postures were first taught in texts 1,000 years ago, and were used as preparation for subtler techniques. Systems of practice based on sequences of postures only started to appear in the 20th century – along with many common postures, such as warriors and triangles. Innovative teachers often disguised how much was new, as well as where it came from, preferring instead to suggest things were timeless. This module demystifies the evolution of physical practice, from ancient asceticism via medieval haṭha to modern approaches – highlighting distinctions as well as commonalities.

Module 2: Health and Wellness
Early teachings on yoga saw the body as an obstacle to spiritual freedom. Its desires kept people entangled in cycles of suffering, so the answer was to focus within and disengage. Although medieval texts about haṭha-yoga describe physical benefits, their ultimate goal was still a trance-like state of meditation. Despite yoga’s links to traditional medicine, the pursuit of well-being is a modern development. This module charts the shifts in objectives that led to the promotion of yoga as therapy, treating anything from back pain to trauma. It also highlights the influence of women on presenting holistic approaches to practice.

Module 3: Union with Everything
Modern yoga blends traditional teachings with other ideas, often blurring distinctions between different worldviews. Many teachers say yoga means union and comes from Patañjali, whose text says the opposite. This is partly because haṭha-yoga was explained through the prism of non-dual Tantra and Vedānta, supplanting the Yoga Sūtra’s Sāṃkhya philosophy. This tendency accelerated in the 19th century, as influential figures from Vivekananda to Western esotericists highlighted theories that shaped the New Age. This module examines how eclectic thinking produces new practices – a process that continues in recent hybrids such as “Yin Yoga”.

Module 4: Rethinking Authenticity
There has never been any such thing as “One True Yoga” – an ancient pure form that others corrupt. Theories and methods have been combined in different ways at different times, drawing inspiration from a wide range of sources. Globalization has been fuelling debates about who owns yoga, along with concerns about how to decolonize it – not least since the cultural exchanges between East and West that produced modern practice took place under British occupation of India. The last module examines this history and asks what comes next, reframing authenticity in personal terms – an inquiry into what preserves connections to earlier traditions.

In this course students will learn to:

Critically evaluate historical narratives
Understand their own place in the process of change
Identify themes that connect innovations with earlier traditions
Refine awareness of contemporary concerns about authenticity
Develop a vision of how modern practice relates to the past
Articulate priorities for yoga’s evolution in the 21st century

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If you are already a member sign in and add the course to your favorites. For support, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.

Daniel Simpson is the author of The Truth of Yoga, an accessible guide to yoga history and philosophy. His approach combines scholarly knowledge with humor and insight, informed by more than 20 years of practical experience. He holds a master’s degree in yoga studies (from SOAS at the University of London) and teaches courses at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, on yoga teacher trainings and via his website, truthofyoga.com. In a previous career, he was a foreign correspondent, working for Reuters and the New York Times.

Compassion and Spiritual Bypassing: Exploring how to Balance Empathy with Discernment
2023-03-20 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
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LIVE March 20 @ 7 – 8:30 pm EDT. Convert your time here.

If you can’t attend this event live, all members will have access to the recording.

Compassion and Spiritual Bypassing: Exploring how to Balance Empathy with Discernment

Spiritual bypassing has been a much-discussed topic in the communities of yoga, wellness, and contemporary spirituality in the past several years. In the face of social and political turbulence, spiritual practitioners often struggle to stay grounded and acknowledge what is, rather than escaping into more rarefied realms of contemplation. The most insidious form of spiritual bypassing might be when our own practices of compassion seem to turn against us, and lead us to be overly permissive towards evil, and people who carry out evil acts. How can we remain compassionate, warm-hearted, and open individuals, without dissolving into someone who tolerates even that which ought not to be tolerated? In this With-In, EP Wisdom Editor Trish Tillman will hold space for participants to share their own experiences of meeting and wrestling with spiritual bypassing and she will examine the relationship between compassion and spiritual bypassing, and debates over spiritual bypassing as they’ve related to contemporary issues in the realms of spirituality.

OUTCOMES: Wisdom School Members who attend this With-In will:

Learn how misguided compassion could lead to spiritual bypassing.

Learn more sustainable ways of practicing compassion that also integrate healthy boundaries.

Compare the duality of justice and mercy as it appears in many spiritual traditions of the world.

Discuss and share their own diverse personal experiences of spiritual bypassing, and how it has cropped up in discussions on social issues and equity amongst spiritual people.

The With-In is a community conversation on a timely topic. Modern spiritual communities, in various ways, are attempting to integrate ancient teachings and traditions with the challenges and questions of modern life. This intersection provokes excitement and curiosity that can be deepened through a co-creative process of community discussion. Questions, confusions, and controversies can arise when one attempts to bridge the ancient and modern. This can be illuminating, but not always comfortable. The With-In provides the community members of Embodied Philosophy an opportunity to learn through the lived experience of others. It is a container through which you can creatively and compassionately sit with these experiences in discussion and community.

Pre-register now for the member-only event…

If you are already a member sign in and then click “I’ll be there” to pre-register for the live event. If you are not a member, click “Get Access Now”, sign up for your Free Trial, open the live event and then click “I’ll be there” to pre-register for the live event. You will need to be subscribed to be able to receive reminder emails from Embodied Philosophy including to receive the Zoom link for the live event. For support, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.

Trish Tillman is a history professor and yoga teacher in the Washington, DC area. She holds a PhD in History from the Catholic University of America, and currently teaches at University of Maryland – Global Campus. She teaches yoga for, and helps to manage, District Flow Yoga in downtown DC near Capitol Hill. She is also the Wisdom Editor at Embodied Philosophy. Since completing her original yoga teacher training, Trish has been steadily involved in the study and practice of Bhakti yoga, via her teacher, Hari-kirtana das.

The Supreme Goddess
2023-04-03 00:00 - 2023-05-03 23:59 (America/New_York)
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This is an OnDemand Course.

If you are already a member sign in and add the course to your favorites. For support, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.

The Supreme Goddess: An Embodied Theology of Elemental Enlightenment

The theological vision of the Divine as Mother, the Universal Goddess, once common, has almost disappeared from the world of religion. However, it has continued to flourish through the textual, liturgical, ethical, and theological traditions of God as Mother, as Creator, as Creation, over a span of 2,500 years in the world of Hindu spirituality. The tradition of Shakti/Mahādevī offers a multidimensional theological ethos that integrates transcendence and immanence, the masculine and feminine, life and liberation, dynamic creativity and contemplative tranquility, and the intuitive and empirical dimensions of experience. The course will explore the mystical narratives, sacred texts, theology, contemplative praxis, ritual art, and theories of consciousness and subtle energy associated with the theology of the Divine Feminine. We will explore the traditions, texts, and teachings of this rare theological path of the Divine Feminine, which still remains globally extant as a major branch of Hindu spiritual life.

Module 1: A Philosophy Of Divine Presence: The Expansive, Emancipatory Worldview Of Shakta Theology

People often associate the Mother Goddess with fertility rites and ancient icons with swollen forms, indicating the gift of life. But this aspect is far more subtle and sophisticated in Shakta theology because it owes its understanding of reality—material, physical, energetic, and creative—to philosophical principles honed over millennia. She is known as Devi (Divine Feminine); Mahadevi (Supreme Divine Feminine); Shakti (the Power, Force, Capacity, Creativity of the sacred source); and Brahman (Ultimate Reality). She is the fount of the process of creation, continual creativity itself, the consciousness that infuses the cosmos, and the cosmic dynamism and Earthy biodiversity that results. When the divine is understood to be innate in matter-energy, then She/He/It is latent within physical beings, hidden within sentience, and alive inside ecosystems and their inhabitants. All of these are understood to be endowed with intrinsic value. Embodied sacrality opposes all forms of oppression and injustice.

Module 2: The Story Of Shakta Bhakti : The Mystics Who Loved The Cosmic Mother

The Concept of the Supreme Goddess (Shakti), envisioned as the Source, Sustenance, and Support of the Universe, is nearly four millennia-old in Hindu experience. But Shakta Bhakti, the devotional loving surrender and service to the Divine Mother is relatively recent. It emerged between in the early modern period in the 17th century and became known internationally in the 20th century as the life story of the mystic Ramakrishna—the most renowned of the Shakti bhaktas—spread across cultures. With the arrival of modern Western scholarship on Hinduism, a broad and extensive study of the texts and festivals of the tradition of Mahadevi (lit. the Great Goddess) filtered into the reaches of yoga communities and into the quests of other spiritual seekers. But a in-depth experience is difficult without access to an interlocutor with an internal understanding of the religious history and culture not only of Hinduism or India, but of West Bengal (a major state and sphere of cultural influence in India in medieval and modern India). We will not merely study this fascinating time and context; we will also explore the esoteric background of this period and the genesis of Shakta Bhakti.

Module 3: Fierce & Tender: The Universal Mother’s Love & Justice

The most famous text of the tradition of Shakti/Mahadevi is the Devī Māhātmyam (circa 500 CE) which sets forth—in rich, imaginative, fantastical narratives—the theology and theodicy of the Supreme Reality, the Divine Mother. This text combines ancient narratives, the concept of Mahadevi as Brahman (Supreme Reality), and Divine Mother who cares for and seeks justice for her creation. According to the tradition of this canonical sacred text, her justice is loving and liberative, and she dissolves the knots of ignorance, selfishness, and malevolence in the heart of beings. She does incarnate only in majestic forms, or even human ones, but states that she will return as a “Bee” at a time of great drought and lack of produce on Earth. The first Asian festival to be recognized as an Intangible Human Heritage is “Durga Puja,” the autumnal festival of the Great Goddess, Mahadevi, Shakti, in her form as liberator— celebrated with unique iconic art, aesthetics, liturgy, food, theatre, and sacred dance and song.

