Raji Thron - Stories Lived Through a Lifetime of Yoga

Send us a text

Special guest, Raji Thron, shares stories from his life lived in the pursuit of yoga. Raji is full of interesting tales of adventure from his birth in India that started him on the path of yoga.

During this conversation he speaks about:

• Living in an India as a youth.
• What was the state of yoga in Boulder in the 70''s and 80's?
• Making the decision to become a yogi.
• How he met Richard Freeman?
• Falling in love with ashtanga.
• Guru Barometer and respect for elders.
• Reframing the guru/ yogi dynamic.
• The rise and fall of John Friend.

Raji is the co-owner of  Yoga Synthesis studios and Program Director of YS Teacher Trainings, which since its inception in 1999 has had hundreds of graduates who have earned certifications. He is registered with Yoga Alliance as a E-RYT 500, lead trainer and continuing education provider and certified through International Association of Yoga Therapists (CIAYT) as a Yoga therapist.

Visit Raji at his website: https://www.yogasynthesis.com
Also on his personal website: https://www.rajithron.com
Follow him on Instagram @yogasynthesis : https://www.instagram.com/yogasynthesis/?hl=en

Thanks for listening to this episode. Check out: 👇
Free Grow Your Yoga Live Webinar - Every Thursday at 12pm EST
➡️ Click here to receive link

New Student FREE Livestream Yoga Special ~ Try 2 Weeks of Free Unlimited Livestream Yoga Classes  at Native Yoga Center. info.nativeyogacenter.com/livestream Sign into the classes you would like to take and you will receive an email 30 minutes prior to join on Zoom. The class is recorded and uploaded to nativeyogaonline.com  ➡️  Click Here to Join.

Practice to a New Yoga Class every day with our nativeyogaonline.com course called Today's Community Class with code FIRSTMONTHFREE.

Native Yoga Teacher Training - In Studio and Livestream - for info delivered to your email click this link here: ➡️ https://info.nativeyogacenter.com/native-yoga-teacher-training-2023/

Subscribe to Native Yoga Center and view this podcast on Youtube.

Thank you Bryce Allyn for the show tunes. Check out Bryce's website: bryceallynband.com and sign up on his newsletter to stay in touch. Listen here to his original music from his bands Boxelder, B-Liminal and Bryce Allyn Band

Support the show

Native Yoga website: here
YouTube: here
Instagram: @nativeyoga
Twitter: @nativeyoga
Facebook: @nativeyogacenter
LinkedIn:

(01:05):
Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast.
My name is Todd McLaughlin. Ihave the pleasure of bringing
Raji Thron to the podcast today.
And Raji is the founder and codirector of Yoga Synthesis in
Ramsey, New Jersey, which wasfounded in 1999. Please visit

(01:26):
his website, yogasynthesis.com.
And you can also check out hispersonal website Rajithron.com.
And I had a really incrediblediscussion with Raji, I'm so
excited for you to hear this.

(01:54):
And he's got a very rich andvast history of personal
practice experience with yogaand the world of yoga. And I've
heard amazing things about Rajiyears ago from a student that
came and visited and I happenedupon his website. And I thought,

(02:20):
I wonder if this is the Rajithat my friend Tim was talking
about? And it is! All right.
I'll let him speak for himselfhere. Let's get started. I'm so
excited to have Raji Thron heretoday with me. Raji, thank you
so much for joining me. How areyou doing today?

Raji Thron (02:43):
I'm great. Thanks.

Todd McLaughlin (02:46):
Just to get started here, you're in New
Jersey. Is that correct?

Raji Thron (02:50):
Well, actually, yeah, we live just over the
border in New York. Okay.
Rockland County. So pretty muchlike Northern New Jersey, it
feels the same.

Todd McLaughlin (03:02):
Yeah, I bet. I bet I hear you. And you have a
yoga studio called YogaSynthesis. Right?

Raji Thron (03:10):
Yeah in Ramsey, New Jersey.

Todd McLaughlin (03:12):
Wonderful. I feel like somewhere along the
way, someone has come in to ourstudio and told me about you
before. And I feel like I'veheard about you over the years.
The way that I found yourwebsite actually was I had
purchased that an anatomycoloring book by I believe, a

(03:34):
woman that may have practiced ortaught for youat your studio.

Raji Thron (03:38):
Yes, she was one of our main teachers for a while.

Todd McLaughlin (03:43):
That's right.
And in the process of looking tosee like, where she was, I found
your website, and then I sawyour bio, and I was like, Wow,
he looks, he looks reallyinteresting. You have a really
rich history of practice andteaching. So I'm excited to have
this chance to ask you somequestions about your yoga
journey. On that know, can yougive me a little bit of a

(04:04):
historical perspective about howand when you started yoga
practice?

Raji Thron (04:12):
Well, I guess I should go back to I was born in
India, in Chandigarh, and myfather was a mathematics
professor. He was teaching atthe university in Punjab, which
is in the north northern India.
And that, so we traveled thereon a number of occasions. And

(04:33):
the time I first learned yogawas when I turned 12. And we
were living in San Diego at thetime. Wow. And so then coming
back to the United States, Ikind of got into it and got
really hooked. This is like mid70s. Nice. That's the short
answer.

Todd McLaughlin (04:55):
That's the short answer. That's good. That
paints a really cool picture toa man Jinyu in India at the age
of 12, like what an incredibleage, like eyes are opening
Exactly. And then you find whattype of yoga class teacher yoga
experience. What was that like?

Raji Thron (05:13):
Well, in India, I studied with an old man. It was
actually his 80s. He was afriend or our family. And he, he
passed away that year. And so itwas what I would call a
classical hatha yoga. And it wasa very kind of intense time, as

(05:36):
you might imagine, for me,coming from Boulder, Colorado,
where we lived, where I grew up,there went back to there. That's
where my dad, you know, wasteaching was a professor got it?
Yep. So. So basically, from whatthe teaching that I got from my

(05:58):
teacher there when I was Iturned 12. By the way, his name
was Yogendra Paul, which is kindof wild.

Todd McLaughlin (06:06):
You'll you'll Jinda Paul Yogananda. Paul. So
he

Raji Thron (06:11):
was he was a yogi named Joginder. Yeah. And, but
he was an older man, and hetaught me just basic, basic,
hatha yoga. Let's just say,that's what I call a classical
hatha yoga. No, I know noteveryone uses that terminology.
I like to use that. Because, youknow, when you have kind of the

(06:35):
the standard form that you mightsee in India, it's not bash
Tonga. It's not Ashtanga vinyasaanyway. And it's not a yangarra.
And it's just, you go to anytown, any village, you're gonna
find yoga that has a certain inthe way it's kind of come to the
modern world, modern yoga,modern India. It's what I would

(06:58):
call a classical hatha yoga.

