CHITHEADS with Jacob Kyle (Embodied Philosophy)

In this episode, we discuss: Ecodharma Being grounded through a spiritual practice as an activist 5 types of non-duality Interpreting history from a place of “lack” Placeholders we use in our culture to represent the sacred Importance of internal and external practices to manifest sustainable social change David R. Loy is a professor of Buddhist and comparative philosophy, and a teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Buddhism. His books include Nonduality: a study in comparative philosophy [originally published by Yale University Press]; Lack and Transcendence: the problem of death and life in psychotherapy, existentialism and buddhism [a second edition just released by Wisdom Publications] and Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis (forthcoming in January 2019). He is especially concerned about social and ecological issues. In addition to offering academic lectures, workshops and meditation retreats, he is one of the founders of the new Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center, near Boulder, Colorado. In June 2014, David received an honorary degree from Carleton College, his alma mater, during its 2014 Commencement. In April 2016 David returned his honorary degree, to protest the decision of the Board of Trustees not to divest from fossil fuel investments. To learn more about David’s books, his teachings, and his ecodharma retreat center, visit www.davidloy.org and rockymountainecodharmaretreatcenter.org.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An accomplished speaker, teacher and practitioner, Nikki Myers is an MBA,C-IAYT Yoga Therapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, AddictionsRecovery Specialist, and Certified Health Coach. Born from her personalstruggle with addiction, Nikki is the founder of Y12SR, The Yoga of 12-StepRecovery. Based in its theme ‘the issues live in the tissues’, Y12SR is arelapse prevention program that weaves the art & science of yoga with thepractical tools of 12-step programs. Y12SR meetings are now availablethroughout the world and the curriculum is rapidly becoming a feature ofaddiction recovery treatment centers. Nikki’s work has been featured in theNew York Times, Black Enterprise, The Huffington Post, Origin Magazine, andCBSnews.com. She is honored to be a co-founder of the annual Yoga,Meditation and Recovery Conferences at Esalen Institute and Kripalu Center.Nikki was named as a Yoga Journal Game Changer in 2015 and honored as arecipient of the esteemed NUVO Cultural Visionary Award in 2014.web: www.y12sr.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Bullard, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, has been practicing individual psychotherapy and couples therapy in San Francisco for over 30 years. He is Clinical Professor of Medicine and Clinical Professor of Medical Psychology (Psychiatry) at the University of California, San Francisco, where he was affiliated with the Human Sexuality Program and the Behavioral Medicine Unit, hosted international symposia on sexuality and medical conditions, and taught courses to medical students, nurses, interns, residents, faculty, therapists and other health care providers. He currently consults with the Symptom Management Service (which provides outpatient palliative care) at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and is a member of the Professional Advisory Group, Spiritual Care Services, Clinical Pastoral Education Program at UCSF. David is a guest teacher at San Francisco Zen Center's City Center and Green Gulch. David’s practice and teaching have been supported and deepened by exploring Bhutan with Dr. Robert Thurman; by advanced training in the trauma therapy, Somatic Experiencing®, in Brazil with Dr. Peter Levine; and by enjoying time in the west of Ireland with David Whyte and others in celebration of the poetry of the human soul.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bo Forbes is a clinical psychologist, embodiment guide, urban contemplative, and research collaborator in the science of well-being. Her paradigm-bending work explores the body as an essential part of transformation and the inextricable links between individual and collective well-being. Bo’s work is interdisciplinary, and integrates emerging research in science, psychology, somatics, and contemplative practice with decades of experience on the front lines of somatic education. Since the 1990’s, her experience in the field of trauma and social epigenetics has included inpatient and outpatient psychiatric settings, private practice, organizational consulting, somatic therapy, and scholarship. She has a unique perspective on embodiment: she works intimately with the body in relation to trauma, and has also experienced, written about, and spoken publicly about sexual assault and harassment. Her mother was a prisoner of war in World War II who between the ages of 7 and 12 was forced to march through Kenya, Uganda, and Siberia. And until the age of two, she lived with her