Drishti Point Yoga and Spirituality

Founder of Fine Balance Yoga, Nicole Marica, speaks about yoga as a means of self-regulation, embodiment, and mindfulness rooted in non-harm. This is a beautiful interview about the profound benefits of yoga practice for those who have experienced traumatic events.

Global speaker, teacher, and author, Max Strom speaks about how technology has affected human health and the importance of breathwork in regulating emotions, processing grief, and living inspired and meaningful lives. This insightful interview is full of research and stories that illustrate the value of intentional breathwork and the fundamental needs of humans- connection, love and meaning. www.maxstrom.com

Connect to the source of original thought and awaken to the radical brilliance that is always there. Arjuna Ardagh makes awakening possible in the here and now and speaks of the infinite possibilities that can become the foundation of our lives. This podcast was originally recorded as part of the Hollyhock Talks Podcast series in 2016. For more information about Hollyhock Retreat Center, visit www.hollyhock.ca.

The path of the body is the straightest path to the truth. Conscious Movement Facilitator and long-time Hollyhock presenter, Bettina Rothe speaks about 5Rhythms as a movement practice to re-connect us to the wisdom of our bodies and as a path to healing and wholeness. This podcast was originally recorded as part of the Hollyhock Talks Podcast series in 2016. For more information on Hollyhock Retreat Center, visit www.hollyhock.ca.

Cultural ecologist and geo-philosoper David Abram speaks about awakening our sensual ability to see the wind, hear the trees, feel the land, taste the ocean, and touch the spirit embedded in the world around us. This is a profound and inspiring journey into the intelligence and living presence of all life forms- plants, animals, humans, and living eco-systems. This podcast was originally recorded as part of the Hollyhock Talks Podcast Series in 2016. For more information about Hollyhock Retreat Center, visit www.hollyhock.ca.

Author, biologist and one of the foremost thought leaders of our time, Rupert Sheldrake speaks about scientific findings that prove Eastern spiritual views that the mind extends beyond the body, that living systems (human, animals, and plants) can communicate non-verbally across space and time, and the power of pilgrimage- both his own annual pilgrimage to Hollyhock, and the practice of pilgrimage. This podcast was recorded as part of the Hollyhock Talks podcast series in 2016. For more information about Hollyhock Retreat Center, visit www.hollyhock.ca.

Pioneer of using sound and voice in healing and ceremony, Jill Purce speaks about her journey into the creative and healing power of sound, mantra, and ceremony to heal ancestral wounds and develop harmony in the past, present, and future generations. This podcasts was originally recorded as part of the Hollyhock Talks Podcast series in 2016. For more information about Hollyhock Retreat Center, visit www.hollyhock.ca.

Listen to a podcast with renowned author, teacher, and ceremonialist, Stephen Jenkinson. "You die in the matter of your living." In poetic and soulful language, Stephen Jenkinson speaks of the moral imperative to contemplate and reconcile death as a way to inform how we live, reclaim our ancestral roots, redeem our past, and leave a legacy for those we love. This podcast was recorded as part of the Hollyhocks Talks Podcast Series in 2016. For more information about Hollyhock Retreat Center, visit www.hollyhock.ca.

Listen to a yoga podcast with Swami Muktibodhananda, direct disciple of Swami Satyananda. Swai Muktibodhananda speaks about the ultimate aim of yoga. This podcast was recorded during Swamiji's visit to Vancouver in August 2016. For more information on Swami Muktibodhananda, visit http://www.muktibodharetreatscanada.com/.

Listen to a yoga podcast with Swami Muktibodhanadna, direct disciple of Swami Satyananda. Swami Muktibodhananda speaks the barriers to realizing happiness and harmony and how yoga helps us to get out of our own way and embrace and find peace with our reality. This podcast was recorded during Swamiji's visit to Vancouver in August 2016. For more information on Swami Muktibodhananda, visit http://www.muktibodharetreatscanada.com/.

