Talks on Yoga

Filmed Live during a workshop in Leesburg, Virginia on October 2, 2011, Cora Wen shares her knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). This weekend started out hot and humid and ended up cold and freezing rain, typical of a late fall weekend in northern Virginia and exemplary of the shifting mood of the Metal Element. Traditional Chinese Medicine and Yoga are amongst some of the oldest healing practices in the world and date back somewhere around 5000 years ago. TCM, rooted in Taoism has a very poetic philosophy to describe the seasons of the year and their effects on the macrocosm and the microcosm, including the tendencies and challenges we face in our yoga practice and in our daily lives during this season of the year.

Kino MacGregor visited Ashtanga Yoga Richmond for the fourth time in early April 2011 and brought a wealth of knowledge to the growing Ashtanga Kula in Central Virginia. Friday night, Kino led the class through the Ashtanga Primary Series and claimed that "For those of you who know me, I talk a great deal, so tonight we will practice."

This month our featured offering is part of a series of discussions offered by Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher, John Schumacher. Each quarter John hosts a free discussion at his Unity Woods Yoga Center in Bethesda, Maryland. This month the topic of discussion is the prevalence of Yoga Teacher Trainings and how to navigate these potentially murky waters. John references his own journey to become a teacher as well as a rather egregious example of a 5 hour workshop he came across which claimed to teach you everything there is to know about yoga and yoga therapy. John's examples remind us of how precious this gift of yoga is as it offers us an avenue for self-discovery.

Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher, John Schumacher invites his students to engage in a free discussion on a topic related to yoga in his Unity Woods Yoga Center in Bethesda, Maryland. In this discussion, John tackles the lofty question of whether Yoga can Save the World. The topics range from the BP oil spill and corporate greed to how to train teachers properly.

We are honored to present an introduction and talk on the Bhagavad Gita, given by Prahaladan Mandelkorn, Former Director of the Yoga Teacher Training program at Integral Yoga in Yogaville. The Bhagavad Gita is an ancient spiritual text of the Indian Tradition which discusses ones relationship to one's Dharma or Duty in life as told through the Indian God, Krishna, and the Great Warrior, Arjuna.

Every Quarter, Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher, John Schumacher, offers a lecture and discussion to his students which is free and open to the public. These talks are held in his Bethesda, Maryland Unity Woods Yoga Center. This lecture, held in the summer of 2009 is on the topic of Yoga and Awareness. John tackles the concept that anyone can do the physical poses of yoga asanas, but what makes yoga yoga is really the sense of awareness one brings to the practice. John asks us to "Tune In, Turn On and Drop Out", but quite a bit differently than the original use of the term as described by Timothy Leary. To find out how, listen to the audio recording below or subscribe to our podcast in iTunes or through your favorite feed reader.

We are honored to offer you the quarterly discussion Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher John Schumacher holds in his Unity Woods Yoga Center. John offers a forum every session which is free and open to the public. This discussion held last Fall 2008 and is on the topic of Yoga and Health.John shares some of his personal experience and how yoga has had an impact on his health. Some time ago, he realized that health is ephemeral and that our best position is to be proactive now while we are in good health. Those with dis-ease will often speak of how you never appreciate your health until you are sick.

iHanuman is honored to offer you the third in our series of lectures from the First Annual NIH Yoga Week. Timothy McCall, M.D. is a board-certified internist, the Medical Editor of Yoga Journal, and the author of two books, including Yoga as Medicine. Since 2000, his main focus has been examining the therapeutic aspects of yoga from a scientific perspective. His most recent book,Yoga As Medicine, begins to address the question which the NIH Yoga Week asks: "How can doctors and researchers bring Yoga into the main stream as a therapeutic modality with scientific support?" Dr. McCall is a critical spokesperson as a researcher AND practitioner of yoga for over 10 years.

This recording of Yogiraj Alan Finger is from a week that iHanuman spent covering the first Annual National Institutes of Health Yoga Week. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research.Dr. Rachel Permuth Levine and her colleagues at NIH put on quite a show with live yoga demonstrations, yoga for the office classes, and incredible speakers each day. The event was free and open to the public and Rachel has just informed us that the 2nd Annual NIH Yoga Week is in the works for September 2009, so stay tuned.

Peter Malakoff is a poet, storyteller, Ayurvedic consultant, Ghee maker, meditation teacher, and woodworker living in Bolinas, CA. Several years ago he attended a gathering with Ram Dass in Marin County, California, and offered a story in gratitude for all that he has meant and given to countless seekers throughout the years. The story, "Love, Serve and Remember: A Hanuman Story for Ram Dass," is a beautiful retelling of one of Hanumans exploits in the Ramayana, one that wonderfully illuminates the oft seen image of Hanuman ripping open his chest to reveal Rama and Sita.

Richard Rosen is the Director of the Piedmont Yoga Studio in Oakland, CA. He is a regular contributor to Yoga Journal and is the author of The Yoga of Breath, a beginner's guide to pranayama, and Yoga for 50, an instructional manual for older beginners. Our feature was recorded live at a teacher training workshop at Yoga Source in Richmond, VA where Richard shared with us some of the history of how yoga arrived in the west, as well as how it has changed from its original form.

Erich Schiffmann has taught yoga and meditation for over 30 years, and is a major influence for many of today's leading teachers. He is the author of the highly acclaimed book Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness as well as eight yoga DVDs. Erich is known throughout the yoga world as a master of creative sequencing, and for his ability to take the most complex yoga philosophy and make it accessible through simple yet profoundly insightful analogies. His primary teaching is the art of "listening for inner guidance, and daring to do as the energy guides you," both on the mat and in life. Erich lives and teaches in Santa Monica, CA and gives workshops nationally.

The Mount Madonna Center is a retreat center located in the redwood forest overlooking Monterey Bay in Northern California.The retreat center is affiliated with the Mount Madonna Institute, a college of yoga and ayurveda, and is sponsored by the Hanuman Fellowship, a community of yoga practitioners devoted to the teachings of Babaji Hari Dass. Every year the Mount Madonna community celebrates the great history of Indian mythology, philosophy and religion through a lavish parade through the streets of Santa Cruz, California. During a recent visit to Thailand, iHanuman caught up with one of the participants in the parade who shared his recap of the story of Hanuman. Enjoy the sounds of the ocean.