Module 4: Echoes Of Ecofeminism In Shakta Tantra: The Yoga Of The Divine Feminine

The vision of the earth as a sacred hierophany and material form of the divine is perhaps most dramatically displayed in Goddess theology, first crystallized in early and late medieval narrative philosophical theology. This vision finds further expression and culminates in the sophisticated systematization of the nature and functions of Shakti (the highest Feminine Principle) in the tantric tradition. Hindu Tantra, especially in its Shakta (Supreme Goddess-centered) strains offers a rich and nuanced resource for the construction of an ecologically-conscious spirituality. In this module, we will explore the ontology of Hindu Tantra as a viable source of inspiration for the development of a Hindu ecofeminist theological vision.

In this course students will:

Demonstrate a sound understanding of the identifiable characteristics of the “Shakta Philosophical Theology of the Mahadevi (Great Goddess)” in Hinduism.

Recognize the foundational doctrines that flow through all of Shakta theology.

Analyze the ways in which a psychology of emotions is used to evoke devotional love in the mysticism of Shakta Bhakti (devotional theology).

Describe how the autumn festival of the Great Goddess (Mahadevi/Shakti), known as Durga Puja—the first Asian festival to be granted the status, by UNESCO, of Intangible World Heritage—presents the Divine Feminine through beauty, arts, and sacred sound.

Discuss the unusual genre of “Narrative Theology” of her most famous canonical text, and how it uses both exciting mythology & sophisticated philosophy to both experience and understand the Divine Feminine.

Apply acquired knowledge, ideas, insights, and principles to contemporary concerns— ecological, ethical, and relational.

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Dr. Rita D. Sherma is founding Director and Associate Professor at the Graduate Theological Union’s Center for Dharma Studies in Berkeley, California. She is Core Doctoral Faculty; and Co-Chair of Sustainability 360 at GTU. She holds an MA in Religion, and a PhD in Theology & Ethics from Claremont Graduate University, CA. She is the founding Vice President of DANAM (Dharma Academy of North America)—an eminent scholarly society for research on Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist religion, philosophy, and culture. Dr. Sherma has published eight books including Contemplative Studies and Hinduism: Meditation, Devotion, Prayer & Worship (2020), Swami Vivekananda: His Life, Legacy, & Liberative Ethics; Woman & Goddess in Hinduism; and numerous academic articles. She is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Dharma Studies, and an Associate Editor of the Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. She serves on the Editorial Board of Reading Religion Journal (an AAR publication), serves as Advisor to the Parliament of the World’s Religions Climate Action-sponsored Faith for the Earth online & print project. Dr. Sherma has produced two documentaries on Ecospirituality, and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Yale University Forum for Religion and Ecology. In June 2022, her 35-chapter edited volume titled Religion & Sustainability in the Springer-Nature (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Series, Springer-Nature) was released. Her forthcoming book (2023) is Radical Divine Immanence: A Hindu Ecological, Liberation Theology of the Goddess, Mahadevi.

Future of the Yoga Teacher
2023-04-15 09:00 - 17:30 (America/New_York)
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LIVE April 15, 9 am – 5:30 pm ET. Summit Debrief Roundtable Discussion April 17, 7 – 8:30 pm ET. Convert your time here.

If you can’t attend this event live, all registrants will have access to the recordings (Available Monday, April 17 @ 5:30 pm ET).

If you are already a member sign in and add the course to your favorites. You will need to be subscribed to be able to receive reminder emails from Embodied Philosophy including to receive the Zoom link for the live sessions. For support, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.

Description

In this one-day summit, Embodied Philosophy’s Jacob Kyle and Trish Tillman, along with guests Ava Taylor, Daniel Simpson, Gopi Kinnicutt, Mary Reilly Nichols, Oneika Mays, Alexandria Crow, Eddie Stern, Adrianne Du’sauzay, and Reggie Hubbard will explore the possible future/s of the yoga teacher, including questions of academic vs. realized knowledge, the role of studio spaces, incorporating yoga philosophy into asana classes, and the challenges of “finding a niche” and hyper-specialization. During the upheavals of the last several years, the role of the yoga teacher has undergone some trials, tribulations, and transformations, and the time is ripe to pause and take stock of our current moment. This online summit will be of interest to both new and experienced yoga teachers, as well as yoga students/ practitioners, scholars, and those interested in the evolution and unfolding of non-traditional spiritual spaces.

Saturday, April 15th, 2023

9 am EDT – How to make the most of this summit – Opening Orientation

Lecture with Jacob Kyle and Trish Tillman

9:45 – 10:45 am EDT

Interview with Ava Taylor and Jacob Kyle

11 am EDT – Academic Knowledge, Realized Experience, and the Yoga Teacher

Interview with Daniel Simson and Jacob Kyle

Why go through the trouble of maintaining a physical yoga studio space in the present day, when such spaces are often costly, and online alternatives are readily available? Physical, “traditional” yoga studio spaces offer possibilities that the online option often does not, such as opportunities for spontaneous spiritual association, chance encounters that become friendships, and conducive environments for organization and activism. In this interview, Trish Tillman chats with Washington, D.C. yoga studio owner Gopi Kinnicutt, whose studio, Bhakti Yoga, survived COVID, while their community also engaged with Black Lives Matter protests and activism in DC. This conversation will strike chords with yoga teachers and yoga practitioners who seek to embody the traditions of yoga through the aftermath of 2020, and beyond.

12:15 pm EDT – The Brick-and-Mortar Studio Space through COVID and Beyond

Interview with Gopi Kinnicutt and Trish Tillman

Why go through the trouble of maintaining a physical yoga studio space in the present day, when such spaces are often costly, and online alternatives are readily available? Physical, “traditional” yoga studio spaces offer possibilities that the online option often does not, such as opportunities for spontaneous spiritual association, chance encounters that become friendships, and conducive environments for organization and activism. In this interview, Trish Tillman chats with Washington, D.C. yoga studio owner Gopi Kinnicutt, whose studio, Bhakti Yoga, survived COVID, while their community also engaged with Black Lives Matter protests and activism in DC. This conversation will strike chords with yoga teachers and yoga practitioners who seek to embody the traditions of yoga through the aftermath of 2020, and beyond.

2:00 pm EDT – Asana: The Embodiment of Yoga Philosophy

Workshop with Mary Reilly Nichols

Learn to incorporate insights from Vedic, Tantric, Buddhist, and diverse Wisdom traditions into your Hatha Yoga asana practice. It is fair to say that the purpose of Hatha Yoga is to prepare the neural system for samadhi. In this session, we assimilate specific teachings with yoga postures to form the bio-physical foundation of the visceral ecstasy of realization. The session begins with an explanatory slide presentation, followed by a demonstration of integrative asana practice, and a welcoming interactive group discussion.

3:45 pm EDT – Niche-making, Hyper-specialization, and Pressures on the Yoga Teacher

Panel discussion w/ Alexandria Crow, Eddie Stern, Adrianne Du’sauzay, and Trish Tillman

In today’s yoga landscape, many yoga teachers are advised, even right out of the gate of teacher training, to “find their niche” and to figure out their angle as a teacher. Is this good advice, or could pressures to pick a specialization stunt new yoga teacher’s exploration, encounters with potential mentors, and self-discovery? Much has been written on the problems of hyper-specialization in academia: the shortcomings of a viewpoint that is extremely deep in one specific area, but also extremely narrow, as opposed to more broad or synthetic types of knowledge. Arguably, neither a fresh college graduate, nor a freshly minted YTT graduate, have very much of an idea of what they actually like to do, and where their strengths and weaknesses lie. How might the structures of yoga teacher trainings and continuing education, in the present model, contribute to teachers’ feelings of compunction around specialization, and how could we seek to adjust?

Pre-Recorded On-Demand – Commodification, Capitalism, and How To Be in the World

Interview Reggie Hubbard with Trish Tillman

Reggie Hubbard chats with Trish Tillman about the “elephant in the room” of commodification of one’s yoga practice. Yoga teachers today are under the constant pressure of late-stage capitalism to commodify themselves, their image, and the healing practices they share. At the same time, we all must partake in the material world, and just because the consumeristic landscape is set up in an unethical way, doesn’t give one permission to be unethical. Reggie and Trish discuss how to hold a balance between work and rest, between immanence and transcendence, and how to be of service to others while maintaining one’s own inner life.

Pre-Recorded On-Demand – Social Justice Solutions

Interview with Oneika Mays and Jacob Kyle

What are the opportunities for the yoga community in the wake of recent social movements? How do we both honor tradition as well as each other? These are profoundly important questions with complex answers, and Oneika has insights to share.

Wednesday, April 19th, 2023, 7 pm EDT

Musings & Integration: Post-Summit on the Future of the Yoga Teacher Community Conversation

Community Conversation with Stephanie Corigliano & Trish Tillman

Our one-day summit on the Future of the Yoga Teacher will doubtless leave many of you with more questions. Cultural tensions and debates are sometimes played out in a microcosm in the yoga classroom, including in the internal journey of both yoga teachers and yoga students. In this post-summit debrief and conversation, Stephanie Corigliano and Trish Tillman will talk more about what came up during the summit, what unexpected tensions were revealed, and which ideas were clarified. As well as a discussion between Stephanie and Trish, you will have an opportunity to share your own thoughts and questions on the summit.

