Nicolai Bachman has been teaching Sanskrit, ayurveda, chanting, and yoga-related topics for over ten years. He studied extensively at the American Sanskrit Institute, VagYoga Institute in India, the American Institute of Vedic Studies, and the Ayurvedic Institute, receiving his MA in Eastern Philosophy from St. John's College.
Author photo © Cherie McGuire
Tami Simon speaks with Nicolai Bachman who has been studying and teaching Sanskrit, Ayurveda, and yoga-related topics for 15 years. He is the author of the Sounds True book The Language of Yoga and a new home study course The Yoga Sutras. In this episode, Nicolai introduces the Yoga Sutras written over 2,000 years ago by Patañjali and speaks about the essence of yoga and how to incorporate the messages of the Yoga Sutras into our life. (48 minutes)
When we’re children, we’re encouraged to use our imagination. Yet over time, we tend to leave the imagination behind and emphasize logic and rational thinking. In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Pacifica Graduate Institute founder Stephen Aizenstat, Ph.D., about reclaiming the vast resources of our imagination and boosting what he refers to as imaginal intelligence.
Covering fascinating insights in his new book, The Imagination Matrix, Tami and Professor Aizenstat discuss: imaginal intelligence—the capacity to evoke imagination; how curiosity opens a different quality of being in the world; imagination and the neuroplasticity of the mind; the Dig—Aizenstat’s term for journeying into the matrix of the imagination; the practice of Dream Tending; active imagination and the work of Carl Jung; the autonomy of the deep imagination; two questions that shift us from the person-centric view of our dreams; the sense of support and belonging we find through dreamwork; how imagination evokes innovation, creativity, and motivation; the four quadrants of the Imagination Matrix—Earth, Mind, Machine, and Universe; “the place of confluence” and accessing the gifts of the imaginal realms; dreamwork as complementary medicine; the Wounded Healer; listening to the stories coming forward at this time in human history; and more.
Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.
Our collective human family faces unprecedented challenges—but we need not face them alone. We can call on the living spirit of our ancestors to collaborate on the creation of a more just and peaceful world. In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with meditation teacher and author Spring Washam about her book The Spirit of Harriet Tubman and the opportunity at this time for us to rediscover our connection to our sacred and always supportive lineages.
Give a listen as Tami and Spring discuss: Meditation and dropping into “observation mode;” partnering with an ancestral presence; creating your ancestral shrine; fortification and empowerment from the unseen world; receiving a transmission of courage and strength to do what seems impossible; prophetic vision; surrendering to the hard work we’re called to do; compassion, empathy, and the fierce heart; reconciling the heartbreak in our history; healing trauma; and more.
Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.
Your mindfulness practice worked! You calmed your mind and felt the deep, inner bliss that meditation brings. But, asks Andrew Holecek, what do you do with these beatific states when your world is falling apart? Where’s your meditation practice then?
In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Holecek about his new book, Reverse Meditation, and how we can move toward a more complete spirituality that welcomes all of our experience. Illuminating the four steps of reverse meditation and much more, their conversation explores: how pain and hardship can accelerate the spiritual journey; why mindfulness “sedates but doesn’t liberate”; the cultivation of “industrial-strength” meditation; repairing an adverse relationship to unwanted experiences; the practice of open awareness; bringing the unconscious into the light of consciousness; investigating our personal “super-contractors” such as anger, fear, or anxiety; shifting from reactivity to responsiveness; the OBEY acronym of reverse meditation: observe, be, examine, yoke; three attitudes for practice: kindness, patience, and curiosity; establishing the right view; the anti-complaint meditation; and productive thinking.
Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.
Sounds True is a multimedia publishing company founded in 1985 by Tami Simon, with the mission of disseminating spiritual wisdom. The company is based in Boulder, Colorado.
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