#7 Forgetting Patanjali with Austin Sanderson

If you have taken a yoga teacher training in the Western world, you probably learned a little bit about Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. You might even get the impression that most of the yogic tradition comes out of that text.

In this episode, I share the second part of my interview with Austin Sanderson (The first part is in Episode 3, Don't Forget the Vedas). In it he gives us some historical context for Patanjali and the Yoga Sutras, and contrasts them with texts like the Bhagavad Gita.

As yoga teachers, it is helpful to understand that the Yoga Sutras are only one take on yoga, and that much of what is being taught in the west is going against the grain of what Patanjali was teaching. Should we be as attached to the Yoga Sutras as we are, or is it time to acknowledge all of the other sources that influence us as modern yogis?

Austin, along with his partner Bobby Hranichny, are the owners of Urban Sadhu Yoga in Jersey City, New Jersey. Austin and I met as students of the 2011 Jivamukti Yoga Teacher Training.

 

Episode Links:

• Urban Sadhu Yoga
• The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali: A Biography by David Gordon White
• Swami Vivekananda
• Tirumalai Krishnamacharya
• Indra Devi
• K. Pattabhi Jois
• B. K. S. Iyengar
• Theosophy
• Helena Blavatsky
• Gunas
• Kleshas
• Yamas
• Bhagavad Gita 3.3

 

Don't Forget Yoga Links:

• Website: Don't Forget Yoga
• Youtube: @dontforgetyoga
• Instagram: @dontforgetyoga
• Facebook: Don't Forget Yoga Group

 

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