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Jacob Kyle, MSc, MA, is a yoga asana teacher, writer, philosophy educator and the Founder/Director of Embodied Philosophy, an online educational platform for Eastern philosophies and contemplative practices. Kyle holds two Masters Degrees in Philosophy: an MSc in Political Philosophy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an MA in the History of Philosophy from the New School for Social Research. His ongoing studies in Western and Eastern philosophies have included the study of the Yoga Sutras with Edwin Bryant and Tantrik philosophy with Christopher Wallis. He was initiated into Neelakhanta Meditation and has since then been enrolled in Blue Throat Yoga programs under the tutelage of esteemed Kashmir Shaivism scholar Paul Muller-Ortega, studying the texts and practices of the Trika Kula lineage of Kashmir Shaivism. In 2019, he commenced the SadaShivacharya meditation teacher training process with Blue Throat Yoga. To augment his yoga asana teaching practice, Kyle has completed over seven hundred hours of training and workshops with many master teachers.

Trish Tillman is a history professor and yoga teacher in the Washington, DC area. She holds a PhD in History from the Catholic University of America, and currently teaches at University of Maryland – Global Campus. She teaches yoga for, and helps to manage, District Flow Yoga in downtown DC near Capitol Hill. She is also the Wisdom Editor at Embodied Philosophy. Since completing her original yoga teacher training, Trish has been steadily involved in the study and practice of Bhakti yoga, via her teacher, Hari-kirtana das.

Oneika Mays, she/her, LMT, E-RYT, is a multi-hyphenate facilitator who leads with joy, passion, and wisdom. She is a grounded leader with lived experience that centers on mindfulness and transformation. As a Black, queer feminist she brings a poignant lens to building a world that is more compassionate and understanding. With deep roots and knowledge in Buddhist and yogic teachings, Oneika delivers practical application and authentic connection through her facilitation skills. With openness and vulnerability, she facilitates the space to talk about change and embrace every part of ourselves.

From mindfulness and movement classes to keynote addresses and board meetings, Oneika consistently delivers a practical application of transformative practices at the intersection of joy and disruption. Book Oneika as your next wellness speaker, yoga teacher trainer, or retreat guide at: www.OneikaMays.com. Join her movement to tap into joy and change the world by connecting with her on Instagram at @‌OneikaMays.

Daniel Simpson is the author of The Truth of Yoga, an accessible guide to yoga history and philosophy. His approach combines scholarly knowledge with humor and insight, informed by more than 20 years of practical experience. He holds a master’s degree in yoga studies (from SOAS at the University of London) and teaches courses at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, on yoga teacher trainings and via his website, truthofyoga.com. In a previous career, he was a foreign correspondent, working for Reuters and the New York Times.

Gopi Kinnicutt (ERYT 500) is a dynamic, Bhakti-infused yoga teacher who has developed her own unique teaching style. She organically creates and designs dynamic fluid yoga sequences, infused with deep spirituality. In her classes she incorporates mantras, breath work and Kriyas to release untouched energy and Prana. She bridges the philosophy of Yoga and the authentic traditions coming from India, making them accessible to the modern 21st century Yogi. She is the owner of Bhakti Yoga DC and founder of Yoga Mandali in Saratoga Springs, New York. Gopi leads National and International yoga retreats. She has been the head of RYT 200 hour and 300 hour teacher trainings since 2008. gopi is also trained in trauma-sensitive yoga. Gopi also lived in a Bhakti Yoga ashram for 10 years, where she studied and taught Indian philosophy and mantra meditation.

Mary Reilly Nichols, Director of Nalanda Institute’s Yoga, Mind & Spirit teacher training program has been teaching yoga for over 30 years. She teaches yoga from the perspective of non-duality offered in the Upanishads, Advaita Vedanta, as well as in the Tantric methods of Kashmiri Shaivism and Kundalini Yoga. She holds a BA in anthropology from Harvard University, is a devoted student of Muktananda, and completed five years of residency in meditation ashrams in both India and the US. Currently, Nichols teaches stress management in psychiatric settings and is involved in ongoing research on the mind/body benefits of yoga and meditation.

Eddie Stern is a yoga instructor, author, and current candidate for a master of science degree in yoga research. He has been teaching yoga for over thirty years, and is the founder of Ashtanga Yoga New York, the Broome Street Ganesha Temple, Namarupa Magazine, the Breathing App, and Yoga Education Collective. Eddie is a board member of LIFE Camp, a gun violence reduction non-profit in Queens, NY, which uses therapeutic wellness to heal violence related trauma and the Black Yoga Teacher Alliance, which supports training and education of Black yoga teachers. He is actively engaged in publishing research in yoga, and his latest book, One Simple Thing, A New Look at the Science of Yoga and How it Can Change Your Life, was a bestselling look at the underlying mechanisms that make yoga such an effective, healing practice. He lives and teaches in NYC.

Adrianne Du’sauzay started the physical practice of yoga over 20 years ago. She continued to practice during graduate school at George Washington University – MS: Exercise Science & Nutrition, and while she was a personal trainer. In 2015 Adrianne completed 200-hr Yoga Teacher Training with CorePower Yoga. This led to full time teaching, management, and facilitating Yoga Teacher Training programs. In 2020 she became a Master Trainer supporting CPY’s yoga quality and trainings. Adrianne also began teaching virtually and leading virtual trainings for students across the world! She has taught over 1,000 yoga classes and led countless training programs over the years. Adrianne currently lives and teaches in the DC area for various fitness companies and studios and continues her yoga studies through workshops, such as, Pranayama (breath), Meditation, and Integrative Yoga (Kriya) workshops. As a yoga practitioner she is forever studying and sharing yoga (beyond asana)! Adrianne is committed to inspiring curiosity to explore your authentic self through the practice of yoga.

Alexandria Crow is an internationally respected teachers’ teacher who leads teacher trainings and workshops around the world. Through her Yoga Physics methodology she aims to clearly explain the what, why’s and how’s of asana, meditation and yogic philosophy making the practice approachable for everyone, of every level and of every walk of life. She shares this knowledge with her students and other teachers so they can practice and teach wisely, sustainably and mindfully. Her in-person continuing education workshops and online DeConstruct to ReConstruct Course, as well as her 300 hour teacher intensive train teachers to be better informed on yogic philosophy and history, the physical mechanics of the body and how to apply that knowledge to asana, as well as how to ethically lead group classes that are accessible and sensitive to all. Her Yoga Physics mentorship program is helping teachers build on their strengths, while discovering their own unique voices.

Stephanie Corigliano is the editor for Tarka at Embodied Philosophy and co-director of the Yoga Philosophy certificate program. She also works as a lecturer in the Religious Studies department at Cal Poly, Humboldt. Stephanie holds a PhD in Comparative Theology from Boston College University and an MA in Theology from Loyola Marymount University.

Reggie Hubbard is the founder/chief serving officer of Active Peace Yoga. His yoga and meditation practice have served as a sanctuary of peace and perspective while navigating the stresses of being a black man in the world, serving in pressure-filled jobs at the height of politics and have helped him navigate complicated emotions (anger, grief, disappointment) to find and nurture peace of mind and ease of spirit.

Reggie’s life work sits at the intersection of bringing more peace and balance to activists; guiding the wellness community toward being more engaged, concerned citizens; and, enhancing the well-being of all walks of life. Achieving this balance is how we catalyze transformative change in our society, which we are desperately in need of at this moment.

He received a B.A. in philosophy from Yale University and an MBA in international strategy from the Vlerick Business School in Belgium.

You can find out more at www.activepeaceyoga.com.

Vedic Philosophy: Exploring Six Schools of Hindu Thought
2023-04-29 00:00 - 2023-06-17 23:59 (America/New_York)
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LIVE April 29, May 6, 13, 20, 27, June 3, 10, 17 @ 2-4 pm EDT. Convert your time here.

If you can’t attend this event live, all registrants will have access to the recording.

If you are already a member sign in and add the course to your favorites. You will need to be subscribed to be able to receive reminder emails from Embodied Philosophy including to receive the Zoom link for the live sessions. For support, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.

Vedic Philosophy: Exploring Six Schools of Hindu Thought

This course will attempt an overview of some of the six main schools of orthodox Vedic thought up to the medieval period: Vedānta, Sāṃkhya, Yoga, Mīmāmsā, Vaiśesika, and Nyāya, along with the two core and canonical texts that have been most formative to Yoga, the Upaniṣads and the Bhāgavad Gītā. Attention will be paid to some of the prominent interconnections and points of contestation amongst some of these schools, but we will keep a strong focus on Yoga, given its prominence in exported Hinduism. The course will utilize primary texts – the original Sanskrit sutras and verses – so that students will have the opportunity of engaging some of these schools directly in their own words and through their own categories.

Module 1: Upaniṣads (April 29)

The Upaniṣads are the earliest source Vedic texts wherein can be found the roots of all later Hinduism. It is in these texts that we find notions such as yoga, karma, mokśa, ātman, reincarnation, bhakti, etc., first expressed. All later Hindu schools of yoga trace their origins back to the Upaniṣads, so they stand as the foundation of all traditional Hindu spirituality. Thus it is in the Upaniṣads where we find the earliest and most sacrosanct references to meditational practices that are the clear forerunners of what Patañjali later further systematizes and embellishes in his Yoga Sūtras. The Upaniṣads are also the main canonical texts for the variegated Vedānta traditions of the next session II.