Todd McLaughlin (07:01):
Can you paint a picture what a practice session
with him would look like then?
I'm guessing classicalpositions, such as like a
triangle, and

Raji Thron (07:16):
well, actually, so some some classical Sun Salute
was, or some warm up before it.
You know, like cat cow kind ofthing? Yeah. classical sense.
Fluid is different from theAshtanga sencillo. You're
probably familiar with that,like stepping back, going to
cobra, upper dog. I mean, notcoat, not upper dog, Cobra, and

(07:38):
then downward dog. And thenstepping into the lunge. You
know that whole? Yep. And thenclassical poses. Really
actually, in the beginning, itwas way less standing poses. And
more just sitting, you know,doing forward bends, twists, and
openers, some back bends, andinversions, was covering a

(08:01):
framework of these basic poses.
But I mean, at the time, I wasreally young. So

Todd McLaughlin (08:12):
did he try to impart any information regarding
theory or philosophy in withthose appointed says,
interestingly,

Raji Thron (08:25):
after he passed, I was still living in India for a
little while before we movedback to the United States. And
so, I mean, he he was lessphilosophically oriented. He was
definitely oriented in a certainway, like said, telling you
about Mahatma Gandhi, and likeIndian saints, and that sort of
thing. Yeah. The I met a youngerman, whose name was surrender is

(08:53):
actually a member of yourmovement in Punjab in India.
Those are names of a lot ofsick. Yes, a six. Right. And so,
this guy was definitely a majorinfluence on me philosophically,
let's say, when he was actuallya cricket player at the

(09:14):
university was really into, youknow, being in shape and he
wasn't doing so much yoga perse, but he did all kinds of
exercise and we'd sit and hewould talk to me about basically
reality existence. And you know,how and you know, being 12 years

(09:37):
old, is definitely it was ashaking up, transformational
time for me, because there I washaving come from, you know,
being in this very, kind oflike, what would you call it
upper middle class kind ofsituation and maybe middle
class, whatever you call it,professorial? Yes, University,

(09:59):
University Abraham, you know,yeah. And going living in India,
and the first time I ever reallysaw poverty, and, you know,
living at a standard of livingthat was much lower than I was
used to sleeping on cots with,with a concrete floor. Yeah. And
just the whole, the whole thingof seeing a, you know, I could

(10:21):
look over the wall from where welived. And, you know, there were
shards of glass on the top ofthe wall, right. And on the
other side was a slum. I couldsee it from our balcony, and I'd
see these people like, basicallyliving right there. So for me,
there was this whole interestingAwakening on so many different

(10:43):
levels, you know, to really theblessings of, you know, and, you
know, knowing that life can behard. Yeah. You know, and it's
like, how do we learn to relate,personally and collectively, to

(11:05):
this, this existence, this humanexistence? So there's a lot of
conversation I was having withsurrender. At the time. Joy.
What, why is this happening?
Why? Yeah, why are people livinglike this? You know, yeah. So

Todd McLaughlin (11:22):
did he have an answer for you? Did he ever? Did
you have any insight? Yeah.

Raji Thron (11:29):
It was really into he personally had gone off to
travel around India. And he waslike, he was in his 20s. And he
said, he left home, he traveledaround India. And that's why he
was so kind of philosophicallyinclined. Yeah. And he is like,
yeah, you know, you get outthere and you see what's going

(11:50):
on. And it makes you realizecertain things like being a
wandering Saudi, you know, yes,you go. I think this is, this is
part of what yoga, you know, ina way, the essence pointing to
the essence of it is let go ofall these outer trappings. Yeah,
this holding on to sit reallyalmost anything at a certain

(12:12):
point, you know, yeah. But, Imean, we do love our creature
comforts. So wish. Yeah, it'sstill, it's definitely you know,
there's a certain pointingtowards, you know, austerity are
asceticism. And, for me at thetime, I was like, Well, I don't
really What are you? What areyou talking about? So then, you

(12:34):
know, actually, as I got furtheralong, I realized, you know,
what, what the implication was,and even now, I'm still still
trying to, you know, integrate,that it's in? I don't know, I'm
not sure if I'm giving you thenutshell of it very clearly. But
it's, it's, it's really a lot ofdifferent aspects.

Todd McLaughlin (12:57):
You are, yeah, no, I think you're doing a great
job. I can see what you mean, I,I'm trying to imagine myself
being 12. Or my daughter rightnow is nine, like, imagining
taking her and how herperspective would shift and
change being raised in Americaand having an India experience.
Where your parents, it's cool,they gave you an Indian name,

(13:21):
when you were born, where yourparents nudging you along in the
direction of Raji go and studywith this yoga man, you know,
what were they? Were they, youknow, thinking along those
lines, or what, what was thatlike?

Raji Thron (13:37):
So, my, my parents were Quakers.

Todd McLaughlin (13:42):
Interesting.

Raji Thron (13:44):
Anyway, there's a lot of, there's like, so many
different storylines of, youknow, background, but yeah, but
basically. So, they could say,they didn't go to India because
they were following a guru or,or that, you know, into a Hindu
thing like some, they're like,the generation before the 60s.
Got it, you know, before thehippies. Yeah, I'm actually more

(14:07):
in the, like, the, the latterside of the hippie generation.
You know, you know what I mean?
Like, I was, I was young, ayoung whippersnapper when all
the hippies were walking aroundhim. So I'd look at them and go,
Whoa, what was going on here? Itwas all along here. And yeah,
but and that and so beinggrowing up in Boulder was

(14:28):
definitely a scene back in the60s and 70s. But, so going back
to the whole thing about myparents going to India was
really my dad had a sabbaticalto teach at the university. And
but he was really into Indianculture and art and, and that
sort of thing. And vary in beinga mathematician. So he's, he's

(14:52):
kind of this subtle. I mean,he's more of philosophically
oriented and more, probably, youknow, from a yoga point of view
we call them and Gianna yogi,right. He's just, he just had a
very interesting way of lookingat trying to be as objective and
truthful and honest about, youknow, the world and reality as

(15:17):
possible, you know, like, kindof like a scientist, but in a
more abstract way of, you know,thinking about things. I only
realized this later in my lifethat, you know, can't appreciate
my dad. He's passed away now.
Yeah. So the, but the connectionof them to yoga is actually it's

(15:43):
very tenuous, let's say, theydidn't say Go study with this
guy. Or, you know, and even evenas I got older, coming back to
the United States, I mean,sometimes I joke about my mom
being a yoga mom. She would, Iwas in my teens, and she would
drive me to the yoga class.

Todd McLaughlin (16:05):
Oh, yeah.
That's cool. It's

Raji Thron (16:08):
kind of different from some people, you know, like
the soccer mom, for instance.
Right. At that time, there werenot many yoga classes going on.

Todd McLaughlin (16:18):
What was going on in Boulder? And do you mind
me asking Raji, what year youwere born?

Raji Thron (16:25):
What year? Yeah.
That means I get to reveal myage. Right?

Todd McLaughlin (16:29):
You don't have to if you don't want to, I
totally understand. I'm just socurious. Just,

Raji Thron (16:32):
I just turned 60, which means I was born in I was
what? Last December. So yeah,what I said, just a couple of
months ago, I turned 60. So1962.

Todd McLaughlin (16:43):
Nice. Got it.
Got it. So then that means whenyou were in Boulder at age 12,
coming back from India, so we'retalking 1974? Somewhere around
there? Six, yeah. Wow. I mean,I've heard so many amazing
things about boulder. And I'venever been and I guess with the
with the Naropa University beingthere, and all the influence of

(17:03):
the Tibetan culture, and that'swhen it was starting, is that
when is it showing up?

