Lonely Guru Dialogues with Ryan Spielman

My guest is Revd. Dr. Nicholas Buxton. Nicholas is a priest in the Church of England and runs a meditation centre in Newcastle. Our conversation runs the gamut from christian contemplative practice, buddhist notion of emptiness and the personal and impersonal nature of the God. He is the author of several books including: Tantalus and the Pelican: Exploring Monastic Spirituality Today, The Wilderness Within: Meditation and Modern Life. He has a PhD in Buddhist philosophy from Cambridge. Check out Nicholas' meditation centre in Newcastle, Just Meditation. Check out Nicholas' Wise Studies course on the contemplative practices of the early desert fathers, the beginnings of the monastic christian tradition. 

In this episode my guests are Genny Wilkinson Priest and Sarai Harvey-Smith. We discuss two topics, the allegations about Pattabhi Jois' sexual misconduct and the unclarity around the qualifications to become and maintain status as a recognised KPJAYI Ashtanga teacher. Genny quit full-time hard news journalism to focus on her yoga studies, becoming a Shri K Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute Authorised Level 1 teacher, as well as British Wheel of Yoga and Yoga Alliance-certified teacher. She is fascinated by yoga philosophy, and is pursuing a Master's Degree in the Traditions of Yoga and Meditation at SOAS in London. She returns as often as she can to Mysore, India to study with Ashtanga Yoga lineage holder Sharath Jois, who has given her authorisation to teach Ashtanga as set out at the KPJAYI. She is also a BWY-qualified Children’s Yoga teacher. In addition to teaching at triyoga, she is the Yoga Manager at Europe's biggest group of yoga studios. She continues to write, editing Pushpam -- a new, global yoga magazine published by Hamish Hendry that explores the state of the practice of contemporary yoga. Her articles have also appeared in Huffington Post, the Daily Mail, Elephant Journal, Cosmopolitan, and Yogadork. She is also the yoga columnist for Healthista.com. You can find out more about her at www.gennyyoga.com Sarai With over 16 years teaching experience and 20 years of practice under her belt, Sarai is a Senior Yoga Teacher, Teacher Trainer and Yoga Teacher Mentor. She has taken many lengthy trips to Mysore, India between 2003 - 2011 to study ashtanga yoga at KPJAYI. She is Authorised Level 2. Sarai has an MA in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy from the University of Essex. She continues her training at the Tavistock Clinic (BPC) and is an Honorary Psychodynamic Psychotherapist within the NHS. She is BACP registered and has a private practice in South West London. www.saraiharveysmith.com

In this episode with Professor Bee Scherer, PhD we discuss the foundations of Buddhist philosophy, the four noble truths, Bee's work in queering paridigms as a trans/non-binary activist and the realtionship between buddhist practice and activism.   Bee is a long-time practitioner of Buddhism and has been globally teaching as a Buddhist lay teacher. Bee currently serves as the vice-chair of the International Lay Buddhist Forum. After the study of classics, Indic (Sanskrit, Pāli, Prakrits) and Tibetan philology in Germany and the United States, completed by a PhD (Groningen, The Netherlands 2002), Bee published among others on karma; Nāgārjuna and early Mind-only; and, in recent years, on transnational Tibetan Buddhism; radical, reform and socially engaged Buddhism in Asia; and on Buddhist perspectives on gender and sexuality. Currently, Bee is chair (full professor) in Religious Studies & Gender Studies at Canterbury Christ Church University and directs the INCISE  Intersectional Centre for Inclusion and Social Justice research institute As a trans/non-binary scholar-cum-activist Bee has established the interdisciplinary, transnational Queering Paradigms Social justice academic network and conference series.   Check out more of Bee's work http://wisestudies.com/product/essentials-of-buddhist-philosophy-with-bee-scherer/.