Module 2: The Vedānta Sūtra (May 6)

The course will also consider the opening verses of the Vedānta Sūtra, a text which sets out to systematize the unsystematic material of the Upaniṣads with regard to the nature of Brahman, the Ultimate Truth Here we will encounter the interpretative lenses of two important Vedānta traditions – that of advaita (non-dualist) Vedānta and that of the viśiśtādvaita tradition (the lineage from which the renowned Krishnamacarya hailed), which allows a more dualist understanding of the relationship between brahman īśvara and the ātman.

Module 3: Sāṃkhya Kārikās (May 13)

This will engage the primary canonical text of Såmkhya, which is the larger metaphysical tradition within which Yoga was originally a branch before it came to be situated as an independent school. Sāṃkhya concerns itself with the metaphysics from which the deep-level self – the puruśa/ātman – must extricate itself – e.g. what the puruśa is not.

Module 4: Yoga Sūtras (May 20)

This course will undertake a close reading of yoga as presented in the traditional Hindu sourcebook on the subject, the 3rd century Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, where it is defined as “the stilling of all states of mind” (i.e. meditative practices), in order to arrive at a direct experience of the ‘soul’ or ātman, that is to say, of pure consciousness. The Yoga Sūtras is the classical text on meditative practice accepted as authoritative by all the orthodox Hindu schools, and our reading of it will be informed by the primary commentaries that have elaborated on the source text over the centuries prior to the colonial period. Here, we will encounter what yoga has meant in Indian traditions for two millennia prior to being transplanted to the West, where the Yoga Sūtras has since become the canonical text for western yoga.

Module 5: Vaiśesika Sūtras and Mīmāmsā Sūtras (May 27)

Vaiśesika and Mīmāmsā are archaic schools – the former dealing with the metaphysical ingredients of the world – sub-atomic particles, forces, etc.; and the latter with Dharma, human Duty, as understood in the context of the ancient Vedic ritualistic culture. Unlike the other sessions of this course, these two texts may be of less interest to modern-day yoga practitioners – we will see how we feel when we get to them- but if we decide these traditions are of little interest to us, we can briefly overview them and then continue with the Yoga Sūtras. They are included in this course for completeness – so that students can get at least some sense of the so-called “Six Schools of Indian Philosophy.”

Module 6: Nyāya Sūtras (June 3)

Nyāya is the rationalist school of Vaidic Philosophy i.e., the intellectual tradition prioritizing anumāṇa, logic/inference. All schools acknowledge that only yoga or practices leading to direct personal experience will prove to a practitioner the claims made by scripture – such as the existence of a soul or God. But, in the face of challenges by e.g. Buddhists and materialists, Nyāya uses that logic and reason to argue that a stronger case can be made for the existence of such entities rather than any philosophy denying their reality. Thus, Nyāya stresses the importance of using coherent reason and clear thinking to choose our yogic path and metaphysics. This is all the more so given the counterclaims made by other intellectual traditions (including some in our own day and age) which argue that beliefs in a non-material soul or God are irrational and outdated forms of thought – Nyāya’s arguments are still very much relevant to modern discussions on such topics. In this session, we will also encounter the debates between the Buddhists and Vedic schools.

Module 7: Bhagavad Gītā and stories from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa (June 10)

The Bhagavad Gītā is perhaps the most representative and certainly the most influential and popular text from the numerous and varied spiritual traditions of Hindu India. Spoken by Lord Krishna to Arjuna who is undergoing a moment of crisis, the text deals with the nature of the self, the world, ultimate reality, the purpose of human existence, and the spiritual paths that can be undertaken to accomplish this purpose. One can schematize the teachings into four such paths, or yoga systems, featured in the text, through which one can unite with the Divine: the path of self-knowledge, jnāna yoga; the path of action in the world, karma yoga; the path of meditation, rāja/dhyāna yoga; and the path of theistic devotion, bhakti yoga. This session will undertake a detailed discussion of these four yoga systems, with contextual references to the background of the text and referencing the major streams of Hindu thought covered in the earlier sessions.

Module 8: Bhagavad Gītā and stories from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, (continued) (June 17)

This final session will continue the discussion from module 7 on the Bhagavad Gītā and stories from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. Taking up the detailed discussion of these four yoga systems, featured in the text, through which one can unite with the Divine: the path of self-knowledge, jnāna yoga; the path of action in the world, karma yoga; the path of meditation, rāja/dhyāna yoga; and the path of theistic devotion, bhakti yoga, with contextual references to the background of the text and referencing the major streams of Hindu thought covered in the earlier sessions.

The Gītā clearly prioritizes bhakti as the highest and most ultimate form of yoga, as we will explore in this, our final session. We will encounter Krishna in this module, and discuss how the text presents the yoga of bhakti to him. We will conclude our workshop with one of the best-loved stories of Krishna’s earlier life as a mischievous cowherd in Vrindavan.

Here we will encounter Krishna’s claim to being the Supreme Godhead. We will finish the course with one or two of the most beloved stories in Hinduism from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, featuring the Krishna of adoration and devotion. The Bhāgavata will also give us a lens into how non-scholastic philosophy filters down into popular culture.

In this course students will:

Encounter the six classic schools of orthodox Vedic/Hindu thought up to the medieval period.

Analyze the goals of life as articulated by these traditions and explore their explanation of suffering, its cause, and its removal.

Compare and contrast the differences between these major philosophical systems.

Utilize primary texts, including the original Sanskrit sutras and verses.

Engage two core and canonical texts that have been formative to Yoga, the Upaniṣads and the Bhāgavad Gītā.

Trace the historical and philosophical roots of core concepts including yoga, karma, mokśa, ātman, reincarnation, and bhakti.

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Edwin Bryant received his Ph.D. in Indic languages and Cultures from Columbia University. He taught Hinduism at Harvard University for three years and is presently the professor of Hinduism at Rutgers University where he teaches courses on Hindu philosophy and religion. He has received numerous awards and fellowships, published eight books, and authored a number of articles on the earliest origins of the Vedic culture, yoga philosophy, and the Krishna tradition.

As a personal practitioner of bhakti yoga for over 45 years, a number of them spent in India studying with traditional teachers, where he returns yearly, Edwin strives to combine academic scholarship and rigor with appreciation towards traditional knowledge systems. His teaching method is to allow the ancient texts to speak in their own voice and through their own terms and categories.

Edwin’s most recently published work is Bhakti Yoga: Tales and Teachings from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2017). This work seeks to ground the practices of bhakti in the traditional Krishna-centered framework of the Vrindavan devotional traditions.

Grieving Together: A Pathway to Healing and Justice
2023-05-25 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York)
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Grief is as natural a human response to a loss as joy is to a win. Yet somehow, saying or hearing the word “grief” can conjure up a sense of heaviness in our bodies and dread in our minds. As with most experiences that we consider negative, grief is one that in many cases and even cultures, is limited, postponed, or turned away from altogether. But why? What are the reasons we put so many constraints on such a human experience? What are the costs associated with such restraints? Even more so, what are the costs on the human collective when losses are shared, generational, and yet unnamed or denied? In this with-in, EP’s LeTonia Jones and Dr. Chris Walling will create a container to hold space for participants to write and share “grief narratives.” Together, participants will release silences around both personal and collective losses. Participants will also have an opportunity to express their feelings of letting go and explore how holding sacred the experience of collective grief is necessary to advance social justice.

In this with-in, participants will . . .

Learn about the costs of limiting, postponing, and denying experiences of both personal and collective grief.

Learn examples of how naming and honoring collective losses has and can mobilize and transform societies toward equity and social justice.

Learn about and experience the potential for letting go through the contemplative writing practice of grief narratives.

Participate in the creation of a collective space designed to hold and support one another in the expression grief and hope for renewal.

Pre-register now for the member-only event →

If you are already a member, sign in and then click “I’ll be there” to pre-register for the live event. If you are not a member, click “Join Now to Access”, sign up for your Free Trial, open the live event and then click “I’ll be there” to pre-register for the live event. You will need to be subscribed to be able to receive reminder emails from Embodied Philosophy including to receive the Zoom link for the live event. For support, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.

LeTonia A. Jones, MSW is a Kentuckian who has used the alchemy of arts and activism for over 25 years. She’s led public arts campaigns and projects to center the lived experiences of marginalized people. Her purpose is to stir emotions, facilitate space for insight, and move individuals and communities toward greater acts of care and love.

In 2007, she collaborated with author and award-winning playwright Eve Ensler to pilot a two-week arts and activism festival and campaign to end violence against women and girls in Kentucky. In 2009, she co-created a writing group for incarcerated women called SwallowTale Project. In 2020, LeTonia co-founded Bloodroot Ink, a writing collective for BIPOC Womyn.

Presently, LeTonia is the Members Editor at Embodied Philosophy. She is also the author of her debut full length poetry collection called Black Girl at the Intersection.

Ultimately, LeTonia is a poet, writer, and activist who believes acts of witnessing and of being witnessed are revolutionary.

Dr. Chris Walling, PsyD, MBA, C-IAYT, SEP is a licensed clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, and researcher. Dr. Walling is an Adjunct Professor of Somatic Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies and is the Research Chair & Past-President of the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy. He is a Clinical Research Fellow at the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium located at Indiana University where he also serves on the International Advisory Council at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. Dr. Walling is the Vice President of Education & Outreach for the Alzheimer’s Research & Prevention Foundation and serves as Dean of Faculty at the Embodied Philosophy Institute. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the International Psychoanalytic Association. Dr. Walling maintains a private practice in Los Angeles, California.