Raji Thron (17:13):
And various various gurus have come and gone through
Boulder, but sugar Trump, he gotthings like 73. Yeah, is when.
And he established hismeditation center, and then
neuro, but later on, and all ofthat. And so here I was, again,
like I said, in my teens,imagine walking down the street,

(17:35):
going to school or coming homefrom school, and seeing a
limousine pull up and roll ofthe rolling out the red carpet
for the guru. What the heck isthis? You

Todd McLaughlin (17:46):
know, what's going on here.

Raji Thron (17:50):
And we had the Hari Krishna has come down, we had
the city yoga, whatever, it wasdefinitely a really interesting
time to be there. Because, yeah,I mean, like I said, the, this
awakening of in Americanculture. And when the young
could say, I was too young, Iwas younger than the people who

(18:12):
were having their awakenings.
Right, right. I saw it happeningand kind of went, Oh, this is
interesting. So I went to checkout some of the Buddhists
centers and but actually, at thetime, there wasn't, there
weren't yoga studios. Got it.
The only place they could findit was a yoga studio, per se was

(18:33):
a kundalini yoga, the YogiBhajan style. It was a
cooperative house, where all theYogi Bhajan devotees lived
together. And they had yogaclasses there, like four or five
times a week. So my dad, sothat's where my mom would drive
me

Todd McLaughlin (18:52):
interesting to a Yogi Bhajan inspired Kundalini
class.

Raji Thron (18:56):
So I went from classical hatha yoga to
Kundalini yoga. And then I justkept exploring, you know,
different styles because, well,Kundalini yoga. Are you familiar
with it?

Todd McLaughlin (19:08):
I am. But I want to hear what you have to
say from your perspective.

Raji Thron (19:14):
We don't like you said earlier before we started
this, we want to get caught upin any drama here. Right. So

Todd McLaughlin (19:20):
you know, it's funny, because I just recently
today, somebody actually said,wow, when the Yogi Bhajan
scandal came to fruition, and I,I'd heard it, but just today I
had somebody run that past me.
So I understand. Yeah, we don'thave to say anything negative
about anybody. But it isinteresting. I would like to
hear what you have to say aboutyour view on that culture prior

(19:41):
to that whole fallout of this, Iguess, a sex scandal with Mr.
Miyagi. Yeah.

Raji Thron (19:50):
Let me just preface it by saying I've come to a
place where I really am outsideof the box of any of these
traditions. Pretty much. Andyou'll see when I answer this
question, basically, I have anintuitive kind of like meter or
cult, authoritarian trickiness.
And I can't say I mean, maybeit's just how I grew up, you

(20:16):
know, and it's like, like Isaid, my parents being Quakers.
I don't know, if you realize, ofall the religious traditions,
spiritual traditions, you couldjust, I like to phrase this as a
question sometimes for if I'mtalking to somebody, say, and
you name one that's nonhierarchical. No, man, right.
Yeah, the Quaker, the Society ofFriends, as they call it, is as

(20:42):
non hierarchical of religiousspiritual tradition, as you
might be able to findinteresting. So I didn't know
that. So. So having grown up inthat, it's really so I think
that's part of what happened isthat I came to the yoga schools
and traditions, you know, thesespiritual yoga traditions from
that point of view are going,well. Why should this anybody be

(21:06):
an authority over me in sense ofany spiritual connection? You
know, and so, and even thoughsomeone may be very enlightened,
more enlightened than you don'tmean this, let's get into an
interesting question, right?
Relative enlightenment, yeah,who's more enlightened, you

(21:30):
know, but, but, so, steppinginto Kundalini Yoga, was like
that. And like, wow, thesepeople were really getting into
this, you know, they're wearingall the, you know, and I just
thought, these are theseAmerican people. And I didn't
realize I just came from India,came back from India. And so

(21:51):
having seen India and the Indianculture and the way that Hindus
live, you know, and again, froman outsider point of view, but
as an American going there,going, Wow, this is really wild,
you know, and then seeingevents, seeing Americans wanting
to play out being, you know,more Indian, was what, what I

(22:14):
looked at another. And so it'sactually it was an interesting
reflection, a time of reflectionfor me, yeah, where I went, you
know, and I'll just do a littlefast forward. Since I was born
in India, when I turned 21, Ihad a choice to become an Indian
citizen, which is weird to thinkabout, too, because so it's

(22:38):
like, do I take on the garb ofjoy become Indian, you know,
when I, when I grew up, really,as an American, you know, I'm a
US citizen, but then I had achoice and I couldn't become
dual. You can't become a dualcitizen of India, you have to
choose right? Choice, I made thechoice to stay. So this is kind

(22:59):
of emblematic, I guess you couldsay, like, I chose. And even
when it came to yoga, I to sayI've seen Yoga people get really
into kind of trying on the garbof being very Hindu. And that
just never really, I mean, Ishould qualify and say, I think

(23:21):
there are some amazing teachingsthat come out of Indian
tradition. Yes, and whether youwant to call it Hindu, or just
Indian or Vedic, or, you know,the, so I'm not negating that,
I'm just acknowledging formyself that I am actually an
outsider from from that, youknow, from not. So

Todd McLaughlin (23:47):
that's cool. I appreciate you laying all that
out, though. I can feel that youhave the deep respect for all
like you said, all thesedifferent traditions and
elements that are coming out ofthe yoga tradition, but at the
same time having the reallyunique perspective that you had
of being born there braisedAmerican being at the age to

(24:07):
where, I guess maybe if you werecoming back from India, or maybe
your first yoga experience inIndia's when you were 21. And
maybe you're having this sort oflike seeking kind of
perspective, maybe you wouldhave been more like I really
want to be the India guy. Thatis possible. But it's cool to
hear from that angle of like,well, I seen it I saw it

(24:29):
firsthand, up close and personalfrom the mind of like a 12 year
old experience. And so you comeback to the states you see
people trying to all be want tobe like something different than
what we are because it justseems like it's gotten any
better. It's gotten to bebetter. So

Raji Thron (24:44):
it's so it's interesting, because in a way, I
decided not to do it on theexternal level. Because because,
you know, but incorporate yogainto my life. More as a practice
and an internal Oh, yeah, no.
Yeah. So

Todd McLaughlin (25:03):
was that kind of interesting? Is that a hard
decision to make when you were21? Was that? Like, was that did
that take you six months todecide? Or was it like, Okay, I
got this choice to make I knowexactly what I'm going to do.
Like, was that a hard one tomake?

Raji Thron (25:18):
I think it was a natural kind of, yeah. Feeling.
Being being here in thisculture, and not wanting to feel
alienated. And not wanting to Imean, I guess maybe it's a level
of conformity. You know? Youknow, it's funny, because even

(25:41):
to the point where people almostautomatically think I'm Indian
sometimes. And, but, and havingbeen born in India, we have an
Indian name. It's, it's almostlike, Okay, you're you're an
Indian, like some of my bestfriends. Yeah. I thought you
were Indian.

Todd McLaughlin (26:04):
What do you mean? What do you mean, you're
from Quaker America? Like, what?

