Yoga for Meditators

Ale, Mary, and Richard join forces to highlight the deep connection between the yogic traditions of India and Tibet. In this lesson they explore perspectives on the interconnectivity of body, breath, and mind and the roles of posture, energy, and meditative practices in helping the practitioner cultivate openness, stability, and self-awareness. You’ll discover how integrating physical alignment, breath control, and mental focus can enhance meditation, deepen presence, and foster your sense of connection with the broader world.

Richard and Mary explain the fundamental role of the body in yoga, introducing a breath-oriented practice to enhance your mind’s clarity during sitting practice. You’ll learn to work with prāṇa and āpaṇa—the energies of inhalation and exhalation—to balance and sharpen your meditation while preserving optimal physical alignment, emotional balance, and mental lucidity.

Ale takes the reins to uncover the role of the external tsa lung trul khor practices (from the Mother Tantra) in supporting meditation, highlighting how these five key movements engage breath, movement, and awareness to clear obstacles, balance energy, and enhance meditative focus. You’ll learn how integrating these movements with proper posture, breath control, and awareness can cultivate inner openness, stability, and a deeper connection to your meditative practice.

Ale, Mary, and Richard reassemble to explore how breath and sound serve as gateways to energy through deep connections to physical and meditative practices. You’ll gain greater familiarity with techniques such as prāṇāyāma, re-inhalation, and the use of vibratory sound, emphasizing how breath travels through energy channels, influences the nervous system, and facilitates a union of mind and body.

Drawing from the Indian yogic tradition, Richard and Mary discuss the five primary prāṇa patterns, their role in the aṣṭāṅga vinyasa system, and how breath, movement, and stillness create balance and deeper awareness. They also introduce energy-balancing techniques such as the jālandhara bandha, the khecarī mudrā, and the yoni mudrā as well as prāṇāyāma practices including viloma and bhastrikā. You’ll learn how to integrate breath control, visualization, and specific bodily engagements such as bandhas to generate energy flow, stability, and a profound sense of connection between mind and body.

Ale explains how energy flows through breath and sound, helping to connect the mind and body and awaken the architecture of the subtle body. He discusses Tibetan yoga practices such as the nine breathings of purification, the five tsa lung movements, and particular sounds that resonate with and awaken each distinct chakra. You’ll familiarize yourself with harnessing breath and vibration to balance emotions, deepen meditation, and experience a profound sense of spaciousness and connection to the present moment.

Ale, Mary, and Richard once again team up to go deeper into the essential role of the mind in meditation and yoga. They each share rich perspectives on the integration of mindfulness into daily life, the importance of remaining aware beyond structured practice, and techniques like breath observation (svarā) to cultivate presence and clarity. You’ll learn how to carry your practice beyond the mat, stabilize the mind through breath and movement, and rest in a state of openness and awareness throughout daily life.

Richard and Mary unpack the profound relationship between the mind and spiritual practices from the perspective of the Indian yoga tradition. They discuss the eight limbs of yoga including prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna, and samādhi, illustrating how these practices can be used to train the mind with patience and kindness rather than rigid discipline. You’ll discover how breathwork, meditation, and awareness of the mind–body connection can cultivate clarity, equanimity, and a deeper sense of interconnectedness with the world.

Ale explores the Tibetan yogic tradition’s instructions for training the mind to move beyond its habitual distractions and into a state of clarity and openness. He describes techniques such as focused attention, the use of sound and breath to stabilize awareness and increase clarity, and movements that release emotional blockages and allow the mind to rest in its natural state. You’ll gain greater familiarity with specific breathing exercises, body postures, visualizations, and mantras to help you to improve concentration, regulate emotions, and maintain a steady, focused awareness throughout daily activities.

Ale, Mary, and Richard conclude the course by explaining how to integrate the teachings from previous sessions into a sustainable personal practice based on patience, repetition, and gradual exploration. They re-emphasize the importance of balancing breath, movement, and awareness while refining techniques like prāṇāyāma, tsa lung, and energy flow practices to cultivate stability, openness, and connection. You’ll develop your own personalized approach to practice, recognizing supportive elements in your environment and developing a deeper engagement with these ancient yogic traditions.