Transforming Complex Trauma: The NeuroAffective Relational Model
2023-06-12 00:00 - 2023-06-21 23:59 (America/Los_Angeles)
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LIVE Mondays & Wednesdays June 12, 14, 19, 21 @ 7 – 9 pm EDT

If you can’t attend this event live, all registrants will have access to the recording.

If you are already a member sign in and add the course to your favorites. You will need to be subscribed to be able to receive reminder emails from Embodied Philosophy including to receive the Zoom link for the live sessions. For support, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.

Transforming Complex Trauma: The NeuroAffective Relational Model

Thanks to current research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and complex trauma (C-PTSD), we now have greater awareness of the long-term impact of early trauma and how children carry forward these trauma-based adaptations into adulthood through their personality. Using the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM), we will present the Adaptive Survival Styles model – historically referred to as “Character Structures.” The NARM Adaptive Survival Styles will provide a useful framework for how to understand and address the psychobiological patterns of personality that often lead to symptoms and disorders that so many adults are dealing with, including anxiety, depression, substance abuse, sleep and eating disorders, relational and sexual challenges, and so many other forms of personal and collective suffering. The therapeutic model of NARM will be introduced as a way of providing helping professionals, and anyone interested in complex trauma, by providing comprehensive theory and useful skills to support personal and collective healing and transformation.

Module 1: Overview of Developmental Trauma, Character Structures and the NeuroAffective Relational Model (June 12)

Module 1 will introduce the NeuroAffective Relational Model and how this framework will be used to present a less pathologizing and more humane understanding of personality, complex trauma and human suffering. An overview of the trauma-informed movement will be presented, including a differentiation between complex trauma (C-PTSD) and shock trauma (PTSD). Using research on adverse childhood experiences and developmental trauma, participants will be introduced to the NARM Adaptive Survival Styles model, which are five trauma-based, developmental adaptations that children carry forward into adulthood.

Module 2: Adaptive Survival Styles (June 14)

Module 2 will explore the NARM framework of the Adaptive Survival Styles, specifically focusing on the earliest developmental stages of the Connection and Attunement Survival Styles, their corresponding shame and pride-based identifications and adaptive survival strategies. Participants will also be introduced to the historical understanding of “Character Structures” and how the NARM framework has evolved our understanding of personality and personality disorders.

Module 3: Adaptive Survival Styles Continued (June 19)

Module 3 will continue exploring the NARM framework of the Adaptive Survival Styles, specifically focusing on the developmental stages of the Trust, Autonomy and Love-Sexuality Survival Styles, their corresponding shame and pride-based identifications and adaptive survival strategies. Participants will also be introduced to the historical understanding of “Character Structures” and how the NARM framework has evolved our understanding of personality and personality disorders.

Module 4: Healing Developmental Trauma and the Adaptive Survival Styles (June 21)

Module 4 will present an introduction to the NARM therapeutic approach. An overview of the NARM 4 Pillars will be introduced, which are relational skills designed for resolving developmental trauma and supporting post-traumatic growth. The NARM understanding of heartfulness as a vehicle for healing developmental trauma will also be covered. Participants will be introduced to research-informed theory and skills that can be applied for supporting personal and collective change.

In this course students will:

Identify how the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) fits into the current field of trauma studies.

Discuss the legacy of unresolved developmental trauma including negative self-concept, dysregulation of the self, and interpersonal difficulties.

Summarize a basic understanding of the role of the ACEs Study in understanding Complex Trauma (C-PTSD).

Name the five NARM Adaptive Survival Styles.

Summarize a basic understanding of the NARM 4 Pillar approach for addressing complex trauma.Describe the basic NARM principle of Heartfulness.

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Brad Kammer, LMFT, LPCC, trained as a Somatic Psychotherapist and has worked in the field of trauma for over 20 years, specializing in working with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD).

Brad is a college professor and has been involved in community education, outreach and consulting to numerous communities and organizations. Brad has also been a trainer for Somatic Experiencing® (SE®).

Brad is a Senior Trainer and Training Director of the NARM Training Institute. He teaches the NeuroAffective Relational Model® (NARM®) internationally and has provided consultation to thousands of therapists and other helping professionals around the world. He is also the executive producer of the Transforming Trauma podcast.

Websites:

www.body-mindtherapy.com

www.narmtraining.com

Healing Addiction: A Yogic Perspective
2023-07-08 00:00 - 2023-07-09 23:59 (America/New_York)
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LIVE July 8-9 @ 1 – 4 pm EDT. Convert your time here.

If you can’t attend this event live, all registrants will have access to the recording.

If you are already a member sign in and add the course to your favorites. You will need to be subscribed to be able to receive reminder emails from Embodied Philosophy including to receive the Zoom link for the live sessions. For support, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.

Healing Addiction: A Yogic Perspective

This course applies the lens of yoga to the pervasive issue of addiction. Addiction can be described as ‘the dis-ease of the lost self.’ As we look outside of ourselves for what can only come from inside we become increasingly disconnected from lasting peace and tranquility. In disconnection, the conditions for addiction become fertile and dysfunctional patterns often develop. This can occur not only with a substance, one can develop dysfunctional addictive patterns in relationship to other people, food, shopping, work, power, and much more. And sometimes, the patterns are so deeply ingrained that changing them presents tremendous challenges at every level of being.

Healing Addiction, A Yogic Perspective presents a framework for healing that integrates teachings, texts, and practices from yoga, data from modern neuroscience studies, trauma healing, and current addiction treatment approaches. This framework, based on the theme, ‘The Issues Live in Our Tissues,’ presents a holistic relapse prevention model grounded in compassionate awareness, change, and healing.

Module 1: Broadening The View of Addiction (July 8)

Most often when we hear the word addiction, thoughts instantly turn toward abuse of a substance. However, as we look more deeply we see that many are affected by behavioral or process addictions. Research has found that there are stark similarities between substance addiction and the psychological dependence to activities like compulsive gambling, sex, work, shopping, and eating disorders. As we expand our view, we see that addiction really isn’t about the substance or even the addictive behavior at all. In this module, we examine the underlying problem of addiction and introduce the solution from the view of yoga.

Module 2: A Model for Healing (July 9)

In Module 2 we will explore the yogic model for healing proposed in the Yoga Sūtras and the Upaniṣads. Here we look at a framework for relapse prevention that includes practical tools for cultivating sustainable recovery.

In this course students will:

Learn how the essential teachings of yoga can be applied to the root cause of addiction and the process of healing.

Be introduced to a framework for relapse prevention that includes cognitive approaches and trauma-informed mind/body-based practices.

Engage the yogic view of how we transform dis-functional patterns.

Understand how ‘the issues live in our tissues.’

Apply practical tools to support yourself and others in recovery.

Register now…

An accomplished speaker and teacher, Nikki Myers is an MBA, E-RYT 500, Yoga Therapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Addictions Recovery Specialist, and Ayurvedic Specialist. Born from her struggles with addiction and work with countless students, Nikki is the founder of Y12SR, Yoga of 12-Step Recovery. Based on its theme ‘the issues live in the tissues’, Y12SR is a relapse prevention program that weaves the art & science of yoga with the practical tools of 12-step programs.

Y12SR meetings are available internationally and the curriculum has rapidly become a feature of addiction recovery treatment centers. Nikki’s work has been featured in the New York Times, Black Enterprise, The Huffington Post, Origin Magazine, CBSnews.com and countless podcasts. She is honored to be a co-founder of the annual Yoga, Meditation and Recovery Conferences at Esalen Institute and Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. Nikki has been featured as a keynote speaker at the International Association of Yoga Therapist (IAYT) conference and the International Conference on Integrative Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She was named a Yoga Journal Game Changer and is an honored recipient of the esteemed NUVO Cultural Visionary Award.

5-Day Chakras Challenge
2023-07-17 00:00 - 2023-07-21 23:59 (America/New_York)
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LIVE July 17 – July 21, 2023 – Everyday at 7am PT / 10am ET (Convert your time here.)

If you can’t attend this event live, all registrants will have access to the recording.

If you are already a member sign in and add the course to your favorites. You will need to be subscribed to be able to receive reminder emails from Embodied Philosophy including to receive the Zoom link for the live sessions. For support, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.

5-Day Chakras Challenge

Join Jacob Kyle, Director of Embodied Philosophy, in a transformative journey to discover, explore, and meditate with an ancient system of Tantric yoga.

The chakras are one of the most popular topics in the spiritual world, but access to yoga practices from ancient yoga texts is hard to come by. Those who want to understand the different philosophical streams of yoga can’t distinguish the ancient from the modern.

Inform Your PracticeIn a matter of five days, you will become a more informed yoga or meditation practitioner, which will help you stand out from the fitness yogis and “McMindful” meditators.

Embody Five ElementsWhy should we care about the five elements? Because challenging ourselves to develop tools to connect and feel affection for nature has perhaps never been so timely and necessary.

Challenge YourselfDiscover an ancient yoga text about the divine feminine, the Kubjikamāta Tantra, explore a non-dual yogic philosophy, and use the elements as tools to ground, flow, enflame, inspire, and expand.