Raji Thron (26:09):
So basically, but then, you know, I mean, I guess
it's kind of becomes this mysecret? Yeah.

Todd McLaughlin (26:16):
That's cool.
Dig it? Yeah, go

Raji Thron (26:20):
do my yoga practice.
In the morning. I'm doing youknow, my breathing practices,
you know, doing, you know,experimenting with cold showers.
Because, you know, I mean, thisis all becoming very popular
these days. But like inkundalini yoga, they were really
into waking up early and doingthese breathing practices and
cold showers, that sort ofthing. Now, vim Hof is making
it, you know,

Todd McLaughlin (26:42):
yeah, trendy, and much more popular. Yes.

Raji Thron (26:46):
So, so basically, I realized at a certain point that
I can be quiet I am, whateverthat means, you know, my true
being, doesn't have to be like,it doesn't have to engage in any
of any particular culturaltyping, if I don't want to, you

(27:07):
know, yeah. But also, I mean,the thing is, here we are in
America, right. So to, to bemore like a flamboyant yogi, so
to speak, was an option. And Idid kind of go a little bit in
that direction. But then it waskind of like, you know, I want

(27:30):
to fit in. And let's see thispart of it. And like you said,
that being younger, and goingthrough this, because here I am
in, you know, Junior High inhigh school. And, and I
practice, I've started topractice a yoga more and more as
I'm doing it, then, even to thepoint where I was doing pretty
intense practices during highschool for on my own. Right,

(27:53):
wow. I mean, we're going to takedifferent classes, but I was
already a self practitioner,

Todd McLaughlin (27:57):
like self inspired, like, here, I'm gonna
get up before my mom and dad aregonna make me get up. And I'm
gonna do yoga practices, withoutany like, specific following of
a specific teaching, like forexample, like, say, I'm going to
do primary series or

Raji Thron (28:13):
that came later. So that year, so in my 20s, is when
I was like Richard Freeman. Wow.
So we can jump, we can jumpahead if you want us to
basically. Yeah,

Todd McLaughlin (28:22):
I mean, I'm fascinated one way or the other.
But I Yeah,

Raji Thron (28:25):
classical. I was really doing a kind of blend of
like classical hatha yoga andKundalini yoga. And and that's
really, what is interesting isit started so blended so that I
could, I just never stoppedlending at a certain point, even
though I started getting intoAshtanga. So if you if you just

(28:46):
like, fast forward post highschool, so I was already
practicing a lot in high school,and I went to college, and I was
practicing. And I'm like doingyoga on the campus. In my school
people going, Oh, my God, areyou? What are you doing there is
I'm doing yoga and that. And sothey said, Can you teach me so I
started teaching at the physicaleducation department in the

(29:09):
school. Which I've never beenno, don't tell anyone that's
taking the teacher training oranything. I just went okay, I'll
start teaching. Sure. And so,but then I got went back to
Colorado, from, you know,between semesters because could
say, I guess, or maybe it wasthe summer. One of the summers

(29:32):
between I think it was my firstsemester, my first year in
college, go back to Boulder. Andthat's when I see this workshop
with the nyang or teacher namedRichard Freeman.

Todd McLaughlin (29:46):
So he don't know I didn't know that he was
he originally was teachingiyengar yoga.

Raji Thron (29:51):
Yeah, so he was teaching these really, like
deep, intense, anger based andthen he would pull out his
harmonium at the end. We'll doall this like Goddess chanting.
Like, but was it was a prettytripped out scene. But, but to
have Richard teaching my angeris actually also really

(30:13):
different than your typicalanger teacher. Because I don't
know if you're familiar withRichard, but he really has this,
like amazing out there. He's ahe's a true yogi, you know, he's

Todd McLaughlin (30:25):
amazing. I had a chance to practice with him.
He's so interesting.

Raji Thron (30:30):
Yeah, yeah.
Beautiful practice. Yes. Oh,man. Yeah. So. So I was just
amazed going there. I was justfloating, let's say we have
forgotten on several of hisworkshops. It's like, Wow, I
love yoga. And he's such a greatteacher. So then I went back to
school, and then came back andlooked for him again. Like,

(30:54):
where's this guy RichardFreeman. And so people that I
knew said, Well, he's with hisnew guru, Pataki, Joyce,
studying in India. So he went,and he studied with it with
coaches for like six monthsstraight. And, and then he you
know, the classic story aboutRichard, which is, I mean, I

(31:15):
hope, you know, he doesn't feeloffended by me. And there's no,
I mean, this is like, one ofthose. It's complimentary, which
basically, the first day he gotthere, he learned first to the
second day, he learned secondseries, and the third day, he
did 30. So

Todd McLaughlin (31:33):
is that? Is that a true story? Do

Raji Thron (31:35):
you think? That's the story I heard in three days
first

Todd McLaughlin (31:39):
through third and three days?

Raji Thron (31:42):
Uh huh. So it tells you something about does what
batavi Joyce was doing at thetime because he had less
students and he wasn't nearly ashe wasn't holding back. And it
tells you something aboutRichard So Richard could just do
everything.

Todd McLaughlin (31:54):
He could actually keep up. Yeah. You're
just

Raji Thron (31:57):
like oh truthers.
Okay. Do this. Okay.

Todd McLaughlin (32:01):
That is amazing. That is a good swing. I
didn't hear I've haven't heardthat one yet. All right.

Raji Thron (32:07):
So that was my Richard comes back from India.
And I started studying with him.
And that's when did you

Todd McLaughlin (32:15):
remember you?
Did you? Do you remember youfrom your ION guard classes with
him?

Raji Thron (32:21):
I know, it's an interesting I think he might
have, but I'll tell you my firstexperience walking into the
Ashtanga studio, okay, which isyoga workshop. And he had just
recently opened it like when Igot back from being in school.
And so I go in, and he had he'sdoing Mysore. Right. And so he

(32:44):
says, Oh, just follow in. So Idon't know if you any ruiner
last name is right now, butAnnie is pretty well known
Ashtanga teacher and the pace.
Yeah. Yeah. So she was Annie.
She had a different last name.
That time. Got it. So I walk inand she's doing second series.
And I had never done a stalkerbefore. He said, well just

(33:07):
follow her. I'm like, okay,he's, oh, my God. And I had
never done jumping Sun saluteslike that before.

Todd McLaughlin (33:18):
Oh, yeah. Then on second, why not? Maybe
there's brilliance behind that.
Maybe?

Raji Thron (33:24):
It just it was like, oh my god, this is what yoga can
be like. Wow. So yes. So I, Ireally, I basically fell in love
with Ashtanga and because it's,it's like it had everything that
I had been looking for, alongwith having Richard as a
teacher, because, because he'salways weaving in this deeper

(33:47):
aspect, you know, the, what hewould refer to as the inner
form, right. And so, it's likeyou're going you're not just
doing athletic, intense, deephatha yoga poses, which is one
of the things I really lovedabout Ashtanga. But you're also
just diving in, connecting inthe whole time, and especially

(34:12):
with his guidance, you just do.
That's what he wants you to do.
Yeah. So yeah, Stanga was a realmajor, I guess you could say a
turning point because I wasalready a pretty disciplined
practitioner, but then it gaveme this, as you know, right.