parents on a Seneca reservation in New York before its destruction by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; her master’s thesis focused on the bodily rituals of indigenous cultures. Bo co-teaches a course at Tufts University with colleague Kris Manjapra that focuses on colonialism, social justice, and the body. She is the founder of Embodied Awareness, an online education company, and teaches workshops and trainings internationally. She recently presented her work on interoception, connective tissue, and emotional health at the Fascia Research Congress in Berlin. She has written scholarly and lay articles for numerous leading magazines, and is the author of Yoga for Emotional Balance: Simple Practices to Help Relieve Anxiety and Depression and Her newest book on the science and practice of embodiment, is slated for publication in early 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Philipp and Jacob discuss his research on classical Indian literature and the historiography of yoga.  You will learn about: The role of British colonization and yoga history The Patanjali Yoga Shastra (Yoga Sutra) authorship and its connection to other texts The attempts to translate the text The difference between the original authorial intention and our contemporary relationship to it The relationship of the modern asana practice and the Yoga Shas Philipp André Maas is currently a research associate at the Institute for Indology and Central Asian Studies, University of Leipzig and was previously an assistant professor at the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna, Austria. He received his M.A. (1997) and Dr. phil. (2004) degrees from the University of Bonn, Germany, where he studied Indology, Comparative Religious Studies, Tibetology and Philosophy. His first book (originally his PhD thesis) is the first critical edition of the first chapter (Samādhipāda) of the Pātañjala Yogaśāstra, i.e. the Yoga Sūtra of Patañjalitogether with the commentary called Yoga Bhāṣya. He published, inter alia, on classical Yoga philosophy and meditation as well as on the textual tradition of the Pātañjala Yogaśāstra. For the last couple of years, he worked in several research projects directed by Prof. Karin Preisendanz (at the Austrian Academy of Sciences and at the University of Vienna, Austria) that aim at a critical edition of the third book (entitled Vimānasthāna) of the oldest classical text corpus of Āyurveda, the Carakasaṃhitā. Since 2009 he is a member of the “Historical Sourcebooks on Classical Indian Thought” project, convened by Prof. Sheldon Pollock, to which he contributes with a monograph on the development of Yoga-related ideas in pre-modern South Asian intellectual history.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Pranada and Jacob discuss Bhakti philosophy and theology.  You will learn: The connection of Vedanta teachings with Bhakti teachings. What is Wise Love (Bhakti Vedanta) and the difference between the love with others? The relationships with others as a vehicle to fully express highest love with each other and as a practice for our individual relationship with the Supreme. The acknowledgment of the small self and the creation of a dynamic, magical, spiritual, irrevocable and strong connection with source. How the yoga system provides tools to control the mind and go beyond the mind to transcend the platform of self. The difference between faith and belief. The important distinction between the divine feminine and the feminine divine. Pranada’s work on gender inequality and education, the absence of gender in the concept of soul, and everyone’s equal access to the full spiritual realm, practices, and services regardless of gender. The harmonization and oneness of the head and the heart and how to transcend and become our full potential as spiritual beings. Pranada Comtois is a devoted pilgrim, teacher, and award-winning author of Wise-Love: Bhakti and the Search for the Soul of Consciousness. Her writing sheds light on bhakti’s wisdom school of heartfulness with a focus on how to culture wise-love in our lives and relationships so we can experience the inherent, unbounded joy of the self. “Mindfulness and meditation alone can never satisfy the self. Joy comes from an awakened heart, not from a controlled or stilled mind.” At sixteen she met her teacher A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami and began her lifelong study and practice of bhakti. The wisdom of her teaching grows from living for twenty years as a contemplative in bhakti ashrams, and another twenty years raising a family and running two multi-million dollar businesses. Pranada is an activist in women’s spiritual empowerment. She has always been deeply affected when witnessing the de-humanizing of women. She was the first to speak up for gender harmony in the modern bhakti tradition and successfully organized global steps against gender injustice. Her writing has appeared in Integral Yoga, Rebelle Society, Elephant Journal, Tattooed Buddha, Urban Howl, and the books Journey of the Heart, Bhakti Blossoms, and GODDESS: When She Rules. She is a featured speaker in the film Women of Bhakti.