Listen to a yoga podcast with Swami Muktibodhananda, direct disciple of Swami Satyananda. Swami Muktibodhananda speaks about the heart and what it means to follow your heart and do what makes your heart sing. This podcast was recorded during Swamiji's visit to Vancouver in August 2016. For more information on Swami Muktibodhananda, visit http://www.muktibodharetreatscanada.com/.

Listen to a podcast with Swami Muktibodhananda, direct disciple of Swami Satyananda Saraswati. In this podcast, Swami Muktibodhanana speaks about kriyas- a practice of kriyas as a path to liberation from suffering and the experience of bliss and divinity. This podcast was recorded during Swamiji's visit to Vancouver in August 2016. For more information on Swami Muktibodhananda, visit http://www.muktibodharetreatscanada.com/.

Vishwaguru Sri Paramahans Swami Maheshwarnanda speaks about the practice of yoga for all aspects of our being- the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual and how yoga unlocks the key to the treasures within.

Listen to this podcast with Mary Anne Radmacher and Liz Kalloch, authors of the book SHE: A celebration of Greatness in Every Woman. This book tells the stories of various female leaders and their advice on leadership, compassion, friendship, purpose, and much more. The authors tell us why they decided to create this book, what they define as greatness and how this book can help and inspire people everywhere.

We talk to singer Theda Phoenix in this Drishti Point podcast, who writes and sings music inspired by spirituality, personal growth and transformation. In this podcast, you get the chance to hear about the path that led Theda to becoming a musician, listen to some of her tracks, and hear her perform some of her songs live in studio.

In this Drishti Point podcast, we travel to India where Sri Venu, director of Sivinanda Yoga Vedanta Centre Vancouver, interviews yoga master Brijendra (Bob Eaton). Brijendra talks about his path to meditation and deeper awareness, his experience in India and his guru Swamiji. He also gives his insight on experiencing a higher level of awareness, the illusion of self, and the true self.

Listen to this Drishti Point podcast with Ted Kuntz, author and psychotherapist. He is the author of the book Peace Begins with Me. In this podcast, he describes the difficult personal journey that brought him to learn to cultivate peace in his life, and to helping others down a path to peace too.

In this podcast, we talk to Hari Singh Khalsa, a kundalini yoga teacher who uses the gong in his classes at Yoga West in Vancouver. He talks about his experience learning the gong with master kundalini teacher Yogi Bhajan, and the power of the gong to help you reach a higher realm of meditation, heal injuries and relax body and mind.

Vancouver Iyengar yoga teacher Louie Etting speaks about her path to yoga, her experience working with B.K.S. Iyengar, and the benefits of practicing yoga. She also speaks on the challenges of being a yoga teacher and running a business, and the importance of keeping balance in your practice and in your life.

Listen to this Drishti Point podcast with Ayurveda practitioners, Jaisri Lambert and Madhrui Philips. Ayurveda is an ancient holistic healing system for cultivating wellness in mind, body and spirit. Jaisri talks about what brought her to Ayurveda, the basic philosophies behind this system, and how it differs from modern Western medicine.

In this podcast, Rod Stryker speaks about the history and origins of Tantra, the practice of tantra and mantra, what it means to have a Guru, the experience of samadhi, and the ultimate aim and purpose of yoga.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Mahamandaleshvar Swami Vivekpuri, a Croatian-born Swami dedicated to the practice and teachings of his Master- Vishwa Guru Swami Maheshwarananda, founder of Yoga In Daily Life. Swami Vivekpuri, head of the Croatian Yoga In Daily Life Centers, and the Hindu Religious Society in Croatian speaks about finding happiness through inquiry (investigating our good qualities and bad qualities), discernment between pleasure and happiness, letting go of expectation and disappointments, and the happiness that comes from losing ourself in the service of others.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Brother Nakulananda, a monk of the Self-Realization Fellowship, and a disciple of Paramhans Yogananda, author of the book- Autobiography of a Yogi. Brother Nakulananda explains Kriya Yoga and its power in awakening the sacred cerebro-spinal energy centers (chakras) for the purpose of realizing the truth of who we are, and the nature of God and ultimate reality. This is an inspiring and insightful interview about our potential in understanding Truth, God, and the Self.