This challenge offers the unique opportunity to:

Integrate with nature through meditation

Discover an under-studied ancient yogic text

Embody Tantric teachings through visualization techniques

Register now…

Jacob Kyle is a yoga and meditation teacher, writer, philosophy educator and the Founder of Embodied Philosophy, an online educational platform for wisdom studies and contemplative practices. Jacob holds three Masters Degrees: an MPhil in Sanskrit & Indian Philosophy and Religions from the University of Oxford (2023), an MA in the History of Philosophy from the New School for Social Research (2013), and an MSc in Political Philosophy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (2007). Jacob received dīkṣā into a Tantric form of meditation in 2015, and has since that time been studying and practicing with Kashmir Shaivism scholar-practitioner Paul Muller-Ortega. In 2020, he was initiated as an Acharya (authorized teacher) of Neelakantha meditation and continues to dedicate his life to studying deeply the texts and traditions of the Śaiva-Śākta Darśana, as well as making available through the Embodied Philosophy platform transformative wisdom teachings, practices and perspectives.

Yoga and Social Justice
2023-08-08 00:00 - 2023-08-29 23:59 (America/New_York)
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LIVE August 8, 15, 22, 29 @ 7:00-9:00pm ET. Convert your time here.

If you can’t attend this event live, all registrants will have access to the recording.

If you are already a member sign in and add the course to your favorites. You will need to be subscribed to be able to receive reminder emails from Embodied Philosophy including to receive the Zoom link for the live sessions. For support, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.

Yoga and Social Justice

What happens when social justice in yoga is a collective duty? In what ways will our practice change if we answer questions like, “how do I participate in my and others’ oppression on and off the mat” or “what does liberation look like through yoga?” Can we examine and dismantle systems preventing marginalized people from experiencing yoga? This workshop will engage these and other questions about yoga and social justice through curiosity, compassion, and loving accountability. This seminar is ideal for individuals interested in learning how oppression and colonization manifest in historical and contemporary yoga. Attendees will consciously examine various tenants of yoga and modern adaptation of early practices free of colonial and harmful systemic influence. Attendees will also gain the necessary tools to divest from mainstream yoga beliefs, practices, and norms that work against liberation and justice. Last, attendees will begin and sustain collective change work as practitioners, teachers, and members of an interconnected world.

MODULE 1: Social Justice 101: Introduction, Key Concepts, and Self-Study

Undertaking social justice study requires the development of critical consciousness or “the ability to recognize and analyze systems of inequality and the commitment to take action against these systems” (El-Amin et al., 2017). This module will focus on one component of critical consciousness development. Specifically, we will develop an in-depth understanding of social justice concepts and terminology. Additionally, we will explore how our social identities inform our lived experience and yoga practice.

MODULE 2: Social Justice as A Sacred Duty

Yoga Activist and author Dianne Bondy once stated, “it is my sacred duty – my Dharma, if you will – to seek justice and yoga for all of us.” This module will propose social justice as an individual, collective, and universal assignment refined over time. We will examine the presence of social justice and liberation in yogic philosophies.

MODULE 3: History: Exploring Social Justice, Activism, and Change Work in Yoga

Having established a critical lens for yoga, Module 3 will shift the conversation to efforts of yoga change makers. We will explore how individuals “do the good work” of decolonizing yoga at the individual, interpersonal, and institutional/systemic levels. We will demystify what social justice in action looks like by observing historical and contemporary examples.

MODULE 4: Action: Embodying Justice and Transformation in Yoga

The second component of critical consciousness involves a commitment to change work. We will prepare for ongoing social justice engagement by developing an embodiment and transformation toolkit. The toolkit will include actionable steps for incorporating social justice into one’s yoga practice, community, business, and/or lifestyle. Additionally, we will discuss possible barriers or challenges associated with social justice work and solutions. We will conclude by imagining liberatory futures for yoga.

This course offers the unique opportunity to:

Apply social justice vocabulary, concepts, and perspectives to yoga.

Engage in critical change work in community with like minded peers.

Experience embodied activism live.

Register now…

Natalie Malone (she/her), MS 200RYT, is a doctoral-level counseling psychologist trainee, researcher, and yoga instructor. Her research prioritizes Black women’s sexual, spiritual, and holistic wellness. As a yoga teacher multicultural educator, and healer, Natalie intentionally integrates social justice, embodied healing, and holistic wellness into her work.

3-Day Ayurveda Challenge: Build a Conscious Diet
2023-09-09 00:00 - 2023-09-11 23:59 (America/New_York)
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LIVE Sessions September 9-11, 2:00-3:30pm ET (Convert your time here.)

If you can’t attend this event live, all registrants will have access to the recording.

If you are already a member sign in and add the course to your favorites. You will need to be subscribed to be able to receive reminder emails from Embodied Philosophy including to receive the Zoom link for the live sessions. For support, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.

Embark on a 3-Day Journey into the Ayurvedic Philosophy of Food

Your food choices determine how much strength, energy and mental alignment you manifest. Food sciences today are confused, retracting their forceful recommendations every few years and replacing it with confusing opposing evidence. With no consistency and scanty science, the food industry has bullied the modern world for nearly a century with food products, non-nutritive stimulators, and made us servants of our unenlightened tongues.

Herbs and foods that are natural to the Earth reconnect us to the rhythms of nature. Bio-magnetic forces that have recently received attention by modern science help us understand the transformative impact of natural herbs and spices. During this three-day journey, employ the philosophy of food practiced through the ancient Indian system of Ayurveda.

DAY 1: Feed Your Rasa

The six tastes (rasa) are deeply connected with our digestive capacity and preferences. Through them, you can transform the gifts of the earth into energy. We will learn how to taste food and why feeling happy is important for digestion, fitness, and strength. When you become conscious of your food choices, you learn that what you digest influences the qualities you embody.

DAY 2: Find Real Āhara

Learn the 10 food groups used in Ayurveda. Step away from kitchen tools, preparation, and processes that confuse your subtle body, and replace them with nourishing choices. We will explore the foods that aid and improve your agni (digestive fire) so as to lead a more fulfilling life.

DAY 3: Empower Taste using the World of Herbs

Expand your in-house pharmacy with a handful of readily-available herbs for specific common ailments. Recognize and transform early symptoms, and bring yourself back to health. Integrate fresh foods and time-tested herbal formulations that balance the complex chemistry of our bodies, helping us to build the strength and vitality that fuels a long and happy life.

This challenge offers the unique opportunity to:

Develop an Ayurvedic dietary plan

Transform cravings into contemplations

Harness spices and herbs for common ailments

Learn to eat in alignment with the day and season

Register now…

Bhaswati Bhattacharya is a board-certified physician-scientist and Fulbright Scholar trained in family medicine and preventive medicine, serving as Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill-Cornell Medical College. Her research focuses on integrating the wisdom and science of authentic traditional medicines such as Ayurveda into health care. She has earned an MD from Rush U of Chicago, a Masters in Public Health (MPH) from Harvard U, and PhDs in pharmacology/neuroscience (Columbia U) and Ayurveda (Banaras Hindu U, India). Her documentary Healers Journey into Ayurveda is on The Discovery Channel, and her book Everyday Ayurveda is a national bestseller published by Penguin Random House. She teaches a course in the Embodied Philosophy library called The Wisdom of Ayurveda.

FREE Masterclass: Voyage to Vagus
2023-09-26 19:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
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LIVE Sessions September 26, 7:30pm ET (Convert your time here.)

If you can’t attend this event live, all registrants will have access to the recording.

If you are already a Wisdom School member, you do not need to register. You will be emailed the link to join prior to the live event.

Voyage to Vagus: How to Arouse Physiological Relaxation

The vagus nerve is beloved by humans for being the chief parasympathetic nerve that governs the relaxation response. A well-functioning vagus nerve is fundamental for the body’s ability to recover, repair, and heal. This seminar details the five tangible actions that promote a vagal dominant state called, “The 5P’s of the Parasympathetic Nervous System.”

In this seminar you will learn to uncover your body’s ability to “Turn ON your OFF switch,” and learn how “position, perspective, place, palpation, and pneumatic pacing” play a role in your health. The session includes an experiential tour of the 5 P’s including a novel breathwork exercise to hasten relaxation with the author of Body By Breath, founder of Yoga Tune Up, and Yoga Therapist, Jill Miller.Who should attend?

Yoga teachers

Physical Therapists

Pilates instructors

School teachers

Mental health professionals

The “breathwork-curious”

Anyone who is stressed out!

Masterclass attendees will . . .

Learn which regions of the body are innervated by the vagus nerve.

Learn the difference between proprioception and interoception and how these concepts help you in daily life.

Build awareness of how to manually stimulate your vagus via breath, position, palpation, place, and mindset

Register now…

Jill Miller, C-IAYT, ERYT, YA-CEP is a fascia and movement expert that forges links between the worlds of yoga, massage, athletics, and pain management. Her programs, Yoga Tune Up® and The Roll Model® are found at gyms, yoga studios, hospitals, athletic training facilities and corporations worldwide. She is the former anatomy columnist for Yoga Journal and has been featured in New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Shape, Women’s Health, O, Today Show, and Oprah Winfrey Network. She is the author of _The Roll Model: A Step-by-Step Guide to Erase Pain, Improve Mobility, and Live Better in Your Bod_y, and a contributing author on self-myofascial release in Fascia, Function and Medical Applications. She is the creator of dozens of instructional DVDs, with movement luminaries Tom Myers, Katy Bowman, Kelly Starrett DPT and Jen Fraboni DPT. Her newest book is Body by Breath: The Science and Practice of Physical and Emotional Resilience. She lives in LA with her husband, 2 kids and rescue dog. www.tuneupfitness.com

Visionary Experience: Exploring the Intersection of Buddhism and Shamanism
2023-10-07 00:00 - 2023-10-21 23:59 (America/New_York)
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Pre-Workshop Lecture and Meditations Available Now On Demand | LIVE Workshop October 21, 11am-5pm ET (Convert your time here.)

