Welcome back to Part 2 of Justin’s discussion about Dharma as it is presented in the Ramayana. Today, Justin gets introduces the character of Hanuman, the idea that the majority of what we experience is a creation of our own mind, and ways to keep that rather daunting thought simple and practical for our every day lives.

*This was a live lecture originally held over zoom.

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS INTERVIEW, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE & DROP ME A RATING. Thank you!!!

Find Justin on Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/justincyoga/

Find me on Instagram:⁠⁠ @marlasyoga⁠⁠

Practice yoga with us on Sādhaka Studio:

⁠⁠https://sadhakastudio.uscreen.io/catalog⁠⁠

Come with me and Justin to Costa Rica:

⁠⁠https://www.wetravel.com/trips/for-the-seekers-ashtanga-yoga-retreat-sadhaka-67726403

Timestamps

00:00

0:56 Ravana representing the acquisition of power

12:38 The complexity of good and evil

17:15 The Quest to Rescue Sita and introduction of Hanuman

22:02 The most important passage in the entire book

25:06 Adharma is the strong taking from the helpless

25:53 Dharma will always become whole again

28:40 Illusion: the majority of what we experience is a creation of our own mind

29:42 Self-awareness is a major victory

34:01 We always continue

40:41 Keep it simple

43:27 Important takeaways

Justin leads a discussion about Dharma as it is presented in the Ramayana. The concept of Dharma has taken on a modernized definition in most western yogic circles. And while this definition is not entirely divorced from its original idea, it is a small section of a much larger picture.
Dharma is one of most important concepts in eastern spiritual traditions. In this discussion we will use the Ramayana, an Indian epic poem, to help us define what Dharma is in its ancient context.

In Part 1, Justin (1) defines the concepts of Karma, Samsara, and Adharma, (2) introduces the story of the Ramayana is introduced, including Rama’s exile; and (3) talks about how we are currently in an age (referencing Kali Yuga) where dharma is in decline.

*This was a live lecture originally held over zoom.

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS INTERVIEW, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE & DROP ME A RATING. Thank you!!!

Find Justin on Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/justincyoga/

Find me on Instagram:⁠⁠ @marlasyoga⁠⁠

Practice yoga with us on Sādhaka Studio:

⁠⁠https://sadhakastudio.uscreen.io/catalog⁠⁠

Come with me and Justin to Costa Rica:

⁠⁠https://www.wetravel.com/trips/for-the-seekers-ashtanga-yoga-retreat-sadhaka-67726403

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

00:56 Introduction to Eastern Philosophy and Hinduism

03:51 The Concepts of Karma and Samsara

14:23 Yoga as alignment

16:35 Adharma

19:25 Super brief overview of the Ramayana

23:45 Rama becomes banished to the forest

32:03 “Every broken promise takes away a little dharma from the world”

34:57 Metaphor of the forest as the dark recesses of our minds

37:00 Digesting Hindu epics by seeing all of the characters as different aspects of your own personality

38:53 The lined blurred between good and evil

43:41 The inevitability of Dharma

46:34 We are living in the age where dharma is declining

In this “The Body Keeps the Score”-esque conversation, Rebecca and I we explore how our nervous systems hold onto past experiences and how movement-based practices (cough like yoga) can help reprocess these patterns that are quite literally stuck in our brains.

Rebecca explains the difference between big “T” and little “t” trauma, why we hold on to the familiar, top-down vs. bottom-up approaches to therapy, and how EMDR works.

“When someone is drowning, it’s not the time to teach them how to swim.” Sometimes we need to feel safe before we can go into that deeper work. Once we start the deeper work, as overwhelming as it might seem, remember that even a 1% change can shift everything.

Whether you're working through your own trauma or simply curious about the mind-body connection, this episode offers insight, personal reflection, and hopefully gives you a few tools for moving forward.

Rebecca is a trauma and somatics therapist and fellow Ashtangi, and lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS INTERVIEW, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE & DROP ME A RATING. Thank you!!!

Rebecca’s website and teaching schedule: ⁠⁠https://www.malayogaco.com/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabUDxxQIUVU1GqOn_tglMU3RmHnlGEEdprQYQRtFbC6LKoJUxiIOyXSuQ4_aem_GYNezuFw8J9nwRtipvdHEA

Find Rebecca on Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/rebeccagraceferguson/

Find me on Instagram:⁠⁠@marlasyoga⁠⁠

Practice yoga with me on Sādhaka Studio:

⁠⁠https://sadhakastudio.uscreen.io/catalog⁠⁠

Come with me to Costa Rica:

⁠⁠https://www.wetravel.com/trips/for-the-seekers-ashtanga-yoga-retreat-sadhaka-67726403

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

05:40 Defining trauma: Big “t” trauma versus little “t” trauma

14:13 How to begin to process stuck traumas

16:12 Marla’s experience with talk therapy

19:04 Top-down approaches vs. bottom-up approaches and getting to the root of trauma

22:18 How EMDR reprocesses the stuck patterns

26:20 It gets more familiar for us to stay stuck than it is to heal

27:13 How to get to the “root” of the trauma

31:28 How yoga can be another bottom-up approach to reprocessing trauma

36:14 Self-study

38:58 Having a teacher that believes you can do it when you don’t

43:27 How trauma can be inherited or passed down through generations

51:40 Asking myself why

52:42 A 1% change is a change; it’s a different system

56:35 The power of finding your thing