Listen to a Drishti Point Podcast with Spiritual Renegade- Lama Sumati Marut, ordained Buddhist monk, university professor, surfer, motorcycle enthusiast, and author of A Spiritual Renegade’s Guide to the Good Life. This is a book for those who know life is short and who are desperate enough to take up arms and make revolutionary inner changes before it’s too late. It’s a book for people who urgently want to be happy but have figured out the usual methods don’t work. It’s a guide for those tired of trying to become well-adjusted to a perverse society. It’s for those fed up with the dead end of modern consumer-capitalist ideology. This is a book for hereos and heroines, for warriors. It’s for people ready to take the tackle depression, anger, endless desire, jealousy, and pride- the true demons that undermine the happiness we all seek. This is a book for desperadoes, rebels, and insurrectionists willing to pit themselves against a life defined by perpetual dissatisfaction, egoism, and greed. This is a book for those who have figured out that being happy is neither superficial nor selfish but the indispensable ingredient for living a meaningful life of service to others. Excerpt from Introduction, A Spiritual Renegade’s Guide to the Good Life

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Venerable Sumati Marut about the practice of Guru Yoga. This is a clear and lucid interview describing the relationship between teacher and student, and how to use the teacher as a mirror to illuminate the inner life.

Listen to a Drishti Point Podcast with Radha and Gary Bello of Pacific Horizon Consulting. Radha and Gary share their insights about relationships and how to successfully navigate personal, professional, and intimate relationships using yoga-based techniques of awareness, breath, exercises, and relaxation. Their insightful book, Enlightening Moments, offers hope and direction for creating joyful, long-lasting, and fulfilling relationships- with ourselves, and with those around us.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Yogacharini Maitreyi, Holistic Harmonizer and Founder of Arkaya Yoga. Arkaya means sun and is the quality of the sun that heals all wounds and afflictions. Arkaya Yoga embodies the guru spirit by shedding light on unconscious patterns in our thoughts, emotions, our bodies and transforming all levels of our being. In this interview, Maitreyi speaks about Jyothi Kriyas- practices that are designed to ignite and illuminate the Divine Light within and help us realize our highest potential. Yoga is conscious evolution. -Dr. Swami Gitananda

In this podcast, Anodea speaks about her book- The Global Heart Awakens: From the Love of Power to the Power of Love, which uses the yogic chakra system as a framework to understand the current planetary crisis, our evolution as a human species, and tell the powerful story of the impulse from power towards love.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Denise Johnson, a gifted Chaneller, Clairvoyant, author, and poet. Denise came to the spiritual path after having dreams of Tibetban Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and being called to using her life in service of love and wisdom.

For two years, Drishti Point Yoga Podcasts had produced a special Valentine’s Day special with Chuck Damov about love. The first interview is a beautiful interview about love as a path to knowing God, and the various kinds of love that can unfold within the human heart; self-love, brotherly and sisterly love, parental love, love for other sentient beings, love for our planet Earth, and love for God. If you know love, you know God. If you don’t know love, you don’t know God, for God is love!

For two years, Drishti Point Yoga Podcasts had produced a special Valentine’s Day special with Chuck Damov about love. This is the second interview. If you know love, you know God. If you don’t know love, you don’t know God, for God is love! This interview is about the Four Infinite Thoughts metta (loving-kindness), karuna(compassion), mudita (joyfullness), and upekha(equanimity), and how to cultivate this kind of love in your mind and heart.This second interview (for Members only) is an inspiring interview about the deeper dimensions of love, and the importance of love on the spiritual path.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Venerable Sumati Marut. Lama Marut speaks about his latest book- The Spiritual Renegade’s Guide to the Good Life, a book for spiritual warriors who find themselves on the battlefield of their inner consciousness fighting the demons in our minds that block us from happiness. With humour, honesty, and candour, Lama Marut speaks the wisdom of the ancients in a modern vernacular and presents the Contentment Mantra, the necessity and benefits of gratitude and unilateral forgiveness, and how to overcome ‘liberphobia’.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Shelley Tomczyk. Shelley speaks about her spiritual journey into the Western Baul Lineage and her love of Anusara Yoga. This is a beautiful interview about what it means to open the heart and to live and practice from the heart.