(34:33):
That this feeling of oh, I canjust do this vinyasa practice,
you know, and will that thenhave it helped me to progress?
Because, you know, this is oneof the questions I asked. You
know, it's like which style ifyou were to pick a style that
has been a really help youprogress physically, like,

(34:56):
become a real adept, or anadjunct however you want Sara,
you know, physically speaking,you go, Well, you know,
Kundalini is not doing it.
They're gonna give you a lot ofenergy work, right. But then in
yoga, restorative yoga is anger.
Well, yeah, but the question is,how do you progress? You know, I

(35:21):
think or doesn't give, like,distinct practice methodology
the way that I mean, and that'swhy they call it a practice
method. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Startgetting Yassa, the practice
method. And that's where Ireally felt that the moment I
stepped in that I was like, wow,this is truly a strong practice.

(35:43):
That can take me somewhere. Andso that's why I stuck with it
for four years. I still stillcome back to it. I kind of gone
a little bit way, you know, outof the fold. That's a whole
other discussion, I guess. But

Todd McLaughlin (35:58):
oh, my gosh, Raji. Yeah, this is amazing. I
have so many questions for you.
Um, the first one. When was yourthem first practice session with
batavi? Joyce, was it withRichard in Colorado? Or was it?

Raji Thron (36:11):
Yes, in India. So Richard had photographer always
come to Colorado to teach and hewas 1989. So he stabbed me
twice. I've done a couple ofdifferent, you know, tours. But
there there weren't that manybefore that. This was like one
of the one of the first. Yeah,because what Tommy Joyce would

(36:32):
do he go. I'm trying toremember. I don't think he went
to New York in the beginning,

Todd McLaughlin (36:36):
just Encinitas.
Maybe. And

Raji Thron (36:38):
yeah, so it was Colorado. Because Richard, and
then yeah, Tim, because of TimMiller, in Encinitas. And then
in Hawaii. That's right. Tryingto think of the Hawaii was it on
Nancy? Nancy yoga? Yeah. Yeah.
So those were the, I think, thethree main stops that he did in
the beginning. And so he was ondoing that. And he came to

(36:59):
Colorado, and that's when I wenthome. I gotta I gotta go to
Mysore. How can I not? Yeah. So

Todd McLaughlin (37:11):
you already have in your experience. So it's
not like it's this crazy newcultural thing that you won't
know how to navigate like, youhave a little, you got some
chops there. You've had a greatteacher here in Colorado, you're
practicing with Richard Freeman.
So you're getting like, maybeeven a better experience just
practicing there than anywhereelse. Um, so then I'm curious.
What was your thoughts, feelingsand vibe on your first Mysore

(37:35):
session?

Raji Thron (37:39):
In India In India?
Yeah. Oh, yeah. So. So well,I'll just tell you what. So I
traveled through Europe, on theway to India. And I was trying
to, like stay in shape. So I'mlike, doing my routine in the
morning and night before I go tosleep, because I actually
traveled, like, almost a month,on my way. And so then I get

(38:02):
there. So I had been in Germany,and I thought, Oh, I gotta bring
something along. So I broughtbecause, you know, when you come
to the yoga Shala, you know, Idon't know if people do this
anymore. But I felt like we hadsent a letter to Punjabi choice,
saying, Hi, you're studying withRichard. And I'd love to come

(38:24):
and study with you. And I neverheard anything back. I said,
Well, just, you know, you justgo it's going to be fine. And so
I go, and I had little, like,interesting, like, Mayan, like
silver, Mayan Calendar, pendantsthat I got, I don't know why I

(38:45):
even thought this would be cool.
But, and then I got some Germanchocolates. And I bring them in
and I go to the knock on thedoor, as I say, and he he can't
Well, actually, I think it washis wife. ology, answered the
door, and I say hi, I'm here tostudy with Gucci Mane. And then

(39:05):
she goes, Oh, you know, I don'tknow what she would call him.
But so he comes to the door. Nowhe's like, wearing his just, you
know, the, the typical, like,he's wearing his douching like a
rap and, and whatever shirt.
Yeah. So basically, he comes hegoes, like, what do you want to

(39:26):
kind of? Grigio? I'm here tostudy with you a student of
Richard. Richard. And he goes,Oh, Richard. Oh, yeah. And I
said, Here are these are foryou. And he's like, Oh, thank
you, Don, you know, is hisEnglish was not great. Yeah. So.
So can I can I practice and hegoes, Oh, yes, practice. And so

(39:47):
come come at 430 tomorrow. Yeah,

it's like (39:54):
30am or something. I actually forgot. I think it was
maybe little later than that,because the the Indian students,
this is what this is when he hadthe little studio in the back of
his house. So it

Todd McLaughlin (40:11):
was it Lakshmi Poron or is actually

Raji Thron (40:13):
formed. Yeah. 1990.
And so, yeah, it's, it's hard toeven dredge up all the memories
right now. But basically, Ilived in a what firstly is lived
in a hotel, and then it movedinto a house that was being
rented by a bunch of Ashtangastudents. Yeah. And so basically
a Get up, caught up in my firstday. Here, you were asking that

(40:38):
question. So basically, that'skind of I guess, I would say, It
was exhilarating, exciting,intimidating. And all that all
at once. Yeah, you know, yeah.
Come, I show up at the door, youknow, and looking in, and I

(40:58):
couldn't quite get into into thestudio yet, because it was full
with people. So then you waitoutside the door. And, and then
someone moves to the finishingroom, which was upstairs. And so
then, as you get your spot, andso basically, you just get to do
so. My thing with Tommy Joyce atthat time was I said, Guruji.

(41:24):
I've haven't practiced in awhile. And so and I was doing
first series with RichardFreeman. But if it's okay with
you, maybe I'll just do halffirst series. And you know, just
get myself going. He's like, Oh,no problem, you know. And so
that's, you know, usually thatmeans going up to Navassa mode,
right? Yeah. And then, sobasically, it went. And, and he

(41:49):
also pretty much stayed handsoff. For several weeks. I was
there from August to the left inFebruary. I was there for a
while. And so I basically wentthrough getting all the first

(42:10):
series and all the second seriesat the time that I was there. So
yeah, it was it was just thatroom. Yeah, you know, you just,
you hear him shouting out everynow and then he's working the
room. It's just sweating. Youhear booj breath, just like, you
know. And it was intense. It wasgreat. Yeah. Yeah, it was

(42:33):
perfect. The perfect thing forwhat I you know, for where I
was, I would say that I wentfrom being fairly adept to being
much more of a debt thing formonths, you know, just like,
that's amazing things like,where he would come up and do

(42:54):
adjustments. And I know, he'sgotten a bad rap sometimes for
some of the adjustments. AndI'll just say, you know, right
here, whoever gets to watchthis, doing adjustments
appropriately and carefully isimportant. And, but when it's
when the you're given a greatadjustment at the right time,

(43:18):
and you know, the rightprogression in your practice,
well that it can be a majoraccelerator for your, you know,
your practice, just, and if it'sdone consistently, that's what's
so beautiful in my store, room,you know, with batavi choice, or
if you're with another strongerteacher, you know, where if