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amy Matthews, CMA, IDME, BMC Teacher, RSMT/RSME has been teaching movement since 1994. She is a Certified Laban Movement Analyst, a Body-Mind Centering® Teacher, an Infant Developmental Movement Educator, and a movement therapist and yoga teacher. Amy leads the Embodied Developmental Movement and Yoga and the Embodied Anatomy and Yoga BMC℠ programs in the United States. She co-taught with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen in Berkeley, CA for five years and was on the faculty of the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies for ten years. She has taught embodied anatomy and movement workshops for programs in New York, Philadelphia, Berkeley, and Nebraska, and internationally in Canada, Switzerland, Ireland, England, Israel, Slovakia and Japan. Amy co-authored with Leslie Kaminoff the best-selling book Yoga Anatomy, and together Amy and Leslie teach The Breathing Project's Advanced Studies courses. Amy also works privately as a movement therapist and yoga teacher, integrating Laban Movement Analysis, Bartenieff Fundamentals, yoga, Body-Mind Centering® and Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF). Amy is certified as a yoga teacher by Yoga Union and Heart of Yoga, and as a Motherhand Shiatsu practitioner. She is registered with ISMETA as a Somatic Movement Therapist and Educator, with IAYT (International Association of Yoga Therapists) and with Yoga Alliance as an E-500 RYT (Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher). Amy has studied with a range of inspiring teachers: dissection workshops with Gil Hedley, neuro-muscular reeducation with Irene Dowd, Body-Mind Centering with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, full-contact karate with Michelle Gay, and yoga with Alison West, Mark Whitwell, Genny Kapular and Kevin Gardiner.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mauro Zappaterra graduated from Harvard Medical School with an MD and PhD and now specializes in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with a particular focus on regenerative medicine, neuro-rehabilitation, neuroplasticity, musculoskeletal medicine, and pain. He completed his PhD doing work with neuronal stem cells and the effects of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in brain development and in the adult. He is published in numerous scientific articles on the CSF and his work was chosen as the cover image for the prestigious Neuron Journal. He is also featured in the New England Journal of Medicine in teaching medical students about living with life threatening diseases and in Psychology Today on an article titled “Joy: The art of loving life.” Dr. Zappaterra was nominated by his peers and staff to be Chief Resident at the UCLA / VA Greater Los Angeles Residency Program in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and won the Outstanding Senior Resident Award. He will be working as Director of Regenerative Medicine and Clinical Research, incorporating prolotherapy, platelet rich plasma (PRP), and stem cell therapy into patient care for a multitude of musculoskeletal ailments to help create an optimum healing and regenerative environment. He combines his training in rehabilitation medicine, research, nutrition, and various complementary and alternative medicine modalities such as polarity therapy, Reiki and Craniosacral therapy to work holistically with individuals to optimize their potential and improve their quality of life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Phil Hine is an independent researcher and occult practitioner of over 40 years. Initiated into both Western and Indian Spiritual traditions, he has practiced a hybridised form of Tantra for over twenty-five years. His writing has appeared in a wide number of Journals and anthologies, including Abraxas, Chaos International, and Pagan News. He has three books in print - Condensed Chaos, Prime Chaos, and The Pseudonomicon and has just released three chapbooks in a series exploring the history of the Chakras. He lives in London with his partner Maria. His current writings can be found at http://enfolding.org.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lama Tsultrim Allione is founder and resident lama of Tara Mandala, located  in Colorado.  She traveled to India in her late teens and at the age of twenty-two, was the first western woman to be ordained as a Buddhist nun. After living in the Himalayan region for several years she returned her vows and became the mother of three, while continuing to study and practice Buddhism. She has been awarded the international “Outstanding Woman in Buddhism” by a panel of distinguished scholars and practitioners in Bangkok, Thailand. She is author of Women of Wisdom and Feeding Your Demons and her new book Wisdom Rising: A Journey into the Mandala of the Empowered Feminine.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.