Whole Life Yoga Podcast

Books that changed my life - Baron in the Trees - Il Barone Rampante - On rasa and bhāva

Italo Calvino’s Il Barone Rampante / Baron in the Trees is one of my favourite ever books. It was one of the texts/aesthetic experiences/works of art that gave me an undeniable experience of what is known in Sanskṛt as rasa - the flavour that art can invoke and evoke.  When I first read it, in my second year of studying Italian, I also read the English translation. Curiously, my favourite episodes were different in the original and in the translation. Of course, any translation, however masterful ,will never be able to represent all of the same nuance of the original. Still, even if you don’t read Italian, I highly recommend Baron in the Trees. In this episode, I talk a little about the theory of rasa and bhāva, principles elaborated in Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra and Abhinavagupta’s Abhinavabharati which have rich application in yoga practice. Sign up for my newsletter via the form at the foot of any page on my website to hear about upcoming courses and the membership in which we explore yoga texts, stories and principles in depth and in living relation to our lives today.  www.jamesboagyoga.com

Am I really practising yoga?

So do you have a yoga practice?  This episode includes: What does sādhana mean?  Is your practice helping keep your life orienting in the direction of your soul’s deeper and authentic longing?  The potency of allowing some time for deep silence and meditation every day.  The Medi-state as the foundation for yoga practice.  Meditation and silence allowing us to connect to source, disconnect from the clutter and chaos of our conditioned perspectives, attenuate our attachments to the fleeting externals that will never bring us lasting peace or satisfaction and bathe in the influence of our deathless essence.  And what else constitues a yoga practice?  Yoga treats the whole human being.  Physical, sensory, mental, intellectual, emotional.  The Upaniṣadic image of the chariot and the horses.  How to train our horses, the need to exercise them with respect.  How ’that which does not kill me can only make me stronger’ is a partial truth at best.  Am I becoming a more skilful charioteer?  Am I handling my horsepower skilfully?  And what if it feels like I don’t have a lot time to devote to practice?  Remembering the classic definition of yoga practice: the effort to foster steadiness. An effort that is long term, uninterrupted, attended to ith genuine presence, with dedication and devotion so it can become well rooted, able to grow and withstand storms.  Does such a definition mean I have to devote all the day to technique?  No! Techniques are for the sake of attuning to what it means to be buddhiyukta - joined up, integrated, present with all our intelligences functioning together in mutual support.  Considering the structure of a traditional ‘full time practitioner’ in the haṭha yoga tradition and how this can inform a practitioner with less time to devote to technique.  Practising to nourish the whole.

Yoga and the Sun at Casa Cuadrau

What is special about a whole life yoga retreat at Casa Cuadrau in the Spanish Pyrenees?  From 2012-2019 I enjoyed the great boon of sharing retreats every year at beautiful Casa Cuadrau. Between the travel restrictions and Brexit complications of recent years there has been a painfully prolonged hiatus in my visits to this wonderfully nourishing part of the world.  This year, 20-27 June 2026 I am very grateful to be returning to Casa Cuadrau at one of my favourite times of the year there. June 20-27 Yoga and the Sun  Celebrate the solstice on this immersive whole life yoga retreat with James Boag and Daniel Benito Po.  https://www.casacuadrau.org/retiro/whole-life-yoga-james-boag/  You can see Dani and I talking a little about the retreat in this short video:  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6XFN_t0Wras  In this podcast episode I share a bit more about why I find Casa Cuadrau such a nourishing place to live the yoga teachings.  This June 20-27:  Every day:  we will walk in the wonderland of the valle de vió and its majestic surroundings, including the gorgeous Añisclo Cañon and the mythical Brahmapan mountain.  We will live the teachings, simply and joyfully, infusing every day with the supports of intelligent yogic movement practices, meditation, quiet time, satsang and song.  James will share subtle, powerful practices you can easily weave into daily life and we’ll explore the practical supports of yoga principles through the lens of the elements, fire and the sun, with story and song along the way.  Nourishing food, uplifting company, the simple luxury of nature. Holistic and integrated yogic practice in an unsurpassed setting in a house built with love, tended with care, where we can remember our deeper gifts and experience deep renewal.   Book now to guarantee your place. https://www.casacuadrau.org/retiro/whole-life-yoga-james-boag/

Dante, the Gītā and waking up in the dark wood

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai in una selva oscura perchè la dritta via mi era smarrità In the middle of the journey of our life, having lost my way - not seeing the clear way forward, in a dark forest, I came to myself... So begins Dante's Inferno, in a way that bears a striking resemblance to the beginning of the Bhagavad Gītā - in which the protagonist, Arjuna comes to realise the ways he has relied on up to that point are no longer adequate for the challenge he now finds himself in front of... Yoga reminds us that challenges are often great opportunities, as we learn to find our way through the dark wood, we fathom more of the light of our deeper resources and capacities... NEW ONLINE COURSE on the Bhagavad Gītā starts Monday 23rd February 2026. Twelve weekly sessions of 90 minutes, Mondays in English. Wednesdays in French 18:30-20:00 Switzerland timezone.  It's also possible to participate even if you are unable to join the live sessions.  All participants have access to all recordings and can attend in either or both languages. The course also includes 5+ hours of video with the background story of the Mahābhārata and along the way participants will also receive notes and questions for reflection. We'll work direct from the original Sanskṛt verses and consider the text as a whole with particular emphasis on its practical application in our lives now.  Sign up here: https://jamesboagyoga.thinkific.com/courses/BG26  Read more here:https://jamesboagyoga.com/bg26/

A different story of a new world order

Centralised control and domination? That's an outdated story. Past its use by date. Thinking we are smarter than Life? No, that story of hubris never sustains. The new world is one of deeper harmony and cooperation, in which we remember our innate capacity to collaborate with all of life. NEW ONLINE COURSE on the Bhagavad Gītā starts next Monday 23rd February. One of the key teachings in the Gītā is how we can enact our dharma to support lokasaṅgraha - the wellbeing of the whole. How we can express our gifts in such a way that it supports the cohesion and harmony if all of life. The course will run for twelve weeks starting 23rd February 2026. Mondays in English. Wednesdays in French 18:30-20:00 Switzerland timezone.  It's also possible to participate even if you are unable to join the live sessions. All participants have access to all recordings and you can attend in either or both languages.  The course also includes 5+ hours of video with the background story of the Mahābhārata and along the way participants will also receive notes and questions for reflection. We'll work direct from the original Sanskṛt verses and consider the text as a whole with particular emphasis on it's practical application in our lives now. Sign up here: https://jamesboagyoga.thinkific.com/courses/BG26 Read more here:https://jamesboagyoga.com/bg26/ Read the article version of this podcast here: https://jamesboagyoga.com/blog-articles/a-different-story-of-a-new-world-order/