If you can’t attend this event live, all registrants will have access to the recording.

If you are already a member sign in and add the course to your favorites. You will need to be subscribed to be able to receive reminder emails from Embodied Philosophy including to receive the Zoom link for the live sessions. For support, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.

Visionary Experience: Exploring the Intersection of Buddhism and Shamanism

This course will help you to understand and develop your own visionary capacities through the lens of two ancient traditions where visionary experience has been the cornerstone of practice and self-development for thousands of years. You will learn about the general history and practice of both traditions and then focus on learning different methods of developing and attaining visionary experience, and honing your inner vision, in each of them. These are grounded, yet expansive methods which you could apply in your personal or professional life. This class is particularly helpful if you are trying to organize your capacity to understand and develop your visionary skills, and is suitable for visionaries at all levels of development.

PRE-WORKSHOP LECTURE & MEDITATIONS: An Overview of Visionary Experience in Shamanic and Buddhist Practices

This pre-recorded module, released two weeks before the live session, offers teachings on the larger context of shamanic and Buddhist practice, and how visionary experience informs and enlivens both traditions. We’ll look at how visionary experience is expressed in both Shamanic and Buddhist Practices, in particular the journey from ordinary reality to non-ordinary reality, and back. We will cover an overview of the commonalities and differences between the two traditions, with focus on the visionary experience, and consider visionary experiences through both Shamanic and Buddhist lenses and contexts.

Daily Samatha Meditation practice

Consideration of suffering-inducing statements

Post-meditation journaling

LIVE WORKSHOP + PRACTICE: The Shamanic Journey and the Fundamentals of Deity Meditation Drawn from Buddhist Practice

In this day-long class, you will learn the basics of the shamanic journey, one of the primary ways shamanic practitioners access inner vision. You will also learn the fundamental processes of deity meditation drawn from Buddhist practice, receive assistance in identifying your strengths as a visionary, and help in addressing any challenges you find in the process of integrating your visionary capacities into your everyday life. And finally we will have an oracle demonstration with student questions.

This course offers the unique opportunity to:

Explore Buddhist traditions that are deeply tied to Shamanism

Learn meditations that can help the visionary organize their inner experience

Follow along with stories of spiritual journeys that can serve as archetypes for our own

Register now…

In the mid-nineties, Isa began developing Depth Hypnosis as she entered into clinical practice. Her studies, both in academia and in the field of cultural and linguistic anthropology, comparative religion, and transpersonal psychology formed the basis of her approach with clients and students. As the body of work that grew out of her clinical practice became larger, she began teaching others so that more people could benefit from the techniques she had developed. In order to accommodate the number of classes that grew out of this process, she co-founded the Foundation of the Sacred Stream, which is now a school for consciousness studies in Berkeley, California, serving hundreds of students each year. Isa teaches and speaks nationally and internationally, and she has published numerous articles, podcast episodes, videos, and the books Return to the Great Mother and Coming to Peace. She maintains a private practice with institutions and individuals in Depth Hypnosis and Coming to Peace processes. Isa speaks five languages and has lived in eleven countries. She is the mother of two children and lives with her partner in San Francisco.

Embodied Yoga Therapy Certificate Program
2023-10-08 00:00 - 2023-12-06 23:59 (America/New_York)
Learn more or register now…

Embodied Yoga Therapy Certificate Program

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Gain a comprehensive understanding of yoga therapy and how it can be supported by the healing practices of Ayurveda and Tibetan Buddhism

Bridge ancient wisdom with modern healing practices to address various health conditions and concerns

Cultivate awareness of the mind-body connection, promoting psychological well-being and personal growth

Embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery, deep healing, and the integration of ancient wisdom with modern science through the Embodied Yoga Therapy for the Embodied Philosophy Certificate Program. This program offers a comprehensive exploration of contemporary yoga therapy and the historical lineages of Tibetan Buddhist, Contemporary Somatic, and Ayurvedic-informed practices that incorporate yoga as a form of adjunctive medicine. This program is designed for individuals seeking to deepen their understanding of yoga’s therapeutic potential and its integration with holistic healing modalities. Participants will delve into the nuances of yoga therapy, combining ancient wisdom with modern scientific research to develop a well-rounded approach to supporting physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

PROGRAM OUTLINE

Introduction to Embodied Yoga Therapy with Dr. Chris Walling

History of Modern Yoga: Spiritual Practice and Applied Health with Stephanie Corigliano

Intro to Clinical Yoga Therapy – The Map and the Territory with Dana Slamp

Anatomy & Physiology with Jill Miller

Integration Session 1 with TBD

Perspectives on Trauma in Yoga Therapy with Dr. Chris Walling

Contemplative Psychotherapy: An Integration of Somatics and Yoga with Dr. Chris Walling

Yoga & Modern Medicine: Skeletal Uniqueness and Asana Pain Science and Yoga with Dr. Lori Rubenstein Fazzio

Yoga & Community Healing with Natalie Malone

The Profound Wisdom of Ayurveda 1: Dosha with Dr. Bhaswati Bhattacharya

Integration Session 2 with TBD

The Profound Wisdom of Ayurveda 2: Dinacarya with Dr. Bhaswati Bhattacharya

The Profound Wisdom of Ayurveda 3: Ayurvedic Travel Rituals with Dr. Bhaswati Bhattacharya

Buddhist/Tibetan Yoga Module 1 with James Bae (Hyoun Bae)

Nocturnal Meditation for Psychological and Spiritual Growth with Andrew Holecek

Integration Session 3 with Dr. Chris Walling

Buddhist/Tibetan Yoga Module 2 with James Bae (Hyoun Bae)

Summative Session + Closing with Dr. Chris Walling

Learn more or register now…

FREE Meditation Resolution: Five Days, Five Tattvas
2024-01-01 00:00 - 2024-01-05 23:59 (America/New_York)
Register now for free…

Join us LIVE January 1-5, 2024.

Wisdom School Members are automatically enrolled and will receive access information via email. Not a member? Sign-up for free today! Enroll in Meditation Resolution 2024 →

A “tattva” in Indian philosophy refers to a principle, element, or aspect of reality.

The concept varies across different philosophical schools but generally represents the building blocks or fundamental truths of the universe. In Sāṃkhya, one of the oldest schools of Indian philosophy, there are 25 tattvas, including elements like the mind, ego, and various sensory and physical elements. In Śaivism and other schools, the number and nature of tattvas can differ, but they all aim to describe the composition and structure of the universe, both material and non-material. Tattvas are used to understand the relationship between consciousness, matter, and the cosmos.

In this five-day meditation commitment, we will aim to cultivate a foundation for a year of meditation. Your meditation teachers will guide you through a unique daily practice of meditation and offer insights and teachings from some of the world’s meditation traditions.

This five-day commitment is entirely free and will set you up for a year of sustained meditation practice. Your facilitators will teach you how to stick with your practice, even when 💩 hits the fan.

If you can’t attend this event live, all registrants will have access to the recording.

Register now for free…

The Matsyendrasaṃhītā: A 30-Day Chakra Sādhanā
2024-05-28 00:00 - 2024-06-26 23:59 (America/New_York)
Join us LIVE starting May 28, 2024.

Wisdom School Members are automatically enrolled and will receive access information via email. Not a member? Enroll in the 30-Day Chakra Sādhanā →

Study the yoginīs & their chakras through an ancient yoga text…

The original Tantric practices associated with the chakras are still largely unknown, mentioned within early yogic texts that have received very little study and attention. In this 30-Day Sādhanā, we will explore a tradition of chakra practice as found in an early haṭha yoga text called the Mastyendrasaṃhītā. In this text, we find a sophisticated technology of chakra meditation practice that uses visualization, mantra, breath, and posture to cultivate a contemplative experience of one’s intrinsic divinity.

This is a rare and exciting opportunity to both familiarize yourself with an obscure but nonetheless important ancient yoga text, while experimenting with a form of chakra meditation practice that has the potential to radically deepen your yoga practice.

Participating in this 30-Day Process requires just 20-30 minutes of your time per day. Every day will include a live (or occasionally pre-recorded) video session with Jacob Kyle, during which he will unpack a short teaching or translation from the text, followed by a practice grounded and inspired by the Matsyendrasaṃhītā. While the daily practice will remain consistent, the accompanying studies will build on a sequence of “movements” to deepen the synergy of knowledge and experience.

If you can’t attend this event live, all members and registrants will have access to the recording.

Learn more and enroll today . . .

Śiva Sūtras: Opening to Absolute Consciousness
2024-08-06 09:00 - 2024-08-15 09:00 (America/New_York)
Join us LIVE for this 4-Module Course Starting August 6, 2024.

Wisdom School Members are automatically enrolled and will receive access information via email. Not a member? Enroll in the Śiva Sūtras Live Course →

The text that is broadly considered to be the founding text of Kashmir Shaivism is the incredibly timely text, the Śiva Sūtras (SS). The SS, which was composed by an author named Vasugupta, is considered by the tradition to be a “revealed” text, or āgama.

In the “Śiva Sūtras Summer School”, we will be engaging with this important work as a foundational text of yoga philosophy. The SS is fruitful text for modern yoga and meditation practitioners who are seeking a context of knowledge that helps to situate the experience of individuality within a broader picture of what reality is all about.