Listen to a Drishti Point podcast with Shadi Mogadime, former business manager and attendant for Lama Sumati Marut, and senior teacher with Three Jewels Vancouver as we discuss How to Navigate the Spiritual Minefield. With so many options in spirituality, how can we discern between what’s authentic and what isn’t, how do we choose a teacher we can follow, and do we even need one given all of the amazing access we have to technology, information, and the internet? Listen to a candid discussion about the difference between information, knowledge, and wisdom as they relate to the spiritual path and finding a teacher.

Wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.- Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist Giving up a prestigious career in law, and following a strong desire to find his life purpose, Baptist de Pepe embarked on a journey to investigate the incredible power of the heart and how it can lead us to the life we are meant to live. Listen to an interview with filmmaker and author Baptist de Pepe about his own journey and what he has learned from the world’s foremost spiritual teachers about the power of the heart and how to use the heart to cultivate intuition, intention, gratitude, forgiveness, and loving-kindness. For more information about the Film and book, visit The Power of Heart (www.thepowerofheart.com).

Listen to a fascinating interview with Ora Sundara Maimes who completed a three year Retreat at Diamond Mountain. Ora speaks about her Retreat and what it means to let go of who you are and using Retreat to transform ourselves from the inside out. Ora elaborates on the eleven yogas of the Angel of Diamond and how meditation is a tool to transform how we see ourselves, how we see others, and ultimately how we see our world. This is a deeply profound interview about Retreat, transformation, and Enlightenment.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Radio podcast with Michael Stone. Michael speaks the benefits of integrating western psychological perspectives with yoga and vice versa. Michael is a psychotherapist, yoga teacher, Buddhist teacher, author, activist, and founder of Centre of Gravity.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Master teacher Max Strom. In this interview, Max speaks about his book A Life Worth Breathing and the importance of the three pillars of health- mind, body, and emotions, and the power of practicing gratitude which opens the doorway to forgiveness, compassion, and all other positive virtues.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Kimberly Theresa about Finding your Calling. “When we are aligned with our core values and deepest yearnings, our lives are filled with passion, meaning and authenticity. We can, and must, identify and follow our hearts desire in order to feel complete.” Kimberly explores the nature of callings, and how we identify them, and key strategies for stepping into them.

We unroll a mat and, unexpectedly, we fall in love. We fall in love with the way we feel in these moving, breathing bodies. We fall in love with the sweetness of stillness. [We are] transformed by yoga, [and we] continue to be transformed time and time again. This constant shifting permeates beyond the studio, touching all facets of our lives.- Melissa Carroll, editor of Going OM: Real Life Stories On and Off the Mat Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Melissa Carroll, yoga teacher, writer, and editor of Going OM. Melissa speaks about the inspiration to compile a book of stories about yoga, and what personally inspires her in her practice and teaching.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Co-Directors of the White Lotus Foundation Retreat Center, Ganga White and Tracey Rich who have developed a contemporary and evolutionary approach to yoga. Ganga and Tracey, long time practitioners of yoga, share their views on how to practice yoga safely, developing meditative awareness in all aspects of our lives, and how an evolutionary approach to yoga can bring about deep transformation awakening an intelligence that is capable of meeting the accelerating demands of the twentieth-first century. This is a podcast with Tracy Rich.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Co-Directors of the White Lotus Foundation Retreat Center, Ganga White and Tracey Rich who have developed a contemporary and evolutionary approach to yoga. Ganga and Tracey, long time practitioners of yoga, share their views on how to practice yoga safely, developing meditative awareness in all aspects of our lives, and how an evolutionary approach to yoga can bring about deep transformation awakening an intelligence that is capable of meeting the accelerating demands of the twentieth-first century. This podcast is an interview with Ganga White.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Eliza Mada Dalian, affectionately known as Mada, a self-realized spiritual teacher, mystic, internationally acclaimed master healer, and best-selling award-winning author of In Search of the Miraculous: Healing into Consciousness. Using her extraordinary ability to see the root causes of people’s fear, pain, and ailments and read thought-forms repressed in their body and energy with 100% accuracy, in 1997 Mada devised the evolutionary Dalian Method™ for health and consciousness. The self-healing Dalian Method helps to permanently eradicate pain and suffering, and help people find ultimate health, and live their full potential.

