Sonja and The Mind Monsters
It’s been said that if you can’t explain something to a 5 year old, you don’t really understand it. Perhaps apocryphally that quote refers to quantum mechanics and general relativity theory. Albert Einstein was doing his level best to explain these concepts to a nervous public. Equally as difficult to understand is the prism of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, and yet our guest today, Sonja Radvila, explains it effortlessly in her Yoga Sutra book written especially for children.
We had the pleasure to speak with Sonja about her book and the massive effort it takes to get something like that off the ground.
Born in Chicago (another one!) Sonia grew up in Colorado to her Lithuanian parents, she came up against ethnic divides often and early, and speaks to her paradoxical status of both privileged and different. We had an adorable argument with her regarding her status as punk. (We’re convinced that anyone who was a bike messenger in San Francisco and studied Anthropology and Film Production, qualifies as Punk... she even has a tattoo).
There is another lovely little quote “Well behaved women rarely make history.”
I wonder if Sonja was thinking of Eleanor Roosevelt as she studied Arabic while living in Egypt and developed a passion for Indian devotional temple dancing, which took her on a pilgrimage to the Motherland, where she was introduced to yoga in Chennai in 1999.
Looking for the elusive “why” and deeper meaning within the yoga practices she found Ashtanga yoga and by 2004, had committed to a daily practice, which took her back to India to study in Mysore, with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and R. Sharath Jois.
Sonja talks about her negative first experiences in travelling to Mysore to practice. And the trouble that comes with equating advancement in asana with “Spiritual Specialness.”
After travelling and teaching around the world for the past thirteen years, Sonja felt ready to settle down on the coastline of Portugal with her beloved—the mercurial Luke Jordan.
Inspired by the culmination of creativity, consciousness, ancient traditions, self-study, and a yearning to understand, Sonja wrote her first book. An imaginative interpretation of the first chapter of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as a children’s story called ‘Young Yogi and the Mind Monsters.’
We also talked about how her practice has changed over the years and how her approach has dramatically shifted with time and age.
* In Addition, Sonja has a jewellry company named Rasa Malas that was born out of her love for Indian culture, creativity and jewellry. Rasa aesthetics refer to the “essence, mood, flavor, or dominant feeling” evoked from Indian art forms such as dance, theater or music.
It captures the essence of Indian philosophy and ancient techniques which are experiential in nature, transcending linguistics.
Malas are sacred in nature, primarily used for japa meditation, or chanting and recitation to achieve a meditative state. There are always 108 beads, plus a “Guru” or counter bead in every mala.
All of Sonja’s malas are handmade and one of a kind created specifically to match the individual’s personality, as a response to or an expression of their energetic needs.
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FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SONJA
YOUNG YOGI AND THE MIND MONSTERS I RASA MALAS I INSTAGRAM
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The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.
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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.
To purchase your own copy - Click Here.