(43:39):
you're giving consistentadjustments in a good way, you
can really see a difference.
Amazing, isn't it? You feel itfeels so amazing. So that's what
I definitely remember aregetting these deep adjustments.
You know, that classicadjustment where your booty to
Huster parish, dossena? That'swhere you're, you're balancing

(44:00):
big toe, go forward, and thenyou're supposed to pull forward
and close at the end. Yeah, somepeople you know, there was like,
reach around and just bring thebring their leg up. And Tommy
Joyce would come up and give youthis, like, full on. I don't
know if in the in the last yearsprobably didn't it never did
that much anymore. But in theearlier years, he would come up

(44:24):
and so there's the there's thekind of like, hold the leg and
hold the body and bring themtogether with this. Yeah, kind
of a gentleman but then there'sthe straight on you know, and
put your leg on his shoulder.
And basically you're doing astanding upright standing split
and he was just go like a bearhug. You know, your leg is on

(44:49):
and he just like for him andyou're like, Oh my god. So, I
mean there for for those whowere able to hear Jungle, the
intensity of certain adjustmentswas an amazing thing. And then
other people actually get hurtat times. And that's not a good
thing.

Todd McLaughlin (45:08):
Yeah. Yeah. It was just the nature of the game
at that moment, right? I mean,it was what it was. And I hear
ya, I hear you. That's amazing.
Roger, I love hearing about yourI love hearing your story.
That's really cool. I like yourperspective. I'm curious. Okay,
so you've, you've had thisrealization, or you have a good

(45:31):
say guru barometer, or, or Coltalmoner. And so then the
experience, I remember when Iwas in Mysore, I was like, I
don't want to, I didn't feelcomfortable touching batavi
Joyce's feet. And just somethingabout that really triggered me
and it made me just from my ownpersonal Western upbringing,

(45:53):
something about that gesture,which I'm aware of in India is
not much. It's still veryrespectful gesture, but maybe
isn't terribly different from usshaking hands here in the West,
like, it's a way of honoring andshowing respect. And I've seen
Indians like, like, say someonewould see their grandmas so they
go up and just bow down andtouch grandma's feet as a way of

(46:14):
saying, I have a lot of respectfor you, Grandma,

Raji Thron (46:17):
it's an honoring of the elder honoring of a teacher
and it's an honoring of, youknow, so

Todd McLaughlin (46:25):
in from my from my work, yeah,

Raji Thron (46:26):
please. Yeah.
normalized for that in India, isa gesture that's not like, like,
you're not, you know, giving allyour power away, so to speak.
But And here, of course, you'relike, what is? It seems really
strange. So

Todd McLaughlin (46:45):
how would you?
I got I gotta ask you realquick. How did you navigate
then? Well, whether or not youwant to tell me if you did touch
batavi Joyce's feet or not, butI did. And do you feel that you
were able to still maintain yourautonomy and not fall into a
cultish guru following situationwithin that process? Or do you

(47:10):
feel you did? Maybe slide alittle over off of your Quaker
full philosophy, upbringing? Andhow to navigate back? Can you
explain a little bit about Yeah,

Raji Thron (47:24):
yeah, let me let me just think. I think it's
possible if you step into moreof an Indian way of thinking, to
be like, well, let me let me putit this way. I think of myself
as having many gurus. I had manythroughout my life, I have many
that I hold in high regard thatI respect, and even the some of

(47:47):
them that have fallen fromgrace, so to speak. You know, or
maybe have, you know, in oursociety and the stories that are
told, there, they have theirhuman frailties, right, I do
too. And so not that I have anysexual scandals.

Todd McLaughlin (48:08):
But just to be clear, I actually do have a high
level of honor, but I get it, Iget

Raji Thron (48:14):
it, basically, when I see these gurus, this
collective gurus that I have,and actually I think of it as
going back even so, you know,they, they talk about power and
power, you know, the, thelineage of gurus. Well, I really
think this is a, this is really,I mean, for humanity in general,

(48:35):
we have all these great wisesouls and teachers that have,
you know, passed knowledge andtechniques and practices down.
And, and in a way, they're justtransmitters, right. And so
yeah, they're, they're humanhumans, and they have their
human frailties, and they livedin a particular culture where

(48:56):
maybe they were very patriarchalor abusive, even. Right. And we
know that in our past too. Butthat said, but then, the
question is, can you filter outlike the wise teachings and
acknowledge that the Guru, therelevant enlightenment

(49:19):
teachings, and maybe notnecessarily I'm not bowing down
to photography choice himself,you know, understand because, I
mean, he's just a human or Ithink are even though I respect
my anger immensely, and I knowhe also had his issues, you
know, but or all these othergurus like these Buddhist

(49:40):
speaking of, you know, growingup in Boulder and seeing the
whole rolling out of the carpetfor chew gum Trumper. Just going
wow, this guy is really high onhis. I just don't know. Yeah,
yeah. Like, I don't reallyunderstand that. But I'm not
going to bow down to him. But Iwill I acknowledge that he had

(50:01):
some pretty amazing teachingsthat he was transmitting, you
know, they're not and they, theygo beyond him. That's the beauty
of that's the beauty of yogateachings. And so Ashtanga as a
form goes beyond to have thechoice to write. And all these
dynamic Kundalini forms theintense, you know, movement and

(50:24):
breathing, they go beyond YogiBhajan, they go back. So, so
it's really, I like to thinkmore in terms of a collective
and a transmission of, you know,sets, it makes it easier for me
to because I'm not going to bowdown to really anyone. And not
in that way. But to touchsomeone's feet to me doesn't

(50:47):
mean that I'm giving away mypower and my authority. And I'm
not saying I'm going to doanything you're telling me?

Todd McLaughlin (50:56):
Yes. Yeah, that's well, so that's well
said. Raji, when I finally gotthe gumption up to go ahead and
do it. It was from personally,it was a really nice experience,
because it was like, I felt likeI was holding on to this, like,
that struggle that comes withthinking that I shouldn't give
up my power. And in somerespects, actually, just

(51:19):
surrendering is a reallybeautiful, amazing thing. And I,
but I love the way you navigatedexplaining the reverence for the
teachings through theindividual, as opposed to the
actual worship of the humanelement that the person apart so
that that's, that's cool, man.
Good.

Raji Thron (51:41):
Outsider. Yeah. has certain advantages. Yeah, good
point. Yeah, no, because when itcomes to India, and cultural
things, and the guru dynamic,even so the yoga tradition, a
lot of people will say, Who, theonly way you can be enlightened,

(52:02):
or have awakened your Kundalinior whatever, is by having the
guru touch you or, you know,give you your, you know, put the
grace. And that's something thatI think so, along with so many
of the interesting trappings ofare there within the culture,

(52:24):
Indian culture? That's one thatI think it's important to
reframe, or, you know, questionwhen it comes to? And so for me,
the reframing is, is maybe thebest way of putting it because
it's like, yeah, I want toacknowledge that these gurus are

(52:47):
have, are helping me and I'vetaken on so much from from them,
that have helped things thathave helped me. And yet, it's
not really so much about them atall. You know what I mean? So
it's, so how do we reconcile, Iguess, questions for me, I
reconcile that by reframing. Andgoing well, I can, I can go with

(53:11):
this as long as it means this.
It doesn't mean, you know,whatever you might think is
like, you have to devote yourlife and all your belongings.
And, you know, it's this iswhere we're at the whole guru
trip gets really wild, you know,you know all the stories about
like Rajneesh and whoever else.

