Tripp Talks

I’ve had a (mostly) daily ashtanga yoga practice for over a decade, and like a lot of people who’ve stuck with it that long, my relationship to the practice has evolved. What started as a daily discipline — a way to wrestle my mind and body into shape — has become something steadier, simpler, and a little less precious. I still believe practices can lead to insight, but I’ve grown skeptical of how...

I’ve been a longtime yoga practitioner, and when I first spent time in Mysore, India, I got my first real exposure to Ayurveda. Over the years, I’ve brought pieces of it into my own life, but it’s something I still circle back to whenever I need a reset. Kate O’Donnell has been part of that journey for me. She’s a longtime practitioner of India’s sister sciences of yoga and ayurveda, and author of...

I’ve spent many years chasing “enlightenment” without always knowing what I meant by it. In this conversation with Marcus, I try to name what I actually care about (waking up + stabilizing the in nondual awareness), where therapy fits, and why certain practices help or hurt depending on what you want from life. We get into the distinction between self-improvement and self-realization, how language...

This week on Tripp Talks , Marcus Shumate and I dive into two of our favorite practices — Ashtanga yoga and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu — and the strange parallels between them. We start with the current drama in the Ashtanga world around authorization and certification: Who gets to say you’re a “real” teacher? What happens when lineage meets money, grief, and Western expectations? From there, Marcus intr...

Rich Ray is a KPJAYI Level II Authorized Ashtanga Teacher and the director of Ashtanga Yoga Portland, Maine. In 1998, he made his first trip to Mysore, India, to study with Pattabhi Jois, and he has made numerous trips to study with Sharath. Around the same time, he began in-depth Zen Buddhist practice and lived as a silent monastic for four years under the guidance of a Roshi. In this conversatio...