It provides an inspiring narrative of how one can cultivate meaning in this lifetime in a way that resists being reduced either to familiar modes of religious doctrine or to the assumptions of cosmic meaninglessness that are characteristic of a prevailing relativistic worldview.

Live sessions will take place Tuesdays and Thursdays – August 6th, 8th, 13th, and 15th at 9:00am ET. Each of the four modules will be around 2 hours in length, followed by a 30 minute Q&A. Recordings will be available the day following the live session.

Those who take this course will:

Learn how the non-dual Tantric traditions are incredibly applicable to modern householder life,

Study the way Reality organizes itself, according to the emanationist cosmology of Śaiva Tantra, and compare this view to other accounts of how reality functions,

Discover why we should think about this text as the most central text of yoga philosophy,

Engage with what the central yoga practices are that are connected to the tradition behind the Śiva Sūtras,

Consider who some of the key non-dual philosophers are, and where their perspectives overlapped and diverged,

Study the comprehensive philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism,

Become educated on the relationship between the non-dual Tantric traditions more broadly and the philosophical tradition known as the pratjabhijñā,

Incorporate a recitation of the SS into your practice over two weeks to help you begin memorizing these sūtras for your own reference and practice,

Be able to name and describe what makes Kashmir Shaivism different from other yoga traditions, and

Live the SS in your life and begin to align with the profound meanings communicated within it.

Learn more and enroll today . . .

Your Course Instructor

Jacob Kyle is a yoga and meditation teacher, writer, philosophy educator and the Founder of Embodied Philosophy, an online educational platform for wisdom studies and contemplative practices. Jacob holds an MPhil in Sanskrit & Indian Philosophy and Religions from the University of Oxford (2023), an MA in the History of Philosophy from the New School for Social Research (2013), and an MSc in Political Philosophy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (2007). Jacob received dīkṣā into a Tantric form of meditation in 2015, and has since that time been studying and practicing with Kashmir Shaivism scholar-practitioner Paul Muller-Ortega. In 2020, he was initiated as an Acharya (authorized teacher) of Neelakantha meditation and continues to dedicate his life to studying deeply the texts and traditions of the Śaiva-Śākta Darśana, as well as making available through the Embodied Philosophy platform transformative wisdom teachings, practices and perspectives.

Future of the Yoga Teacher 2024
2024-09-14 09:00 - 16:30 (America/New_York)
Learn more & enroll →

LIVE September 14, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm ET. Convert your time here.

If you can’t attend this event live, all registrants will have access to the recordings within 1-2 business days following the event. Members attend for free! Not a member? Learn more and enroll.

Myths about the present are stifling your future. Discover solutions to thrive in today’s yoga world.

By the end of this one-day summit, you will have actionable solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing yoga teachers today.

Refine your relationship with yoga’s history and philosophies, discover bridges between yoga & other embodied perspectives, enhance the yoga community as a place of wisdom and connection, nurture your yoga practice and/or teaching through transformative education, give back – these are just a few ways we can be of service to the yoga world.

Showing up for this one-day summit is a decision to creatively contribute to solutions, and throughout this event there will be opportunities to cultivate greater knowledge, sensitivity and access to actionable solutions. By the end of this summit, you will take a step to become conduits of compassion, wisdom, and vision. Join us in this project to build a sustainable yoga future.

We believe in asking questions and discovering a path forward informed by wisdom.

Throughout the summit, we will be exploring constructive perspectives on the challenges and opportunities facing yoga teachers & communities.

Learn actionable ways to integrate philosophical perspectives into your yoga teachings

Study a hybrid business model integrating grassroots brick-and-mortar business practices with online techniques & strategies

Chart out the “three great stages” of your yoga career

Flip your perspective with the sādhana-centered business model

Resolve your discomforts with the money side of things by understanding its presence in yoga’s history

Design yoga classes, workshops, and retreats along philosophical themes

Harness the 3-step process for creating “magical” experiences

Learn more & enroll →

Saṃskāras, Spiritual Technology & Sādhana School
2024-10-22 09:00 - 10:30 (America/New_York)
Learn more & enroll →

LIVE + FREE Seminar October 22, 9:00 am – 10:30 am ET. Convert your time here.

If you can’t attend this event live, all registrants will have access to the recordings within 1-2 business days following the event. Members attend for free! Not a member? Learn more and enroll.

In this Talk and Q&A session, we’ll explore the concept of “saṃskāras” and how the various spiritual technologies found in the yoga tradition help to transform the trajectory of our lives by changing these habituated modes of experience. This is a central topic that helps us to understand the relationship between theory (or philosophy) and practice in the yogic tradition.

This event offers a glimpse into the themes and approaches explored in the full course on “Yogic Technologies” beginning October 29th, and it offers all participants an opportunity to get their questions answered, and to learn about whether either the Fall Sādhana or the year-long Sādhana School is for you.

In the forthcoming 8-week Sādhana, we’ll begin by discussing how the term “yoga” has evolved from its ancient roots to its modern interpretations, providing an overview of key historical and philosophical foundations. This will set the stage for a deeper exploration of the many branches of yoga, as expressed through a variety of different Sanskrit texts. We’ll also introduce various dualistic and non-dualistic philosophies, and discuss how these ideas inform both classical and contemporary yoga practices.

In this interactive event, the theory of saṃskāras (and learning about the spiritual technologies that transform them) will help you discover whether the forthcoming process of study and practice is for you. We’ll answer your questions about the full curriculum and how it can support your contemplative adventure, whether you’re a student, teacher, or a seeker of wisdom.

Facilitated by Jacob Kyle, Founder and Director of Embodied Philosophy.

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Body of Sādhana - Half-Day Immersion
2024-11-23 10:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
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LIVE Seminar and Workshop November 23, 10:00 am – 2:45pm ET. Convert your time here.

If you can’t attend this event live, all registrants will have access to the recordings within 1-2 business days following the event. Members attend for free! Not a member? Learn more and enroll.

Break Free from the Chaos and Discover the Power of Daily Sādhana in this Half-Day Live Event

Getting off the householder hamster wheel for a couple of carefully curated moments every day has become increasingly important. We could say that the rise of meditation reflects a necessary response to the trend of scheduling every fleeting moment of our lives with something to do, with some way to “be productive!” Meditation and contemplative practices in general are timeless and found throughout the world’s wisdom traditions, but perhaps at no other time has its benefits been so exhaustively in demand.

But which form of meditation is right for me? And what about the rituals and practices that one does before and after meditation? What is the point of these other “limbs” of practice? How do I fit meditation in when my day is already completely full to begin with?

In this half-day workshop, you’ll learn:

The benefits of transforming meditation from an occasional practice into a central pillar of your life.

A cycle of practice that takes you from the “gross” body (light postural yoga) to the subtle body in meditation.

The theory of sound and vibration in yoga, and how it relates to practice.

A number of Sanskrit chants that you can incorporate into your personal practice.

A journaling reflection exercise that helps to integrate the experience of meditation.

The philosophy and science of nāda yoga (the “inner sound”)

The practice of uccāra (the “upward enuncation” of mantra)

The practice of nyāsa (the practice of “placing” mantras on the body)

Facilitated by Jacob Kyle, Founder and Director of Embodied Philosophy.

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Subtle Body Anatomy with Tias Little
2025-04-12 00:00 - 2025-05-10 23:59 (America/New_York)
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April 12th and May 10th, 10am – 2pm ET (Recording Available). Convert your time here.

If you can’t attend this event live, all registrants will have access to the recordings within 1-2 business days following the event. This 8-hour workshop over the course of 2 weekends is a portion of the Embodied Philosophy’s Yoga Teacher Training that is available for one-off purchase. Members attend for free! Not a member? Learn more and enroll.

Two 4-Hour Saturday Workshops

Yoga is more than just movement—it is a deep exploration of the forces that animate and shape our being. In Subtle Body Anatomy, renowned teacher Tias Little guides students through a dynamic and integrative approach to understanding the body as a gateway to awareness, healing, and transformation.

Bridging ancient wisdom with contemporary somatic studies, this course explores the structure of the body as an interconnected field of physical, energetic, and psychospiritual experience. Through embodied practice, meditation, and guided inquiry, Tias illuminates how the skeletal, muscular, and nervous systems interweave with the energetic pathways of the nadis, chakras, and koshas.

Each workshop unfolds progressively—from grounding in the feet and legs to the expansive potential of the crown—offering practical techniques to sense, refine, and balance the subtle body. Participants will engage in yoga postures, breathwork (pranayama), and visualization exercises to cultivate greater awareness and integration of their subtle anatomy.

Whether you are a practitioner, teacher, or seeker, this course offers an invaluable opportunity to deepen your understanding of the body-mind connection and to experience yoga as a living, multidimensional practice.

In this 2-day workshop, you will:

Learn how the physical body interweaves with the energetic body through the chakras, nadis, and koshas.

Develop greater somatic awareness and refine your ability to sense subtle energetic shifts.

Explore the relationship between fascia, the nervous system, and the flow of prana.

Gain practical tools for using breath, visualization, and meditation to regulate energy and balance the subtle body.

Understand the symbolic and archetypal significance of the subtle body in yogic tradition.

Experience a progressive journey from the feet to the crown, unlocking new layers of awareness in your practice.

Integrate the teachings into your personal or professional yoga practice for greater depth and insight.

Receive expert guidance from Tias Little, blending Eastern wisdom with Western anatomical and psychological perspectives.

Facilitated by Tias Little, Founder of Prajna Yoga.

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