Peter's Podcast

In this episode, I talk with my teacher Alan Finger, founder of ISHTA Yoga about our new  book The Genius of Yoga: How Yogic Meditation Can Unlock Your Innate Brilliance . Al and I talk about why yoga meditation can take a practitioner beyond mindfulness, and how your meditation practice can help you address challenges as big as pandemics and race.  You can now take classes online with Alan Finger...

Today I welcome an activist and yogi to share his perspective on current events. Reggie Hubbard is the Congressional liaison and Washington, D.C. strategist for the liberal progressive advocacy organization MoveOn. He has worked on gubernatorial and national campaigns, including Florida’s 2006 gubernatorial race and on Bernie Sanders 2016 primary campaign. He also served as senior advance staff fo...

#blacklivesmatter On today's podcast, I share excerpts from the following: Left, Right, and Center podcast from KCRW (May 29 and June 5 episodes) with Josh Barro , Christine Emba , Rich Lowry , and Robert A. George.  Martin Luther King, I have a dream speech 1963 Course in Miracles, Introduction Tao Te Ching, chapters 1-3, by Lao Tzu (translation by Brian Browne Walker) James Baldwin , from The Pr...

In this bonus episode, I take you to meditation class where I drop some thoughts on the importance of silence, intuition, and action. We do the ISHTA Inner Smile meditation, which you can join. There is a 10-minute period of silence in the recording, followed by a samyama and regrounding practice. Namaste.

It feels like the end of the world, but it's not. In this episode, I try to share some yoga insights on two topics relevant to our current crises: The concept of detachment that is so prevalent in yoga literature, and Taking judgement away to experience the essence of namaste . My prayers and well-wishes go out to everyone in this challenging time. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon . Namas...

In this episode, Wendy Newton and I discuss the notion of freedom from the perspective of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and elsewhere in yoga language. You also learn what we had for breakfast! Check out Wendy's upcoming online workshop on the Yoga Sutras. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon.com and rate the podcast right on your app or on iTunes. Namaste!

In reaction to my previous podcast episode encouraging us not to look for "silver bullet" solutions, I wanted to affirm that there is one silver bullet that addresses everything. I use Elyse Poppers' book The Little Love Book as a prompt to discuss love with Wendy Newton. Poppers, a visual and performing artist as well as a writer, produced this book as a culmination of a project looking for the l...

In this episode, I discuss the danger of focusing on finding a silver bullet, whether you're talking about the corona virus epidemic or anything else. The reasons I cover include: It distracts us from what we should be doing It dilutes learning the lessons of what brought us here It gets us invested in magical thinking It fosters conspiracy theories It reinforces tribalism I mention:  Comedian Ron...

I used some of my "shelter-in-place" time to work on a new kirtan recording of a song that always moved me when we chanted it at Paramahansa Yogananda's Self Realization Fellowship. My nephew, Tucker Sody , a professional drummer in Tampa, provided a long-distance accompaniment. Taking a cue from my Psych Rock Kirtan partner Idgy Dean , I played all the rest of the parts myself. I'm looking forwar...

In this episode, Wendy Newton and I do a quick dive into svadyaya , the study of the self and the Self, and the self-reflection and reading of texts that help us "see the light" in the darkness. We're leading an immersion workshop this Friday 9-3 New York Time, and we set it early enough that hopefully some other time zones can make it, too. Details and registration are available at ishtayoga.com...

I pause my walk in the park to talk about yoga as a practice and a new perspective. Join me and Wendy Newton in a day-long workshop Bringing Yoga Off the Mat. Details at ishtayoga.com . Please support Peters Podcast on Patreon.com and rate the podcast wherever you listen. Thank you!

Looking at this time as one to choose #deepliving

How our new challenges with social distancing can be put to constructive purpose.

In this episode, I talk a little about the virus pandemic we're all dealing with. Then I lead us in a meditation to help us stay balanced during this time. A couple resources: Brian Lehrer show where there's a March 13 episode with NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/ All Sides Corona Virus news with reference to whether the sources are left, right, or center.

In this episode, I speak with Ulrica Norberg and Wendy Newton about using traditional yoga texts as part of practice. We're going to be leading a workshop using the Gheranda Samhita, Yoga Sutras, and Bhagavad Gita this May in Stockholm. Details are on my website: peterferko.com. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon.

In this episode, I speak to Julianne Mirabello about her unique approach to personal fashion and styling. Julianne studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City and has designed and created costumes and done personal styling in New York and internationally. She is also a Yoga Teacher  who did her 200-hr training at ISHTA with me in New York and a Reiki practi...

In this episode, I share a meditation class recording where we look at one of the Bhagavad Gita's chapters about our nature as the "field" and the "knower" of that field. It's an interesting metaphor and provides an useful map of our evolution. Following the talk you can join in a meditation, the ISHTA Diksha. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon . Find out about upcoming retreats, workshops,...

Today we head to meditation class to loosen the knots of energy that keep us stuck in limited thinking and keep us from gracefully moving in the flow of nature's cycles. Listen to the talk at the front or join in the practice, too — just not while you're driving! Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon . Find out about upcoming retreats and classes at home and abroad at peterferko.com . Namaste!

Join Wendy and me on our trip across the midwest. We talk about the holidays and the challenges and joys of life! Happy holidays! Find out all about retreats, trainings, and more at peterferko.com

Musings on life and karma, whether comedy, tragedy, or wholeness. Come to Bali! Details at siren-spirit.com . Support me on Patreon . Thank you! Take Wendy Newton's next training session on the Yoga Sutras . (There is no pre-requisite.)

In this episode, Wendy and I chat with Bridgette Shaw . We taught in a meditation training with Bridgette in October at YogaMCC in Calgary. Bridgette is a senior teacher and Sadhaka Yogi in the ISHTA lineage. She specializes in Yoga Nidra, Restorative Yoga and Hormone Yoga Therapy, the latter in which she is one of only three women in all of Canada certified by its creator, Dinah Rodrigues. Please...

Today I speak with Brenda Zusman, a yoga student at ISHTA whom I've had the pleasure of seeing in class for a decade. Brenda shares her thoughts about the value of a yoga practice and how she has adapted the practice to suit her age and health. I speak about my upcoming retreat to Bali with Aino Siren. Come! ( Details here ) Thank you for supporting Peter's Podcast on Patreon . Join Wendy Newton a...

Today I dip into a book I've been reading: Tantra Illuminated: The Philosophy, History, and Practice of a Timeless Tradition by Christopher D. Wallis. Wendy and I do a commentary on a chapter as way to lay out some of the fundamental premises of this key philosophical underpinning to ISHTA Yoga. Come to Bali on retreat this February with Aino Siren and me, with special guest, Wendy Newton. Details...

Thanks to Salma Allam for our special Siri/Samadhi intro!  Today we go to meditation class. My opening lecture, or dharma talk, is about the nature of our energetic bodies and the chakras yogis use to influence our energy to help in meditation. I'm teaching a course in meditation with Wendy and Bridgette Shaw at YogaMCC in Calgary this month, and at ISHTA Yoga , with Alan and Sarah Finger, in Dece...

In today's roundtable edition, I chat with Kristin Leal , Kelly Eudaily , and Wendy Newton about current thoughts about the health benefits of meditation. All three are teacher trainers with lots of experience teaching meditation and the corresponding benefits. We have a good time talking about not only benefits, but the best way to share findings of research and how much research actually matters...