My guest is Sarah Shaw. Sarah received her Phd in English from Manchester University. After studying Pali and Sanskrit at Oxford, she began teaching and writing on Buddhist subjects. She has written several books on meditation theory and practice, and jātaka literature. She is the author of several books including Introduction to Buddhist Meditation, The Jātakas: Birth Stories of the Bodhisattaand her most recent […]

My guest is Karen O'Brien-Kop. In this episode we discuss two foundational concepts found in the Sankya philosphy, Purusha and Prakriti or pure consciousness and nature, which underpin the main ideas in much of yoga practice including the seminal text, the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali. Karen has been practising yoga in different forms since 1995. After a decade teaching yoga she began pursuing the academic study of yoga. Karen completed the MA in Traditions of Yoga and Meditation at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, in 2014 and is now continuing a PhD in the Department of Religions and Philosophies. Karen is in the third year of her research project, which centres on the Yogasutra of Patanjali as well as other cross-religious textual accounts of yoga in the 4th-5th century CE. Karen has studied Sanskrit with Dr James Mallinson of SOAS, and has been a recipient of the Phiroz Mehta scholarship and the Ouseley Memorial language scholarship.

Luke Jordan is a direct student of Sri K Pattabhi Jois and one of a handful of teachers worldwide Certified by the Ashtanga Yoga Institute in Mysore to pass on the advanced teachings of this traditional Yoga method. Luke holds a Masters degree in Indian Religion specialising in Yoga philosophy. livingashtanga.com

Gregor Maehle began his yogic practices in the mid-1980s. He's studied with various yogic and tantric masters, traditional Indian sadhus and ascetics. He spent fourteen months in Mysore, and in 1997 was authorised to teach Ashtanga Yoga by K. Pattabhi Jois. Since then he has branched out into researching the anatomical alignment of postures and the higher limbs of yoga. Together with his wife, Monica, in 1996 he founded 8 Limbs in Perth, Australia. Gregor is the author of 5 books on the practice of Yoga. He has numerous articles available on his blog which I highly recommend. www.8limbs.com

I’m speaking with Karan Bajaj, author and striving Yogi. He has written several novels. His newly released novel is called The Yoga of Max’s Discontent. We discuss taking a sabbatical, doing something different with your life and the benefits that come from such a change. He talks about how he integrates the corporate world, family life, travel and […]

In this episode Carolyn Cowan shares her insights on Kundalini Yoga, therapy, addiction, feminism, and more! Carolyn is a Kundalini Yoga teacher, Teacher Trainer and a Psychosexual Therapist specialising in addiction & trauma recovery. She has a huge amount of content online to check out. You can find out more at carolyncowan.com

Our guests this episode are Mimi Kuo-Deemer, Kate Ellis and Sarai Harvey Smith. They share their insights and experiences using hands-on adjustments in their classes. We discuss when it’s appropriate to use them, different types of adjustments, what can go wrong and more. I am joined by Liz Frances Hobbs and Genny Wilkinson-Priest who lead two […]

My guest on this episode is Richard Rosen. Richard has been an emissary for the modern Yoga world from the opening of Piedmont Yoga school with Rodney Yee in 1987 to his many articles in The Yoga Journal to his most recent of three books on early hatha practices, Original Yoga: Rediscovering Traditional Practices of Hatha Yoga. You can read more of Richard's many articles, translations and books at www.richardrosenyoga.com.

In this episode we talk with senior teachers, Anna Ashby, Graham burns and Director of Triyoga, Jonathan Sattin about starting out as a Yoga teacher. I've enlisted the help of my two friends and fellow teachers, Genny Wilkinson-Priest and Liz Frances Hobbs for the interviews. Topics include: giving them what they want vs. giving them what they need, mentorship, earning a living, being professional and more. Enjoy!

My guest for this episode is Matthew Remski. Matthew teaches yoga philosophy and ayurveda. He is a therapist and the author of several books including Threads of Yoga: A remix of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Family Wakes Us Up & 21st Century Yoga. In this episode we talk about whether you are personally responsible for your […]

My guest is Ashtanga Vinyasa teacher, John Scott. John elegantly describes how the vinyasa method can be used to achieve deep states of concentration and meditation. He shares wisdom from the Guruji Sutras, and answers questions from you, the listening audience about aging, adjusting and the relationship between mind and body. You can find out more about John's work at johnscottyoga.com

My guest is Martin Aylward. Martin has been leading retreats worldwide, teaching meditation and supporting groups and individuals since 1999. He is the founding teacher of Moulin de Chaves, a residential retreat centre in South West France, where he lives. Martin works with students around the world in retreats and in ongoing individual support. He also runs an online course WorkSexMoneyDharma.com. Martin is co-founder, with Mark Coleman, of Mindfulness Trainings, running professional Mindfulness teacher trainings in Europe and the US. www.martinaylward.com