Philosophy, Practice & Conversation
Yoga has a long and fascinating history of people asking difficult questions about the nature of the world, the mind, the body and what it means to live well. Different traditions have offered different answers, often challenging one another through careful reasoning, debate and direct experience.
And yet, it's surprisingly easy to spend years practising yoga without ever having much opportunity to explore the ideas that sit behind it.
So, as we continue expanding our programme at Lime Street, we're introducing Yoga Talks, a new series of guided conversations exploring the philosophy, history and wider traditions of yoga, and what they might have to offer us today.
Led by Chris, each evening will begin with a short, focused talk introducing the topic, its philosophical background and some of the questions it raises. From there, we'll open things up for questions, discussion and debate, giving everyone an opportunity to examine the ideas, share different perspectives and explore how they relate to our own experiences.
Yoga's philosophical traditions have a long history of rigorous enquiry, and we want to bring some of that spirit into the studio. These aren't sessions where everyone is expected to agree, and the questions are often just as interesting as the answers.
You don't need any previous knowledge of yoga philosophy to join us. These sessions are for anyone interested in understanding more about what we practise, why we practise it and the ideas that have shaped yoga over the centuries.
We've got two evenings planned before the end of the year, beginning with some of the most fundamental questions of all.
Thursday 26 November
View, Practice & Fruit: Why Philosophy Matters
Every practice begins with a particular understanding of the world, whether we're conscious of it or not.
What we believe about ourselves, the nature of the mind and body, and what we're ultimately trying to achieve all influence the methods we choose and how we approach them.
In our first Yoga Talk, we'll explore the relationship between view, practice and fruit: the ideas that inform our practice, the methods we use and the results we hope to gain.
We'll also look at why debate and questioning have played such an important role in yoga's philosophical traditions, and how learning to examine our own assumptions can become a valuable part of practice itself.
Thursday 3 December
The Five Acts: Creation, Preservation, Dissolution, Concealment & Grace
Our second evening turns towards one of the central ideas of Śaiva philosophy: the five acts, or Pañcakṛtya.
Creation, preservation, dissolution, concealment and grace offer a way of understanding the activity of consciousness and the unfolding of experience.
We'll explore each of these acts and their relationship to one another, looking at how this framework might help us think differently about change, identity, perception and our relationship with the world around us.
It's a particularly interesting way to approach some very familiar experiences, from the things we create and maintain in our lives to the ways our understanding can become obscured, challenged and transformed.
Come with questions
Each session will begin with a short talk before opening up into a wider conversation. There'll be plenty of time for questions, different interpretations and some healthy debate.
You can attend either session independently, although the two will complement one another as we begin building a wider programme of philosophical enquiry at Yoga x Life.
Thursday 26 November & Thursday 3 December
7.30–8.45pm | Led by Chris
Yoga x Life Studios, 51 Lime Street, Ouseburn
We'll be sharing booking details shortly.
Special Classes have a 48-hour cancellation window. Please cancel at least 48 hours before the session starts.
We're looking forward to bringing this part of yoga into the regular life of the studio, and to seeing where the conversations take us.