On the Stories Behind the Poses with Dr Raj Balkaran
Pull up a cushion, pour yourself a chai and join Dr Raj Balkaran and I around the virtual fire for storytime.
Raj is a scholar of Sanskrit narrative literature, wisdom teacher and online educator. He’s the founder of The Indian Wisdom School, author of the book The Stories Behind the Poses: The Indian Mythology that Inspired 50 Yoga Postures and runs a thriving one-on-one spiritual guidance practice.
In our discussion today, Raj shares about the importance of stories to impart and receive wisdom, and why understanding the stories behind the yoga asanas we know and love gives our practice a new depth.
While Raj has written a book about the stories behind the poses, the yoga tradition is actually an oral one, handed down verbally from teacher to student. And so in the second half of the episode, Raj takes us on a storytelling journey, and shares a few of the stories from his book, including Pranāmāsana (Reverence Pose), Sūrya Namaskārā (Sun Salutations) and Vīrabhadrāsana (Warrior Poses).
While I had read these stories in Raj’s book already, there was something profound about hearing them spoken, and I already know that my yoga practice is going to feel different as a result.
Listen in right to the end where Raj does a little giveaway!
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Dr Lauren Tober (she/her) is a Clinical Psychologist, Yoga Teacher, founder of the Yoga Psychology Institute, host of the A Grateful Life podcast and author of Mental Health Aware Yoga: A Guide for Yoga Teachers.
Lauren developed the Mental Health Aware Yoga training to help yoga teachers make their classes safe, nourishing and transformative for all.
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