Todd McLaughlin (53:37):
I bet yeah, yeah, it's a long list, right?
Do you feel like in I don't knowif this is just me. But I
remember roundabout, I want tosay like somewhere between 2020
and 2022. In with all of theelements that were going on in
terms of our own popular culturehere in America and the global

(53:57):
element of a pandemic, it seemedlike there was this like,
another guru was coming out withthe scandal, another group
scandal situation another like,and then coming across from the
meditation hall, from theTibetan Buddhist world from the
all these different, like it waslike a reckoning or like a storm
of reckoning. Did you get afeeling for that tour? Because

(54:20):
you've been in Do you have alonger you have an incredible
long term perspective, at least,I think, from what I'm hearing,
I'm really digging this. Youknow, or have you have you just
been something you've beenwatching consistently all along?
Or, like there was a big stormall of a sudden, what is your

(54:40):
take?

Raji Thron (54:41):
Yeah, I got a call from Richard. During during
COVID. Factor The last time Ispoke to him personally, talking
about dynamics around what wasgoing on in the Ashtanga world
with Tommy Joyce. And you knowthat that that's kind of a more
minor stuff. Warm, I guessmaybe, compared to I mean that

(55:02):
the Yogi Bhajan thing has reallyblown up and yeah, it's, it's I
think the reckoning is good. Imean, you know, so it's just a
matter of how we, because itjust shows us where we're
certain parameters of what ofappropriateness? It, you know,

(55:26):
are Yeah, it's like, now, youknow, don't give up your power.
Like, I mean, the Bitcoin thingis, it's it, I didn't let me
just put it this way, I didn'treally know, the depth or the
you know how crazy some of thesethings were, you know? And so

(55:47):
it's kind of like, oh, well,it's, it's actually good to
know. And to, you know, beclear. So like, when I had this
conversation with Richard, Iwent to our website, our studio
website and just said, I justwant to be clear, you know, we
do not condone any, you know,it's like, and I think Richard

(56:07):
did the same thing. He was like,Look, I may be an Ashtanga. Now,
I'm not gonna speak for Richard.
I'm sorry, Richard. I'm speakingfor myself here. Just to say,
like, you know, whateverhappened with whatever teachers,
I personally, in my studio donot condone any of these things
in us, you know? Yes. That's,that's it just made it very

(56:31):
clear. I think it's like, yeah,you know, that's what the
reckoning is all about. And,like, people need to just wake
up and say, you know, yeah,okay, you're maybe you're such a
great yogi. And you're in yourlittle, little denial world. Is
because I think and there's alot of denial that that happens,

(56:53):
because everyone wants to havetheir safe. Well, I mean,
there's, you know what I mean?
Like, keep it like, in theirfantasy is, oh, he's perfect.

Todd McLaughlin (57:10):
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, but busting the bubble ofthe fantasy is, like, go to the
dark night of the soul when thathappens, right? I mean, can be
dramatic, but ultimately, it's avery liberating experience.
Yeah.

Raji Thron (57:28):
You're familiar with the whole Ansara

Todd McLaughlin (57:31):
oh, gosh, well, that's I'm so glad you're
bringing that up. Because when Iread your bio, I saw that you'd
have this this history ofpracticing with the the old
school stronger crew, and thenJohn friend, and I thought, wow,
he's, he's, he's seen all of it.
He I know,

Raji Thron (57:52):
Rob, John friend as a as a friend, because no,
sorry, it's fine. But in a way,because you came to Richard
studio back in the day, and hewas teaching I was, you know,
couldn't yangarra alignment forstrategies. And he was a friend
of Richard's. And, and then hestarted developing the whole

(58:12):
Ansara thing. And so I couldn'teven really tell you all the
details and what happened withhim, you know, because I don't
even really know. But all I knowis that it kind of it just had
this curve of Ansara. grew,grew, grew, grew, it, like had a
pretty steep curve of gettingreally popular. I actually went

(58:35):
to see him and study with him acouple of times when he was in
New York. And this big scene,you know. And, as you mentioned,
I go there, and I go, Whoa, thisis interesting. This is turning
into like, remember the gurumade the meter when he was like,

(58:55):
he went from being this reallylike, laid back casual while he
was still pretty good, prettylaid back and casual, just, just
suddenly he had this hugefollowing. Yeah. So nothing.
Yeah. I don't even really knowhow to evaluate it. And just
yeah, what happened, but yeah,definitely. I mean, for me,

(59:18):
it's, I was already an outsidercoming in. And, you know, I was
really the donkey at that. Inthose early days. Going to the
Ansara world. Yeah. Okay, thisis interesting. Wonder what he's
doing here. Yeah. We'll justcall my selfish donkey, I guess.

(59:40):
Yeah. Just, you know, an easyway of speaking. Because I was
definitely much more into, youknow, as a hardcore, kind of
stronger vinyasa practitionerfor a while.

Todd McLaughlin (59:51):
I understand. I understand. You know, I remember
I was I was living in San Diego,my wife and I had a Bikram yoga
studio. Yo we trained under becalm. So yes, I can attest to
there was some craziness goingon there. And I was practicing
with Tim Miller and Encinitas.
And I remember hearing aboutJohn Fran and the rise of

(01:00:12):
popularity that you're talkingabout. And I feel like in the
Ashtanga community there wasthis little bit of like beef
almost like the storyline Iremember hearing was that John
friend kind of took his ownlittle version of ion garna
Stanga took stole a littlesomething from Richard, I don't
know how true that is, like thethe twisting principles and the

(01:00:33):
spiraling ideas that maybe hadlike borrowed money,
everything's borrowed thesedays. So I mean, to say like, we
take something from somebody, Imean, realistically, Come on
everyone here.

Raji Thron (01:00:45):
So excited. Yeah. I would like I'd say, I was there
certain moments in Boulder,Colorado, when Richard, I heard
Richard and John discussingthese universal alignment
principles, as you know, whichwas came the name that actually

(01:01:06):
I think John French tried tocopyright it or whatever. I
think he did. But I mean, youcan always just change the name
of border around and thencopyright. Yeah, alignment.
Yeah. X or alignment B, and thenit's your copyright. But
basically what both of them hadstudied with anger, right. Both

(01:01:28):
of them were pretty much in thesame level of progression in I
anger. I think John Prine was ajunior level Hyang our teacher
at the time when he kind ofjumped off to develop on Asara
Richard, I'm not sure if he everwhat level he became an

(01:01:48):
annoying, he was in I think, forabout 10 years. And so, but he,
you know, became the donkey thatis, and so then, basically, John
friend comes, and we're sittingover lunch, you know, like we
John would teach a workshop. Andthen the teachers from the
studio I was teaching there atthe time, where we go and have

(01:02:09):
lunch together, and all thisdiscussion around, you know,
like, reversal alignment, and soon. So, really, in a way, the
discussions between Richard andJohn became the basis for a lot
of what Ansara now, there is aslight difference in perspective

(01:02:34):
that I noticed and have noticedover time is that with John
friends way of talking about theprinciples is that they have a
certain progression, you know,you guys like the five, you
know, I've memorized them incase if you ever want to, but
because I was really into youknow, I'm, I'm a studious kind
of guy, so I just kind of comeOkay, I'll learn this. I'll just

(01:02:56):
absorb it. Yeah. And so. And so.
And then I'd like to see whatdifferent people are saying
about different things and justgo, Okay, well, what's the
difference between what Johnfriend is saying and what
Richard says that Richard ismuch more like, you doesn't you
don't you can't pin him downvery well. You never really can.
Right? So he's very smart thatway. So you go, Richard, which

(01:03:18):
one? Is it organic or muscular?
You know, I mean, one thing thateveryone can probably agree on
is about setting the foundationof oppose. It's like set the
foundation. Yes, yes. But youknow, but then how are you going

(01:03:41):
to set the foundation? How areyou going to which, okay, which
spiral comes first time?

