For the New Year and for the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius that it seems we’ve now fully entered… We have done the impossible for you!
We’ve nailed down the spinning melodic kites that are Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor.
What is truly incredible about these two is their enormous sense of self-awareness to the fishbowl world in which we all live.
They know themselves and they see you, seeing them, and within this awareness Love comes to light.
They become (as one of Richard’s books suggests) “The Mirror of Yoga.” It’s deeply uncomfortable to be human and to know our own weaknesses; yet, they manage to emanate grace and compassion throughout the kaleidoscopic lens of their lives. And in turn it reflects back on ours… Because, sitting next to someone— ‘Upana’ is how we learn. And we are able to raise our own vibration simply by being near these two souls.
Richard Freeman has been a student of yoga since 1968, beginning with one simple sitting posture in the Zen tradition. He spent nine years in Asia studying yoga asana, Sufism, Sanskrit language, and Indian philosophical texts; contextualizing them within the turbulent political times of that period in history. In 1974 Richard began working with B.K.S. Iyengar, with whom he studied precise alignment principles, applying them to his own internally rooted experience of the forms. Drawing from this variety of contemplative traditions, and from Buddhism, in which he cultivates a deep interest, Richard teaches the Ashtanga Vinyasa method of yoga as taught by his principal teacher, the late Sri K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India
Mary tells us about developing an eating disorder during her time in College, which led her to embrace the culinary arts as a way of mastering the beast that is anorexia, through food itself.
With both Richard and Mary we discus at length our Ashtanga Yoga culture and the pitfalls. We believe that you will find this hour with them as fascinating and engrossing as we did. Somehow time in their presence is never enough.
A big heart of thanks to our friends, family, and students from around the world, who’ve generously supported this podcast through your comments, sharing, and financial donations.
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Opening and closing music compliments of my dear friend teaching Ashtanga yoga in Eindhoven, Nick Evans, with his band “dawnSong” from the album “for Morgan.” Listen to the entire album on Spotify - Simply Click Here.
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