Living Yoga with Richard and Mary
Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor need no introduction.
In this episode, we talk about the dissolution of our minds, bodies, and practices in the face of time. How do we let go of the physicality of the practice?
We were curious after 50 years of yoga, how they’ve maintained their enthusiasm in the face of age.
What we heard was extremely enlightening, and surprisingly heart-opening.
Your whole body and mind are an offering. You are never throwing it away… But rather, allowing it to shine no matter what state it’s in.
Practice itself is an offering. The whole idea of offering is sacrifice. It means you’re giving something of value to others. And when you really do this deeply, it effects your body and mind in a profound way.
To give it all away as an offering to others is the whole purpose of the practice.
These two beautiful souls have an incredible way of grounding their spiritual experiences in the present moment and anchoring them in reality.
We may be seduced by dissolution, but if we follow Arjuna’s example, we will continue to do our dharma, without being motivated by any sense of accomplishment, on our quest for unity — to live in love.
We invite you to spend some time with us, watching nature unfold and reality drip through the cracks, with Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor. Their insights and presence is a true joy to be treasured in the face of impermanence.
“The basic mistake is that we’ve reduced ourselves and we’ve reduced others to just ideas about ourselves and others, and that’s really sad… What we are is way beyond the ideas we have about who we are.” - Richard Freeman
We spoke about Lojong meditation practice (often translated into English as “Mind Training”) from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Mary explains that when religion is working well it allows us to feel our vulnerability.
Trusting in something bigger than oneself is a vital part of becoming more of a whole human being.” - Mary Taylor
We spoke about the difference between “taking refuge” and “surrendering,” what the Bhagavad Gita and the Wizard of Oz have in common, as well as how they’ve keep love alive within their relationship after all these years… and how you can too!
Time is running out, apparently it’s a good thing, because it gives us the motivation to pull ourselves off center stage and find out who we really are, why we’re in this body, and what we can do to help others.
“The practice that’s appropriate for you in any given moment is the one that helps you be authentic. To join together the disparate parts of who you are and show up. And show up, not in order to be the star of the show, but to show up to be a servant. To be there and be of service to others.” - Mary Taylor
If you’d like to keep learning and going deeper into the esoteric teachings inside the Bhagavad Gita, we would invite you to register for Richard and Mary’s upcoming online course:
Living Yoga: Embodying the Teachings of the Bhagavad Gita
Registration opens this TUESDAY, September 21st!
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.”
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