Todd McLaughlin (01:03:47):
Sorry. Yeah.

Raji Thron (01:03:50):
God, which will come first inward spiral or outward
spiral? Well, you know, I mean,ultimately, and, you know, it's
just this. So this is what Ilike to say about it. Just to
wrap this up, is to say,ultimately, it's about a
balancing act that we're, we'rewe're in the midst of right,
yeah. Shiva Shakti there, youknow, are they always gonna be

(01:04:12):
imperfect? You know, they'rethey're doing their dance. Yes,
that's, that's a that's aRichard is.

Todd McLaughlin (01:04:20):
That's a Richard answer.

Raji Thron (01:04:23):
My early days with Richard, he always talks about
the pubic bone and the tailboneand the dance, and they kind of
meet in the bedroom. And it'sShiva and Shakti. So it's like,
you're just always in the midstof that. That's how Mula Bandha.
That's already talked about MulaBandha. And I'd be like,

(01:04:43):
Richard, what are you talkingabout? So, so to hear to hear
Richard going into that veryesoteric world, and maybe even
philosophically, he's doingthis? Yeah. And then, but then
John takes it and he makes itinto a thing. You know, it's
like he goes, Let's take Shivalook like this. And Shakti looks

(01:05:05):
like this and we're gonna makethem, you know? Like is, is the
inhale Shiva or is the exhaleShiva? It's like, rip. And you
know, of course you dive into itand you go, Well, they're both
they're in both. Yeah. Right.
Yeah. Because they're everythingis intertwined. That's what
Tantra is. Right. So. So youbasically, I know, I'm getting a

(01:05:27):
little carried away here. But sobut if you want to make it into
some marketable, easy box, toyou know, yes. Yeah, do this
first, then this, then this. Andthis is what we call the new
paradigm of yoga. And you go,well, it's just not so easy.
Yeah. So you can see why I'mreally still very much a student

(01:05:49):
of Richard, because I don'tnecessarily agree with this
whole model of you. There's akind of an absolute, yeah. Like
this, this, this, this, thisrepresents this, and this
represents that. And, you know,it's like, okay, well, that
could be useful. Yeah. Go ahead.

(01:06:12):
Give me another question. Oh,no,

Todd McLaughlin (01:06:14):
this is great.
Raji. And what I'm realizing isthat I budgeted a an hour for us
to chat. And, and I think weshould have budgeted the five
hour podcast on that. On thatnote, can we do a part two and
beyond because I still have alot of questions for you. And I
really want to hear more aboutyour ideas and thoughts about

(01:06:38):
alignment in specific poses. Igot a chance to go to your
website. Everybody listeningcheck out. Can you tell us the
why now you have your personalwebsite, your studio website?
Again, Raji is

Raji Thron (01:06:54):
yoga synthesis.com.
Cool.

Todd McLaughlin (01:06:57):
And then you have your personal one which is
Raji. Raji, drone, drone, the

Raji Thron (01:07:03):
DJI thr O N calm, but really, it's, it's the
youngest, since this one. That'sthe most actors because that's
where all the classes arehappening.

Todd McLaughlin (01:07:12):
So in Rajya have to ask you, I think I'm
hoping I'm gonna make theconnection here. Right. Did you
ever have a student named TimFoster? Yeah, that's how I know.
Yeah, because Tim comes practicehere. And he used to rave about
you had said some really greatthings about you. Yeah. So he,

Raji Thron (01:07:36):
um, he lives in Montclair, right? Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.

Todd McLaughlin (01:07:40):
And that's why first, when I first heard about
he goes, I practice with thisguy named Raji. He's amazing. He
has this amazing history withyoga. And, and so as we were as
you were talking, I'm like, itdawned on me that's that's where
I initially had heard about you.
Yeah, that's so cool, man. Well,I so will first thank you,

(01:08:01):
please. Yeah, you can Yeah, keeplet's keep going. I want to own
a vinyasa yoga might keep it up.
Keep it up. I want to see thecognitive put my glasses on so I
can see the cover more properly.
Nice. Can you lift it a littlehigher, so I can see what it
says on the bottom? The you readit to me? The yoga,

Raji Thron (01:08:25):
yoga synthesis guide to dynamic sequencing with
hundreds of photos andinstructions.

Todd McLaughlin (01:08:30):
Nice Raji.
Dude, I didn't know you had thatbook. That looks amazing. All
right.

Raji Thron (01:08:34):
Also, I have this breathing book, which is called
one breath. Nice.

Todd McLaughlin (01:08:40):
Cool, man.
They're both on Amazon, ofcourse. All right. I'm going to
make a purchase as a way ofsaying thank you well as one
simple gesture to say thank youfor for joining me here and I
hopefully you will be open to mesending you another invite,
because I do have morequestions. Raji, and I really
enjoyed hearing your stories andI love the way that you're

(01:09:02):
balanced in your outlook on thiscoming at it from an angle of
like, let's be honest and realhere. Yeah, man, this is
refreshing. And I really enjoyedthis. So thanks for reaching
out. Yeah, man.

Raji Thron (01:09:20):
Thank you. It's all going well down there may visit
sometime that would be inFlorida when it's so cold up
here.

Todd McLaughlin (01:09:26):
That would be incredible. I'd love to host you
for a workshop and if you couldcome down like this time of year
Jan or Feb once is when theweather is like glorious and and
I'm really thankful to have theconnection. I love hearing about
somebody and finally here I geta chance to to meet you. So,
this has been a this has been areal honor and a real treat. I

(01:09:49):
will I will reach out to you andthank you.

Raji Thron (01:09:54):
Thank you

Todd McLaughlin (01:09:57):
Namaste Raji. A native yoga taught cast is
produced by myself. The thememusic is dreamed up by Bryce
Allen. If you liked this show,let me know. If there's room for

(01:10:18):
improvement. I want to hear thattoo. We are curious to know what
you think and what you want moreof what I can improve. And if
you have ideas for future guestsor topics, please send us your
thoughts to info at Native yogacenter. You can find us at
Native yoga center.com. And hey,if you did like this episode,

(01:10:41):
share it with your friends, rateit and review and join us next
time