To what extent is yoga compatible with drama? Performance is in some ways the opposite of inward focus, yet it might still be enhanced by yogic practices.

Sergei Tcherkasski is a theatre director and teacher of acting at the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts. He is also the author of Stanislavsky and Yoga, which explores a key influence on the Russian pioneer of modern acting techniques.

Konstantin Stanislavsky’s system helped actors tap into their inner experiences, enabling them to embody a fictional character and perform more believably. This inspired what American followers such as Lee Strasberg called “method acting” and shaped what’s taught in drama schools all over the world.

As Sergei explains, about a third of the first-year acting curriculum is influenced by yoga, which Stanislavsky learned in the early 20th century. He did so not by visiting India but from reading translated books by an American attorney who wrote under the pseudonym “Yogi Ramacharaka”.

We talk about the hybrid ideas that Ramacharaka presented, and why their worldly emphasis might be more helpful than traditional teachings on transcendence – as argued by the Polish director Jerzy Grotowski. We also consider which modern schools of yoga might be best suited to training actors.

Among other names we discuss are Stella Adler and Sanford Meisner, two other influential American acting coaches. Plus Sergei highlights the term perezhivanie (переживание), which translates as “emotional experience”. He once made a film about Stanislavsky and yoga, which is available on YouTube.

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What distinguishes self-centredness from care for oneself? To what extent is emotional healing a spiritual practice? How might an inner sense of safety and connection fuel better relationships and more sustainable ways of living?

Justin Michelson is a meditation teacher, author and wilderness guide. His recent book The Dharma of Healing is billed by its publisher as: “A handbook for spiritual freedom in an age of global crisis”. Its focus is on changing responses to difficult feelings, which otherwise block the development of wisdom and compassion.

Our conversation explores Justin’s fusion of Buddhist perspectives with modern psychology. We discuss what it means to heal personal wounds, as well as how that relates to taking better care of each other and the world. We also reflect on a tension between accepting what is and facilitating change.

Justin’s book provides a practical guide to the transformative power of self-compassion. It’s accompanied by guided meditations, available here.

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What inspired the idea of being “spiritual but not religious”? Modern quests for experiential insight have diverse roots. Influences range from the work of Aldous Huxley – The Perennial Philosophy and The Doors of Perception – to the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and their references to “God as we understood Him”.

Don Lattin is the author of Distilled Spirits: Getting High, Then Sober, with a Famous Writer, a Forgotten Philosopher, and a Hopeless Drunk, which highlights the impact of Gerald Heard, who got Huxley interested in Eastern wisdom, and turned on many others to LSD – including Bill Wilson, the co-founder of AA.

This book is the prequel to an earlier bestseller, The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America. That grew out of Don’s career as a reporter, covering religion for the San Francisco Chronicle while becoming an addict and alcoholic.

We discuss how his own story overlaps with those he writes about, from religious doubts to experiencing oneness on LSD. In the process, we explore whether altered states lead to mystical insights or resolve mental health issues – topics addressed by Don’s recent books, God on Psychedelics and Changing Our Minds.

These days, Don shares reflections on cults and other new religious movements via his Substack, Messiahs I Have Known, which I highly recommend.

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How might humans relate to other beings if we saw ourselves as animals? What if beastliness had positive qualities, instead of being seen as a defect to exorcise? Which natural tendencies might we embody if we paid more attention to ancestral insights?

Elizabeth Sulis Kim is the author of the recently published Book of Beasts, which is subtitled “Reclaiming Animal Wisdom”. She is also the founding editor of Cunning Folk, an independent magazine about magic, folklore, mythology and the occult.

Our conversation explores how these interests overlap, with a particular focus on the power of telling stories to present new possibilities – or as Cunning Folk puts it: “to innovate, we have to imagine”. In the process, we consider how to foster better treatment of animals and live more harmoniously with our surroundings.

Elizabeth’s second book, The Art of Folklore: A Visual Miscellany of Myths, Lore and Legend will be published next year. She’s also working on a novel that examines how the stories we tell shape our future.

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Practically speaking, what does it mean to wake up? It’s literally the opposite of falling asleep, so it involves being aware. But since the Buddha’s name means he awakened, the bar seems quite high.

This conversation with my friend Matthew Green reflects on what we’ve learned from decades of practice – not least that it’s ultimately not about us. So we talk about ways of processing unhelpful conditioning, avoiding being triggered and the value of what Matthew calls “relational mysticism” – i.e. doing this communally.

Matthew is global investigations editor for the climate website DeSmog. Having trained as a collective trauma integration facilitator with Thomas Hübl, he co-hosts the What Is Collective Healing? podcast, writes Resonant World, and is co-founder of the Resonant Man international men’s group. He offers Tarot readings here.

The book I quote from at one point is Awareness by Anthony de Mello. Matthew also mentions his wife Genevieve, a clinical psychologist and parenting coach.

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How much has yoga changed over the past 2,000 years? 🤔

In one sense, very little – assuming yoga means a state beyond mental activity, as ancient texts teach. However, nowadays, it mostly refers to something else – the regular practice of sequences of postures that developed more recently.

My new book, The Evolution of Modern Yoga, is an engaging guide to the shifts in priorities that shaped new methods and objectives over the centuries, making yoga more appealing to contemporary practitioners. Drawing on the latest research, it examines key trends, influential teachers and issues of authenticity, among other topics. The overall aim is to explore how innovation relates to tradition.

This episode includes a brief sample, along with some reflections on broader ideas. The book is part of a series from the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. It will be published in October and it’s available for pre-order now via the following links: bookshop.org, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk

See the publisher’s website for other online options, along with endorsements. And send me an email if you have any questions about placing orders or anything else.

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What if everything we think is a dream? Would nothing be real? Or might it reveal how to live in infinity, untroubled by suffering? 🤯

Tamara Cohen wrote her PhD about the Yogavāsiṣṭha – a text whose original name was the Mokṣopāya, or “means to liberation”. Structured as a dialogue between the sage Vasiṣṭha and the young prince Rāma, it explains how to set oneself free from conceptual delusions.

As we discuss, the text suggests its method is the ultimate summary of all possible philosophies. In the process, it incorporates yoga alongside Buddhism, Śaiva Tantra and – in the Yogavāsiṣṭha – non-dual Vedānta. It also brings ideas to life by telling stories, presenting worlds within worlds that stretch beyond imagination.

You can find out more about Tamara’s work here. She taught a course on the text at the start of this year and she’s writing a book about its teachings on yoga. For now, she recommends this translation by Swami Venkatesananda (which can be found online). The Sanskrit of the Mokṣopāya is here – it’s also available in German.

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What might we learn about mental resilience from ancient Greek mythology? 💭

Sam Akbar is a clinical psychologist and Oxford-trained classicist. Her new book is The Odyssey Mindset, which explores timeless guidance from Homer’s epic on finding purpose and strength in the face of life’s challenges.

Sam’s speciality is trauma. She’s worked with refugees who’ve fled torture, war and sexual violence, and she draws on that experience to address a general audience with practical suggestions for overcoming difficulties.

Together, we consider how Odysseus’s long journey home can be read as a metaphor for seeking security. We also discuss how it helps to have mentors, perhaps including therapists, and to identify core values with which one aligns.

Along the way, we talk about this trailer for Christopher Nolan’s new Odyssey movie, as well as the translation by Emily Wilson that Sam recommends.

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