In 1995 Richard began giving talks on yoga philosophy at the Yoga Workshop immediately following the Sunday afternoon Mysore practice. Initially, the talks occurred whenever Richard was inspired to talk after class. Advanced notice of a talk would be given as Mysore participants were rolling up their mats at the end of class: “There will be a talk in about 10 minutes, if anyone is here.” Some of these early talks were recorded and produced as Studio Talks CDs by Sounds True (available at our store).
In an effort to give a little more lead time to all of us, we began announcing dates and topics for talks a few years back. The talks are free and open to all. Talks are held as scheduled on Sundays from 5:45 to 7:00 pm.
Vinyasa-yoga, a Studio Talk from the archives.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, a Studio Talk from the archives.
Practice of Ashtanga Yoga, a Studio Talk from the archives.
Internal Forms, a Studio Talk from the archives.
A Studio Talk by David Swenson and Richard from March 13, 2011. Richard and David speak about Mysore practice and field some interesting questions from students.
Myth of Technique, a studio talk from 2008
Part 2 of Richard’s studio talk about the Ethical Underpinnings of Yoga (Historical and Philosophical Context) from October 3, 2010
Richard’s studio talk about the Ethical Underpinnings of Yoga (Part 1: Historical and Philosophical Context) from September 19, 2010
To quote the insightful 20th Century philosopher, Rosanne Rosannadana, “It’s always something.” An axiom which is often misconstrued (even by Rosanne herself) to mean that since there’s always a problem, why do anything? “Never mind.”
However many argue that Rosannadana’s intended meaning was that life presents us with unlimited opportunity to observe, assess, take the bull by the horns, and dive into whatever it is that’s arising right in front of our very noses, rather than diving into (grasping or pushing away) the illusions of mind that are often so much more comfortable to focus our attention on.
It takes a certain quality of mind, unmani, to accomplish the slippery task of sitting with what is. Rather than superimposing meaning, definition, conclusion onto our experiences and even onto thoughts, we cultivate a feeling of calm abiding, learning to be there with our thoughts rather than indulging them. As anyone who’s taken one of Richard’s teacher intensives will remember, dropping into this state of unmani or open mind, of not knowing, letting go of preconceptions is the challenge of the first week of the intensive, and we’ve been focusing on that since last Sunday when the ’08 Intensive began.
Like elephants with trunks relaxed along the floor in front of us, we’ve been sitting, gazing along the line of the trunk with soft eyes. Together we’ve been practicing, chanting, consoling our hamstrings, finding our legs in the standing postures and contemplating the connection of the psoas to the soles of the feet and out through the crown of the head. More importantly we’ve had a few laughs with flashes of insight into the workings of our own egos and our own minds. The yoga seems to be working.
We’re looking forward to a month together as we welcome students from all over the world into our compulsively relaxed Boulder community.
More updates on life here in Boulder as well as some reports from Richard’s travel this spring to Europe will follow. Once we’ve had a moment to relax a little from the surge of ground-work required to get the Intensive. In in the mean time…why not listen to one of Richard’s talks recorded some time back?
