Lesson 1
What Is Yoga?
We will begin our journey by getting a better understanding of the word 'Yoga'. Does Yoga mean physical postures? or a body mind connection? or maybe something completely different? This lecture will answer this question. If we want to know the history of yoga we need to first see how the word was used by the first Yogis, and how it developed over time.
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Lesson 2
The Ancient Roots Of Yoga
In this class we will look into prehistoric times, having defined what Yoga is, the question I want to address is - what was practiced before yoga itself? Through understanding this we will understand how Yoga began to be formulated. We will look into how Prehistoric Shamans, as early spiritual leaders, utilized various techniques, including meditation, rhythmic drumming, and altered states of consciousness, to connect with the spirit world and promote healing and personal transformation, which would later on be practiced in the Yogic tradition.
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Lesson 3
The Vedic Era
In this class we will look into the Vedic era which served as a foundational period for the development of Indian philosophy, religion and serves as a basis for the development of yoga. During this time, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE in ancient India, the sacred Vedic texts, particularly the Rigveda, Samaveda & The Yajurveda, contained hymns and verses that hinted at early forms of contemplative and meditative practices were brought into being. We will explore the Vedic ritual and it's significance and how this time frame connects to the development of yoga. Along the way we will see how it influenced the older practices and we will dispel some common myths.
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Lesson 4
Post Vedic Developments
The Sramana movement, characterized by wandering ascetics and seekers, played a pivotal role in exploring alternative paths to spiritual realization, which laid the foundation for yogic practices. The Aranyakas, or "forest texts," were composed by these ascetics while dwelling in seclusion, often focusing on rituals and philosophies that sought to understand the deeper aspects of existence. It was within the Aranyakas that the seeds of meditation and introspection were sown. Finally, the Upanishads, a continuation of the Aranyakas, delved even deeper into philosophical inquiry, exploring concepts like the nature of the self (atman) and the ultimate reality (Brahman). This philosophical richness provided the intellectual framework for the various paths of yoga, including Jnana Yoga (the yoga of knowledge), where seekers strive for self-realization through profound contemplation and insight. Thus, the Sramana movement, Aranyakas, and Upanishads collectively nurtured the spiritual soil from which yoga's diverse branches would eventually sprout. In this class we will look into this pivotal phase in the development of Yoga
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Lesson 5
The Classical Period - The Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali hold a paramount place in the history of yoga, serving as a foundational and unifying text that had guided yogic philosophy and practice for over a millennia (the 12th century, and then again from the 19th century). Composed by the sage Patanjali, these succinct aphorisms provide a systematic and comprehensive framework for understanding the nature of the mind, the path to self-realization, and the practice of yoga. We will look into the mystery of who Patanjali was, how he condensed and interpreted the existing knowledge into his yoga sutras, how they are, and how they are not connected to modern yogic practice, and what is their overall significance.
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Lesson 6
The Tantric Tradition
In this class we will discuss the middle age developments that dethroned Patanjali as the main form of Yogic practice. Though in the west we tend to think about Tantra dealing with relationships, through this class you will learn the true origins of tantra, as a world affirming and Goddess worshiping spirituality, that believed that since the world is real we can make use of it in order to attain spirituality. This body affirming way of life was the basis of the emergence of the path of hatha yoga - The physical type of Yoga.
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Lesson 7
The Mythical Origins Of Yoga
In this slightly different to the rest class, we will look into the mythology behind yoga in general, and specifically the mythology of Hatha yoga. We will look into what tradition tells us about the origins of Hatha yoga and how that might connect to historical references.
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Lesson 8
The Development Of Hatha Yoga
In this class we will finally talk about the development of Hatha Yoga, the physical yoga which utilizes the body to achieve altered states of consciousness of union. We will talk about the original techniques of the Amṛtasiddhi, and the Dattātreyayogaśāstra. I will explain about the purpose of the original Hatha Yoga, and how it developed from its conception in the 10th-12th centuries and until the modern era. You will learn why it was termed Hatha, and how this relates to modern practice. You will learn about the practices of intimate continence related with it, the concept of kundalini and how this connected to the Tantric Tradition we dealt with in the previous class.
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Lesson 9
Yoga In Modern Times - Or - When Yoga Met The West
In this class we will talk about the developments of yoga once Yoga and Yogis met westerners, we will talk about the early processes of the modernization of Hatha yoga, it's connection and lack of connection to the ancient practices. We will talk about pivotal characters such as Swami Kuvalayananda and T. Krishnamacharya, and we will look into what yoga lost, and what yoga gained as a discipline during this time.
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Lesson 10
The West Meets Yoga
If in the previous class we looked into what happened to yoga when it encountered westerners, in this class we will look as to what happened to westerners when they discovered yoga, and how this later affected yoga in it's turn to become something new. If the previous class focused more on the secularisation of yoga, this class will look into the (often misguided and incorrect) re-spiritualization of yoga, especially since the hippie movement of the 1960's. This class will also conclude with a view towards the future.
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Lesson 11
Epilogue
In this final class we will review what we have learned so far, I will share with you some of the realization I had and the conclusions that I reached after learning all this myself, and I will share with you some after thoughts about how to incorporate this into your practice.
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