We need to take a quantum leap and make a dramatic advance in our understanding of what is at the root of our suffering- fear and guilt. The key is taking responsibility for everything that we perceive in our world as being an extension of us. [When] we learn to correct our projections and misperceptions, we can begin to reclaim our power, align with our true worth, and discover our purpose in life thereby dissolving the guilt that binds us. Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Devrah Laval, author of Leap to Freedom and the Magical Doorway to the Divine. Devrah speaks about guilt as the root of all human suffering and how to overcome it. Elucidating different types of guilt- metaphysical (unconscious), existential, and psychological, Devrah writes about how all types of guilt separate us from our Divine Source and knowing that we are Love in physical form, and in this interview, she speaks about her own experiences that allowed her to fully release herself from the chains of guilt and fully embrace her Divinity.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Radio podcast with Vishwaguru Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda. In this beautiful and inspiring interview, Swami Maheshwarananda speaks about the four classical paths of yoga: Raj Yoga, Bhakti Yoga [the yoga of devotion], Karma Yoga [the yoga of selfless service], and Gyan Yoga [the yoga of wisdom]. Visit SwamijiTV for live webcasts and Satsangs.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Tami Simon, founder of Sounds True, a multi-media publisher of spiritual wisdom. Tami is a long-time meditation practitioner, and received intensive training under the guidance of Dr. Reggie Ray, Spiritual Director of Dharma Ocean. Tami speaks about the spiritual path, and her own personal journey.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Sarah Powers, co-Founder of the Insight Yoga Institute. In this interview, Sarah speaks about the unique inter-disciplinary approach of Insight Yoga that blends the insights and practices of yoga with Buddhist mindfulness and meditation.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Sally Kempton, author of Awakening Shakti. How do you live a life of spiritual awakening as well as outer abundance, inner freedom as well as deep intimacy? How do you serve the world selfessly, yet passionately and celebrate your life? The sages of Tantra have known for centuries that when you follow the path of Shakti—the sacred feminine principle personified by the goddesses of yoga— these gifts can manifest spontaneously. Awakening Shakti is a practical guide to evoke the energies of the Divine Feminine (Kali, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Radha, Bhuvaneshvari, and Parvati) and integrate them into your life. Vielen, herzlichen Dank to Martina Bell for this insightful interview!

Often, what keeps us from joy is the menacing assumption that life is happening other than where we are. For years, I’ve been trying to explore and understand: How can we remember we are of one human family? How can we stay awake and authentic when our wounds make us numb and hidden? How can we minimize what stands between us and our experience of life? How can we make a practice of wearing down what thickens around our mind and heart? -Mark Nepo Listen to an insightful and delightful yoga podcast with Mark Nepo, spiritual writer, poet, philosopher, healing arts teacher, and cancer survivor. Mark speaks about his newest book of poetry, Reduced to Joy, his journey towards healing from cancer, joy, and the practices that can help keep us authentic, connected, and conscious of the Universal love that binds us all together.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Yoga Therapist Leila Stuart. Leila speaks about her experience as a long-time yoga practitioner and her journey towards healing from an illness.

Listen to a Drishti Point Yoga Podcast with Kate Potter. Kate Potter is an internationally respected yoga teacher known for her TV and DVD series Namaste. In this interview, Kate speaks about her challenges in living with chronic pain for over 8 years, and her discovery of how to break through patterns of pain by re-programming the brain. She also speaks about creating a new pathway in yoga therapy to help treat people with pain, depression, and addictions.