Practice

I hypothesize that the search for “the universal, “the humanistic,” or “the biological” as a through-line of body-mind investigation, has encouraged a mono-cultural approach to somatic pedagogy and to the promotion of the field.

In an increasingly media-based industry, yoga teachers have come to represent the physical elite. Instagram, Facebook, websites, newsletters thrive on images of impressive physical feats and physiques.

In this article, I’ll use somatics, radical embodied cognition, ecological psychology, and my personal practice of nondual animism to root out the unexamined use of dualistic philosophical paradigms including Cartesian dualism, traditional cognitive science, and the ideas that underpin popular interpretations of the simulation argument.

To live a life according to the wisdom of ecology is the most urgent task for humanity today. What can the philosophy of yoga contribute to this critical challenge? How can we develop an environmental ethics according to yogic principles? What would a sustainable ethics based on yoga look like?

The brain is the central organ for adaptation to experiences, including those we call “stressors,” that are capable of changing brain architecture as well as altering systemic function via the neuroendocrine, autonomic, immune and metabolic systems.

The very idea of “contemplative” psychotherapy may invoke some cognitive dissonance.

This article discusses the history of the university, analyzes the challenge of modernity and post-modernity, and affirms the efficacy of integrating study and practice.