“If the snake is still in you, then you have to transmute that into a higher function. And that’s where philosophy and introspection are incredibly important.” – Paul Grilley
Interviews on The Everyday Sublime
Interviews on Josh Summers' podcast, The Everyday Sublime: Shedding Light on Yin Yoga and Mediation.
Paul Grilley: Suffering and Samadhi
“Technique can only take you so far… you gotta have the courage to go beyond your tradition and step off.” – Paul Grilley
Paul Grilley: The Tao of Paul
“The goal of yoga is to abide in your true nature… If you are not abiding in your own true nature, then you are identifying with the vrittis in your consciousness, and that is suffering.” – Paul Grilley, paraphrasing Patanjali
Stefanie Arend: Energetic Sequencing in Yin Yoga
It’s important as practitioners and teachers that we don’t fall into a kind of “alternative reductionism” when we apply principles of Chinese Medicine to how we work with our bodies and minds in Yin Yoga. Stefanie Arend and I explore how we think about the interface between Traditional Chinese Medicine and Yin Yoga.
Stefanie Arend: Meridian Massage
Meridian massage, meridian tracing and tapping, cultivating an intuitive listening to the needs of your body and mind with Yin Yoga. These are some of the themes Stefanie Arend and I discuss as we explore her new book, Be Healthy With Yin Yoga.
Stefanie Arend: Be Healthy With Yin Yoga
Yin Yoga supports a mechanism of self-healing by opening up stagnations and blockages within the fascial network. This in turn allows for the body’s energy to circulate in an unimpeded manner.
Dr. Timothy McCall: A Story of Healing
Dr. Timothy McCall looks at how illness can be a real moment of opening to lots of unfinished business, and we consider all the various levels of healing that can occur when we start to open to things that have been walled off to our conscious minds.
Dr. Timothy McCall: Holism vs. Reductionism in Medicine
In this episode, Dr. Timothy McCall speaks about the problems inherent in trying to evaluate the efficacy of alternative therapies from a reductionistic model. He also discusses the problems of implementing alternative therapies with a reductionistic mindset.
Dr. Timothy McCall: Starving Cancer
Intermittent fasting is a popular fitness trend to improve insulin sensitivity, decrease inflammation, promote cellular autophagy, and help manage weight. But what if fasting can also reduce the chances of getting cancer and help support one through cancer treatment? Dr. Timothy McCall shares his story of fasting through cancer therapy.
Dr. Timothy McCall: When the Doctor Gets Cancer
In the first part of my interview with Dr. Timothy McCall, we talk about what it was like for him to receive his cancer diagnosis and how he thought about approaching his treatment, bringing together the very best of Eastern and Western medical modalities.
Matthew Remski: Lighting a Path Forward for Safety and Transparency
The themes of power abuse, toxic group dynamics, and victim blaming are important themes for anyone who occupies the space of a yoga mat or a meditation cushion in the modern yoga landscape. Matthew Remski explains what reform might look like as yoga culture moves forward.
Matthew Remski: The Dynamics of Deception and Enablement
The Jois family held tightly to its narrative of legitimacy until, well, they didn’t. And this is what is both eerie and fascinating about the recent developments in the Ashtanga community. Here we see, in real time, the efforts of an organization to “brandwash” its unfortunate history.
Matthew Remski: Exposing Yoga’s Culture of Sexual Abuse
For over three decades, Pattabhi Jois sexually and physically abused his yoga students, mostly women. This abuse happened in plain sight. To understand how this was possible requires an exploration of toxic group dynamics, methods of deception, and networks of complicity. Matthew Remski explains this all in his book, “Practice and All Is Coming.”
Oren Jay Sofer: Trauma, Somatic Experiencing, and Integration
“Pack your rain gear before you leave home,” says meditation teacher Oren Jay Sofer. In this episode, Oren explores how we can “pack” tools of stability, balance, and non-attachment, better preparing us to face the inevitable foul weather of life.
Sebastian Pucelle: For the Love of Silence
Talking shop with Sebastian Pucelle, we roll up our sleeves and discuss potential interpretations of the Sanskrit word “nirodah” and what those interpretations mean for your practice.
Sebastian Pucelle: The Purification of Mind
Sebastian Pucelle describes meditation as a process of purifying the mind. Meditation isn’t so much about attaining anything in particular as much as it is a process of letting go of things that distort and disrupt one’s life.
Sebastian Pucelle: The Attitude of Stillness
Often in meditation, students can get frustrated by their mind’s difficulty in following the meditation instructions. Sebastian Pucelle, the wonderful French Yin Yoga teacher, suggests that the two most important aspects of a meditation practice are one’s intention and attitude, not the specific technique, per se.
Dr. Daniel Keown: Acupuncture and Placebos
The therapeutic encounter between a practitioner and patient is, in many regards, the most important part of a healing relationship. This encounter is another way of referring to the placebo effect. But far from being ineffective, all good healers try to maximize this effect. According to Dr. Daniel Keown, acupuncture is one of the most sublime forms of the therapeutic encounter.
Dr. Daniel Keown: Jellyfish, Channels, and Qi
How alive are you? This isn’t a question that Western Medicine frequently asks, but according to Dr. Daniel Keown, this question is at the heart of Traditional Chinese Medicine. And the quality, quantity, and circulation of our Qi determines the potency of our “aliveness.”
Dr. Daniel Keown: The Channels of Chinese Medicine
What is Qi? What are the channels of Chinese Medicine? What is fascia? These questions and more are taken up by Dr. Daniel Keown, explained with lucid brilliance. For anyone interested in Chinese Medicine, this is a must-listen.